‘I just don't want to leave room for any doubt’: Almost half of Richmond Hill candidates opt to shun developer donations

A few council members have voted for contentious developments backed by the developers whose names were found on their donors lists in the 2018 election.

Yorkregion.com
Oct. 11, 2022
Sheila Wang

From a 54-storey skyscraper in the south end of Richmond Hill to a 455-unit townhouse complex at Yonge and Bloomington, there are currently more than 200 development applications -- some of which have faced fierce criticism from the public -- awaiting decision from the city's to-be-elected representatives.

Some of the developers behind these proposals, however, were major donors to the campaigns of several current council members in the last municipal election in 2018, and could potentially be a viable source of lucrative contributions to those who are running in the upcoming election on Oct. 24.

Almost half of those who are vying for the nine Richmond Hill council seats have decided to draw a clear line between themselves and the developers.

The Liberal reached out to Richmond Hill candidates in email to ask their stance on the donations from the developers and 30 candidates provided their responses.

There are 44 candidates who are vying for the nine seats in the Richmond Hill council chambers, and 20 of them said that they have not taken and will not accept any donations from the development industry in the 2022 municipal election.

Many of these candidates shared the same rationale: while it’s completely legal for developers to donate to a candidate’s campaign in the municipal election, they want to steer clear of any perceived influence from the development industry.

Some believe that it could constitute a conflict of interest for council members to make a decision on a development application made by a developer whom they received donations from.

Development has undoubtedly become a flashpoint for many Richmond Hill residents over the past four years, when their attempts to push against undesirable development proposals have frequently come to nothing.

A few council members have voted for contentious developments backed by the developers whose names were found on their donors lists in the 2018 election.

“I just don't want to leave room for any doubt from the public regarding my judgment,” said regional candidate Terrence Au who is among the 20 candidates who are shunning developers’ money in their campaigns.

Fellow candidate Abu Alam also said he will not take any money from developers because he’d “feel obliged” if he did.

Also in the regional race, candidate Marco Coletta said he chose not to “blacklist” any donations although he’s not expecting any money from the industry. He would disclose the amount should such donations come in.

Au, Alam and Coletta are competing with two incumbents for the regional seats -- Ward 6 councillor Godwin Chan and regional councillor Joe DiPaola.

Chan said he is not turning away developers’ donations and expects the majority of financial contributions would be from those who believe in his ability to do good and get things done for the right reasons. In his 2018 campaign, Chan earlier disclosed that less than 10 per cent of contributions came from the development industry.

DiPaola did not provide a clear answer as to whether to accept developers’ donations and said he’s not directly involved in fundraising. He said he ensures the community members who are helping fundraising have no ties to the development industry. He had not disclosed the developers’ donations to his campaign four years ago.

DiPaola and fellow regional councillor Carmine Perrelli -- who is running for mayor -- raised the most money among the nine elected officials in the last municipal election in 2018.

Big names in the development industry were found on their donation reports, including the prominent DeGasperis family of buildings and developers, the Ghadakis of Times Group Corporation and Dino Taurasi of Stateview Construction, and G Group principals Stefano Guizzetti and Jack Scivoletto.

In the four-way mayoral race, candidates Domenic Bardari and Holo Devnani said they are not taking developers’ donations.

Incumbent Mayor David West said he would not refuse contributions from the industry but it would be a small fraction of the donations in his grassroots, resident-driven campaign. In the last election, he disclosed 17 per cent of the donations came from the development industry.

Perrelli did not respond to the media inquiry from the Liberal. He did not disclose the contribution from the developers to his last campaign in 2018.