Egli wins third term in five-way race

Incumbent Keith Egli was elected for a third term as Ottawa city councillor for Knoxdale-Merivale Ward Monday after fighting his way through a five-way race.

Egli, who worked as a lawyer and mediator in Ottawa for more than 20 years, defeated four challengers: Warren Arshinoff, who has a degree in public administration and has worked at city hall; James Dean, a realestate agent and board member of Quality Living Housing Cooperative; public servant Luigi Mangone; and Peter Anthony Weber, who has worked as a heavy equipment operator for more than 30 years.

“I’m feeling good and looking very much forward to four more years,” Egli said Monday night. “Election day is, in my opinion, the longest day of your life. You have a feeling about how things are going to turn out, but until you’re called and they say you’re the one who won, it’s a long, long day. It’s never easy.”

The campaign — interrupted by the Sept. 21 tornado, one of six to hit the Ottawa and Gatineau areas — was a sharp contrast to the last municipal election in which Egli faced only one other candidate and won with 73 per cent of the vote.

The ward includes Arlington Woods, where much of the century-old forest that gave the community its name was destroyed and dozens of houses were damaged, some beyond repair.

The Craig Henry neighbourhood also received considerable damage, and Hydro One’s Merivale transformer station took a direct hit, knocking out power for days to a large swath of the city.

Mangone criticized the city’s communications efforts with residents in the hard-hit areas after the storm. Egli said he learned lessons from it and would like the city to host an annual event focused on emergency preparedness. He said rebuilding and reforesting were key focuses in KnoxdaleMerivale.