Belleville City Council officially approved a motion to appoint Margaret Seu to its vacant council seat at its meeting on Tuesday.
The seat was left vacant after Tyler Allsopp won the Bay of Quinte provincial by-election on September 19 to become MPP for the region.
At its meeting Tuesday, council was presented with two options. They could hold a by-election or go through an appointment process to fill the seat.
It was noted that if council approved a by-election for the seat, that the nomination day would take place potentially in January 2025 with a voting day taking place potentially in February 2025.
The report also noted that the cost of the by-election would have been similar to the cost of the 2022 municipal election, with the cost of that election being approximately $200,000.
Within the choice for an appointment process were the options to either appoint a candidate from the 2022 municipal election, call for applications to determine an appointment, or a direct appointment by council similar to what was seen in the City of Quinte West in 2023.
Council ultimately decided to move forward with appointing a candidate from the 2022 municipal election, that candidate being Margaret Seu.
Seu finished in seventh place in Ward 1 in the 2022 Belleville municipal election, just one spot out of the top six who were voted in.
The motion was passed unanimously in a recorded vote.
Seu now has to confirm her interest in accepting the appointment while also meeting the qualifications of the 2022 Candidate’s Guide.
Speaking with Quinte News in September, Seu had expressed that she would accept the nomination.
