Following the death of Mayor Lorna Jackson on April 5, 2002, Michael Di Biase was appointed by Vaughan council as interim mayor by virtue of his position as one of two regional councillors representing Vaughan. Gino Rosati, a Vaughan local councillor, was subsequently appointed by Vaughan Council to fill Di Biase’s position as regional councillor and a by-election was held on June 14, 2002 to fill Rosati’s local councillor’s position which was won by Linda Jackson.
Because Michael Di Biase received the highest vote count among the candidates for Regional Councillor, he was styled as the acting Mayor in cases where the Mayor is unavailable. However commonly confused, this is a different role than being the Deputy Mayor
