Filling the seat: candidates’ line up for council

NRU
June 28, 2017
By Sarah Niedoba

Vaughan will appoint a councillor to fill deputy mayor Michael Di Biase’s empty seat today, following his
resignation May 19 spurred by the release of a report by the integrity commissioner.

Seeking to complete the remainder of the current term (2014-2018) on both city and regional councils, 58 candidates put their names forward for consideration by Vaughan council.

One of the most recognizable names is Joyce Frustaglio, who was a member of Vaughan council for 22 years before being defeated in the 2010 municipal election. After a three-year term as a federal citizenship judge, Frustaglio is looking to use her considerable experience to fill the vacant seat.

“The term is really just over a year, and if council is really thinking of what’s in the best interest of the municipality, they can’t afford to appoint someone who is going to have a six-month learning curve,” she told NRU.

Frustaglio says that she sees the appointment as an opportunity to give back to her community, and that she wouldn’t be interested in seeking re-election in 2018.

“I’m free, I’m able, and I have the experience,” she says.

If appointed, her areas of focus would be on the completion of the Mackenzie Vaughan Hospital, and the Yonge subway extension.

“The region and the city both have an ongoing strategy, so of course I would be working with that,” she says.

Reallife Direct CEO Elliot Frankl, agrees, saying that if he was selected to fill the seat, he wouldn’t be interested in pushing for changes outside of the current council’s agenda.

Frankl ran for city council in 2010, and says that, if elected, his priority would be the extension of the Yonge subway line.

“I think it’s important to work with council, not against them,” Frankl told NRU. “I would have to run in the next election, to make any significant difference.”

That’s not the view of long-term community advocate Carrie Liddy. A consultant by trade, Liddy ran for council in the 2014 municipal election, and can often be found giving deputations at city hall. She says that, in all of the years she’s been following city politics, she hasn’t seen council address what she considers to be its major issues.

“The traffic is unending,” she told NRU. “Cars go through Vaughan to get from somewhere to somewhere, and they don’t stop in the city.”

She says she wants to see council address the issue of traffic “as a whole,” instead of focusing on select areas of the municipality.

“They’ve never to my knowledge come up with a strategic traffic plan that addresses the main issue, which is that everyone cuts through Vaughan,” she says.

Thornhill resident and Beverly Glen Ratepayers Association president Josh Martow ran for council in 2014.

He says that traffic is a main concern for the residents of his community.

“Everything is connected to transit in the end,” he told NRU. “The congestion in this area is terrible, and it’s not being addressed.”

Martow says that he wants to see the Yonge subway extension come to fruition, and wants “reasonable
development” to be enforced.

“The development of highrise condos isn’t what my community wants to see, and it’s adding to the congestion,” he says.

If appointed to the seat, Martow says he would run for council in 2018.

“I’ll continue to advocate for my community, and make sure its voice is heard,” he says.

The following candidates were unavailable for comment: Mubarak Ahmed, Jenny Alfandary, Blair Alon, Meera Anand, Peter Badali, Barry Barnes, Roman Beloussov, Patrizia Bottoni, Ralph Canale, Christine Caponi, William Carney, Diana Corazza, Justin Darmanin, Sabrina DiMarco, Mario DiNardo, John DiNino, Gillian Evans, Elliott Frankl, Jacob Freedman, Bernie Green, Stephen Kerwin, Rom Koubi, Joy Lerman, Tony Lorini, Teresa Marando, Sherett Martin, Mary Mauti, Michael McKenzie, David Miller, Sanharib Mirkhai, Ellie Miron, Anton Muzychka, Harsh Naik, Barry Nelson, Sridhar Nimmagadda, Giacomo Parisi, Nicola Pinto, Cristina Rizzuto, Stephen Roberts, Brittney Rossi, Tal Sagi, Devender Sandhu, Jennifer Shelton, Sunder Singh, Amir Soltaninia, Ian Stedman, Parag Tandon, Pamela Taraday-Levy, Bryce Taylor, Francesco Vennare and Adriano Volpentesta.