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With the sudden mid-term departure of city councillor Fabio Costante last week, his former council colleagues must decide what to do with the west-side ward now without direct political representation at city hall.
At its next meeting on July 14, councillors and mayor will opt to either appoint a replacement for Costante themselves, or hold a byelection and let residents decide.
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If council chooses the former, which hasn’t been done for 41 years, “they can appoint anyone, as long as they’re an eligible elector, over the age of 18,” city clerk Steve Vlachodimos told the Star.
A report with options for council to consider will be included in the meeting’s agenda, which will be made public on Friday.
“We could do an advertisement and solicit applications, and then council can make a decision based on that,” Vlachodimos said of one appointment option. “They can have people come to answer questions at a council meeting, and council can appoint.
“It’s up to council, but we (administration) would certainly give some options we think they may want to consider.”
The last time council appointed a replacement councillor was in 1984, when Alderman Howard McCurdy was elected to Parliament in a federal election with one year to go in his city council term. His vacated seat was filled by appointee Mike Patrick.
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If council goes with a byelection, the nomination period will last up to 60 days, Vlachodimos said, followed by a 45-day election. That could mean a byelection towards the end of October.
The next city-wide general election is a year later, in October 2026.
Windsor’s last byelection was in Ward 7 in 2020. The seat was vacant for nearly a year after Irek Kusmierczyk resigned, having won the Windsor-Tecumseh seat in the previous year’s federal election.
Voter turnout for that by-election was less than 28 per cent.
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Costante, a lawyer by profession, officially submitted his resignation on June 23 (effective June 26) to take over as chief executive officer of the Windsor Essex Community Housing Corporation.
Had he remained on council with his new job, he told the Star, “it would have created opportunities for a conflict,” and it “would have been difficult for me to do both jobs at their fullest extent.”
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Costante was first elected to represent the west side’s Ward 2 on city council in late 2018.
Should a councillor vacate his or her seat after March 31 in an election year, council would not be allowed to hold a byelection. However, it could appoint a replacement.
If a vacancy occurs within 90 days of election day, the seat remains vacant.
Ward 2 is bound by the Detroit River to the north, the rail line adjacent to Cameron Avenue to the east, and Tecumseh Road West to the south. It also juts out along Huron Church Road to the E.C. Row Expressway and Ojibway Parkway.
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Residents who want to speak with a city hall representative can still call the Ward 2 councillor’s dedicated line at 519-252-1005, Vlachodimos said. Two council secretaries within city hall administration monitor that line and “do a lot of the legwork that would normally take place.
“I assure you, we do have staff that are on call and on duty that will be monitoring and responding to any constituency concerns and inquiries,” he said.
“The mayor’s office has also offered to step in. The mayor is elected city-wide, so he represents everyone.”
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