Rob MacIntosh resigns as councillor of Ward 2

Coun. Rob MacIntosh has officially resigned from his position on Quinte West Council. QNet News Archive

By Jenna Leslie

BELLEVILLE – Rob MacIntosh has resigned as the councillor of Ward 2 for Quinte West Council to accept an assistant manager position with Trent Port Marina and Facilities.

An employee with the city cannot also sit on council, according to MacIntosh, so his resignation was a requirement for the job.

MacIntosh said he learned a lot about dealing with people in his three years as councillor.

“People want to have a voice and they want to know that you’re the one that they can come to and get questions answered and that’s what I realized when I came on,” said MacIntosh.

Council confirmed the seat is now vacant at Tuesday night’s meeting in Trenton.

Coun. Karen Sharpe recommended that the vacant seat be filled by Garry Quinn, a runner-up for the spot in the 2014 election.

“Quinn is on the committee of adjustment, he works with Our TMH, has a strong community and finance background, and again is next in the poll to be processed,” said Sharpe.

MacIntosh said that the choice for his replacement was clear and mentioned that Quinn was only three votes behind him in the election.

“Through the last three years, Garry’s been part of Our TMH and I know he’s done some wonderful work there so it was definitely an obvious choice,” he said.

Quinn said he did not know he was going to be recommended for the position until the announcement at Tuesday’s meeting.

Council could have also decided to a byelection for the position or opted not to fill the position at all this term, according to Quinn.

However, with eight months still left in the term and lots of work left to do, Coun. Sharpe said it was important to fill the seat.

“I wasn’t sure until the meeting last night whether or not they would go with that option so I was quite surprised and pleased with it because I had indicated that I would be interested in filling the position so I was quite happy,” said Quinn.

This is not the first time that council has opted to fill a vacant spot with the next-in-line, according to Coun. Sharpe.

When Coun. Doug Whitney passed away in 2015, Bob Wannamaker filled the vacant seat, Sharpe said.

Quinn said he looks forward to representing his ward.

“I’m a strong advocate of Sidney Ward or Ward 2 and I certainly want to make sure that Ward 2 receives a good proportion of the revenue that is spent in Quinte West,” said Quinn.

The decision is to be passed in the next council meeting on March 5.