Municipal elections in Richmond Hill, Ontario explained

Municipal elections in Richmond Hill, Ontario are held every four years, concurrent with other municipal elections in Ontario. Historically, elections were held more often. Elected positions include mayor, regional and local councillor and ward councillors (for six different wards) on the Richmond Hill City Council, as well as trustees for the York Region District School Board, the York Catholic District School Board and for a Conseillere for the Conseil Scholare de District de Centre SudOuest.

1873 election

The first election in Richmond Hill was held January 6, 1873, just after its incorporation as a village.^[1] The campaign focused on the need to build a new high school as the one built in the 1850s was becoming crowded.

The vote tallies were (elected candidates bolded):

Reeve	Votes	Councillors	Votes
Abraham Law	56	William Warren	98
Andrew McNair	47	Jacob Brillinger	83
Dr. John Duncumb	5	William Powell	77
		David Hopkins	62
		James Freek	58
		J.R. Arnold	42

1985 election

Concurrent with the 1985 election, two plebiscites were held, one relating to the ward system and one relating to Nuclear-free zones.^[2] Voters rejected the new ward system 5057 to 5460 and endorsed the nuclear-free zone declaration 7073 to 3272. Low voter turnout was credited to the poor weather and the lack of a mayoral race.^[3]

Mayor	Votes	Local and Regional Councillor	Votes	Ward 1	Votes	Ward 2	Votes	Ward 3	Votes	Ward 4	Votes	Ward 5	Votes	Ward 6	Votes
Al Duffy	Accl.	Gordon Rowe	4890	Tom Simpson	681	Doug Smith	1455	William F. Bell	1042	Gail Blackburn	1345	Bob Case	1108	Bryon Wilfert	810
		Lois Hancey	6232	Bill Corcoran	3468	Frank Gallant	1058	Terence Munsey	128	Paul Hunter	585	Bernie Gaten	755	Nick Papa	333
		David Amos	2814	Larry Ashton	207	James Justin Hogan	106			Gerry O'Donnell	313			Frank Cavallo	381
		Steven Rotman	747	John Fearon	44									Joe Pacitto	151

1988 election

The election was held November 14, 1988.^{[4] [5]} Issues in the election included the rapid building of houses in Richmond Hill which many felt had outpaced the growth of corresponding services.^[6] The relationship between the town councillors and developers had also been the subject of controversy.^[7]

Mayor	Votes	Local and Regional Councillor	Votes	Ward 1	Votes	Ward 2	Votes	Ward 3	Votes	Ward 4	Votes	Ward 5	Votes	Ward 6	Votes
William F. Bell	8887	Frank Endean	6277	Tom Simpson	1737	Janet Mabley	1901	David Cohen	1456	Gail Blackburn	2466	Catherine Bishop	1907	Bryon Wilfert	1479
Al Duffy	5386	Lois Hancey	6002	Bonnie Tiffin	589	Nicholas Legge	802	Bronwyn Frazer	976	Dennis Chris	919	Nick Papa	1636	Rosario DeGregorio	671
Isabelle Gargarella	4811	Linda Christie	5940			David Amos	530	Terence Munsey	433	Nick Negri	322
		Bill Monroe	4407			Joanne Leroux-Willison	138	Stephen Kaye	350
		Robert Cage	3749
		Larry Ashton	1165

1991 election

One of the main issue of the 1991 election was plans to scrap the building of a large civic centre in the downtown area, and instead lease office space in Beaver Creek Industrial Park for that purpose, and build a single purpose library downtown instead of integrating it into a multi-purpose facility.^[8]

2003 election

The 2003 election was held on November 12, 2003.

Mayor^[9]	Votes	Local and Regional Councillor	Votes	Ward 1^[10]	Votes	Ward 2^[11]	Votes	Ward 3^[12]	Votes	Ward 4^[13]	Votes	Ward 5^[14]	Votes	Ward 6^[15]	Votes
William F. Bell	2373			Vito Spatafora	2052	Arnie Warner	2027	David Cohen	1750	Lynn Foster	1830	Elio Di Iorio	2420	Joe DiPaola	1444
William Lazenby	917			Vince Agozzino	2006	Gary Schecter	614	Agnes Chan-Wong	1257	Bruce Gilmour	1121	Nick Papa	2175	Michael Charles Latour	858
Sonny Khan	202			Cathy Leung-Rosnuk	995	Ali Mian	399	Shirley Chan	86	Ted Bunker	850	Lucy Rosina Cunningham	294	Godwin Chan	702
						Joe Pacitto	315			Blair Kingsland	107	Ali Zahedi	43	Jane Robertson	608

2006 election

See main article: Richmond Hill municipal election, 2006.

