Councillor Maureen Cassidy had few words during her first committee meeting back at city hall, and none for media following it.
The Ward 5 councillor returned to her seat around the horseshoe on Monday after a more than two-month self-imposed leave of absence. When asked for comment following the adjournment of the Civic Works Committee meeting, Cassidy said she didn't have time and breezed past reporters.
During the meeting, Cassidy only spoke up twice. Once to voice her support of an amendment to a "no stopping" by-law on Stoneybrook Cres., near Stoneybrook Public School. Her second comment related to the Pride crosswalks that were installed during her absence.
"My youngest child enjoyed jumping from colour to colour... They are great for the city. It made me feel proud," Cassidy told her committee colleagues.
Cassidy took leave on June 9, just days before she resigned as Deputy Mayor and admitted to having an inappropriate personal relationship with Mayor Matt Brown. The mayor took only a one week leave following the scandal.
Councillor Jesse Helmer, who chairs the Civic Works Committee, acknowledged Cassidy's return at the start of the meeting.
He says he is glad to have her back at city hall.
"I think it's important for her constituents that they've got her at city hall, doing the work of a city councillor," says Helmer. "We've been down to four people (on civic works) for a while and it's great to be back up at our full compliment."
Helmer attributed Cassidy's lack of comment during the meeting to what he calls a "straight forward agenda with a lot of routine items."
"The important thing is what is going to happen in the future," says Helmer. "We can't go back in the past and make things different. We have to decide how we are going to work together going forward."
