It was razor close, but city council voted Tuesday to reappoint Frances Caldarelli to the police services board, edging out former PSB chair Gerry Lougheed Jr.
Lougheed and Caldarelli were among about 10 candidates for the board, a number whittled to three after the first round of voting at Tom Davies Square.
A third ballot left just the two names, and Lougheed and Caldarelli each received the same number of votes after a fourth ballot. A final vote was held in which Caldarelli won. Had that vote also been tied, both names would have been put into a hat and the winner picked randomly.
After the vote, Caldarelli said she was grateful for the support and said Lougheed also would have been a great choice. She just wasn't ready to leave the board, she said, where she has been appointed to several provincial policing agencies.
“I still have so much I want to do,” Caldarelli said.
While Caldarelli was on hand for the vote, Lougheed was not at city hall. Earlier in the day, he told Sudbury.com that he was hoping to resume the work that was interrupted when he was forced to resign from the board in 2016 after being charged in the Sudbury byelection scandal.
The charges against him were dismissed in October 2017, with the judge saying the case should never have come to trial. Lougheed said the verdict vindicated him and now he wanted to get back to working on police issues.
“I feel there's still lots we need to do locally and provincially with regard to better policing,” Lougheed said.
“I think our police force is one of the best qualities and human resources we have as a community. We have, I think, one of the most progressive police services in Ontario, or in Canada.”
“If (city council) sees fit that I should serve in that capacity again, as I told you, I think it would be an honour and something that I very much appreciate doing. If they decide someone else is better qualified, then I wish that person the best of luck.”
