Saint Jerome’s mayor, Sophie Saint Gillet, announced her resignation Monday, barely a month and a half after she took office in February.
In a brief statement, the city stated that the mayor announced her resignation on Monday, citing “personal, health and family reasons.”
Mrs. Saint Gillier inherited the position of mayor on 5 February to replace former Mayor Stephane Maher. The latter was forced out of his post after he was convicted by the Quebec Municipal Committee for corrupt electoral practices.
More specifically, during the 2017 municipal elections, Mr. Maher offered two members of the municipal councils prominent positions in exchange for leaving political life.
Under the ruling of 30 November, Mr. Maher was forced to leave his post on December 31, after he dropped his appeal against the ruling. Despite everything, he earned a severance allowance of just over $ 36,000, the Journal de Montreal reported in February.
The members of the municipal councils in Saint Jerome had agreed to elect one of them to the position of mayor until the elections scheduled for next fall. Only Sophie Saint Gela was at that time submitting her candidacy.
Saint Jerome’s deputy mayor, François Bouriet, will take over in the coming weeks. The city said: “The city of St. Jerome will soon inform the population of the steps that must be taken to appoint a mayor or mayor until the municipal elections are held on November 7.”
