This is not the kind of election campaign Richmond Hill Mayor Dave Barrow is used to. It will be his third time running for mayor, but it’s the first time, he admits, he’s getting a run for his money.

“Let’s face it,” said Barrow. “He’s a familiar name, not someone no one knows,” he says about his rival.

The man who could unseat him this time is councillor Carmine Perrelli (Ward 2), a rookie councillor who has had his eye on the mayor’s seat since he joined council in 2010. Since then, the once sleepy town of Richmond Hill has seen its fair share of municipal drama, including lawsuits, police calls and divisive alliances — often with Perrelli at the centre of it.

Barrow and many on council refer to it as a “dysfunctional” four years. Perrelli disagrees.

“I would challenge what they call dysfunction. In the past it was always the mayor makes a decision based on staff’s input and everyone agrees,” said Perrelli. “Now I question things. Why are we doing this? And they don’t like that,” he said.

And with the support of councilors Greg Beros (Ward 1), and Nick Papa (Ward 5) — he has formed a three person voting bloc which almost always votes against the majority.

The dissension in council is clearly good for democracy. At the most recent all-candidates meeting last week, an overflowing crowd of more than 300 people packed into a local high school gym to hear the three mayoral candidates make their pitch. A third candidate, Anastasios Bexevanidis, is also in the running.

“People are really engaged,” said Barrow, who won easily in 2006 around after the retirement of long-time mayor William Bell. In 2010, Barrow faced only one other opponent who had no council experience.

Perrelli takes credit increased interest in the election. “My main success is that I have opened the eyes of the public,” he said.

It also helps that the two mayoral candidates have been in the news. Most recently, Barrow was vindicated on a conflict of interest charge brought on by mayoral candidate Sridhar Methuku, who has since dropped out of the race.

Perrelli has had his own share of headlines. His first was in 2011, when he expensed the town $1,181 for a set of golf clubs. Although he had received permission to purchase the set, he eventually apologized and paid the town back. He later was in the news again for a tense exchange in council with regional councilor Brenda Hogg which led to police being called to council chambers. He also filed a lawsuit against the town for a bylaw he opposed. The lawsuit was dismissed, but it cost the town $25,000.

Perrelli calls the headlines a distraction, and vows to cancel the town’s financial support of the local Richmond Hill newspaper, The Liberal, when he becomes mayor. “They don’t like me,” he said. “I don’t blame them. I am going to take away thousands of dollars from them.”

In his election platform, Perrelli has positioned himself as anti-Barrow: Where Barrow is a spendthrift, Perrelli says he is frugal. Where Barrow is secretive, Perrelli promises to be open.

“The real difference between the mayor and me is that I am transparent,” said Perrelli. “Transparency, Good Value, Low taxes. That’s my pitch,” he said.

Perrelli recently launched the results of a city wide survey, which he says shows that residents are dissatisfied with the status quo. But as most things with Perrelli, even the survey isn’t without controversy.

Last October, Perrelli mailed out the survey across Richmond Hill to ask residents about their thoughts on issues such as: taxes, council salary, and car allowance, after he was advised by senior town staff to not do so. He was told councillor expenses are intended for individual wards and town wide mailings would cost taxpayers $100,000 a year if everyone did it. He then voted against a motion to force him to repay the thousands of dollars he overspent in the mailings. The motion failed. The issue is now in front of the integrity commissioner with a report expected after the election.

But Perrelli is adamant that he always works within the rules – albeit grey zones –which may make his colleagues uncomfortable but are often backed up by legal opinions.

“You need to have healthy debate in any organization, and sometimes it gets heated. It’s never been disrespectful and it’s never been personal,” he said.

Barrow says he has gotten used to the way Perrelli operates.

“The drama has carried right through the election. It’s just the negative approach that we see in more and more elections. No one stands up and says what they are going to do. They just stand up and say, what HE didn’t do.”

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

Barrow said his goal in the next four years is to get a subway to Richmond Hill. “My priority is to make it reality. To have it approved and have funding assigned to it,” he said.

Perrelli’s said his goal is to keep taxes low, while improving services at the same time.

“Before I was around, everything passed unanimously. I call them the Kumbaya years, where everything was great, but taxes went up and services went downhill,” he said. “If fighting for the rights of the residents is what they call disruptive, then I am the biggest disruption they have ever seen.”

Read more about: