Vaughan municipal election candidates off and running

YorkRegion.com
Sept. 19, 2014
Adam Martin-Robbins

Dozens of political hopefuls will be out knocking on doors, putting up signs and debating the issues that matter to you over the coming weeks as the Oct. 27 municipal election kicks into high gear.

This time around there are 32 candidates vying to fill nine seats on city council.

Four of those hopefuls — incumbent Maurizio Bevilacqua, Daniel DeVito, Paul Donofrio and Savino Quatela — are seeking the mayoralty.

Quatela and Donofrio jumped into the fray last Friday, with just hours left to add their names to the ballot.

“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.

In 2010, Donofrio finished a distant fourth in a field of eight mayoral candidates, but this time around he plans to put his “best face forward”.

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

DeVito, the first hopeful out of the gate, has been low-key since registering in late January.
Given the field of candidates, Bevilacqua is likely a shoo-in for the top spot on council.

In 2010, he won by a landslide, garnering 35,000 votes more than runner-up former mayor Linda Jackson and former Liberal MPP Mario Racco.

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,” 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 positive change.”

Of the remaining 28 candidates, seven are competing for three local and regional councillor positions and 21 are involved in races for the five local councillor seats.

Those contests shape up as follows:

Regional Council Candidates
Michael Di Biase (incumbent)
Mario Ferri
Carrie Liddy
Richard Lorello
Max Power
Gino Rosati (incumbent)
Deb Schulte (incumbent)

Ward 1 (Maple/Kleinburg) Candidates
Maria Gagliardi
Marilyn Iafrate (incumbent)
Muhammad Islam
Peter Meffe
Antony Niro 

Ward 2 (West Woodbridge) Candidates
Sam Acquaviva
Tony Carella (incumbent)
Frank Miele
Nick Pinto
Marco Villella
Adriano Volpentesta

Ward 3 (East Woodbridge) Candidates
Lorenzo Catuzza
Rosanna DeFrancesca (incumbent)
Francesco Ferraro
Anthony Liberio
Nick Lima

Ward 4 (Concord/Thornhill North) Candidates
Jonathan Gorenstein
Sandra Yeung Racco (incumbent)
Styles Q. Weinberg

Ward 5 (Thornhill) Candidates
Josh Martow
Alan Shefman (incumbent)