Administration in LaSalle is recommending appointment by application to fill a vacant council seat.
Town staff will be presenting a report to council on Tuesday, May 27 with several options how to fill the seat.
The options include appointments or hold a byelection.
Some appointment options include appointing the runner up from the last election, appointment by application or a direct appointment by council.
Council declared the seat vacant at its May 13 meeting after the passing of longtime councillor Sue Desjarlais, who passed away on April 21 from an undisclosed illness.
Desjarlais served the town for nearly 20 years after she was first elected to council in 2006.
Mayor Crystal Meloche says administration was working on a policy for the town prior to Desjarlais passing.
She says a lot of thought and effort went into the report but it will be up to council to decide what makes most sense.
"There is some draw backs with the byelection obviously," she says. "As much as its the most democratic, it's also the most costly. It's the exact same cost as running a regular election. It's very time consuming and we also worry about what the voter turnout will be like for just that single position."
Meloche says the seat could be filled within the next few weeks, later this summer or later this year depending on which option council goes with.
"You can appoint someone directly, you can do an application process or you can appoint the next person in line from the last election," says Meloche. "Right now administration really is focusing on more of an application base process just because we are well over two and a half years from that last election."
She says she's not sure which option council will go with.
"I've heard different things from different members, so it really depends on what council votes on Tuesday," says Meloche. "They may choose to just appoint the next person in line in which case then it would be even sooner and we would have someone in place within a few weeks, if we go with the application process, by summer we should have someone filling that role."
Meloche believes there are draw backs to every single option that's being proposed but council has to decide what's the best one for the town right now moving forward.
Based on the report, the cost of a byelection is more than $100,000 and would be held on Monday October 20, 2025.
The next municipal election is October 26, 2026.