Vaughan’s new city solicitor Wendy Law draws experience from Mississauga

Appointed after months of trying to recruit new city solicitor

Yorkregion.com
April 8, 2019
Dina Al-Shibeeb

Wendy Law is Vaughan’s new city solicitor.

She is set to start May 6, interim city manager Tim Simmonds said in a statement Monday, April 1.

Law, who recently served as deputy city solicitor with the City of Mississauga, was lead counsel on major city-building projects.

She joins Vaughan's corporate management team where she will help to implement the 2018 to 2022 Term of Council Service Excellence Strategic Plan.

In total, Law has more than nine years of senior management experience.

“The selection of Ms. Law to join our team is further proof that Vaughan continues to attract, recruit and hire the very best professionals,” said Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua. “I look forward to working with Ms. Law to build a more promising future for the citizens and businesses of Vaughan.”

Part of the city solicitor’s job is to provide strategic legal advice to support council and city staff in making informed business decisions.

Law will further oversee the real estate department, which administers land acquisitions and dispositions, along with all assessments for cash-in-lieu of parkland dedication.

The recruitment process for a new city solicitor and director of legal services has been underway since early 2019.

Overseeing the legal services department is Nick Spensieri, who is the deputy city manager.

“The City of Vaughan has also retained an external law firm to help ensure work continues and that files move forward,” Michael Genova, director of corporate and strategic communications said.

The city is also preparing to hire a permanent city manager.

“Beginning in this new year, the city will undertake a public recruitment process to fill the (city manager) position on a permanent basis,” Genova explained.
Simmonds, who was chief of corporate initiatives and intergovernmental relations, was appointed interim city manager by council following the departure of former city manager Daniel Kostopoulos, according to Genova.

When Kostopoulos took the helm as the city's top bureaucrat in June 2016, he became the fourth city manager to serve in that role since Bevilacqua was elected as mayor in 2010.

Kostopoulos was recently named King Township's new chief administrative officer.