SIDEBAR: London's curse of the one term mayor continues
The Forest City continues its unintentional streak of having a mayor not stick around for more than one term
Welcome to another issue of #munipoil Matters, where you can find the latest updates on what’s happening in the often under-reported area of municipal elections, politics and governance happening in the local councils spread across Canada and beyond.
If you're in the London or surrounding area, you may have heard by now: London Mayor Ed Holder, who was first elected to the job in 2018, has confirmed he will not be seeking a second term.
Holder is a former Conservative MP and cabinet minister, representing the riding of London West from 2008 until 2015, when he lost his seat to the Liberal Trudeau landslide. He then ran for mayor in 2018, in London's first and so far only ranked ballot election in Canadian history, beating Paul Paolatto after 13 rounds of voting.
Paolatto is now running in London West provincially for the PC Party in the June 2 election.
Holder's decision makes him the third mayor in London's recent history to step down after one term. His predecessors Matt Brown and Joe Fontana either only served one term…or in Fontana’s case, didn't even finish one.
One would have to go back to 2006 to former mayor Anne Marie DeCicco-Best to find an incumbent getting reelected to London's top job. That year, DeCicco-Best defeated Fontana by double digits, only for Fontana to win the rematch in 2010 by just under 3 percentage points.
Fontana, himself also a former federal MP who represented London North Centre under the Liberal Party banner, was charged in 2012 with breach of trust by a public officer, fraud under $5,000 and uttering forged documents in connection to his use of government funds for his son’s wedding.
He was found guilty by the Ontario Superior Court in June 2014, and resigned as mayor a few days later.
Matt Brown, who entered London City Council in 2010 representing Ward 7, ran for mayor four years later on the heels of Fontana’s downfall, winning the open race with 57% of the vote. Brown’s time as mayor was rather uneventful, until June of 2016 when it was revealed that he and then deputy mayor Maureen Cassidy had an extramarital affair.
Brown temporarily stepped aside from his duties following the affair’s disclosure, returning to work about a week later. In September of 2016, CBC reported that he had separated from his wife and in April of 2018 announced he would not run for a second term. Cassidy continues to be a City Councillor, representing Ward 5.
With Holder, at least according to his press release, he’s leaving relatively unscathed by political controversies. After a stint a a federal MP then as mayor of the city, especially during the trying times handling city business during the COVID-19 pandemic, Mayor Holder’s decision to enter post-political life is not surprising.
It just so happens that he now joins a growing group of former chief magistrates of “The Forest City” that have not managed to serve for more than four years. Will the person who becomes London’s next mayor stick around long enough to carve out a legacy that residents will remember them by?
DICLAIMER: An earlier version of this story mistakenly referred DeCicco-Best as “Anne DeCicco-Best”. We regret the error.
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