Toronto City Coun. Shelley Carroll is the new chair of the Toronto Police Service Board, unseating the incumbent in a split vote at board meeting on Tuesday.
The long-time city councillor, who represents Ward 17, received support from three other members of the civilian board, narrowly defeating the current chair Ann Morgan.
Coun. Lily Cheng, Deputy Mayor Amber Morley, and board member Chris Brillinger all supported Carroll’s bid to be the new chair.
“I really think that I can offer the board a bold step forward,” Carroll said during the police board meeting on Tuesday morning.
“While it is a challenge to have a dual role, I think that right now we are at a critical point where we can also use some of the things that I bring with my experience.”
Carroll said she hopes to enhance the board’s engagement with members of the public.
“We do have an amazing array of talent on the board,” she said at Tuesday’s meeting.
“We do have an amazing chief and a very talented senior command right now and I think if we take those two bodies together, we really can achieve what I’m hoping to achieve, which is a mutual trust in the community and the ability to go forward together.”
Ann Morgan, who has served as the chair of the police board since 2023, also threw her hat in the ring to continue on in her role, arguing that the chair of the police board in Toronto is a “demanding” position.
“It is important to point out that the role of the chair is not a popularity contest, it is not a profile builder, it is not a power play. It is essentially a determination (of) who can demonstrate the leadership while actually supporting and governing TPS,” Morgan, a retired prosecutor, said.
She added that “unlike other jurisdictions,” the chair of the Toronto Police Service Board carries an annual salary that reflects “the expectations of the person who fills it.”
The chair of the Toronto Police Service Board earns an annual salary of $90,963, but Carroll’s chief of staff told CP24 that she is ineligible to receive the additional compensation as a member of council.
The board will also welcome a new vice-chair, Chris Brillinger, who defeated the former vice-chair Lisa Kostakis.