Rideau-Rockcliffe going back to the polls April 15

Voters in Rideau-Rockcliffe will elect a new city councillor less than six months after voting in Tobi Nussbaum, who left to become CEO of the National Capital Commission (NCC).

Ottawa city council voted Wednesday to hold a byelection in the ward east of the downtown core on April 15.

Nominations are open until March 1 at 2 p.m.

When Nussbaum was hired by the NCC in mid-December, the city was faced with a decision to either name his replacement or hold a byelection, which is estimated to cost approximately $330,000.

Nussbaum won the 2018 election, when he faced only one competitor, with 81 per cent of the vote.

• Tobi Nussbaum named new CEO of National Capital Commission
• Timing of new NCC job 'not ideal', says Nussbaum
• City staff recommend byelection to replace Tobi Nussbaum

Nussbaum told CBC he wasn't thinking about the NCC job when a general call for applications went out in the spring of 2018, but when the application deadline was extended, residents started encouraging him to go for it.

"There's no question the timing is not ideal,"he said at the time.

"If I could have it a different way, the timing would be different."

Nussbaum officially starts his new job on Monday.