A longtime political volunteer who currently works in communications with Children's Mental Health Ontario has been appointed as the next councillor for Ward 33, though his time in the role will be limited.

Jonathan Tsao was appointed to fill the seat following a special meeting of city council on Tuesday.

A total of 18 candidates had registered to be considered for the role and a third ballot was required before Tsao was able to secure the necessary majority of votes. He ended up getting 23 votes, including the support of Mayor John Tory, compared to 18 for runner-up Divya Nayak.

“I have been politically active for years so it is an incredible honour to be able to be the voice of my neighbours for the next six months and I am looking forward to working on their behalf,” Tsao told reporters following the vote. “I am not coming in with an agenda. What I want to do, the very first thing, is to get back to the community, talk to them and say ‘What is it you want me to focus on over the next six months?’ That will be my focus.”

Tsao currently serves as the director of strategic relations and communications at Children's Mental Health Ontario, though he said that he plans to take a six-month leave of absence in order to serve out the remainder of this term of council, which ends on Nov. 30.

He said that he put his name forward largely out of a desire to serve a community that he has long called home.

“It is an honour to serve and when I saw this opportunity come up, the chance to be able to give back to my community and my neighbours meant a lot,” he said.

Vacancy created by resignation of Shelley Carroll

The vacancy on council opened up after Shelley Carroll resigned on April 5 in order to run for the provincial Liberal party in the riding of Don Valley North.

Following Carroll’s departure, council opted to fill the seat by appointment rather than a byelection since the next municipal election is scheduled for Oct. 22.

It is the third time this term that council has chosen to appoint a replacement for a councillor rather than holding a byelection. Ward 44’s Jim Hart and Ward 28’s Lucy Troisi were also appointed to their roles.

Asked about the appointment process earlier on Tuesday morning, Tory said that it “does not bring out the best of city council as a whole.”

“I would have no trouble with the idea of looking at a system that would create byelections up to a certain time. After that, the discussion you would have to have is how long is too long to have a given part of the city unrepresented in terms of a vote in the city council,” he said.

During today’s meeting, each registered candidate was given an opportunity to address council for up to five minutes. Members of council were also given an opportunity to question the candidates.

Tsao will technically hold the role until the end of November, though there are no scheduled council meetings after July due to the municipal election.