The election debates centred on urban sprawl, especially with regards to the Oak Ridges Moraine, waste management and urban renewal in the downtown area of Richmond Hill.^[16]

Mayor^[17]	Votes	Local and Regional Councillor^[18]	Votes	Ward 1^[19]	Votes	Ward 2^[20]	Votes	Ward 3^[21]	Votes	Ward 4^[22]	Votes	Ward 5^[23]	Votes	Ward 6^[24]	Votes
Dave Barrow	22007	Brenda Hogg	15296	Greg Beros	1568	Arnie Warner	2128	David Cohen	2179	Lynn Foster	4046	Nick Papa	2509	Godwin Chan	1627
David McCann	2661	Vito Spatafora	14536	Carrie Hoffelner	1209	Asghar Naqvi	1138	Natalie Helferty	685	Shiraz Hudda	608	Elio di Iorio	2480	Michael Charles Latour	1292
Anastasios Baxevanidis	2276	Joe DiPaola	13916	Don Ciccone	746	Carmine Perrelli	1095	Vik Gandhi	436			Marg Aldridge	609	Sandra di Iorio	1069
Ramon Datol	962			Heather Sinclair	328	Mike McCallum	354	Arif Khan	228			Michael McGouran	552	Derek Wu	614
				Adam Dodwell	78	D.L. Meitz	63					Nancy Storey	502	Muhammad Ali	303

2010 election

The 2010 election was held on October 25, 2010.^[25] This was the first election in Richmond Hill where the ballots were tabulated electronically instead of manually.^[26] Issues in the election included regional transit planning (e.g. VIVA rapidways, Line 1 Yonge extension), the future of the David Dunlap Observatory, and debt in York Region.^{[27] [28]}

2010 Richmond Hill Election Results^[29] !Position!Electee

Mayor	Dave Barrow
Local and Regional Councillor	Vito Spatafora
Local and Regional Councillor	Brenda Hogg
Ward 1 Councillor	Greg Beros
Ward 2 Councillor	Carmine Perrelli
Ward 3 Councillor	Castro Liu
Ward 4 Councillor	Lynn Foster
Ward 5 Councillor	Nick Papa
Ward 6 Councillor	Godwin Chan

2014 election

The 2014 election was held on October 27, 2014.

2014 Richmond Hill Election Results ^[30] !Mayor!Votes!Local and Regional Councillor!Votes!Ward 1!Votes!Ward 2!Votes!Ward 3!Votes!Ward 4!Votes!Ward 5!Votes!Ward 6!Votes

Dave Barrow	23397	Vito Spatafora	16112	Greg Beros	3426	Tom Muench	958	Castro Liu	3758	David West	3815	Karen Cilevitz	3405	Godwin Chan	4177
Carmine Perrelli	12320	Brenda Hogg	14145	Todd Hansen	1352	Stan Daneman	937	Donalda Johnson	950	Angel Freedman	2007	Nick Papa	2730	Frank Mastroianni	1365
Anastasios Baxevanidis	989	Joe DiPaola	13269	Trifon Haitas	749	Marjan Moridi-Arcuri	923	Alireza Rafiee	286	Ted Schneider	819	Ted Leider	1292	Igor Bily	190
		David Cohen	11561	Alex Khoroshylov	289	Ramona Singh	756	Davood Borojerdi-Azar	151
		Karen Trofimchuk	3672			Keith Menezes	734
						Ally Hemani	535
						Paul Tuen Muk	216
						Paul Pilli	196
						Morteza Behrooz	104

2018 election

The 2018 election was held on October 22, 2018.

