Heather Wright/The Independent

There will be one less person around the Petrolia council table for three months.

Town council has granted Councillor Ross O’Hara a three-month leave of absence for medical reasons.

The Petrolia-born O’Hara was first elected as a councillor in 1986. He spent 18 years on town council, the last nine years as mayor, before deciding to take a break from politics in 2003. When he stepped back from his plumbing business in 2014, O’Hara decided the time was right to return to council. He was elected to council and then re-elected in the 2022 vote.

He was recognized for two decades of municipal service with an award from the Minister of Municipal Affairs in 2022.

In 2025, O’Hara was one of the busiest councillors in Petrolia, attending 28 meetings on town business, more than the mayor and deputy mayor, according to town documents, but just shy of the 31 meetings attended by Councillors Bill Clark and Chad Hyatt.

But in the last few months, O’Hara has been noticeably absent, missing three of the four regular council meetings in 2026 due to his health.

Under the Ontario Municipal Act, a municipal councillor’s seat automatically becomes vacant if they are absent from council meetings for three consecutive months. A council can grant a medical leave in that case as Petrolia council did Monday during a closed-door meeting.

After three months, council can extend the leave another three months, which would lead into October’s municipal election.