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Byelection a costly way to fill city’s job vacancy

Why not fill the vacancy by approaching the candidate from the 2014 election that finished ninth?
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To the editor,

Re: Armstrong wins election in a landslide, July 11.

With the resignation of Wendy Pratt from city council, we were subjected to a byelection that probably cost thousands with advertising and staffing of 10 voting sites.

Nanaimo does not have a ward system as some municipalities do, so why not fill the vacancy by approaching the candidate from the 2014 election that finished in ninth place and just outside of being elected. If that individual was no longer interested, then go to the one who finished 10th and so on. They expressed an interest to be on council at that time and narrowly missed out with insufficient votes.

There were at least 13 candidates from 2014 what amassed more votes than the 3,611 votes that has put Sheryl Armstrong on council. I am not opposed to her victory, but if next month another council member is forced to resign for health reasons or a serious accident, do we as taxpayers have to incur this same kind of expense every time?

As a former business owner, when I was hiring for a position in my company, if the candidate I selected didn’t work out for any reason, I always went to the next best resume to ask if they were still interested. Seems like common sense to me, but I guess that’s why I’m not in politics.

Ian Andexser, Nanaimo