Last-minute contenders join Vaughan mayoral race

yorkregion.com
Sept. 13, 2014
By Adam Martin-Robbins

And now there are four.

With just hours left Friday to add their names to the ballot, former mayoral candidates Savino Quatela and Paul Donofrio joined the race for city council’s top job.

“We need change in the city,” said Donofrio, a former provincial NDP candidate who had originally planned to seek the local council seat in West Woodbridge. “It looks like four years of ribbon-cutting and not doing what’s supposed to be done in the city is going on. And we need to put things not behind closed doors, but forward to the residents of Vaughan for a decision. More importantly, we need a hospital in the city and we gotta get one done.”

Back in 2010, Donofrio finished a distant fourth in a field of eight mayoral candidates, but this time around said he plans to put his “best face forward and do the best I possibly can for the residents of Vaughan".

Quatela, a perpetual candidate who has run at the municipal and provincial level, finished dead last in the 2010 mayoral race with just 233 votes.

Incumbent Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua, who registered as a candidate Wednesday afternoon, won the last contest by a landslide, garnering 35,000 votes more than runner-up former mayor Linda Jackson and former MPP Mario Racco.

The fourth contender for the mayoralty is newcomer Daniel DeVito.

Since registering as a candidate in late January, the Kleinburg resident has been largely silent on the campaign trail.

Given the field of candidates, Bevilacqua is likely a shoo-in on Oct. 27.

Still, he has vowed to be a visible presence on the campaign trail.

“For me, this campaign is a way to also connect with the community as I have over the past over 20 years,” said the 54-year-old former Liberal MP. “But I’m really going to go out there to thank the residents for their incredible support, vote of confidence and faith they’ve placed in me to bring about the kind of positive change that we’ve been able to bring about in the city in the past four years.”

If re-elected, Bevilacqua’s plan is to stay the course.

“I think we’ve been able to have a cultural shift in governance here in the city of Vaughan whether you’re talking about the service that we provide citizens, which is exceptional, to the relationship that I have with other levels of government that has obviously benefitted the city,” he said pointing to the province’s pledge to begin building the Hwy. 427extension in 2017 as well as the road and sewer infrastructure work under way at the hospital lands.

“These are great achievements that we need to build on.”

Here's who else is running in Vaughan's municipal election:

Regional Council

Incumbents Michael Di Biase, Gino Rosati and Deb Schulte are all seeking re-election.

Looking to best them are former regional councillor Mario Ferri, who came up short by about 445 votes in 2010; Carrie Liddy and Richard Lorello, who both ran for a regional seat in the last election, and Max Power.

Ward 1 (Maple/Kleinburg)

Incumbent Marilyn Iafrate is facing four challengers for her seat including former Ward 1 councillor Peter Meffe, who she squeaked past in 2010; Antony Niro, who caused a stir back in 2010 with his Time for Change election campaign calling for voters to oust certain longtime councillors; Maria Gagliardi and Muhammad Islam.

Ward 2 (West Woodbridge)

The contest here boasts the largest slate of candidates including Sam Acquaviva, incumbent Tony Carella, Frank Miele (who had originally registered as a regional councillor candidate), West Woodbridge Homeowners Association president Nick Pinto, Marco Villella and former regional councillor candidate Adriano Volpentesta.

Daniel Salvatore, the first candidate to register for the Ward 2 seat, has withdrawn.

Ward 3 (East Woodbridge)

This race features five hopefuls including Lorenzo Catuzza, who served in the office of former Vaughan MPP Greg Sorbara, incumbent Rosanna DeFrancesca, Francesco Ferraro, Anthony Liberio and Nick Lima.

Ward 4 (Concord/Thornhill North)

Here there is a three-way contest between Jonathan Gorenstein, incumbent Sandra Yeung Racco and Styles Q. Weinberg, who finished second in the 2010 race.

Ward 5 (Thornhill)

It’s a two-horse race, right now, between incumbent Alan Shefman and Josh Martow, son of Thornhill Tory MPP Gila Martow.