Kevin Davis (politician)

Davis was elected as mayor of Brantford in the 2018 Brantford municipal election, defeating long-time incumbent mayor Chris Friel by over 5,600 votes. Friel blamed the loss on being out-spent by Davis.^[5] Upon becoming mayor, Davis indicated the development of the "boundary lands", territory annexed from the surrounding County of Brant, was his foremost priority.^[1] His other priorities included tackling the city's budget, the operation of the Brant County SPCA, improving safety downtown and re-organizing the homeless shelter system.^[5]

One of the major issues Davis has had to deal with as mayor is the ongoing opioid epidemic in the city.^[6] In 2019, Davis came out in support of creating a supervised injection site in the city to deal with the epidemic.^[7] In addition to the opioid epidemic, her has also had to deal with homelessness and gun violence in the community.^[8]

In 2019, Davis announced he had stage 1 renal cell carcinoma, and underwent surgery to get a kidney removed.^[8] Also in 2019, he was appointed to the board of directors of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, Large Urban Caucus.^[9]

During his term as mayor, Davis faced controversy for allegedly trying to "ram" through city council a decision to sell the Arrowdale Golf Course, according to leaked emails. He was criticized for not being transparent about the plan that would involve building affordable housing on the site.^[10] City council approved the sale of the club in 2020.^[11] The decision was later upheld in court: in January 2021 the Ontario Divisional Court dismissed a judicial review application opposing the sale, and in April 2021 the Court of Appeal denied leave to appeal.^[12][13] In October 2021, a small group of protesters, including members of Six Nations, briefly occupied the site, with the City characterizing the action as unlawful and referring the matter to police.^[14] The City finalized the land sale in 2022 and has stated that proceeds are dedicated to affordable housing and that a 17-acre community park will be retained on the site.^[15]

On July 10, 2024, Davis announced he was planning on resigning as mayor effective at the end of the month, to become a member of the Licence Appeal Tribunal, a provincial body that adjudicates licensing activities, and also citing wanting to spend more time with his family and harassment as reasons for his resignation.^[16] Attention quickly turned to the financial and civic impact: a by-election was estimated at over $600,000 and would not occur until January 2025, leaving the city without an elected mayor for several months. On July 25, Davis announced that he had rejected the appointment and would continue to serve as mayor of the city until the end of his term, saying that he wanted to avoid a costly by-election.^[17][18][19]

In January 2025, Davis used his strong-mayor powers to direct staff to commission an independent study on the potential amalgamation of the City of Brantford and the surrounding County of Brant, with a report due by the end of 2025.^[20] The proposal drew immediate and firm opposition from County of Brant Mayor David Bailey, who stated the county was “unequivocally opposed” and criticized the approach as “unproductive and misguided.”^[21] This created public debate surrounding what Brant County residents saw as a forced amalgamation.^[22]