B8

Tammy Scott-Wallace
Telegraph-Journal

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SUSSEX - The town's newest councillor has resigned from her position half-way through her mandate.

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Elizabeth Stuart

Effective Tuesday, Elizabeth Stuart's seat was vacated, making way for a byelection in the spring of 2010.

Stuart was not available for comment, but Mayor Ralph Carr said she resigned after moving from her hometown of Sussex to Fredericton due to personal reasons.

Stuart was elected to Sussex town council in May 2008, joining longtime councillor Shelley Bradley as the only women in the elected positions. Carr said council will declare the seat vacant at an upcoming council meeting and put the wheels in motion for a byelection to fill her seat. A full roster around the Sussex council table consists of seven councillors and one mayor.

The Sussex region was already going to be the focus of a byelection when the next one is called in May.

This fall, Sussex Corner village council's deputy mayor John Mahoney also resigned from his position after moving across the border into Sussex. According to municipal policy, elected officials must reside in the community they represent.

With two-and-a-half years to go before the next scheduled municipal election, both Sussex and Sussex Corner have the option of filling the seat through a byelection or declare the seat unnecessary. Both councils are opting for the public vote, which means notifying the vacancies to the office of the chief electoral officer to become part of the next byelection process.

Assistant chief electoral officer for Elections New Brunswick, David Owens, said around the second week of May, 2010, byelections will be held in the province. All municipalities will be notified of the date in January to ensure declarations of vacancy are made in open council and the appropriate resolution forwarded to his office by February's deadline to be placed on the schedule for the May byelection.