Coun. Dawn Luhning has been appointed acting mayor for the next few months until a new mayor is sworn in following a byelection.
A majority of city council voted for Luhning during a special meeting on Aug. 17 in council chambers. Her term begins Aug. 18 and will finish once a new mayor has been elected. A byelection is expected to be called in early November.
Coun. Doug Blanc was the other councillor whose name had been submitted for the temporary position.
Mayor Fraser Tolmie handed in his resignation effective Aug. 18 because he is the candidate for the Conservative Party of Canada in the Moose Jaw-Lake Centre-Lanigan constituency and a federal election has been called for Monday, Sept. 20.
The ballots that councillors cast were destroyed, so there is no way to know how many votes Luhning and Blanc received.
“I want to congratulate Coun. Luhning on being the acting mayor. I’m sure she’s going to do a fabulous job,” Blanc said after the vote. “And I know in September and October when I am the deputy mayor, any help I can give her — please call because I am there to assist you 100-per-cent.”
Coun. Crystal Froese initially motioned to have the deputy mayors be acting mayor for the next three months — based on the 2021 deputy mayor and chairperson schedule — until the byelection was held and the new mayor was sworn in.
However, council voted 4-3 against the motion. Froese, Blanc and Coun. Kim Robinson were in favour, while Tolmie, Luhning, and councillors Heather Eby and Jamey Logan were opposed.
There is already a schedule in place with who acts as deputy mayor, so that is the fairest way to move forward, said Froese. Meanwhile, she thought this was a unique situation for Moose Jaw since she didn’t recall a byelection for mayor ever being necessary.
“This is a short election process — five to six weeks long — so we should continue on with the process,” she added.
Logan was opposed because he wanted to see consistency in the mayor’s chair and didn’t think that would be possible with two — and possibly three — councillors acting as deputy mayor in the short term. He thought the consistency would allow the acting mayor and city administration to work cohesively and prevent turnover in leadership.
Luhning agreed with Logan, saying consistency was needed for the good of the community. She also wanted the rotation of deputy mayor to continue for consistency in that schedule.
The byelection hasn’t been decided and a federal election is around the corner, which means city administration likely won’t start the process until after Sept. 20, Eby said. This means the byelection could be six weeks after that vote, during which time three councillors would rotate through as deputy mayor and acting mayor and not be as effective as a single acting mayor.
“The deputy mayor still has a huge job, especially with the acting mayor in place,” she added. “And with COVID ending, hopefully, there will be engagements and events to attend to, so the acting mayor really needs even more support from the deputy mayor than ever.”
The length of time a deputy mayor serves was an issue that was raised a few years ago, said Tolmie. He thought that position should serve for a longer period to build consistency instead of changing every two months.
Tolmie added that a consistent figure in the acting mayor’s chair was important for the community, especially with big commercial announcements soon.
Thanks for the memories
Earlier in the meeting, every councillor praised Tolmie for his time as mayor and wished him well during the federal election. Many also thanked him for his service to the community.
“Thank you for all those kind words. This has been a very difficult decision for me. But I know this city is in very good hands with this council … ,” Tolmie replied. “You are in my heart. I have learned so much in this role. And, uh,” he added before pausing emotionally, “it’s been the best job in the world.”
The next regular council meeting is Monday, Aug. 23.
