MARATHON — The Town of Marathon is getting set to fill a council vacancy.
Former Coun. Zack Souckey announced his resignation from council on Oct. 15 because he planned to move to Thunder Bay.
The municipality had two options, the first to appoint a person who has consented to accept the office, the second to require a byelection to be held to choose the replacement councillor.
Marathon councillors unanimously chose the former, with applications for the position closing on Nov. 8.
Council now has 60 days to name a replacement. Choosing the byelection option would have cost the municipality approximately $15,000.
Coun. Ray Lake said seeking applicants and naming a new councillor seemed like the better of the two options.
“I’m not in favour of an election. There’s (two) years left and it’s a big expense,” he said during a recent council meeting.
“I do think we’ve had a really good process in the past. We’ve had to use it and I would encourage people to think of it as a chance to test drive being a councillor. It’s a (two)-year commitment. See if you like it.”
Lake also asked that the municipality's student councillors be involved in the hiring process.
Coun. Todd Wheeler said he preferred the election model, but given there are only two years left in the term, it makes financial sense to appoint.
“I don’t think with the cost of (an election) it makes sense at this time. I think we should go with the process that we’ve used in the past,” Wheeler said.
Mayor Rick Dumas said appointing to fill a vacancy is a proven process.
“It’s worked well. The appointments have been very good and we’ve gone through the process where the questions were asked of the individuals. Council will then make the decision.”
Typically, he added, applicants are asked five to seven questions. Generally there have been only a couple applicants when a vacancy has occurred in the past.
“We’ve never had three or four. We’ve always had two,” Dumas said. “It made it kind of easy to go through the process. When you have three or four or five it might make it more difficult, so we’ll see what comes out of that.”
Marathon CAO Daryl Skworchinski was not available on Wednesday for comment on where the process stands.
The person chosen will hold the office for the remainder of the term, which runs out in November 2026.
Souckey, one of four councillors elected in November 2022, led the ballot with 878 votes, 165 more than his nearest competitor.
