Paolo Tamburello

Paolo V. Tamburello is a politician in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He served on the Montreal city council from 1994 to 2005 and was a member of the Montreal executive committee under Pierre Bourque.

City councillor

Tamburello was a travel agent before entering political life.^[1] He was a co-ordinator for Mayor Jean Doré's Montreal Citizens' Movement (MCM) in the Saint-Michel in the early 1990s, before leaving the party over its failure to close the Miron quarry urban landfill site.^[2] In the 1994 municipal election, he was elected to council for the Saint-Michel division as a member of Pierre Bourque's Vision Montreal (VM). Bourque's party won a majority on council, and Tamburello initially served as backbench supporter of the administration.

Tamburello supported Bourque during Vision Montreal's 1997 inter-party crisis and was named as an associate member of the executive committee on February 5, 1997.^[3] Later in the same month, he was appointed to the city's environment committee.^[4] He was re-elected in the 1998 election and was promoted to full executive committee membership on November 12, 1998, with responsibility for parks, gardens, and greenspace.^[5] In late 1999, he announced that Montreal would provide one million dollars in services to the Mosaiculture International Montreal 2000's horticultural event.^[6]

Tamburello was re-elected to council in the 2001 municipal election, in which Vision Montreal was defeated by Gérald Tremblay's Montreal Island Citizens Union (MICU). Following the election, he left the executive committee and served as an opposition member. By virtue of holding his council seat, he also received a position on the newly formed Villeray—Saint-Michel—Parc-Extension borough council, and was chosen as its first chair.^[7] In 2003, his designation was upgraded to borough mayor.

In late December 2004, Tamburello left Vision Montreal to sit as an independent. He joined MICU on March 2, 2005.^[8] He sought re-election as borough mayor of Villeray—Saint-Michel—Parc-Extension in the 2005 municipal election, but was defeated by Vision Montreal's Anie Samson.

Tamburello remained active with Tremblay's party (renamed as Union Montreal) after the 2005 election. In 2007, he was elected to the party's executive as a vice-president representing the city's eastern region.^[9]

In 2009, the Montreal Gazette reported that Tamburello and city councillor Marcel Tremblay, the mayor's brother, "were reported to have spoken on behalf of" developer Michael Rosenberg, a contributor to Union Montreal, to Canadian prime minister's press secretary Dimitri Soudas. Tamburello and Tremblay said that they were not seeking to intervene on behalf of Rosenberg, but were curious about the status of a file involving the developer. Soudas was investigated by the federal ethics commissioner for his handling of the matter and "was cleared of wrongdoing in June 2008."^[10]

Provincial politics

Tamburello ran for the Action démocratique du Québec (ADQ) party in the 2003 provincial election.^[11]

Electoral record

2005 Montreal municipal election results: Borough Mayor, Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension Party Candidate Total votes % of total votes Vision Montreal Anie Samson 13,109 45.24 Montreal Island Citizens Union Paolo Tamburello (incumbent) 11,122 38.38 Projet Montréal Jose Luis Bolanos 3,616 12.48 Independent Muhammad Haseen 1,128 3.89 Total valid votes 28,975 100 Source: City of Montreal official results (in French), City of Montreal.

2001 Montreal municipal election results: Councillor, Saint-Michel Party Candidate Total votes % of total votes Vision Montreal Paolo Tamburello (incumbent) 5,911 65.24 Montreal Island Citizens Union Nancy Forlini 2,684 29.62 White Elephant Party Thérèse Beaulieu 466 5.14 Total valid votes 9,061 100 Source: Election results, 1833-2005 (in French), City of Montreal.

1998 Montreal municipal election results: Councillor, Saint-Michel Party Candidate Total votes % of total votes Vision Montreal Paolo Tamburello (incumbent) 3,308 58.02 Team Montreal Pasquale Compierchio 1,015 17.80 New Montreal Myrlande Pierre 856 15.01 Montreal Citizens' Movement Valentino Nelson 417 7.31 Independent Marcel Firmin 105 1.84 Total valid votes 5,701 100 Source: Official Results, City of Montreal

1994 Montreal municipal election results: Councillor, Saint-Michel Party Candidate Total votes % of total votes Vision Montreal Paolo Tamburello 2,403 46.81 Montrealers' Party Pasquale Compierchio (incumbent) 1,711 33.33 Montreal Citizens' Movement Donato Caivano 737 14.36 Democratic Coalition–Ecology Montreal Michele A. Benigno 283 5.51 Total valid votes 5,134 100 Source: Official Results, City of Montreal

References

1. Graeme Hamilton, "Holding its nose, the city pursues the perfect dump," Montreal Gazette, 9 January 1993, B3.
2. Graeme Hamilton, "Broken promises; St. Michel residents filled with political skepticism, especially when it comes to the Miron garbage dump," Montreal Gazette, 3 November 1994, A4.
3. "Bourque rewards loyal councillors with added duties, responsibilities," Montreal Gazette, 9 February 1997, F8.
4. Aaron Derfel, "Mayor packs committees with Vision councillors," Montreal Gazette, 20 February 1997, A4.
5. Aaron Derfel, "Mayor taps Fortier as chairman: Executive committee is experienced," Montreal Gazette, 13 November 1998, A3; Linda Gyulai, "Garden's seed planted: But will mayor's promise sprout reality?", Montreal Gazette, 17 March 1999, A15.
6. "A UNIQUE HORTICULTURAL EVENT WILL TAKE PLACE IN MONTREAL FROM JUNE 19 TO SEPTEMBER 30, 2000," Canada Newswire, 3 December 1999, p. 1.
7. Linda Gyulai, "What does a 1% budget cut look like?", Montreal Gazette, 26 September 2002, A7.
8. Linda Gyulai, "More councillors join mayor's party," Montreal Gazette, 3 March 2005, A6.
9. "Union Montréal rend hommage à ses élus au service des citoyens depuis 25 ans et plus," Haiti Observateur, 21 November 2007, pp. 12, 15.
10. Jason Magder, "A term mired in controversy; Tremblay's second stint as mayor featured numerous scandals," Montreal Gazette, 31 October 2009, A6.
11. Linda Gyulai, "Vision left floundering: Ex-mayor's party might lose more," Montreal Gazette, 1 February 2003, A2.