After missing for almost a month, the Chain of Office - a symbol of civic leadership - is finally back where it belongs, in the hands of Orangeville's new mayor.
“I’m happy to have it," said Mayor Sandy Brown, "I’m happy to carry on the tradition of wearing it.”
Brown was sworn in officially as the Mayor of Orangeville along with the rest of city council on December 3 without the chain, which had been missing since before he assumed the town's top job.
And the truth is, he doesn't know when his predecessor, Jeremy Williams, last wore it either.
"It had been noticed that he did not wear the chain of office on the Remembrance Day ceremony", said Brown, “which he typically did, and previous mayors had worn that."
Orangeville police launched an official investigation into the chain’s whereabouts on Thursday. Less than twenty-four hours into the investigation, the chain mysteriously and anonymously turned up in a cardboard box on a town employee's front porch.
"As soon as the town staffer told me I said well then it's an inside job of some sort,” said Brown. “I guess whoever had it realized it was a serious issue and decided to do a good thing and turn it back in."
A new protocol has been put in place to ensure the safekeeping of the chain. It will now be secured in the clerk's office, and Mayor Brown will have to sign it out before wearing it to special events and council meetings.
