Tyler Allsopp, owner of Doug’s Bicycle Sales & Service, will replace Pat Culhaneo council. Photo by Tyler Allsopp on Facebook.
BELLEVILLE – After more than a month of back-and-forth discussion, Belleville city council has finally filled the Ward 1 seat with 28-year-old Tyler Allsopp.
Allsopp finished seventh in the 2018 municipal election. The top six candidates were elected to council.
Allsopp’s name as the replacement councillor for Pat Culhane was originally brought to council on Dec. 14. Coun. Culhane passed away in November.
But at that meeting in December, Allsopp did not get the council seat after the vote to appoint him ended in a 4-4 vote tie.
Council the decided at that same meeting to form an ad hoc committee headed by Coun. Kelly McCaw to suggest a replacement for Culhane.
But on Jan. 20, council refused to receive the report from the committee. In the report, the committee suggested that Jennifer McTavish, the former membership supervisor at the YMCA, be appointed to council. Before that vote on Jan. 20, Mayor Mitch Panciuk made an impassioned speech calling for council to use the opportunity to choose a more diverse option for the open spot. But in a 5-3 vote, council rejected to even consider the option.
That led to Monday’s revisiting of the Allsopp decision after Coun. Garnet Thompson motioned to bring it back to the table.
Thompson cited an influx of public input as his reason for reconsidering their earlier decision. As for diversity, he said it’s not entirely up to the council.
“We don’t have that choice, even during an election. The people have that choice,” he said.
Other councillors echoed this sentiment.
Coun. Bill Sandison noted a significant amount of communication from the public. “The message that was constant throughout those emails and those phone calls was that it was about having their vote count and respecting their participation in the election process.”
“Democracy can be loud, as we’ve heard from our constituents over the last five weeks,” noted Coun. Ryan Williams, “But democracy should never be optional.”
Coun. Chris Malette noted that much of the process to reach this decision was gruelling. He said, “I told the council and the city that I dreaded that meeting because of what it was going to put this council and this city through, and I think we’ve just seen the last two months, or the last month at least, that it’s not covered us in glory, let’s put it that way.”
Coun. Kelly McCaw was the only one to vote against Allsopp’s appointment who chaired the ad hoc committee tasked with putting forward potential candidates to fill the seat.
She said she was disappointed in the way that the community has treated women throughout this process.
“I would argue that change is tomorrow, not now in the city of Belleville, and we all know that tomorrow never comes.”
Even so, she said that she didn’t harbour any ill will towards Allsopp.
“It’s not a personal decision, but rather I would consider it a business decision, and Mr. Allsopp need not suggest that I have any animus towards him because that simply isn’t the case.”
Mayor Mitch Panciuk, who originally voted not to appoint Allsopp in December, changed his position Monday.
“While some want to say that this should be an easy decision, you know, it’s only an easy decision if you choose to ignore other points of view and just consider your own personal decision,” he said.
He went on to say that he believes Allsopp is qualified for the position on council.
“I have been clear from the very beginning that it was never about Tyler Allsopp for me. He is a pleasant, intelligent, and well-spoken individual who I recommended to many people that they should vote for in 2018.”
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