The town’s newest councillor Andrew Niven approached Lord Mayor Gary Zalepa with the idea of joining council, The Lake Report has learned.

Niven had first read about the vacancy in a press release from the town, he told The Lake Report.

“It caught me by surprise that he was resigning,” Niven said.

The media release published on Sept. 13 announced Ruller’s departure from Niagara-on-the-Lake town council and mentioned the vacancy that needed to be filled within 60 days.

“Reading that there could be an appointment, I had just emailed Gary to tell him I had been interested if that’s a path council was willing to take,” Niven said.

“He did reach out to me and express some interest,” Zalepa told The Lake Report Wednesday evening.

Around a week later, Zalepa emailed to confirmed with Niven that he would be interested.

After the email from Zalepa, Niven did not receive any updates on the vacant position until council announced his appointment during a special council meeting on Oct. 16.

“I was watching it just like everyone else and they had said my name,” he said.

“I guess he had reached out to a few different people — I don’t really know the details of that — but it was really just that simple,” Niven said.

Zalepa told The Lake Report that one of those other candidates was “more obvious,” so they were reached out to personally.

“The report identified the next in line from council election, so obviously I reached out to that individual because I wanted to gauge the level of interest. That was a call I made myself,” Zalepa said.

Council’s options for filling the position included a byelection, choosing a candidate from the 2022 election list or council putting out a call for candidates, Zalepa told The Lake Report in an interview following Niven’s appointment.

Before Niven’s position was announced, Zalepa confirmed that several community members were contacted about the position, including ninth-place finisher in the 2022 council election, Allan Bisback.

Niven was appointed with only Couns. Gary Burroughs and Sandra O’Connor protesting in favour of Bisback.

Niven’s contribution to the community as both the chair of the NOTL Chamber of Commerce and Tourism NOTL, a director of marketing at Konzelmann Estate Winery, and his interest in town politics contributed to him being selected, Zalepa said in a past interview following the announcement.

Niven has since stepped down from his role on the Chamber of Commerce and Tourism NOTL to prioritize duties on council, he said.

“Andrew’s been a great contributor already, prior to his appointment,” Zalepa said.

Zalepa is glad to see someone who has been involved and taken an interest in council be appointed to the seat, he said.

“He was involved with out (strategic plan) and quite significantly with the tourism master plan work. I think those definitely show competencies, knowledge and ability,” Zalepa said.

Niven ran for municipal council in 2018, placing eleventh. He did not run in the 2022 municipal election.

However Niven says he’s been interested in serving on council.

“I’ve been going to council meetings for a long time,” Niven said.

Niven sat at the back of the room for many council meetings prior to Ruller’s departure.

During his first committee of the whole meeting on Oct. 22, Niven expressed his excitement to be joining as a member of council.

“Looking ahead, I want to emphasize my commitment to working collaboratively with council staff, stakeholders and most importantly staying connected with residents, business and community groups,” he said during the meeting.

“Ensuring that their voices are heard during the decision making process is a priority for me,” Niven said.