Ron Moeser (open Ron Moeser's policard), the 71-year-old Scarborough East councillor first elected before the fall of the Berlin Wall, faces a swarm of rivals trying to topple him.

Toronto’s easternmost, transit-starved and oft-overlooked ward faces many challenges. According to some voters, Moeser’s city hall attendance and effectiveness is among them.

“He only does things if he is pressed every step of the way,” says Violet Dickie, a Pepper Tree Dr. senior planning to vote for Diana Hall, who very narrowly lost to Moeser in 2010 and 2006.

“He’s not a bad guy, he’s just ineffective. We need change.”

Fifteen people are running in Ward 44, the kind of throng you usually see when there is no incumbent. Moeser’s health problems — in 2012 he almost lost a foot to infection after an ankle replacement — no doubt added to surprise when he filed last-minute papers to seek re-election.

The number of qualified challengers could split the “time for a change” vote and see the now-healthy veteran returned to office.

Moeser was first elected in 1998 and has remained in office except for 2003-2006 when he was replaced by Gay Cowbourne. Hall was her executive assistant.

The ward is primarily single-family homes, plazas, green space and waterfront. It includes University of Toronto Scarborough and its new aquatic centre for next year’s Pan Am Games, and part of Rouge Park.

Neither the three-stop Scarborough subway extension, nor the rival LRT plan would reach Ward 44. Residents say getting to central Toronto on TTC can take 90 minutes so most drive or take the quicker, pricier GO train.

Along with transit, a big issue is residents’ opposition to the trucking of Highland Creek sewage treatment plant waste through neighbourhoods.

Many in Ward 44 would rather the waste was burned by a high-tech incinerator. However, in 2011 a neighbouring councillor, armed with a petition, convinced city council to reject burning.

Moeser’s rivals say he was caught flat-footed and note it was a residents’ group that did the work to get an ongoing environmental assessment that might put incineration back on the table.

“It really took me off guard when they presented the petition,” Moeser said in an interview, adding he was tipped about it only a few days before the council meeting.

His quiet approach, he said, has got the ward many benefits over the years. “I’m a detail person. I’m not loud or thump my chest,” Moeser said. “Some people say you could be louder and I say that’s not how I work.”

He said he decided to run on advice from “about 80 per cent” of residents he consulted. Also, he says he is the best person to fight to get the popular Waterfront Trail extended west.

Moeser is fighting criticism of his city hall attendance record by noting he was at every council meeting in 2013 and 2014, and arguing his record is better than most if you factor out his sick time in 2012.

However, missing parts of council meetings helped contribute to his second-worst record of pushing a button in only 39 per cent of council votes during this term.

Hall, who is in her early 60s but declined to give her age, says: “I am determined that our area gets better representation. Our ward isn’t an afterthought — it’s not a thought at all,” at city hall.

She supports incineration, wants residents involved in development applications earlier and would push to end dangerous conditions in rooming houses used by University of Toronto Scarborough students.

But a first-time rival — environmental scientist Jennifer McKelvie, 36 — is mounting a strong, well-organized campaign.

She moved into Ward 44 a decade ago to attend UTS. McKelvie is promising to be a forceful voice at council and who hosts regular town hall meetings involving a re-energized network of residents’ associations.

McKelvie says her PhD makes her the best person to advocate for state-of-the-art waste incineration, if that is a future recommendation. Like most of the candidates, she supports subway expansion and hopes it grows east.

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Rave Singh, 28, answers her knock and welcomes talk of a change. He says his calls to Moeser, and (open Rob Ford's policard)Mayor Rob Ford (open Rob Ford's policard), went unanswered when his home lost power for almost a week during last December’s ice storm.

“When you have concerns nobody seems to be there.”

Other candidates include: Amarjeet Chhabra, a hospitality and hotel union organizer vowing to improve city facilities north of Highway 401; Richard Ross, a community volunteer and local business owner vowing to encourage good development and look at using hydro corridors to expand transit; and Paul Maguire, who says LRT would benefit Scarborough more than a shorter subway line.