Grandinetti takes his seat

Sworn in at the beginning of tonight’s meeting of City Council, Ozzie Grandinetti may very well end up being the last person to assume a role as Ward 6 councillor in Sault Ste. Marie.

Asked by SooToday what Grandinetti’s priorities will be in just over a year remaining before the next municipal election, the newly-appointed councillor said job creation and to see competition of adding ice surface in the next phase of the Northern Community Centre.

Grandinetti previously served as the Ward 6 councillor after being elected in 2006, before being defeated in the 2010 and 2014 municipal elections.

In 2014, Grandinetti placed third in the race for the two Ward 6 seats, 12 votes ahead of fourth place finisher Wanda McQueen.

During a meeting of City Council held last month — which decided who to appoint to the vacant seat, and after three rounds of voting resulted in a tie between Luca Robibaro — Grandinetti’s name was eventually selected from a fishbowl to assume the council seat.

Grandinetti will very likely be the last person to assume the role of Ward 6 councillor, as City Council has previously voted to reduce the number of wards in the city to five before the next municipal election in 2018.

City Council decided in June to replace a vacancy in the Ward 6 seat by appointment after Ross Romano stepped down after being elected as Sault Ste. Marie's MPP in a recent byelection.