Municipal elections in Richmond Hill, Ontario

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 Town 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.

Abraham Law, elected the first reeve of Richmond Hill

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 Monday, 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 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 Bell	2373			Vito Spatafora	2052	Arnie Warner	2027	David Cohen	1750	Lynn Foster	1830	Elio Di Iorio	2420	Joe Di Paola	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

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 Baros	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 Di Paola	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

References

1. Robert M. Stamp (1991). "The First Village Council". Fire Brigades and Fence Viewers. Town of Richmond Hill Public Library.
2. Thomas Claridge (November 14, 1985). "Voters return six York Region mayors Aurora results only exception in strong support for incumbents". The Globe and Mail. pp. A24. ISSN 0319-0714.
3. Victoria Stevens (November 13, 1985). "2 mayoralty upsets in York region but most incumbents back in office". Toronto Star. pp. B.8. ISSN 0319-0781.
4. "MUNICIPAL RESULTS". The Globe and Mail. November 16, 1988. pp. A 16. ISSN 0319-0714.
5. Rudy Platiel (November 15, 1988). "Easy wins, surprise upsets recorded". The Globe and Mail. pp. A 18.
6. Jock Ferguson, Dawn King and Rosemary Todd (November 16, 1988). "York region's new councillors 'no pushover' for developers". The Globe and Mail. pp. A 17. ISSN 0319-0714.
7. Jock Ferguson and Dawn King (November 15, 1988). "York region voters dump two mayors Jackson easily defeats challengers in Vaughan". The Globe and Mail. pp. A 1.
8. Marney Beck Robinson and Joan M. Clark (2000). Growing Success. Later Days in Richmond Hill - A History of the Community from 1930 to 1999 (Town of Richmond Hill/Richmond Hill Public Library Board). ISBN 0-9695376-1-1.
9. Robert Prowse. "Election Results by Polling Station" (PDF). Town of Richmond Hill.
10. Robert Prowse. "Election Results by Polling Station" (PDF). Town of Richmond Hill.
11. Robert Prowse. "Election Results by Polling Station" (PDF). Town of Richmond Hill.
12. Robert Prowse. "Election Results by Polling Station" (PDF). Town of Richmond Hill.
13. Robert Prowse. "Election Results by Polling Station" (PDF). Town of Richmond Hill.
14. Robert Prowse. "Election Results by Polling Station" (PDF). Town of Richmond Hill.
15. Robert Prowse. "Election Results by Polling Station" (PDF). Town of Richmond Hill.
16. Courtney Paoletti, Andrei Zaretski and Neil Springer. "CBC Toronto - Toronto Votes 2006 - GTA Mayoral Races - Richmond Hill". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2008-02-26.
17. Robert C. Prowse (November 13, 2006). "Official Results - Office of the Mayor" (PDF). Town of Richmond Hill.
18. Robert C. Prowse (November 13, 2006). "Official Results - Regional and Local Councillor" (PDF). Town of Richmond Hill.
19. Robert C. Prowse (November 13, 2006). "Official Results - Ward 1 Councillor" (PDF). Town of Richmond Hill.
20. Robert C. Prowse (November 13, 2006). "Official Results - Ward 2 Councillor" (PDF). Town of Richmond Hill.
21. Robert C. Prowse (November 13, 2006). "Official Results - Ward 3 Councillor" (PDF). Town of Richmond Hill.
22. Robert C. Prowse (November 13, 2006). "Official Results - Ward 4 Councillor" (PDF). Town of Richmond Hill.
23. Robert C. Prowse (November 13, 2006). "Official Results - Ward 5 Councillor" (PDF). Town of Richmond Hill.
24. Robert C. Prowse (November 13, 2006). "Official Results - Ward 6 Councillor" (PDF). Town of Richmond Hill.