City of Morden voters are headed back to the polls for a by-election to fill a vacant seat on council.
The City announced last week the Councillor Florian Lassnig has resigned his position.
Lassnig shares that he made the decision to step back from the role he was elected to last fall because he and his family are planning to move out of the area.
If it were a move to a neighbouring community, he wouldn’t technically be required to resign his seat, so long as he was still able to meet attendance requirements.
But Lassnig told the Voice he’s preparing to move to Austria in the new year—a bit too far of a commute to continue to effectively represent Morden residents.
While he didn’t feel he’d served long enough to take credit for too many accomplishments during his time in office, Lassnig stressed that “the experience with council and colleagues was a great learning experience.”
Mayor Brandon Burley noted Lassnig will certainly be missed around the council table.
“He brought a lot of vim and vigor and excitement to the role,” the mayor said, sharing that Lassnig actually began attending council meetings as a spectator a year before he was elected so he could come to the job well-versed on the work of council. “His passion for the community was really quite evident.
“Just the respect he had with the community—I think most people who know him, love him. That speaks to his character, to him as a person.”
The City of Morden is still working out the details of the by-election, but Burley said they expect it will take place in early December.
“We really want to stay out of the way of the provincial election and not conflate the two,” he said. “And we also want to make sure that there’s sufficient time for people to examine their candidacy, to think about perhaps running in this by-election.
“Hopefully we can onboard some of that same enthusiasm and excitement for our community that we’re losing.”
He urges potential candidates to give serious thought as to why they feel they’re a good fit to serve the community on council.
“Make sure you know why you’re doing it,” he said. “Makes sure that the reasons are sufficient to keep you excited about the role and keep you enthusiastic about continuing. There are as many downs as ups, and sometimes more than the other.
“Come and be ready to build. People who come with one issue that they just want to see done, this is not the right role for you. You need to want to come and try to make our city a better place for everyone.
“We want to be a council that is diverse and accepting of a wide variety of stakeholders and views,” Burley added, urging potential candidates to speak with him or any other member of council if they want to learn more about what the job entails, or stop by one of the monthly council meetings to see it in action.
Morden city council currently includes Burley, Deputy Mayor Gordon Maddock, and councillors Doug Frost, Sheldon Friesen, Nancy Penner, and Garry Hiebert.
