Can this Grade 4 teacher heal Algoma Public Health?

Marchy Bruni is out as chair of Algoma Public Health.

Asked this week by Ontario Health Minister Eric Hoskins to step down, the Ward 5 city councillor submitted a letter of resignation that was cited at the beginning of Wednesday night's APH board meeting.

Bruni did not attend the meeting.

Board members then chose Lee Mason, an elementary school teacher, to replace Bruni.

Mason (shown) was born and raised in Echo Bay.

A two-term councillor in the Township of Macdonald, Meredith and Aberdeen Additional, Mason was not re-elected in last fall's municipal election.

"One of the things I had wanted to do, whether I was successful or not, was to fill the vacancy on Algoma Public Health," he told SooToday.

On the APH board, Mason represents 11 municipalities: Town of Bruce Mines, Village of Hilton Beach and the Townships of Hilton, Jocelyn, Johnson, Laird, MacDonald, Meredith and Aberdeen Additional, Plummer Additional, Prince, St. Joseph and Tarbutt and Tarbutt Additional.

He teaches Grades 4, 5 and 6 at Arthur Henderson Public School in Bruce Mines.

"Politics is part of our curriculum. It's something that's always interested me," Mason tells SooToday.

Two provincial representatives also resigned last night from the APH board: Janet Blake and Debby Kirby.

The health minister also asked Wawa Mayor Ron Rody to resign but Rody's letter of resignation was described as "still pending" by Dr. Penny Sutcliffe, APH's acting medical officer of health.

Ian Frazier, representing the City of Sault Ste. Marie, was chosen last night as vice chair, replacing Blake.

Mayoral showdown defused

An anticipated showdown between Sault Mayor Christian Provenzano and the health board was defused by Hoskins' release this week of the provincial governance assessment of APH.

Provenzano attended last night's meeting and said most of his unanswered questions about the hiring of Shaun Rootenberg had been addressed by the assessment.

Rootenberg, who served time at Beaver Creek Institution in Gravenhurst after pleading guilty to multiple counts of fraud involving more than $2 million, was hired at APH because of a significant failure in management, Provenzano said.

"It was very clear, after I read the report, that the board wasn't given sufficient information at the time of that hire."

"It's clear to me that the hiring of Mr. Rootenberg was largely the responsibility of the former medical officer of health. Dr. Barker, frankly in my opinion, didn't discharge her responsibilities properly," the mayor told last night's APH meeting.

Provenzano thanked the board members who voluntarily resigned yesterday, indicating they "did the right thing."

In other news, after a closed-door meeting last night, the APH board ratified a new collective agreement that was approved by its nurses on June 15.

(PHOTO: Echo Bay's Lee Mason assumes the chair at the June 17, 2015 meeting of Algoma Public Health. David Helwig/SooToday.)