2018 Richmond Hill Election Results ^[31] !Mayor!Votes!Local and Regional Councillor!Votes!Ward 1!Votes!Ward 2!Votes!Ward 3!Votes!Ward 4!Votes!Ward 5!Votes!Ward 6!Votes

Dave Barrow	23304	Joe DiPaola	11758	Greg Beros	2323	Tom Muench	1827	Castro Liu	Accl.	David West	3963	Karen Cilevitz	3137	Godwin Chan	4146
Susan Korman	4756	Carmine Perrelli	11418	Carol Davidson	1687	Scott Thompson	1076			Bob Aurora	1228	Nick Papa	2247	Julie Maxey	912
Abu Alam	1238	Carol Chan	9448	Lidia Kafieh	1167	Keith Menezes	636			Michael D'Amelio	799	Mahnaz Shahbazi	542
Ali Noroozi	770	Jason Cherniak	8878	Trifon Haitas	211	Michael Aziz	520					Nima Shahi	129
Mino Tari	567	Ramin Faraji	3706			Mike Rajbar	284
		Weibo Cheng	3523
		Sabine Ho	2605
		Murtaza Bhujwalla	1269

2022 mayoral by-election

Election Name:	2022 Richmond Hill mayoral by-election
Type:	presidential
Ongoing:	no
Previous Election:	2018 York Region municipal elections#Richmond Hill
Previous Year:	2018
Next Election:	2022 York Region municipal elections#Richmond Hill
Next Year:	2022
Election Date:	January 24, 2022
Nominee1:	David West
Popular Vote1:	13,053
Percentage1:	33.55%
Color1:	224F31
Color2:	932024
Nominee2:	Godwin Chan
Popular Vote2:	10,167
Percentage2:	26.13%
Color4:	004370
Nominee4:	Carmine Perrelli
Popular Vote4:	8,017
Percentage4:	20.60%
Color5:	6EB53D
Nominee5:	Joe DiPaola
Popular Vote5:	6,074
Percentage5:	15.61%
Mayor
Before Election:	Dave Barrow
After Election:	David West
Turnout:	32.10% (4.47pp)

The 2022 mayoral by-election was held on January 18-24, 2022. City council passed By-Law 133-21 on October 13, 2021 authorizing the use of internet voting to accommodate voters for the by-election during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Reasons for the by-election

Then incumbent mayor Dave Barrow went on indefinite medical leave on February 24, 2021, leaving city council with 8 voting members.^[32] According to local media reports, this left city council frequently gridlocked, as there was no leader in council and council votes would often end in a tie. City council meetings were characterized as "dysfunctional", where members would divulge into squabbling and name-calling.^[33]

Barrow returned to preside over a special council meeting on September 8, 2021 regarding the future of the governance of council given the inefficiencies during his absence. Four councillors left the meeting in protest before it was adjourned.^[34] On September 15, 2021, Barrow retired as mayor.^[35]

On September 29, 2021, city council agreed to hold a by-election to fill the mayor's vacant seat instead of appointing a mayor.^[36]

Candidates

• Godwin Chan, incumbent city councillor (Ward 6)
• Joe DiPaola, acting mayor and one of two incumbent regional councillors
• Susan Korman, CEO, Furry Friends Company^[37]
• Carmine Perrelli, deputy mayor and one of two incumbent regional councillors
• Ruida Tian, Founder/CEO, Smair Inc.^[38]
• Rona Wang, President & CEO at GoBest Immigration Services^[39]
• David West, incumbent city councillor (Ward 4)
• Juni Yeung, music teacher, author, cultural historian, and interpreter^[40]
• Michael Zambakkides, Vice president, Z3 Controls^[41]

Results

2022 Richmond Hill Mayoral By-election Results^[42] !Candidate!Votes!Share

David West	13053	33.55%
Godwin Chan	10167	26.13%
Carmine Perrelli	8017	20.60%
Joe DiPaola	6074	15.61%
Rona Wang	406	1.04%
Ruida Tian	389	1.00%
Susan Korman	364	0.94%
Michael Zambakkides	237	0.61%
Juni Yeung	202	0.52%

Voter turnout for this election was 32.10%.

2022 election

The 2022 election was held on October 24, 2022.

Mayoral candidate	Vote	%
David West (X)	28,318	70.18
Carmine Perrelli	10,304	25.54
Domenic Bardari	1,155	2.86
Holo Devnani	572	1.42

City council

Regional council

Two to be elected.

