A former councillor for the Municipality of Huron Shores says the decision to step down from council earlier this week was made out of concern for his own health.
Roger Mulligan had been serving as Ward 1 councillor since November 2022. But after returning home from a Dec. 11, 2024 council meeting feeling particularly “stressed” due to tension between himself and other members of council, he knew it was time to relinquish his role.
“I went home and measured my blood pressure, and it was 175/110 — and I’m already on blood pressure medication. So, I thought that’s not really good,” said Mulligan.
“I didn’t run [for council] to hurt my health or shorten my lifespan.”
Mulligan tendered his resignation Jan. 13 — effective immediately — in a brief letter addressed to Ward 1 residents, members of council and the chief administrative officer for the municipality.
“I sincerely apologize to all that voted for me with the hope that change would follow, but have come to realize that change is not what the majority of council (or staff) want, so I have no useful place at the table anyway,” he wrote.
Mulligan said he brought forth three motions during last month’s council meeting, with one of them in particular causing a fellow council member to be “deeply offended” by the wording, which stated that a “deep schism” existed between representatives of wards from the western and eastern portions of the municipality, and that constituents from both Ward 1 and Ward 2 have been “complaining how the west has continually financed the east,” since amalgamation took place 25 years ago.
Mulligan also called on staff to “stop favouring Iron Bridge and present fair and balanced reports across the municipality,” in the motion, which was ultimately struck down by a vote of five to one.
“When you have someone raising his voice to you and being a bit angry about something, it does suggest maybe there is a schism in council,” he said.
Mulligan’s resignation comes just days after Matthew Seabrook stepped down as mayor of Huron Shores, stating that he could "no longer continue in the role with such strong disagreement to the majority vote of council," in his Jan. 8 resignation letter.
Mulligan suggested to SooToday that both he and Seabrook had similar views when it came to keeping costs down at the municipal level.
“The former mayor and I both were thinking that we should be trying to reduce — or, at least not increase — the burden to the taxpayer. But the majority of council doesn’t share that feeling,” said Mulligan.
“We already have very high taxes.”
The former Ward 1 councillor initially ran for council on a platform promoting change within the municipality, which he said never really happened during his brief tenure.
“I feel very, very bad about letting my constituents down,” Mulligan said. “But it just didn’t work out the way we had hoped.”
Council will declare the pair of council seats vacant during the next council meeting, scheduled for tonight at the Lions Hall in Iron Bridge.