City council fills vacant Trinity-Spadina & Etobicoke-Lakeshore seats
Posted July 7, 2014 6:05 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Two empty seats at Toronto city council have been filled after a special council meeting on Monday.
Council voted to appoint bureaucrat Ceta Ramkhalawansingh to fill the vacancy in Trinity-Spadina after Adam Vaughan won the federal by-election on June 30.
Ramkhalawansingh, who has worked for the city on social justice and diversity issues for years, came to city hall with a letter from 100 people and groups from the Trinity-Spadina area endorsing her to be the new councillor.
Following the vote Coun. Mike Layton said council made the right decision
“We’re all very familiar with her from coming out and speaking on issues at Toronto and East York community council,” Layton told 680News. “We know she’s heavily involved in the neighbourhood and that’s what we need in a representative – someone that’s familiar with city hall but also very familiar with the neighbourhood.”
Ramkhalawansingh will be the interim councillor for Trinity-Spadina until the end of the Nov. 30 term.
Former Peel Regional Police chief Robert Lunney was also in the running for the seat.
Meanwhile, after hearing from 14 candidates vying for Peter Milczyn’s Ward 5 seat, Toronto council voted to appoint lawyer James Maloney. Milczyn was elected as a Liberal MPP in the June 12 provincial election.
Maloney received 24 of 41 votes in the second round against former city councillor Agnes Potts who received 15 votes and Milczyn’s former aide Kinga Surma, who received two votes.
Speaking with the media after the vote, Maloney said he has no aspirations for re-election in the fall but is excited about this unique position to serve his community.
“I have a legal career which I’ve spent 18 years building up, it’s a hard thing to transition out of but I still have a strong sense of public duty,” he explained. “It’s four months. I can do this job and give back to the community.”
Although the municipal election will be held on Oct. 27, the interim councillors will serve the remainder of the term until Nov. 30.
The candidates were given five minutes to speak in front of council before voting began.
