Darte seeking second term as Lord Mayor
Pat Darte has made it official — he will be seeking a second term as Niagara-on-the-Lake’s Lord Mayor.
Darte made the announcement Tuesday in front of family and friends at Pillitteri Estate Winery on Niagara Stone Road.
“People have been asking me if I was going to run again,” Darte said after making his intentions known. “I’ve had the privilege of being Lord Mayor for the last 3½ years, and 90 per cent of the time it’s been positive. Ninety per cent is a pretty good average.”
Darte is joining a race that already has two others vying for the job at the head of the horseshoe in council chambers, including Coun. Betty Disero and political newcomer Daniel Turner.
Darte has watched the town continue to grow over the past term and is looking forward to seeing that growth continue.
“We’ve done a lot of good things here,” Darte said. “We’ve seen the town’s population grow 13.7 per cent since 2011. We’re at
17,511 now. That’s the biggest increase, I think, in Ontario and, most definitely, the region. