Midland council appoints new deputy mayor following Contin's death

Midland has a new deputy mayor.

Beth Prost accepted her appointment Wednesday evening to take on the vacancy created by the death of Jack Contin last fall.

Prost is the first woman to serve in one of the town's top two positions since 2010. Ruth Hackney previously served as deputy mayor under former mayor and current councillor Jim Downer.

In offering his congratulations, Mayor Bill Gordon noted Prost will be officially sworn in as deputy mayor at council’s next regular meeting on Valentine’s Day.

“Her current council seat will be declared vacant shortly thereafter and council will choose a method to fill the vacancy from our newly adopted council vacancy policy,” Gordon said.

Like Gordon, Prost wanted to hit the “pause button” on the Midland Bay Landing development as part of her 2022 election campaign.

The two-term councillor, who has four children with husband Martin and previously worked as a legal assistant, was happy when the new council opted to do just that.

“We’ve done so much this far and we can’t just go full speed ahead without doing this right, because this can’t be done again,” Prost said in June. “I’m glad for the hold – not just for our new CAO, but for our public, for our taxpayers. It’s their land.”

Council elected to appoint from within rather than hold a costly byelection or go with Cody Oschefski, who was Contin’s only challenger during the 2022 election and supported the previous council’s Midland Bay Landing development plan.

And Oschefski seemed ready to step aboard if asked, writing on social media earlier Wednesday.

“Today is a pivotal day in life,” Oschefski said. “Ive worked long and hard on me in anticipation of this opportunity. I have never been more prepared to take a leadership position in my life.

“I hope to be a mentor for our youth and a great representative of Midland and all of the amazing things this community has to offer. I have wished and worked and hoped and prayed for this day.”

But it was not to be, with Oschefski later offering congratulations to Prost on her appointment.