Council candidate	Vote	%
Godwin Chan	25,392	38.61
Joe DiPaola (X)	18,334	27.88
Terrence Au	12,005	18.25
Marco Coletta	7,617	11.58
Abu Alam	2,424	3.69

Ward 1

Council candidate	Vote	%
Carol Davidson	3,201	45.88
Greg Beros (X)	1,856	26.60
Catherine Dellerba	1,301	18.65
Weibo Cheng	619	8.87

Ward 2

Council candidate	Vote	%
Scott Thompson	2,028	39.37
Tom Muench (X)	1,597	31.00
Sigmund Lee	816	15.84
Yehuda Goldberg	536	10.41
Tabinda Jatoi	174	3.38

Ward 3

		Council candidate	Vote	%
Castro Liu (X)	5,299	84.92
Juni Yeung	941	15.08

Ward 4

Council candidate	Vote	%
Simon Cui	2,498	32.34
Raika Sheppard (X)	2,235	28.93
Rose A. Weinberg	1,735	22.46
Liana Falzone	459	5.94
Johnny So	328	4.25
Mahnaz Shahbazi	247	3.20
Harry H. Harakh	223	2.89

Ward 5

Council candidate	Vote	%
Karen Cilevitz (X)	1,525	23.34
Tarun Saroya	828	12.67
Richard Rupp	749	11.46
Yuliya Benedziktavich	673	10.30
Anders Lindfors-Wheeler	655	10.02
Wil Husnutdinov	595	9.11
Vera Murano	546	8.36
	467	7.15
Shohreh Sabaghpour	396	6.06
Emmanuel Lazaris	100	1.53

Ward 6

Council candidate	Vote	%
Michael Shiu	1,893	27.66
Linda Zhang	1,685	24.62
Carol Chan	1,254	18.32
Sharon Chisholm	819	11.96
Kate Jiang	695	10.15
Julie Maxey	269	3.93
Yung Li	230	3.36

