York Region council is going to look different in the next term after a slew of changes in the south end of the region.
Six new faces will join the ranks after various departures and election match-ups, including former provincial Liberal leader Steven Del Duca, who won the Vaughan mayorship by less than 1,000 votes. Meanwhile, regional councillors Don Hamilton and Carmine Perrelli were ousted after failed challenges against incumbent mayors in Markham and Richmond Hill, respectively. Naomi Davison won the seat for Georgina's regional councillor, replacing outgoing Robert Grossi.
Here is a full account of the next regional council:
Newmarket
Mayor John Taylor, acclaimed
Deputy Mayor Tom Vegh, won re-election
Aurora
Mayor Tom Mrakas, won re-election
East Gwillimbury
Mayor Virginia Hackson, won re-election
Georgina
Mayor Margaret Quirk, won re-election
Regional councillor and deputy mayor Naomi Davison, won election
King
Mayor Steve Pellegrini, acclaimed
Markham
Mayor Frank Scarpitti won re-election against regional councillor challenger Don Hamilton
Regional council election winners include incumbents Joe Li and Jim Jones. Newcomers are Michael Chan, former provincial minister of citizenship, immigration and international trade in Kathleen Wynne’s Liberal government, and Alan Ho, stepping up from Ward 2 councillor.
Richmond Hill
Mayor David West won election versus regional councillor Carmine Perrelli
Regional councillor seats were won by incumbent Joe DiPaola and newcomer Godwin Chan, stepping up from his longtime Ward 6 councillor set
Vaughan
Steven Del Duca won the election against Sandra Yeung Racco to take over for departing mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua
Regional councillor incumbents Linda Jackson, who won the deputy mayor title, Mario Ferri, Gino Rosati all kept their seats in elections.
A newly designated council seat was won by Mario Racco, husband of Sandra Yeung Racco.
Whitchurch-Stouffville
Mayor Iain Lovatt, won re-election
New public school trustee, catholic incumbent wins
Pamela McCarthy will be Newmarket’s new trustee on York Region District School Board after a tight election contest.
McCarthy came away with 4,414 votes in the four-candidate contest, besting Shameela Shakeel, who had 4,034 votes in second place. McCarthy will replace incumbent Linda Gilbert, who decided not to run for re-election.
Longtime York Catholic District School Board Trustee Theresa McNicol has been re-elected, besting challenger Peter Fracassi after getting a majority of votes in all of Newmarket, East Gwillimbury and Georgina.
New faces in area councils
Aurora’s new Ward 1 will have a newcomer as councillor, with Ron Weese besting three-term incumbent Sandra Humfryes with 62 per cent of the votes. Incumbents otherwise maintained their seats in the town.
Former Newmarket businessman Brian Johns earned a council seat in East Gwillimbury’s Ward 2, pairing with incumbent Tara Roy-Diclemente.
Richmond Hill has several changes to its council. Ward 1 incumbent Greg Baros has lost his seat to Carol Davidson. Ward 2 incumbent Tom Muench also lost out to challenger Scott Thompson. With no incumbent running, Simon Cui won in Ward 4, while Chan’s former seat was won by Michael Shiu in Ward 6.
Vaughan council will also see some new faces. Ward 2 incumbent Tony Carella lost his seat to Adriano Volpentiesta, while Ward 5 councillor Alan Shefman lost to former Thornhill MPP Gila Martow.
