Two city staff members have been identified as potential election officers for the October 15, 2022, municipal election.
At the January 18 committee of the whole meeting, corporate officer Chris Jackson outlined the appointments, which council will have to vote on.
“What we need to do is get the process started,” said Jackson. “The first thing is the appointment of a chief election officer and a deputy chief election officer. The corporate officer, typically, will be the chief election officer, and we’re looking at a deputy with [executive assistant] Jessica Lefort. She will be taking over some of the duties of [deputy corporate officer] Malonie Shaffer because Malonie is retiring this year.”
Councillor and committee chair Maggie Hathaway asked what the process would be if somebody outside of city employment wanted the position.
Jackson said he didn’t recommend it, partly because the city would have to pay for the position, whereas he is not paid any extra for the responsibility.
“You’d probably be looking at another $40,000 or so,” said Jackson. “If I felt I needed the assistance, what I would probably do is contract out the deputy position. We are contracting out for some help for the election.
“There are businesses that do it. There are consultants that run elections, but it would be an additional cost.”
Council will vote on the positions at the February 3 meeting.
