TORONTO

Change could be coming to the Toronto ward long held by controversial councillor Giorgio Mammoliti, according to a recent poll.

Mammoliti, who has held the Ward 7 York West seat for almost two decades, is in a tight race with competitor Nick DiNizio in the run-up to the Oct. 27 municipal elections, according to a July 27 Forum Research poll released to the Sun on Saturday.

Of the 191 respondents in Ward 7 said, 29% said they plan to vote for Mammoliti, but 27% said they will be casting a ballot for competing candidate Nick DiNizio. One-tenth of those surveyed said they plan to vote for candidate Keegan Henry-Mathieu, 11% said they’ll vote for “someone else” and 24% were still undecided.

Of the 77% of respondents who said they knew of Mammolitti, only 41% said he meets their approval.

Council voted in early July to dock Mammoliti of three months’ pay after an integrity commissioner’s report indicated he breached code of conduct by pocketing $80,000 from a fundraising dinner.

Forum’s Lorne Bozinoff said some of Mammoliti’s controversial statements and positions over the years may have gradually caught up with the councillor. Bozinoff also said Mammoliti’s speaking out on issues not necessarily in his ward may have also chipped away at his popularity within that jurisdiction.

Mammoliti has been outspoken on issues such as the city’s late-night dance clubs, prostitution and Toronto’s annual Pride event.

“If he is perceived to be out of touch and not looking at local concerns, I think that is when councillors get into trouble,” said Bozinoff, who added controversial comments can have an affect on a civic leader’s popularity with voters. “He makes comments that are pretty extreme sometimes, and maybe people are starting to wonder about him.”

The Ward 7 portion of the Forum survey has a margin of error of +/- 7%.