Reconsideration, interviews, and months of delay end with same result — Ryan Gauss appointed to police board

Mayor Josh Morgan and Ryan Gauss prior to the 2023 State of the City Address. (Daryl Newcombe/CTV News London)

It ended where it began — after months of indecision over filling a vacant seat on the London Police Services Board (LPSB).

On Tuesday, city council was tasked with appointing one person from a list of five finalists who were recently interviewed as part of a lengthy selection process that included a highly publicized do-over.

Susan Toth resigned from the police board in January.

In March, a council committee selected Ryan Gauss from a list of 54 candidates.

Many Londoners, including Toth, expressed concern about the selection because it would leave just one member on the seven-person board from a diverse background.

Under pressure, council referred the process back to the committee for a new process that would select five finalists for interviews.

The five finalists were:

• Gita Canaran - A trauma therapist and clinical psychologist who focusses on the treatment of first responders
• Ryan Gauss - Director of operations and personnel for MP Peter Fragiskatos, 2022 campaign manager for Mayor Josh Morgan, worked 10 years in a civilian role with RCMP
• Joseph Wabegijig - Executive director of Atlohsa Family Healing Services, served on one of Ontario’s largest First Nations police boards, former senior policy advisor to the federal government
• Stephen D’Amelio - Former president of Pride London who re-engaged relationship between the LGBTQ2S+ community and London Police Service
• Michele Anderson - Associate director of student experience-academic support and engagement at Western University and Vice Chair of the Inter-University Disabilities Issues Association of Ontario

Interviews were conducted on June 5.

At Tuesday’s council meeting, the selection process required eight votes to nominate a single candidate for a final vote by council.

Deputy Mayor Shawn Lewis, who in March had supported Gauss, said the interviews convinced him to now rank Stephen D Amelio his first choice.

“We have a young, Black man from the LGBTQ2S+ community who has put his name forward at a time when the LGBTQ2S+ community itself is under attack,” he said.

Coun. Steve Lehman supported Gauss, “I really, truly believe Mr. Gauss will represent those diverse groups with fervour.”

The result of the first round of voting in the selection process:

• Ryan Gauss - 7 votes (Cuddy, Stephenson, Pribil, Lehman, Van Meerbergen, Peloza, Hillier)
• Stephen D Amelio - 6 votes (Morgan, Lewis, Franke, McAlister, Trosow, Rahman)
• Joseph Wabegijig - 2 votes (Hopkins, Ferreira)
• Gita Canaran - 0 votes
• Michele Anderson - 0 votes

The candidates who received the three lowest vote totals were dropped for a second round selections.

Before debate resumed, Coun. Anna Hopkins stood up and told the mayor she was leaving the meeting until the final appointment was in front of council for approval.

That left 14 councillors for the second selection round — and the realistic possibility of a tie.

Ferreira stood up and expressed his support for Gauss, presumably ending the process as the required eighth vote.

However, when the second round was tallied, it was a 7-7 tie because Coun. Steve Hillier had switched his vote to Stephen D Amelio.

Coun. Hopkins did not return to settle the tie, so the mayor consulted with the city clerk about the next step.

A tie first requires another vote to confirm that council is deadlocked, then the winning name would be pulled from a hat.

But the confirmation vote saw Hillier switch his support back to Ryan Gauss, giving him the necessary eight votes to conclude the selection process.

Hopkins returned to the meeting in time for the formal vote by council to confirm Gauss’s appointment (13-4) to the London Police Services Board.

Hopkins later explained to CTV News London that after Wabegijig was eliminated she was uncertain who to support. 

“Folks in the community, whether they agree with the appointment we make at the end of the day or not, recognize that we went an extra mile to address the concerns we heard,” said Lewis.

The mayor added that council’s Governance Working Group is expected to provide recommended improvements to council’s appointment process to agencies, boards, and commissions.

“The process we used the first time around was very flawed. I’ll tell you why it was flawed, because it doesn’t allow us to communicate enough information with each other,” said Morgan.

The next scheduled meeting of the police board is Sept. 21.