14 candidates in DDO municipal race

Two councillors acclaimed, Mayor Ed Janiszewski faces opposition

By Kevin Woodhouse

Unlike Kirkland, Baie d’Urfé, Pointe Claire and Dorval, there is a two-way race for mayor in Dollard des Ormeaux between longtime incumbent Ed Janiszewski and Shameem Siddiqui for the forthcoming municipal elections taking place Sunday, Nov. 1.

In all, 14 candidates have presented themselves for the role of representing either their district or the entire city. Only two councillors, District 1’s Zoe Bayouk and District 6’s Peter Prassas won by acclamations.

This will be Janiszewski’s 10th election, and eighth as mayor. The incumbent mayor’s first mandate as a demerged city was fruitful because “we got things back to normal because during the merger, we were dealing with a different union. Despite Montreal overcharging us, we were able to recover our city and keep taxes below inflation,” Janiszewski told The Suburban. “The majority of people realize it was a good idea to demerge because we are a lot more cost effective than the city of Montreal.”

His platform for the next four years includes increasing in infrastructure work as well as providing more spaces for senior activities. “Twenty-five years ago the city was developing with young families in mind and now those folks have matured but they still want to remain active.”

“I’m 75 and still playing hockey so for me, it’s the new 55. There are a lot more people between the ages of 50 and 80 who are more active than ever,” said Janiszewski.

He would also like to see more parking spaces made available for the always in-use Civic Centre as well as adding on a deep pool for water polo and synchronized swimming.
“I’m hoping people are confident enough in me for at least one more term,” he said.

Shameem Siddiqui did not return calls by press time.

District 2’s current councillor Errol Johnson is seeking his fourth straight mandate and is up against Sam Gabbay, a businessman who has called DDO home since 1985.

And while dealing with “reversing the city’s management after the demerger, we did a tremendous job as we wanted to stabilize taxes and ensure quality of life,” Johnson said.

“We can continue with our infrastructure work such as repaving streets and installing new water lines without raising taxes too high,” said Johnson. He is also proud of the city racking up an $11 million surplus.

Regarding safety, Johnson believes “we need to lead the charge on speeding and people going through stop signs. We have to sensitize the community that this kind of behaviour can scare families, making it unsafe for our kids to play outside.”

Gabbay, also concerned with safety in the community, wants to institute more communication between council and citizens starting with “open forums that are accessible to residents and establish a time line for residents looking for feedback.”

Noise from cars and congestion as a whole is a big part of Gabbay’s platform. “The tremendous amount of traffic, pollution and congestion has to be addressed.”

Gabbay suggests opening up Somerset Road to the 40 could help alleviate some of the problem. His ambition is to “become mayor in eight years.”

There is a three way race for District 3, being left vacant by former councillor Howard Zingboim, between Mickey Max Guttman, Erwin Schwartz and Mitch Trapid.

Although he does not live in the district, Guttman feels he is the best candidate because he brings “honesty and integrity to the job.” He has been a volunteer on many organizations over the last 25 years including Jewish Rehab and Israel Bonds and thinks his accounting background will “maintain or improve services without raising taxes.”

Schwartz’s key issue is “local representation for the residents of the district by someone who lives there as I have for the last 25 years.”

He would like to find ways to reduce taxes and “bring in clean energy” to the city.

His original campaign poster caused a stir between his fellow candidates when Schwartz had placed a caption stating “your local councillor” on the poster when, in fact, he had not been the previous incumbent.

Trapid has extensive experience with local hockey having been involved with Dollard hockey for more than three decades and is currently its vice-president.

Due to his work with other municipalities, the city at large and managing budgets for the sports organization, friends and family suggested “I step up to plate and run for municipal politics. I’m accessible and I take no shortcuts. We live in one of the best cities in Canada and I want to help sustain services while maintaining a low tax rate.”

It has been difficult for Janiszewski to commit to any candidate in the district as he knows all three gentlemen. “I wish them al the best of luck,” the incumbent mayor said.

In District 4, Shya Finestone, who once ran for council in 1990, is going up against incumbent Herbert Brownstein and Leslie Greenberg.

Finestone would like to improve on public transportation and “do a better job at enforcing speeding and cutting down on night noises.” 

He would like to be of service to the residents because “I am qualified, personal and accessible and I can respond to the citizens’ needs.”

Finestone’s slogan for the campaign is “DDO deserves the finest one.”

Greenberg would like to increase public security by adopting citizens on patrol on a volunteer basis as well as “enhancing our medical response system because sometimes Urgence Santé can take too long to arrive.”

Brownstein has just completed his first mandate and the lawyer joined the political fray due to his brother Mitchell’s prodding. Mitchell Brownstein is the councillor for District 7 in Côte St. Luc and has won his future term by acclamation.

Herbert was “happy to get our city back because we were able to accomplish things we would not have been able to do if we were still part of the central city.”

For his constituents of District 4, Brownstein worked on a project that saw traffic lights installed at Belcourt and Sources, he increased the Neighbourhood Watch program and sat on the Agglomeration Council where “I opposed any motion that saw the allocation of funds given solely to Montreal.”

For the coming mandate Brownstein wants to focus on traffic safety and implementing traffic controls as well as adapting express buses to offer trips beyond the rush hours and have the buses coincide with train schedules.

District 5 incumbent councillor Morris Vesely praised the last council as “one of the best we’ve ever had because there was never any infighting. We have very few complaints because taxes are stable, our recreation centre is happening, the library was built by a surplus and our senior citizens’ programs are second to none.”

“The citizens know that if there is a problem, they can call their councillor, in any district, and things get solved. That is why council meetings are so smooth because we like to deal with problems one on one instead of having the resident have to come out once a month to see us,” Vesely said.

For this mandate, Vesely would like to bring the idea of “an express bus from DDO to St. Laurent and then to Côte Vertu onto the table so that there would be less cars on the highway and a lot less traffic jams.”

Vesely’s competition is Saud Sami Malick who is running for first time. He would like to see more representation for the “south, middle and eastern Asian communities whose attempts at community developments tend to hit roadblocks. The demographics are changing in DDO and those communities need to have their opportunities,” Malick said.

Alex Bottausci, the incumbent in District 7, is facing off against Navnit Patel.

Bottausci’s reflections on the last mandate include “decreasing crime in our area but crime has no boundaries so we need to go that extra mile and collaborate with other police stations and public security personnel of other municipalities.”

During his recent door-to-door visits, Bottausci figured at least three quarters of people recycle so he would like to one day see “curbside composting.”

He also has a plan to make taking public transportation easier by offering more parking spaces for commuters who could park their vehicles at the Civic Centre.

Bottausci also wants to see some re-tooling of the city’s public parks because “our city’s aging population still need to exercise.”

And like all candidates, Bottausci is entrusting citizens to go out “and exercise their democratic rights on Nov. 1.”