Richmond Hill new mayor's first marathon meeting ends on productive note

Combative councillors tested David West early and often

Yorkregion.com
Feb. 14, 2022
Yoyo Yan

Richmond Hill's new mayor David West hoped that his election into the big chair would result in less contentious, more efficient council sessions. Neither seemed to occur during his first public council meeting on Feb. 9.

When it took two and half hours of debate just to approve the busy agenda, West and his crew had to know they wouldn't be joining their families for dinner. West's first meeting as chair lasted nearly 12 hours, including their lunch and dinner recesses.

The main bone of contention was the addition of West's time-sensitive motion to respond to the province's High Tech transit-oriented community (TOC) plan.

Councillors Carmine Perrelli, Greg Beros and Tom Muench argued that it was not time-sensitive. They attempted to, as Council Accountability Group noted, "use every tool in their verbal arsenal" to stop the TOC item from being added to the agenda.

Beros repeatedly refused to give a yes-or-no vote on accepting the agenda, so in the end, the city clerk had to record his vote as abstained.

Perrelli frequently used his "point of order" sign. At one point, he stated he would like to separate all items on the very long agenda for individual discussions, which prompted West to say, "come on, you are just filibustering."

With Perrelli and Beros absent after the dinner break, West's motion regarding TOC response was eventually carried, with only Muench voting no.

According to the motion, Richmond Hill will share the city's concerns about the High Tech TOC plan with Premier Doug Ford.

Key concerns include:

The densities and total population proposed for the High Tech TOC are markedly higher than outlined in the draft Richmond Hill Centre secondary plan. The TOC plan anticipates 35,300 to 36,700 residents within the TOC boundary, while the draft secondary plan anticipates 17,700 residents.

The lack of alignment with the draft secondary plan vision for a mix of use within the TOC area.

The lack of a transparent and fulsome consultation process with council and residents.

The lack of a financial framework to support the TOC.

The motion states that Richmond Hill joins, with the City of Markham, in requesting that the province provide a 90-day extension. That would enable the city to work through the complicated details related to the TOC proposal. More specifically, the city requests the province to revise the TOC proposal after considering the matters outlined in the motion.

In addition to approving an Official Plan update key directions report, among other issues, council also voted to fill the Ward 4 Councillor vacancy by appointing a qualified individual.

A motion for online voting for the October 2022 municipal election was also passed.

Pat Pollock, the chair of the Mayvern Area Residents Association and a director of A Better Richmond Hill (ABRH) group, believes online voting provides a more viable chance for those who have difficulty getting to the polls due to health, pandemic, weather, or other reasons.

Some residents hailed the outcomes of the meeting, despite it being drawn-out and filled with dissension.

"Although there was a lot of obstruction to getting the agenda passed," said Brain Chapnik of ABRH. "We feel residents were heard. That is a good start to what we are hoping to achieve with our new mayor."