Notes and References

1. Web site: The First Village Council. Fire Brigades and Fence Viewers. Robert M. Stamp. Town of Richmond Hill Public Library. 1991.
2. News: Voters return six York Region mayors Aurora results only exception in strong support for incumbents. Thomas Claridge. November 14, 1985. The Globe and Mail. A24. 0319-0714.
3. News: 2 mayoralty upsets in York region but most incumbents back in office. Victoria Stevens. Toronto Star. November 13, 1985. B.8. 0319-0781.
4. News: MUNICIPAL RESULTS. The Globe and Mail. November 16, 1988. A 16. 0319-0714.
5. News: Easy wins, surprise upsets recorded. Rudy Platiel. The Globe and Mail. November 15, 1988. A 18.
6. News: York region's new councillors 'no pushover' for developers. Jock Ferguson, Dawn King and Rosemary Todd. November 16, 1988. The Globe and Mail. A 17. 0319-0714.
7. News: York region voters dump two mayors Jackson easily defeats challengers in Vaughan. Jock Ferguson and Dawn King. November 15, 1988. The Globe and Mail. A 1.
8. Book: Growing Success. Later Days in Richmond Hill - A History of the Community from 1930 to 1999. Marney Beck Robinson and Joan M. Clark. Town of Richmond Hill/Richmond Hill Public Library Board. 2000. 0-9695376-1-1. registration.
9. Web site: Election Results by Polling Station. Town of Richmond Hill. Robert Prowse.
10. Web site: Election Results by Polling Station. Town of Richmond Hill. Robert Prowse.
11. Web site: Election Results by Polling Station. Town of Richmond Hill. Robert Prowse.
12. Web site: Election Results by Polling Station. Town of Richmond Hill. Robert Prowse.
13. Web site: Election Results by Polling Station. Town of Richmond Hill. Robert Prowse.
14. Web site: Election Results by Polling Station. Town of Richmond Hill. Robert Prowse.
15. Web site: Election Results by Polling Station. Town of Richmond Hill. Robert Prowse.
16. Web site: CBC Toronto - Toronto Votes 2006 - GTA Mayoral Races - Richmond Hill . . Courtney Paoletti, Andrei Zaretski and Neil Springer . 2008-02-26.
17. Web site: Official Results - Office of the Mayor. Town of Richmond Hill. Robert C. Prowse. November 13, 2006.
18. Web site: Official Results - Regional and Local Councillor. Town of Richmond Hill. Robert C. Prowse. November 13, 2006.
19. Web site: Official Results - Ward 1 Councillor. Town of Richmond Hill. Robert C. Prowse. November 13, 2006.
20. Web site: Official Results - Ward 2 Councillor. Town of Richmond Hill. Robert C. Prowse. November 13, 2006.
21. Web site: Official Results - Ward 3 Councillor. Town of Richmond Hill. Robert C. Prowse. November 13, 2006.
22. Web site: Official Results - Ward 4 Councillor. Town of Richmond Hill. Robert C. Prowse. November 13, 2006.
23. Web site: Official Results - Ward 5 Councillor. Town of Richmond Hill. Robert C. Prowse. November 13, 2006.
24. Web site: Official Results - Ward 6 Councillor. Town of Richmond Hill. Robert C. Prowse. November 13, 2006.
25. Web site: Cohen elects to fight for new council role. 2021-12-29. YorkRegion.com. 6 May 2010 . en-CA.
26. Web site: e-voting comes to Richmond Hill. 2021-12-29. YorkRegion.com. 14 April 2010 . en-CA.
27. Web site: Transit key to York votes. 2021-12-29. YorkRegion.com. 18 October 2010 . en-CA.
28. News: 2010-04-20. York Region: 5 big election issues. en-CA. The Toronto Star. 2021-12-29. 0319-0781.
29. Web site: Richmond Hill's voter turnout higher than 2006. 2021-12-29. YorkRegion.com. 28 October 2010 . en-CA.
30. Web site: Election Results by Polling Station. City of Richmond Hill. https://web.archive.org/web/20211229053857/https://www.richmondhill.ca/en/shared-content/resources/documents/2014-Election-Mayor-Poll-by-Poll-Results.pdf. 2021-12-29 . live.
31. Web site: 2018 Municipal Elections Clerk's Certificate Certified Election Results. City of Richmond Hill. https://web.archive.org/web/20210422184259/https://www.richmondhill.ca/en/shared-content/resources/documents/2018-Official-Richmond-Hill-Election-Results.pdf. 2021-04-22 . live.
32. Web site: 2021-02-24. Richmond Hill mayor takes leave of absence to deal with health issue. 2021-12-29. CP24. en.
33. News: Javed. Noor. 2021-10-01. 'The conduct of councillors is out of control': Name-calling, bullying and squabbling at Richmond Hill council. en-CA. The Toronto Star. 2021-12-29. 0319-0781.
34. Web site: Special Council Meeting Minutes C#34-21 Wednesday, September 8, 2021, 1:00 p.m.. PDF. City of Richmond Hill. https://web.archive.org/web/20211229193505/https://calendar.richmondhill.ca/council/Detail/2021-09-08-1300-Special-Council-Meeting/5a7cb05a-eda0-4d23-b156-adac00e9f708. 2021-12-29. live.
35. Web site: Statement from Mayor Dave Barrow. 2021-12-29. City of Richmond Hill. en. https://web.archive.org/web/20211229194316/https://www.richmondhill.ca/Modules/News/index.aspx?feedId=5988c08a-c0f5-4d51-91e0-9691f68738f4&newsId=aaba762b-52d3-4e06-9664-ef5df9d4eecb. 2021-12-29. live.
36. Web site: Special Council Meeting Minutes C#38-21 Wednesday, September 29, 2021, 9:30 a.m.. PDF. City of Richmond Hill. https://web.archive.org/web/20211229160429/https://calendar.richmondhill.ca/council/Detail/2021-09-29-0930-Special-Council-Meeting/663c08cc-c655-404f-9115-adc200ed640f. 2021-12-29 . live.
37. News: 2022-01-05. Susan Korman, candidate for 2022 Richmond Hill mayoral byelection. en-CA. The Toronto Star. 2022-01-27. 0319-0781.
38. News: 2022-01-05. Ruida Tian, candidate for 2022 Richmond Hill mayoral byelection. en-CA. The Toronto Star. 2022-01-27. 0319-0781.
39. News: 2022-01-05. Rona Wang, candidate for 2022 Richmond Hill mayoral byelection. en-CA. The Toronto Star. 2022-01-27. 0319-0781.
40. News: 2022-01-05. Juni Yeung, candidate for 2022 Richmond Hill mayoral byelection. en-CA. The Toronto Star. 2022-01-27. 0319-0781.
41. News: 2022-01-05. Michael Zambakkides, candidate for 2022 Richmond Hill mayoral byelection. en-CA. The Toronto Star. 2022-01-27. 0319-0781.
42. Web site: 2022-01-25. Election Results. 2022-01-26. www.richmondhill.ca. en.