Trevor Bazinet was officially appointed as mayor for the Town of Goderich at a special meeting this morning.
The former deputy mayor will fill the seat vacated by Myles Murdock, who passed away last week after a battle with cancer.
The vote to appoint Bazinet to the position of mayor was unanimous. Bazinet says that now leaves the position of deputy mayor and the second seat on county council open.
“We have two options and we're going to maybe make a decision on our Sept. 5 council meeting, but that is to either adopt from within or go with a by-election," said Bazinet. "I have a feeling that we're going to adopt within like we did for myself as Mayor. What that will do is then open up another seat on the council role.”
Last year, Murdock was named acting mayor, from the deputy mayor's role, after the sudden passing of his predecessor John Grace.
He was then elected mayor in the 2022 Municipal Election.
Bazinet says those election results may factor in to how they fill the current vacancy.
“There were some comments in regards to, well we just had an election so why wouldn't we just consider the voter results and who was next in line," he said. "For example we have five council members, who was the sixth in the results? And maybe approach that person that was next in line.”
Council will discuss how to fill the now vacant deputy mayor's seat at their next regular meeting, which is scheduled for September 5 at 4 p.m.