The candidate who would have been appointed to Belleville City Council, had council chosen to select the person who finished just out of the running for a seat in the 2018 local election, believes council should reconsider its decision to appoint an ad-hoc committee to recommend a person to fill the position.
Appearing on CJBQ’s Lorne Brooker Show today (Wednesday), Tyler Allsopp said it’s become more and more obvious from feedback in local media, social media, and personal feedback to him that council made the wrong decision on the issue and that council should reconsider the issue.
Allsopp wrote an open letter to residents and to council which can be seen on his Facebook page saying just that.
Addressing rumours that Mayor Mitch Panciuk and three other councillors (McCaw, Kelly, Sandison) voted against appointing him did so because they believed he would oppose any motion brought forward by the mayor, Allsopp said he had no animosity toward the mayor and would vote yay or nay depending on whether a decision would be best for the residents of Belleville or not.
Two-thirds of council would have to vote in favour of a reconsideration of any decision made by it previously.
That would mean at least six members of council would have to agree to reconsider.
Meanwhile, Mayor Panciuk joined the show immediately following Allsopp and stated again that he had nothing against the candidate and would welcome him on council.
However, Panciuk stressed that for him the decision was all about gender equality on council. “Having one woman and eight men on council is not something I want. It’s not right.”
The mayor also reminded people that although the decision has been controversial and there’s been a lot of pushback, he’s also received feedback supporting his position and the decision to form a committee to make a recommendation.
“There’s room to compromise on this issue. A compromise would mean both sides moving off their positions somewhat but that can happen. I’ve tried to set up a meeting with councillors to further discuss the issue but Councillor (Paul) Carr couldn’t make it due to responsibilities at his work. The offer is there. Unfortunately there’s been too much bullying against people who voted against the ad-hoc committee. That is unhelpful and wrong and we need to turn the temperature down on this issue.”
Panciuk also said he never has and never would tell people how to vote on an issue.
Council’s next regular meeting will be virtual and held on January 11.
