Notorious Vaughan no more: Local election off to sleepy start

CP24.com
May 5, 2014
Joshua Freeman

 

While the drama of Hogtown and its scandal-plagued mayor may be the talk of the GTA these days, it wasn't long ago that the City of Vaughan was known for having the most notorious council.

Just a few years ago, one might have described the political tone in Vaughan as 'cloak and dagger' rather than cooperative. At one point former mayor Linda Jackson had her office swept for listening devices. During the 2010 election, an anonymous party sent out thousands of postcards to homes across the city targeting certain councillors as needing to be voted out of office while endorsing others.

But things have changed.

A new mayor elected in 2010 has focused on harmony as a top priority and the rest of council seems eager to embrace the idea. In 2011, council unanimously endorsed the "Vaughan Accord," a document promising that they would work cooperatively to build the city without engaging in petty bickering of the sort that previously made headlines for the city.

Mayor yet to formally declare intentions

So eager is Vaughan's council to avoid conflict, it would seem, that some of its members -- including the mayor -- won't even wade into electoral politics until the absolute last moment.

In an email to CP24.com Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua said he won't make his intentions known until September because it would interfere with his mandate to govern.

The last day that nominees can file papers to run is Sept. 12, 2014.

“In 2010 I was elected to govern and that is what I remain focused on,” Bevilacqua said in an email to cp24.com. “I believe governing is much more important than campaigning. As I did in 2010, I will announce my intentions in September.”

Bevilacqua said he’s “very satisfied” with the city’s achievements through the current term and said he’s focused on issues such as building a hospital in the city, expanding transit and getting a post-secondary institution in Vaughan.

Councillor Sandra Yeung Racco, who recently ran as a Liberal candidate and lost in a provincial byelection in Thornhill, echoed the same sentiment.

“As a rule, I never consider to file nomination papers for the municipal election until after we have recessed in the summer or even later, as I don’t believe we should be mixing our job with campaigning,” Yeung Racco told cp24.com in a statement.

In the interim, Yeung Racco is planning on running again for the Liberals in the general provincial election, set for June 12.

While she and Bevilacqua might appear to be playing their cards close to their chest, other councillors are waiving their flags early in their re-election bids.

“I always declare as early as I can for the purpose of letting everyone know exactly where I stand,” Thornhill councillor Alan Shefman told cp24.com. “I don’t beat around the bush. I intend to run and I want everyone to know that.”

However he said that the decision to declare early or late may simply amount to a difference in political style.

“I don’t make very much of that at all,” Shefman said of the mayor’s decision not to formally declare his intentions until later in the year. “Some people like myself like to make it very clear to everyone what my intentions are. Other people just don’t want to put their foot into it by taking the first step at this early stage.”

Shefman noted that Bevilacqua has indicated previously that he plans to continue on in the mayor’s chair.

“I think it’s pretty obvious that he’s interested in doing this again,” Shefman said. “He’s said publicly that he’s going to run and for me that’s good news because he’s done really well this last term and I think he’ll do great going forward again.”

As for the tone of the election compared to the same time in the last term?

“There is no comparison,” Shefman said. “We’ve had a very calm, very focused, very productive four years where everybody on council has worked together.”

Too quiet?

At least on the surface, most people seem to agree.

“This particular term has been a very quiet one,” city hall watcher Richard Lorello told cp24.com.

A vocal critic of Vaughan’s political scene, Lorello said the problem may be just that.

“There’s been stuff going on. But it’s been quiet and I would say too quiet,” Lorello said.

He cited closed-door discussions about cost-overruns for the new city hall building and a future hospital as evidence that while council is working together, it may not be operating as transparently as it should.

In terms of the mayor’s plans, he notes there have been rumours that Bevilacqua may be interested in becoming chair of York Region or even in running again at the federal level. However he said that while he thinks it’s “odd” for the mayor to leave his nomination papers so long, most people - himself included - think the mayor plans to stay.

“Personally I think Mr. Bevilacqua will run for mayor again,” Lorello said. “I guess anything can happen.”

While a number of councillors have either registered or said they'll for sure run, the sleepy start may signal that Vaughan has indeed returned to an era of political stability.

So far, Lorello says he sees nothing of the nastiness that dominated much of the 2010 election.

“Nothing like that, but of course it’s still spring,’ he laughs.

No longer the butt of jokes declaring it 'the city above the law' (a play on its former slogan, ‘The city above Toronto’), it may be that Vaughan is content to once again be a sleepy, well-run 905 municipality. If there are disgruntled citizens in the city, they apparently don't number enough to scare a possible incumbent mayor into getting his signs out early.

Are they running again?

Mayor

Maurizio Bevilacqua - Will announce intentions in September

Regional Councillor

Gino Rosati - Registered to run

Regional Councillor

Michael Di Biase - Registered to run

Regional Councillor

Deb Schulte - Registered to run

Ward 1 (Maple/ Kleinburg)

Marilyn Iafrate - Plans to file soon

Ward 2 (Woodbridge West)

Tony Carella - Not registered

Ward 3 (Woodbridge East)

Rosanna DeFrancesca - Not registered

Ward 4 (Concord/ Thornhill North)

Sandra Yeung Racco - Won’t decide before the summer

Ward 5 (Thornhill)

Alan Shefman - Registered to run