Final days see flurry of action in Markham and Vaughan mayoral nominations

Thestar.com
July 27, 2018
Noor Javed

Fear not, residents of Markham and Vaughan. You will have a mayor after all.

Earlier this week, just days before the deadline to register for October’s municipal election, the Star discovered that no one had registered to run for mayor in Markham and Vaughan, including the current mayors, Frank Scarpitti and Maurizio Bevilacqua.

But by the deadline Friday, there were a number of mayoral hopefuls registered for the positions in both cities, enough to give residents of the two suburban cities reassurance that they wouldn’t be leaderless for the next four years.

Both Scarpitti and Bevilacqua registered Thursday afternoon --after sparking speculation that their late entry into the game was because they were considering a run for regional chair or stepping down altogether.

But Scarpitti, who has been mayor since 2006, says he has always been committed to Markham.

“At the end of the day, after careful consideration, it was really about where I could have the greatest impact over the next four years,” said Scarpitti, who has four others mayoral hopefuls running against him. “I will continue to be a strong voice for the region.”

There are three candidates registered to run for the mayor’s seat in Vaughan, including Bevilacqua, who has been mayor since 2010.

Bevilacqua says that he has been “able to do great things” including bringing a new hospital, transit and infrastructure to the city over his two terms. He says he always registers as late a possible for election races, “so that I can focus on governing, and not campaigning.”

But Scarpitti was critical of the province’s changes to election process, calling the shortened registration period from May to July a “disservice to democracy.” Last election, candidates had from January until September to make a decision, he said.

“I don’t think democracy wasn’t served well when they moved up the nomination date to May, and closed the nominations in the middle of summer,” he said. “You are talking about the worst time of the year to get people’s attention --especially for new candidates who are coming into politics for the first time.”