When Point Edward Coun. Lauren Drury recently resigned, council appointed her replacement.
Council picked Arianna Noctor, who finished 32 votes behind Drury for the fourth and final council seat in last October’s election, said Mayor Bev Hand.
It’s the same approach village council took in 2013, when the late Dick Kirkland stepped down as mayor amid health concerns, and again in 2016 when Kirkland’s successor, Larry McKenzie, resigned for personal reasons, including to spend more time with his family.
“It’s a process we’ve followed in the past,” said Hand, who stepped up from deputy mayor to succeed McKenzie in 2016, and was acclaimed mayor in 2018 and 2022.
Under the Municipal Act, councils can fill vacancies by appointing someone who accepts the office, or holding a byelection.
Noctor, 29, was council’s unanimous choice, Hand said. She had knocked on doors, taken part in a candidates night, and “demonstrated the interest and done the work,” during her campaign, continued her involvement with the village afterwards, including volunteering on the committee of adjustment, Hand said.
“An easy decision because we had a viable person,” Hand said, noting the cost and disruption of a byelection also factored in.
Drury announced she was stepping down June 8, after taking a job running an Ottawa restaurant.
“The pub is taking up the vast majority of my time and will be for the foreseeable future,” Drury said in an email to council. “Because of that, I do not feel I can give 100 per cent to council, and in turn our residents what they deserve.”
She said she never imagined a year ago, when she ran for council, that she wouldn’t be living in Point Edward full time, and offered to help with the transition in any way she could.
Noctor, a St. Clair Child and Youth Services board member, Planet Fitness general manager, University of Wilfrid Laurier law and society graduate and mother of two, ages one and five, said she’s excited and “grateful for the opportunity to represent the interests of the people in Point Edward.”
The political newcomer moved to Point Edward from Sarnia as a teen and fell in love with the community, she said.
“It just has a strong sense of community, which is something that you don’t really get in most communities,” she said.
Aims for her term include residential and commercial growth, and prioritizing social connection, she said.
That could mean more community events and youth engagement, she said.
She will be sworn in June 27, she said.