Richmond Hill appoints two deputy mayors

It eliminates the title of acting mayor and allows council to appoint up to two deputy mayors.

YorkRegion.com
January 2, 2019
Sheila Wang

The town of Richmond Hill appointed two deputy mayors at the first council meeting of the new term.

Richmond Hill council voted on Dec. 17 to approve a bylaw to appoint newly elected Regional Councillors Joe DiPaola and Carmine Perrelli as deputy mayors of the town of Richmond Hill for the 2018-2022 term.

DiPaola and Perrelli will fulfil the same duties and responsibilities as Mayor Dave Barrow in his absence.

The motion, moved by Ward 1 Councillor Greg Beros, eliminates the title of acting mayor and allows council to appoint up to two deputy mayors.

“Nothing changes. It’s just a different title,” Mayor Barrow said, noting there isn't any additional pay associated with the appointment.

Previously, there was one deputy mayor and one acting mayor in Richmond Hill. The deputy mayor would carry out the mayor's powers and duties and preside over meetings in his absence. The acting mayor would only take over when both the mayor and deputy mayor were not available.

Barrow made the announcement to appoint the two regional councillors as deputy mayors earlier at the inaugural meeting on Dec. 3.

“The town of Richmond Hill is quickly approaching city status, and in order to prepare for that, there is a lot more work to be done. It’s good to have two good people to work beside him carrying the role,” Perrelli said the day after the announcement at the inaugural meeting.

The new bylaw states that, in the mayor’s absence, the two regional councillors take turns every six months to exercise the mayor’s rights, starting with DiPaola.

Five councillors and the mayor voted in favour of the motion while Ward 4 Coun. David West voted against it. Ward 5 Coun. Karen Cilevitz and Ward 3 Coun. Castro Liu were absent from the meeting.

“In the new system, the system in many ways is very similar,” Councillor West said. “If we have a system in place that isn’t working as well as it should be, then of course we’d want to change that. We’re constantly looking for ways to get better, right? But in this case, I failed to see how this particular change will actually make the system clearer, easier and simpler.”

West said he attempted to introduce an amendment requesting a staff report that looks at the best practices in other municipalities, which was rejected for a technical reason.

Richmond Hill--the third largest municipality in York Region--is currently the only municipality that has two deputy mayors in place in the region.

Another amendment put forward by DiPaola was also turned down as council deliberated on this motion.

Coun. DiPaola proposed to appoint Coun. Beros as the alternate regional and local councillor who would be designated to attend regional council meetings to fill in for one of the three regional councillors, in case anyone was unable to attend.

The proposal, which seemed to have taken some council members by surprise, failed to be added to the deputy mayor motion.

The rest of council agrees as Mayor Barrow suggested considering the matter in a separate motion later.

York Regional Council approved in January 2018 that each of the nine local municipalities has the option to appoint one of its members to act as an alternate if any of their regional members are unable to attend any meeting for any reason.