The “politics of possible” resonated across Aurora, Mayor-elect Tom Mrakas told supporters at his victory party on Monday night after securing a second term from voters.
On Oct. 24, Mrakas, who was first elected to the mayor’s chair in 2018 after serving on council the previous term, received 7,743 votes, or 69.49 per cent of total votes cast.
Placing second was Anna Lozyk Romeo with 1,802 votes (16.17 per cent), while Phiona Durrant placed third with 1,597 votes, or 14.33 per cent.
“The politics of possible has resonated loudly with thousands of voters who put a check beside my name,” said Mrakas standing before his campaign team, supporters, friends and family at Aw, Shucks after all the votes had been tallied. “Thank you, everyone, for your support and for placing your trust in me again to lead our community. I am proud of what we achieved together over the last four years and I am grateful to the voters who placed their faith in me to continue to lead Aurora for the next four years.”
Mrakas started the evening watching the election results roll in at town hall, a long-standing Aurora tradition, where he was joined by Councillors-elect Wendy Gaertner, John Gallo, and Michael Thompson, as well as candidates Alison Connolly, who ran in Ward 2, and Mae Khamissa and Robert Lounds, both of whom ran in Ward 5, among others.
There, as he was congratulated by fellow candidates, he told The Auroran he was “overwhelmed and honoured” by the results and that voters had trusted him to “lead the town in the positive direction we started and to continue that positive direction and get things done for our community.”
As he went door-to-door, Mrakas says “a lot of people were happy with the direction we were going” and the things that were accomplished over the last four years “even though we were in a pandemic,” including support for local businesses.
“We’re continuing to move forward with a lot of initiatives we set forth four years ago to say this is what we need to do to bring the town forward and that’s the direction we want to see our town go,” he said.
When the new council reconvenes in November, Mrakas says his top priority is to tackle the 2023 budget.
“Traditionally over the last four years we have been very efficient in getting our budgets done by December and I think with the election that means we’re going to be a little behind,” he said. “The first thing we’re going to have to deal with is that budget and make sure we get that done as quickly as possible and making sure we provide a stable tax rate as was done over the last four years as well.”
Over at his victory party, the mayor-elect reiterated the “honour” he felt.
“Four years ago, I stood in front of you and I didn’t make promises – I made a commitment to all of you, a commitment that we would have positive change, move in a positive direction for our town, and that’s what we’ve done. We went through a probably once-in-a-lifetime pandemic, but we stood together, we stood strong, we made those decisions that were able to get us through, support our local economy, our businesses…and we did that together. It takes all of us working together and I am proud of the work that not only the last council did but I am going to be proud of what we’re going to do over the next four years to continue that positive direction that this town is moving.
“We are well on our way [with this direction and downtown revitalization] and I know we are the envy of the entire GTHA because we’re the best place to live, work, and play right here in the Town of Aurora. I am proud to be mayor of this great town.”
Joining the mayor on council are:
- In Ward 1, Sport Aurora’s Ron Weese defeated incumbent Sandra Humfryes. Weese secured 1,445 votes to Humfryes’ 631, followed by Nick Biase with 248 votes.
- Incumbent Rachel Gilliland was re-elected in Ward 2 with 1,070 votes. Candidate Marco Di Girolamo received 492 votes, followed by Daniel Lajeunesse with 256, and Alison Connolly with 212.
- Longtime incumbent Wendy Gaertner secured a sixth mandate from voters with 1,210 ballots cast in her favour. First elected to Council at large in 2004, she will now represent Ward 3. Elsewhere on the Ward 3 ballot, candidate Harold MacDonald came in second with 546 votes, followed by Alexandra Bonham with 423 and Owen Heritage with 347.
- In Ward 4, incumbent Michael Thompson topped the ballot with 744 votes, followed by Iwona Czarnecka with 274, and Carson Day with 49.
- Ward 5 brought out the widest field of candidates and the tightest race. Incumbent John Gallo came out on top with 602 votes to Mae Khamissa’s 514. Placing third was Steve Fleck with 424, followed by Robert Lounds with 231, and Ian Clark with 219.
- Incumbent Harold Kim, who as the town’s deputy mayor in the last term of council, will represent Ward 6. He secured 801 votes to Greg Smith’s 198 and Robert James Fraser’s 105.
Voter turnout across Aurora continues its downward trend.
Just 26.15 per cent of voters came out this time around – 11,257 ballots cast out of a pool of 43,032 eligible voters – compared to 32.1 per cent turnout in 2018 and 35.7 per cent in 2014.
Brock Weir is a federally funded Local Journalism Initiative reporter at The Auroran
