A decision has been made on who will replace Councillor John Jacobs in Leamington.
Jacobs died suddenly on Nov. 9, and council made the unanimous decision to have the runner up in the 2018 Municipal Election step in.
Trevor Jones finished with 2,582 votes in the election, just behind Jacobs' total of 2,992.
Mayor Hilda MacDonald says using the public's next choice from the election makes the most sense.
"We felt like it was the quickest option and also the least expensive," she says. "We have done that process before when former councillor Rick Atkin passed away and it worked for us."
Council also had the option to appoint someone to the position, but MacDonald says that wouldn't be fair to voters.
"We feel like we're taking into account the desires of the people, yes it's been two years, we just feel with COVID-19 an election is not a feasible thing to do at this point in time," she added.
A by-election would have cost a minimum of $40,000 and MacDonald says council couldn't justify the expense.
"With the losses during COVID-19, the financial losses to the municipality, $40,000 is a fair chunk of change," says MacDonald.
Administration will now reach out to Jones to see if he's still interested in the role and if he still qualifies.
If Jones isn't a viable option, administration will come back to council for direction.
MacDonald says Jones should be sworn in by the middle of December if things go as planned.