Vaughan Mayor runs again: 'I don't get elected to campaign; I get elected to govern'

83 candidates running for all positions in city; Eliana Di Biase, wife of former councillor Michael, going for Regional Councillor

Yorkregion.com
July 28, 2018
Tim Kelly

It was a case of better late than never for Vaughan mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua, who waited until the day before he had to file his nomination papers to run in the 2018 municipal election.

The two-term mayor, first elected in 2010 and easily re-elected in 2014, will face challenges from Frank Miele and Savino Quatela, both of whom filed nomination papers to run on Friday, July 27, the last day of nominations.

But Bevilacqua said he waited to almost the bitter end because, “I don’t get elected to campaign, I get elected to govern and I focus on governing right to the last day before the campaign. I think that’s a very wise thing to do.”

Bevilacqua sees the upcoming campaign as a chance for voters to reflect on the past eight years since he took the reins as mayor and said he’s proud of what he calls, “by far the best years in the history of our city.”

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He lists a number of achievements he believes the city of Vaughan has accomplished during the past two terms: “97 per cent of the people in Vaughan (according to a city-run survey) think life is good in Vaughan; when you look at economic growth, at 3.5 per cent we’re outpacing the province and the country, 55,000 new jobs have been created; Mackenzie Vaughan Hospital is being built; the (Vaughan) subway is open,” he said.

Bevilacqua went on to add that he was proud of the fact that the “downtown (Vaughan Metropolitan Centre) core is rising; we still have one of the lowest tax rates in the GTA and, since 2015, we’ve incurred $30 million in savings; when you look at issues from a city-building point of view like transparency and accountability, we have a lobbyist registry.”

He is “putting in a lot of hours, working long hours for the city. My life over the last 30 years (22 years as Vaughan MP, part of which he served as a Liberal cabinet minister, the last eight years as mayor of Vaughan) has been focused on public service,” said the 58-year-old.

Asked about Premier Doug Ford’s decision late last week to cancel already-planned elections for regional chair in York, Bevilacqua had mixed feelings.

“The campaign had started and the rules were changed midstream, creating confusion for those seeking to serve, but the Premier received a mandate, and he’s acting on that … and you have to respect that.

“Ultimately we’re (municipalities) created by the province, they are the ultimate legislative body that decides our fate.”

There are some familiar and many unfamiliar names running for regional and ward council positions in the city of Vaughan as well as for the York Region District School Board and York Region Separate School Board for Vaughan in the Oct. 22 election. There are candidates running for the two French-language boards as well. In total, 81 candidates have registered to run, including six for Regional Chair of York. That is still up in the air pending provincial legislation set for introduction this coming week that would return the process from an at-large vote of all York Region voters to a selection of a regional chair by elected regional councillors.

What follows are the list of candidates, in alphabetical order, who have officially registered and are on the ballot:

Mayoral candidates for Vaughan:
Maurizio Bevilacqua; Frank Miele; Savino Quatela

Regional Council candidates for Vaughan (3 elected at-large):
Mubarak Ahmed; Eliana Di Biase; Mario Ferri; Jacob Joel Ginsberg; Linda D. Jackson; Richard T. Lorello; Gino Rosati; Frank Scarlato; Sunder Singh; Skanda Singarajah; Fred Winegust

Ward 1 council candidates:
Fitz-Roy Gordon; Milad Hamidkohzad; Marilyn Iafrate; John Santoro; Vince Scaramuzzo; Carmine Tucci

Ward 2 council candidate:
Simone Barbieri; Tony Carella; Mario Di Nardo; Nicole Di Nardo; Nicole Elfar-Troiano; Carrie Liddy; Nick Pinto; Adriano Volpentesta

Ward 3 council candidates:
Rosanna DeFrancesca; Slava Gravets; Vince Lacaria; Tony Lorini; Mark Pulciani; Tony Takacs; John Yusufi

Ward 4 council candidates:
Furio Liberatore; Sandra Yeung Racco; Styles Q. Weinberg

Ward 5 council candidates:
Allan Goldstein; Alan Shefman

York Regional Chair:
Steven Del Duca; Wayne Emmerson; Mario Racco; Rajasri Sriskandarajah; Chevaunne Stewart; Judith Tenenbaum

York Region District School Board (public board) Trustee --Area 1 (Vaughan, Ward 1 and 2) candidates:
Anna DeBartolo; Miranda Goldberg; Charline Grant; Vivek Mehta; Sabrina Painda; Mandeep Rai; Azadeh Yeganeh

YRDSB Trustee --Area 2 (Vaughan, Ward 3 and 4) candidates:
Linda Aversa; Matthew Forbes; Sam Sanath Barua; Justin Ragooni; Elizabeth Sinclair

YRDSB --Area 3 (Markham Ward 1 and Vaughan Ward 5) candidates:
Sahar Adaska; Brenndon Goodman; Aviva Polonsky; David Sherman; Todd Silverman; Simon Strelchik

York Catholic District School Board (separate board) Trustee --Area 1 (Vaughan Ward 1) candidates:
Teresa Calvi; Rose Cantisano; Teresa Ciaravella

YCDSB (separate board) Trustee --Area 2 (Vaughan Ward 2) candidates:
Michaela Barbieri; Justin Darmanin; Daniele Di Nardo; Dino Giuliani; Enza Torchia

YCBSB (separate board) Trustee --Area 3 (Vaughan Ward 3) candidates:
Joe Giancola; Maria Marchese; Donna Rosati

YCDSB Trustee --Area 4 (Vaughan 4 and 5) candidates:
Jennifer Wigston; Jeff Thomas

Conseil Scolaire Viamonde (public) York Region candidates:
Francoise Guerin; Karine Ricard

Conseil Scolaire Catholique Monavenir York Region candidates:
Kathleen Beal; Maxime Papillon