ISSUE 11 - The Casual Vacancy of Richmond Hill
Welcome to another issue of #munipoli Matters, where we discuss all about municipal elections and the often unreported arena of local government across Canada and beyond.
In the last issue I discussed the timetable of upcoming municipal elections in 2022 and things will start off right in January...at least in one part of the GTA. Some of you might be wondering why the title references a book written by acclaimed British author J.K. Rowling.
The term “Casual Vacancy” means “a situation in which a seat in a deliberative assembly becomes vacant during that assembly's term. Casual vacancies may arise through the death, resignation or disqualification of the sitting member, or for other reasons.”
With former Richmond Hill mayor Dave Barrow resigning in September after a lengthy medical leave and council opting to have a by-election before the regular municipal election in the fall of 2022, I would say this certainly qualifies as a ‘casual vacancy’, and the vacancy attracted nine candidates registered by the deadline.
Godwin Chan
Joe DiPaola
Susan Korman
Carmine Perrelli
Ruida Tian
Rona Wang
David West
Juni Yeung
Michael Zambakkides
Let's get to know some of these candidates running for mayor of Richmond Hill.
The (already) elected
Regional councillor Joe DiPaola has been serving as the Acting Mayor and is now running for the job himself. From the way he delivered the recent State of the City address, DiPaola certainly appears to have readied himself for the mayor’s job for some time.
First elected in 1997, DiPaola was a councillor for 8 years from 1998 to 2006. He previously ran in the Richmond Hill riding for the Conservatives in the 2006 federal election, losing to then Liberal MP Bryon Wilfert. DiPaola ran unsuccessfully to return as a regional councillor in 2014, getting elected in 2018 and becoming a deputy mayor before being appointed Acting Mayor earlier this year after Barrow went on his medical leave.
DiPaola isn’t the only regional councillor seeking the big chair as Regional Councillor Carmine Perrelli is also in the running. A former Ward 2 councillor, Perrelli unsuccessfully ran for mayor in 2014 then returned as a regional councillor in 2018.
A bizarre sidebar about Perrelli is an encounter he had with former Toronto mayoral candidate Sarah Thompson. During a political event in 2013, Perrelli said she approached him and his fellow councillor Greg Beros, claiming the late Rob Ford groped her buttocks. Perrelli added that he overheard Thompson talking to her aide about “setting up” Ford later on in the event in order to use anticipated video for some kind of political leverage.
In recent council meetings, Perrelli has been reprimanded for being vocally disruptive, as well as confusion caused when he offered residents to exchange broken recycling bins...apparently for free, but it turned out they weren’t. He’s also been recently reprimanded by Richmond Hill’s Integrity Commissioner.
There was also a petition launched on Change.org requesting that Perrelli be censured and stripped of the ceremonial deputy mayor role, which happened later on for other reasons. The purpose of the petition stemmed from accusations that a 15 year old boy lost his life while under the care of Perrelli’s for-profit foster care business.
Overall, the best way to sum up DiPaola and Perrelli’s relationship can be seen in the videos below.
HOW IT STARTED:
HOW IT’S GOING...
While the regional councillors who represent the whole city are both running, two local ward councillors have also put their hats in the ring. Ward 6 incumbent Godwin Chan, a lawyer, was first elected in 2006 as Richmond Hills’ ‘first non-white councillor’, according to Canadian Immigrant magazine.
My recollection when attending certain networking events in the Markham / Richmond Hill area several years ago was that Chan and fellow Councillor Castro Liu were always in attendance, hob-knobbing with the politicians from other levels of government and making sure their pictures were taken to document evidence that they were there.
Liu, a former television host on Fairchild Television, was usually selected to emcee so that at least gave him a reason to attend, but I’m not sure I can say the same for Chan. Perhaps this mayoral campaign would give an idea of what Chan actually wants to do if he actually gets to lead this city.
Ward 4 incumbent David West is also running. A self employed photographer by trade, the “Leading Richmond Hill in a Positive Direction” tagline on his campaign website certainly has West portraying himself as an alternative to the dysfunction that has plagued this council in recent months.
Appointed to fill a vacancy in December 2013, West was elected in 2014, reelected in 2018. Prior to joining the council, West did the usual route of an engaged citizen by being on the Yonge Street Subway Task Force, the Cultural Leadership Council, the Committee of Adjustment, the RHCPA Marketing Committee, the Community Hub Liaison Committee and the Richmond Hill Winter Carnival Committee.
Compared to the recent toxicity seen on council, Chan or West could end up being a consensus choice for those who don’t like either DiPaola or Perrelli. West even somewhat physically resembles former mayor Barrow.
The (sort of) non-politicians
Former 2018 mayoral candidate and small business owner Susan Korman is back again after placing a distant second to Barrow.
Korman advocated for term limits and the traditional tagline of small c-conservative candidates: fiscal restraint. She registered to run in the by-election early in November, although she dropped out briefly for about five days before registering to run again.
Meanwhile, Ruida Tian touts a very traditional immigrant background story, having started by renting somewhere in Richmond Hill to running his own business and establishing community roots in his neighbourhood.
A Council Secretary at a local public school and an Auxiliary Police Constable with York Regional Police, Tian’s platform highlights combatting racism, better transportation planning, strengthening education and health care. Although, the latter of which is a provincial area of responsibility, so I’m not sure how Tian intends to address those issues.
Michael Zambakkides, the owner of an ‘energy solutions’ company called Z3 Controls, is also running, along with candidates Juni Yeung and Rona Wang.
While the candidates who aren’t currently on council putting their names forward is commendable, some may be better suited to contesting for a city council seat or even regional councillor during the regular 2022 election.
At the end of the day, the most important thing to do is…
Please remember to vote
Online voting will be available starting 10 a.m. on Tuesday, January 18, until 8 p.m. on Monday, January 24, 2022. In-person voting will be available on Saturday, January 22 and Sunday, January 23 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (EST).
The official Voting Day is Monday January 24, 2022 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. (EST).
Richmond Hill, you have your choices now, so happy voting!