New council kicks off with long night of board, committee appointments

A day after they beingsworn in, London's new mayor and council got down to the sometimes gruelling business of running a city on Tuesday night.

Meeting for the first time in council chambers as the Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee, Mayor Ed Holder and 14 councillors spent much of the night approving and voting on appointees both citizens and councillors to various city boards and committees.

In many cases, council was able to reach a consensus andsettle on their picks through acclamation. In a few instances, names were even withdrawn to avoid a contested vote and keep the agenda from getting too bogged down.

When that didn't happen, council voted on the appointments using a ranked-choice balloting, which required the kind of meticulous counting that led to their elections in October.

Toward the end of the nightthe committee unanimously voted in favour of looking at changes to how Londoners apply, and are elected to, city boards and commissions.

Key council appointments decided last night include:

Civic Works: Phil Squire (chair), Steve Lehman, Shawn Lewis, Elizabeth Peloza, Michael van Holst, Ed Holder.

Community and Protective Services: Lewis, Mo Salih, Maureen Cassidy (chair), Steven Hillier, Peloza.

Corporate Services: Josh Morgan, Arielle Kayabaga, Jesse Helmer, Paul Van Meerbergen, Hillier.

Planning and Environment: Anna Hopkins (chair), Stephen Turner, Cassidy, Helmer Squire.

London Public Library Board (council appointments): Peloza, Kayabaga.

London Tourism Board (council appointments): Van Holst, Lewis.

Police Services Board (council appointments): Holder,Helmer, Salih.

London and Middlesex Housing Corporation (council appointments): Kayabaga.

London Hydro (council appointment): Van Holst.

London Transit Commission (council appointment): Helmer, Squire.

Middlesex-London Health Unit: Cassidy, Peloza.

Rapid Transit Implementation Working Group:Cassidy, Helmer, Hillier, Hopkins, Kayabaga, Lehman, Peloza, Squire, van Holst.

Other notes:

• Longtime London city councillor Harold Usher, who chose not to seek re-election in the fall election, was nominated to the Western University board of governors.
• Former Thames Valley school board chair and recent Ward 8 candidate Matt Reid was appointed to the board of health.
• Susan Toth will return as a citizen representative on the Police Services Board
• Tanya Park, the former Ward 13 councillor who lost her mayoralty bid in October, was appointed to the London Transit Commission board.

The first full council meeting will happen tonight (Wednesday)at 5 p.m.