Succession bylaw needed

Dear Mr. Editor:
I would like to express my views as our byelection mail-in ballots are being sent out to voters.
An election already has taken place. Mr. Perry won. Mr. Hamilton said he did not even campaign for the office (during the election last November), but would now like to sit on council.
Mr. Hamilton let his name stand for office last fall, but didn’t campaign, and was defeated at the polls by Mr. Perry.
Why does this new election suck? If one does not care enough to run a campaign, and gets defeated, why should the candidate who wanted the job, campaigned for the position, and defeated the candidate who didn’t care, have to go through another costly and unnecessary campaign against that candidate.
Why? Because the special interest club does not want the public’s choice, Mr. Perry. Why? Because Mr. Perry does not, in my opinion, fit in with those members on council who wish to direct their business behind closed doors.
It’s tax time folks. Taxes are going up yet we can spend thousands of dollars on a byelection to overturn Mr. Perry, who was our next-highest vote-getter in last November’s election. Council doesn’t want Mr. Perry—and now want you to change your vote to another candidate of their choosing.
Council then will say to you, “We told you to change your vote, you did the right thing, this election was good for you, it is what you really wanted. Mr/Ms. voter, step up, shut up, and everything will be hunky dory.”
Well, folks, I have had enough of this—and the $1 million given to the clinic that we have no idea as to the full transparency of those funds to this date. Those documents are still hidden from public view.
This is not an open community where every citizen matters—and that is the crux of the problem.
We need to operate as a community, not as a community chest for special interest candidates or players. We have to retake this town, give it back to all sectors of our community, so everyone is looked after in an honest, equal, and transparent way.
I’m sure the mail-in ballot will be a topic of interest in this byelection (a point that will be raised later). A process I consider to be seriously flawed, open to serious questions, and lacking public scrutiny and accountability.
I would encourage all citizens to consider forcing this council to return to a vote at the polls—one day of voting—and it would be over. This would eliminate the questions surrounding the mail-in ballot and its integrity.
In closing, the first runner-up (Mr. Perry) automatically should be appointed to a council vacancy. If Mr. Hamilton would have been first runner-up, then it should have been him.
A bylaw on succession must be implemented so this issue need not surface again.
Thank you,
Bill Krukoski
Fort Frances, Ont.