WARD 10 HORSE RACE
Vote split is possible
A rookie candidate has become the surprise upstart in Ward 10. Michael Patterson, the 48-year-old owner of Windsor Electric Eel, is “neck and neck and neck” with incumbent Paul Borrelli and favoured challenger Jim Morrison, according to a source with access to the results of a poll on the race.
“It is a three-way race,” the source said. “They’re literally neck and neck and neck.” Morrison, the 63-year-old retired bank manager who came within 197 votes of Borrelli in the last election in 2014, is in front with 22 per cent of the vote, according to the poll. Borrelli, a 70-year-old retired teacher, and Patterson are virtually tied with 19 per cent.
Mohamed Chams, who has run in numerous elections, is fourth with 12 per cent. Mark Masanovich, former manager of Roseland Golf and Curling Club, now facilities manager for LaSalle, is fifth with eight per cent but is gaining momentum, with signs popping up everywhere.
Three other candidates — Wally Chafchak, Sadiq Pirani and Olivia Ashak — each have between two and four per cent. If the poll is accurate, said observer Daniel Ableser, the question is with 11 days before the election, will one challenger surge ahead? If not, instead of an upset victory, it could mean a second term for the controversial Borrelli because Morrison and Patterson could split the vote.
“I think Borrelli could win this with 24 per cent of the vote,” said Ableser. “The vote split is that bad.”
Twelve per cent of voters are also undecided, and they could be the game-changers. Morrison, whose slogan is “Ward 10 Deserves Better,” has announced several innovative and provocative planks in the last three weeks. He would eliminate the city’s sports tourism office and the city’s annual $50,000 contribution to the Detroit Grand Prix. Both are associated with Mayor Drew Dilkens, and both are controversial. Morrison would transfer the savings to grants for the arts and a new street art festival to capitalize on the city’s murals. Morrison, endorsed by labour, also proposed a special standing committee to “bring the full resources of the city” to address the homeless crisis, a drop-in centre for homeless people including medical and social services, storage for their belongings, five more teams of police officers and social workers and a rapid response team of police and mental-health workers to respond to crises. He would also require new residential developments to include affordable housing and offer incentives to build affordable housing. Morrison would also make a bus pass cheaper than a parking pass and establish a “community co-ordinator” for each ward to focus on neighbourhoods.
But Patterson is learning what’s key to many voters: the small stuff.
“What residents really want is who is going to take the weeds out of the sidewalks?
“We need a stop sign on this road. We need an advanced green light at Dominion and Labelle. What they really want is someone to answer the phone, to get back to them,” he said.
He cleared a large, fallen tree branch for one resident, is promising to help another get a curb in front of her house and helped another get to an advance poll. Plus, everyone knows him. He’s lived in the ward his entire life. His family has operated the business for 70 years. And he’s personable. He hosts a neighbourhood party every year, cooking hotdogs and hamburgers and playing bocce and Frisbee.
Borrelli has been playing up the biggest issue in the ward — infrastructure, listing roads, bike lanes and pedestrian paths that the city is addressing. The biggest projects are the reconstruction of the chaotic intersection at Dominion and Northwood, including adding a centre turn lane on Dominion to Ojibway Street, and construction of a pedestrian underpass under the railway tracks on Dougall Avenue, known as the Dougall Death Trap.
But controversy has dogged him. He has been accused twice of violating campaign rules, once for a photo of himself with the city’s logo and once for announcing less than six months before the election that he bought bus shelters with his ward funds. He also erected a billboard on Dougall that was mysteriously taken down a day later.
All three candidates have vowed their campaign teams will get to every house in the ward. Ward 10 is one of four key wards because of the close race last time and Borrelli’s perceived vulnerability. It’s also key to Dilkens because council is divided and Borrelli has supported the mayor.
It’s also one of the fastest growing wards and one of the youngest. And it had one of the highest turnouts in the last election, almost 43 per cent. Voters threw out then-incumbent Al Maghniegh after a credit card scandal. This weekend will be a big one in Ward 10. After the debate Thursday, there will be a forum at Windsor Mosque on Saturday and A Walk in the Park With Ward 10 Candidates in Remington Park on Sunday.