NEWSMAKERS 2022: Richmond Hill sees rising power of the people, TOC controversies and plenty of legal wrangling

Yorkregion.com
Jan. 3, 2023

It has been a tumultuous year in Richmond Hill as city council went through one rough patch after another, proposed developments continued to pit residents against the government, and committed citizens rose amid chaos.

The year also marked the end of an era with the sudden death of the long-serving former mayor Dave Barrow, 75.

CITIZEN GROUPS

When the vast majority of Ontarians gave up their rights to vote and distanced themselves from local politics, groups of strong-willed residents in Richmond Hill made a mark in the October municipal election.

Predominantly two citizen groups -- A Better Richmond Hill (ABRH) and Council Accountability Group (CAG) -- have repeatedly hit headlines in the Liberal newspaper over the past year.

The non-partisan, non-profit organization ABRH -- formed during last term of council -- played an instrumental role as a registered third party advertiser in both the January mayoral byelection and the October municipal election.

The grassroots citizen organization mobilized a number of residents to take to the streets twice to voice their dissatisfaction toward former council members seeking re-election.

The three members singled out by A Better Richmond Hill were eventually ousted by Richmond Hill voters.

About 32 per cent of eligible voters cast their ballots in the October election, which is five per cent higher than four years ago.

The slight increase is no small feat.

Many believe it was a result of a joint effort by many community groups, including A Better Richmond Hill and Council Accountability Group (CAG).

In August 2019, three concerned citizens established the CAG to inform the public of what was going on in the council chambers and make sense of what local policies and decisions meant to them.

Through flyers, website updates, social media posts, in-person and virtual meetings, and candidates events, the CAG went at it hammer and tongs in an effort to increase voter turnout rate in the October election.

PROPOSED SKYSCRAPERS

Housing development continued to be one of the major issues in Richmond Hill in 2022 as many proposals that sparked controversy in the community had made the front page.

In April, the Government of Ontario dropped a bomb on Richmond Hill and Markham councils with two zoning orders for high-density developments that have since sent both communities scrambling to brace for the potential impacts.

The enhanced minister’s zoning orders (EMZOs) came in the evening of April 14, just before the four-day Easter weekend, a few months after Infrastructure Ontario released the province’s plans for two transit-oriented communities (TOCs) in Richmond Hill and Markham.

In Richmond Hill, the High Tech TOC -- locally known as Richmond Hill Centre -- will see 33 towers ranging in height from 40 to 80 storeys. In Markham, the Bridge TOC -- locally known as Langstaff Gateway -- will see 31 residential towers and three standalone office buildings with a range of 15 to 80 storeys, according to the province’s plans.

Both elected officials and community members in the two cities have spoken up against the controversial large-scale plans that would double the population density and halve the jobs that had been previously planned for these two areas by the two municipalities and turn what was intended to be mixed-use hubs into mostly residential areas.

Concerns about these proposals mostly centred around the significantly increased density, lack of infrastructure support, impact on traffic as well as insufficient parkland.

In the October election, concerns about the TOC proposals were raised at candidates’ events and explored on campaign platforms in Richmond Hill as the community continued to find ways to contend with the province-driven development plans.

LEGAL WOES

There was no shortage of issues in the rapidly-growing city of Richmond Hill, and in the last year plenty of them had come from those who worked at the city hall.

Several of the most-read articles in the Liberal last year featured troubles involving local politicians from then Ward 2 councillor Tom Munech being handcuffed by special constables at a TTC platform to the guilty plea to fraud under $5,000 by Ward 5 Coun. Karen Cilevitz.

Meanwhile, a flurry of legal actions taken against the City of Richmond Hill have been a constant source of news in the year of 2022.

The city had been named as a defendant in at least four lawsuits over the short span of five months, each with a hefty price tag.

In March, former city manager Mary-Anne Dempster brought her close to $1-million lawsuit against Richmond Hill, over alleged workplace bullying and harassment by then regional councillor Carmine Perrelli, which had led to her “involuntary, constructive dismissal.”

The city filed a defence two months later.

Perrelli commenced a legal action against the city in July following a council decision to dock him pay for 90 days for breaches of the code of conduct.

Weeks later, the city would see two more suits coming its way -- one from Perrelli again and another from his then chief of staff Mike Makrigiorgos.

In his second lawsuit, Perrelli was seeking more than $3 million in damages from former city manager, current senior city staff, most of his council colleagues as well as the City of Richmond Hill over alleged misfeasance in public office, bad faith and abuse of power.

On the same day, Makrigiorgos filed a statement of claim to seek $1 million in damages for alleged misfeasance in public office, abuse of power and defamation as well as $500,000 in punitive and aggravated damages.

All the lawsuits are ongoing and allegations have not been tested in court.