{"id":14671,"date":"2010-10-19T15:12:05","date_gmt":"2010-10-19T19:12:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacingtoronto.ca\/?p=14671"},"modified":"2013-01-21T13:11:35","modified_gmt":"2013-01-21T18:11:35","slug":"election-council-turnover-ward-18","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2010\/10\/19\/election-council-turnover-ward-18\/","title":{"rendered":"ELECTION: Council Turnover \u2013 Ward 18"},"content":{"rendered":"

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It\u2019s not often that candidates for City Council are given the opportunity to run without an incumbent in the ward. This year there are nine wards with seats ripe for the picking. This post is the seventh in a series on the candidates in these contested wards, and the key issues in the neighbourhoods they seek to represent.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Ward 18 Davenport<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bordered by Dovercourt Road in the east, Dupont Street to the north, the rail corridor in the west from the Junction to where it meets King Street, Ward 18 encompasses<\/a> the Junction Triangle, Roncesvalles, Little Portugal, Bloordale and West Queen West neighbourhoods.<\/p>\n

The Candidates:<\/strong><\/p>\n

After a whirlwind of activity surrounding Adam Giambrone\u2019s short run for mayor and his sex scandal, the race for his seat has become highly contested. With 12 candidates vying for his spot in City Hall this race is sure to be one to keep an eye on.<\/p>\n

For Davenport residents, Ana Bailao<\/a>\u2019s name may sound familiar. She not only came in second place for the spot in council in 2003, but was the former assistant to the councillor before Giambrone, Mario Silva. She has also been active on many community boards for the past ten years. She is the founding member of Friends of Dovercourt Park, as well as DIG IN, the Dupont Improvement Group and has sat on community boards such as the Junction Triangle Association, S.O.S (Save Our Schools Committee), Bloordale Villagers Association, and multiple Portuguese associations.<\/p>\n

Endorsed by Mayor David Miller, Gord Perks, Adam Giambrone and Adam Vaughan, Kevin Beaulieu<\/a> was the executive assistant to Giambrone. In that position he found himself involved in many projects and transit-oriented initiatives, and was able to engage with community members and BIAs. He is a current member of the Davenport Municipal Association and wants to make sure that City services are kept public and not sold off to the highest bidder.<\/p>\n

The software developer whose campaign website is still under construction, Doug Carroll<\/a> is concerned about poor city services and has a campaign centered on the governance of these services, including user audits and public quality ratings.<\/p>\n

Former Ontario Green Party leader Frank De Jong<\/a> is a member of Active 18 and a year-round cyclist. He vows to close the House of Lancaster strip club and create some interesting projects such as the Property Assessed Clean Energy program, in which the City would front the cost of homeowners installing a renewable electricity system and issue low interest bonds which the homeowner could payback through a 20-year payment plan.<\/p>\n

Joe MacDonald<\/a> isn\u2019t new to running campaigns. He has been a campaign manager in over 20 NDP election campaigns across Canada. He is the president of the Macdonald Group Inc., senior partner for FPR Corporate Communications and Public Affaris and has been a board member and four term president of the Public Affairs Association of Canada. He is the former partnership and public affairs manager for the Downtown Yonge BIA.<\/p>\n

Hema Vyas<\/a> is currently the evaluation coordinator at the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities, and has been involved extensively in the non-profit sector. She is the past president and current board member of the June Callwood Centre for Women and Families, a project manager at A Commitment to Training and Employment for Women and a representative with Culturelink, an organization that helps new Canadians get settled.<\/p>\n

Ken Wood<\/a> is the self-proclaimed \u201cTree Guy\u201d because he chained himself to a tree to save it during the Lansdowne Ave. narrowing. He has a BA in political science and wants to fight for diversity in the city by making communication available in more languages. He wants to see term limits for council and City services that better reflect the needs of residents.<\/p>\n

As the owner and manager of a construction company, Kirk Russell<\/a> sees many similarities in running a construction site and running a city ward, with the exception of course that running a ward would not start with an empty slate. On his website he describes this similarity; \u201cour ward is like a construction site in that work has to be done within a certain budget and timeline, and according to specific regulations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among those without official websites that could be found, Nha Le<\/strong> has run in this ward twice before, last time coming in with just under 3% of votes, but has since served as an adviser for MPP Tony Ruprecht. He has been quoted as saying \u201cdon\u2019t look to the past, look to the future.\u201d Also running for councillor are Abdirazak Elmi<\/strong>, Mohammad Muhit<\/strong> and last minute entrant Joanna Teliatnik<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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The Issues:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Georgetown Rail Corridor \/ Pearson Airport Rail Link<\/strong><\/p>\n