Brantford mayor changed his mind — now he won't resign before his term ends

The mayor of Brantford, Ont., now says he won't resign.

Earlier this month Mayor Kevin Davis said he'd step down, with 18 months left in his term, to join the Ontario Licence Appeal Tribunal. He was to start his new job in August.

That decision would have cost the city $600,000 to run an election to choose his replacement, a process the city says could have stretched into January of 2025. A statement released by the City of Brantford on Thursday said Davis chose to "sacrifice his personal career aspirations to avoid the financial burden and operational disruption that a byelection would impose on the City of Brantford."

The release said "Mayor Davis recognizes that the projected cost of over $600,000 and the lengthy process extending to January 2025 would be a significant strain on the taxpayers and resources of city staff."  

In a statement posted to his Facebook page on Thursday, Davis said "I have reconsidered based on what I believe to be in the best interests of the City of Brantford... I now know that my personal career decision would come at a great financial cost for the taxpayers."

He said he was informed last week by staff of the cost and timing of the byelection.

In his post, he also said that "there are several vital initiatives and projects that would be negatively affected and delayed by my premature departure, including the Sports and Entertainment Centre, the affordable housing strategy, campaigning the province for a new hospital and timely approval of the city's 2025 budget. Each of these critical priorities sit squarely in front of us and are far too important for me to leave now."

He said that he has turned down the job offer from the Ontario Licence Appeal Tribunal.

The mayor also mentioned that he, "like many politicians in Canada," has faced "obscene and inappropriate harassment" but didn't want to leave colleagues to face that kind of experience alone. 

"It is the staff at The City of Brantford who have endured a greater burden of dealing with this issue," he wrote. "These are my co-workers. My friends. The people I see when I go to work every day. I can't in good conscience leave this position while city staff are still on the firing line. The behaviour staff are being subjected to, on a daily basis, is completely unacceptable and should never be tolerated."

Davis oversaw the OHL's Bulldogs move from Hamilton to Brantford for the 2023-24 season that was prompted by the long-term closure of FirstOntario Centre.

He was first elected in 2018 and re-elected for a second term in 2022 by a margin of 208 votes.

Prior to becoming mayor, Davis worked as a lawyer for over 35 years and served as an alderman for Ward 2 between 1985 and 1991. He was a previous governor of Mohawk College and a past president of the Brantford-Brant Chamber of Commerce.