Mayor Jordan given clear mandate with 80% vote win

By Mike Williscraft
For NewsNow
The voters in Grimsby have spoken with a clear and powerful message – get on with things in a positive direction, says re-elected Mayor Jeff Jordan.
“Grimsby residents did not forget about the past and they did not forget about what happened,” said Jordan from an election night celebration at Grimsby Legion.
“They took what they heard and saw and right to the polls. These results are something all of Grimsby can be proud of as far as council goes.”
The result removes all remaining elements of the group which came to be known as the G5, a group of five councillors who voted together many times to control council’s agenda.
With Coun. Randy Vaine (who lost a council bid in Centre Wellington) and Dave Kadwell (who did not run) off council, Kevin Ritchie earned only 455 votes in Ward 1 for third place in a four-candidate race, Dave Sharpe got 612 in Ward 2 for fourth in a five-candidate race while John Dunstall got 1,709 to Jordan’s 7,193 in the mayor’s race.
“I’m happy with the trends we saw in how people voted.
People rose above the negativity and complaining to vote on each candidate’s merit,” said Jordan.
“We’ve got a good group and I am looking forward to working with all of them.”
One person Jordan won’t be working with at the regional level is Reg. Coun. Wayne Fertich, who lost his seat to Michelle Seaborn in a very close race.
Seaborn edged Fertich’s 4,183 votes with 4,476 of her own to claim the seat.
For Seaborn, there was only one negative to the evening.
“I was somewhat disappointed at the lower voter turnout again, although it is clear that the majority of voters chose to vote online,” said Seaborn.
“I think everyone worked hard in their campaigns and I hope some of them will consider applying for community positions on some

of the various committees. I look forward to working with Jeff Jordan at the Region.

Jordan, who worked closely with Fertich on several key files in the last term – not the least of which was getting Niagara Region to up its contribution to the West Lincoln Memorial Hospital rebuild from $9 million to $10.5 million – said he will miss their partnership.

“I worked closely with Wayne, he’s a friend and he did a very good job. It’s hard to take, but I am happy to work with Michelle at the regional table,” said Jordan.

With his new mandate and cast around the council table, Jordan said he is ready to implement the cornerstones of his campaign.

“I want to see openness, transparency and
humility at council meetings,” said Jordan.

“We are nine representatives of the people, that’s it. It may sound corny a bit, but I want to be an extension of the Town of Grimsby. It is an amazing community of people who care and are passionate.”

To support that sentiment, Jordan said his first order of business will be a review of the standing committee system, which was done away with in the last term in favour of the committee of the whole structure.

“The standing committee system allows for much greater representation from the people and allows the Town to draw upon the expertise of our residents as lay members,” said Jordan of a key campaign plank.

“I want to see more representation and connection for residents.”
  Other short-term targets, although he noted they are not solely within Grimsby’s control, will be getting the GO Station plans in motion and “tightening the Official Plan”.

“We need to make it as tight as possible. Developers want to build here, and that’s great, but we need to make them accountable for making projects that serve the Town well for decades, while protecting our heritage and tree canopy – if not enhancing it,” said Jordan.

WARD 1

Delight Davoli was the top vote-getter with 1,966, while incumbent Reg Freake also earned his seat getting 1,611 votes.

Ritchie had 445, while Brian Drost had 443.

“Last election we asked for change.  This election we wanted quality and got it at our local council. It was a pleasure to knock on doors and meet people,” said Davoli.

“More importantly, it was great to hear from my neighbours and fellow residents about what really concerns them.  I am honoured by the support but also feel an enormous responsibility to help raise the bar of what a really good councillor and leader should be. Now the work begins to prepare for what lies over the next mountain.”

WARD 2

Lianne Vardy earns the honour of having the most votes of any councillor candidate with 2,011. Don Howe also earned a seat with 1,700 votes. Carol Ricciuto, 657; Sharpe, 612, and; Dylan Brethour, 449, rounded things out.
  “I am very pleased with the end result. I am looking forward to
working collaboratively with the mayor and new council,” said Vardy.

For Howe, he is very happy to have earned a seat, but wants to work toward engaging the public in the future.

“While I am happy with tonight’s results, I am disappointed with the voter turn out. Think about it. More than one out of two people do not care enough about where they live and play to actually vote; to actually give a damn not just take things for granted,” said Howe.

“This next council has a lot to do over the next four years and I, for one, am looking forward to the challenges we will meet as we try to make it a better place, to repair the damage done by the previous council and to make it the place that we are happy to call home.”

WARD 3

Veronica Charrois was the top vote getter in Ward 3 with 1,414, while Jennifer Korstanje earned 1,338.

Joanne Johnston, 958; Ryan Day, 661, and; Duncan Storey, 428, rounded out the field.
“Campaigning has been a wonderful experience and I’ve enjoyed getting to know residents across Ward 3,” said Korstanje.

“Tonight is the beginning of a new chapter and I think we are all excited about that.”

WARD 4

Nick DiFlavio earned the most votes in Ward 4 with 435, while Jacob Baradziej also won a spot with 362 votes.

Jim Howden, 310; Len Stack, 200; Frank Trivieri, 184; Nameer Rahman, 109, and; Baraa Fattal, 69, were the other totals.

Like many, DiFlavio wants to turn the page.

“It’s been a tough four years for Grimsby and I hope I can be part of the healing. I want to help the new members of council as much as possible and create a team that brings back the Friendly by Nature Grimsby that I grew up with.”

Baradziej is looking forward to the opportunity.

“The last hour or so approaching the results went by really slow,” said Baradziej of the moments leading up to the results release.

“I feel Grimsby got the council it was looking for, and I’m humbled to be a part of it.”