City of Brantford Council voted against creating an elected deputy mayor position during the Committee of the Whole, Planning and Administration meeting on Tuesday, December 8, 2025.
The discussion surrounding the need for a deputy mayor has been ongoing since August, when Mayor Kevin Davis announced he used his strong mayor powers to appoint Ward 1 Councillor Rose Sicoli as Deputy Mayor of External Relations.
Following the appointment, which was communicated to the rest of Council in a memo, Ward 4 Councillor Linda Hunt requested that staff bring forward a report reviewing whether Davis should have consulted the rest of Council when making his decision, and whether he was allowed to do so under his strong mayor powers.
The Mayor, who cited various health reasons for the decision, apologized for the way he did it, and said he wasn’t opposed to acquiring more information.
Despite the City’s legal team later determining that Davis was permitted to make the appointment, councillors requested that the position be terminated.
Davis refused, saying he would be sticking by his decision and keeping Sicoli on until the end of the term.
“In my view, if this passes, it’s an overreach by the council in an area that it does not have authority,” he said during the November 18 meeting. “I’ll tell you right now, you can make the request all you want, I’m not changing my decision.”
During the most recent Committee of the Whole meeting, Ward 4 Councillor Richard Carpenter brought forward a resolution which proposed creating an elected deputy mayor position in time for the 2026 municipal election.
“The reason I brought this forward was, not because I think we should do this, but because I think we should have the debate and the discussion,” he said. “ …In my opinion, the only way to do things fairly and openly, and with transparency, is to have a public election process. Whether you vote for it or not is neither here nor there, but if we don’t have the discussion now we can’t do anything going forward for the 2026 election. …It really doesn’t matter to me which way it goes, as long as we have the discussion and we decide whether we want one or we don’t want one, or what the process should be.”
Ward 5 Councillor Mandy Samwell said that she gave the proposal a lot of thought and wouldn’t be supporting it.
“For me, the timing and the necessity of creating an elected deputy mayor position just isn’t adding up,” she explained. “Brantford has managed well for years without the extra political role, and I haven’t seen a demonstrated gap that would justify this change; mayor of the month still serves our community well and assures proper representation. Structural governance changes shouldn’t be reactionary and they shouldn’t come out of a moment or a feeling. They should come from long-term planning, community conversations and a very clear need, and I don’t think we’re there yet.”
Hunt shared similar sentiments, saying that based on a population perspective, Brantford didn’t need a deputy mayor.
“I don’t think we need to add any more cost to the taxpayers for an elected deputy mayor, and so for that reason, I won’t be supporting the resolution,” she said “But I do thank Councillor Carpenter for bringing it forward, because I do think it is an important discussion to have.”
Samwell’s wardmate, Councillor Brian Van Tilborg, said given everything that’s happened since the appointment in August, the public has made it clear that Council shouldn’t be bickering about the issue any further.
“We’re wasting a lot of time [on this] when the community wants us to deal with other things,” said Van Tilborg.
Before the vote, Ward 1 Councillor Michael Sullivan said he was on the fence but expressed concerns around the public voting in a deputy mayor who possibly wouldn’t get along with the next mayor.
The item then failed on a vote of 10-1, with Sullivan voting in favour.
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
