Monday’s surprise resignation of deputy mayor and budget chief Sean Lawlor on Monday creates a new dynamic around the council table at city hall.
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Tanya Vrebosch will be anointed as deputy mayor at Monday’s city council meeting.
She is also expected to take over as head of the general government committee which means she will be the city’s new budget boss.
She will vacate the chair of engineering and public works as a result.
Fellow councillor Chris Mayne is expected to move to that role.
Vrebosch and Lawlor clashed openly at times and the former deputy mayor's approach to budget talks raised the hackles of some who questioned his communication during the process. Vrebosch is well-liked among city staff.
"I'm very excited to be taking on the challenge," says Vrebosch. "It's actually surreal. I had to go sit by myself to try to digest what happened."
She hopes the changes make the process smoother.
"For the last two budgets we haven't really had that direction," says Vrebosch. "The leadership was not there. We never knew where we were headed, we were all kind of all over the place."
Expect debate around the table to be less heated, but there are still issues to be worked out to get the 1.5% number council is targeting, not the least of which will be the debate over reducing firefighter staffing to save money and the resulting cuts to service.
That discussion was pushed back to the community services committee last Monday for further consideration.
The candidate with the highest vote total among the 10 elected is given the deputy mayor's chair.
Vrebosch finished with the third most votes, but the two who finished ahead of her are now gone from the council table.
Lawlor became deputy mayor in 2012 when Peter Chirico moved over to become managing director of community services.
Sarah Campbell, who had the 11th-highest vote total in the 2010 was named to the vacancy left by Chrico’s departure.
"(Lawlor) served our city very well," said North Bay mayor Al McDonald. "And I want to wish him all the best in the future."
Vrebosch was caught off guard by Lawlor's bombshell.
Many thought he was set to announce he was ready to test the political waters at another level.
Instead, he and his family are headed west for what he called a business opportunity there.
"As soon as he said it my mouth dropped open and my stomach was in knots. I was honestly shaking."
McDonald expressed confidence in his new deputy mayor.
"The role comes with a lot of responsibility. There's no question there's a learning curve," he said.
"I think she's going to do a great job."
Council has several options to fill the current vacant seat.
A by-election could be called, but that seems unlikely.
Although anyone can be appointed to council, the most probable scenario would be to tap the 12th-place finisher in the 2010 election.
That would be Mark King, who is also a member of the North Bay Taxpayers Association.
The decision must be made within 60 days.
"It is a council decision," said McDonald. "But, I support taking the next person in line."
The name Vrebosch is not unkown to local politics in our area. Bill Vrebosch, Tanya’s father is the current mayor of East Ferris and has represented the council in one position or another since the late 1970s.
In addition, son Bill Vrebosch Jr. ran in the 2010 municipal election in Toronto, but was not elected.
"The first call I made was to my father," she said. "I will take the role very seriously and I will do my best. It's a whole different world for me."
