The Township of Howick is headed for a lame duck council this fall, but the bigger concern is attracting more municipal candidates for the upcoming election.
As of July 30, only one person, former provincial Green Party candidate Matthew Van Ankum, has filed nomination papers to run for councillor. The Township's council is made up of a reeve, deputy reeve and three councillors.
In the 2022 election, all members of council were acclaimed, and the only local election was for Avon Maitland District School Board trustee.
However, this time around CAO/Clerk Caitlin Gillis said a majority of council isn't seeking another term in office.
"Three members have actually indicated that they do not plan to run, so we really only have two that have not indicated whether they plan to or not," she said. "We are anticipating that we will be in a lame duck period unless some of those three change their mind and decide to throw their hat in the ring."
A lame duck period occurs when less than three-quarters of an outgoing council can be re-elected. When that happens, council actions are restricted until the new term begins: officers of the municipality cannot be appointed or removed, town employees can’t be hired or dismissed, and property belonging to the municipality with a value of over $50,000 cannot be disposed.
Foreseeing that could be an issue, council passed a by-law that delegates authority to Gillis to perform those restricted actions if necessary.
"It's basically just to continue the everyday operations. We're not anticipating anything to come up, but if there was an emergency situation and lame duck had been triggered, it gives me the authority to make those decisions," she said.
While she wrote a piece helping to explain how council will work this fall, Gillis said her focus now has shifted to outreach, encouraging people to run for local council.
"We have a great team here on the Township staff side that are here to support council for them to be able to make the decisions that we need to make when it comes to budget and setting policies," said Gillis. "We're ready for some new faces that are interested. It is really the level of government closest to the people, it's just great to get involved with your community and be a part of moving it forward."
The nomination period is open until August 21 at 2 p.m. Forms can be found online, but candidates will need to make an appointment to file in person, as some signatures need to be witnessed and more info will be provided by staff.
Because the Township has fewer than 4,000 electors, potential candidates do not need to collect any signatures.
Gillis said the role is rewarding and not as demanding as it could be in a larger municipality.
"It's maybe not as much of a time commitment as they might think it is, we generally have two meetings per month and they receive their agenda usually before a weekend so they have time to review it," she said. "A lot of inquiries that come to through the public to members of council often get referred back to staff because we're here to do the day-to-day work."
If the Howick can't get enough candidates, the nomination date would be extended to Wednesday, August 26.
"If after the Thursday following nomination day, there still is not enough candidates, we would acclaim anyone that did add their name, and then because we wouldn't have enough to form a quorum, we would either need to fill the vacancy by appointing a willing person or we would be required to hold a by-election. We'd really like to avoid that, because it's an additional cost to the taxpayers and we're already paying for this municipal election," Gillis added.
Residents of Howick that are interested in running for office can find out more information at the Township's website.
