Woodbridge West councillor Carella promises to target traffic after election win

Yorkregion.com
Oct. 28, 2014
By Tessi Sanci

“Let’s party!” was Tony Carella’s message to his supporters in a crowded room at Da Vinci Banquet Hall in West Woodbridge Monday night. The incumbent Ward 2 councillor was engulfed by cheers and hugs as he celebrated his victory. Carella took 41.43 per cent of the vote in Monday's municipal election.

Carella credits ongoing work on major infrastructure projects in the city for his success. The development of Mackenzie Vaughan Hospital, the extension of Hwy. 427 and the Toronto-York Spadina subway making its way to the city are important accomplishments, he says.

“These are huge, huge infrastructure improvements and when you think that any one of them in themselves is big news, we’ve got three of them in one municipality. This is incredible,” says Carella.

Other issues discussed by residents and through recent election debates are traffic and taxes, which Carella calls consistent issues for every municipality.

Carella has one plan to target traffic congestion in his ward. He plans on organizing a petition to the federal government and Canadian Pacific Railway, calling for adjustments to the railway bridge that looms over Hwy. 7, just west of Islington Avenue. This is to ease the level of “bottleneck” traffic that builds up on that stretch of road where the number of lanes are decreased because of the bridge’s presence, says Carella.

This is the time to get that message across with a federal election set for 2015, according to the councillor. The only level of government that can get through to CP is the federal government as it regulates the railroad system.

The taxation issue is one that Woodbridge West challenger Nick Pinto has heard much about at the doors of residents. Taxes keep going up with no improvement to services, according to  Pinto, who finished second in the race.

“It’s getting to the point where more people are finding it difficult to pay for those increases, especially seniors on fixed incomes,” he says.

Pinto also takes issue with what he deems are inappropriate responses to seniors’ concerns about tax increases.
“Some politicians have had the gall to say to them that if they can no longer afford to pay their taxes, to just go ahead and sell your home, which I think is ludicrous,” says Pinto. “Some of them have spent their entire lives working to be able to afford that little house and now they can’t do it.”

Pinto decided to enter this year’s race because members of the community were asking him to, he says. The fact that he trailed Carella by just more than 100 votes during the 2010 election was also a factor.

It was another close race this year, with Carella garnering 4,963 votes to Pinto's 3,564. Former city economic development director Frank Miele netted 1,442 votes, Adriano Volpentesta got 1,099 votes his first time out, newcomer Marco Villella got 573 and Sam Acquaviva, who withdrew late in the race, got 338. All results are unofficial at press time.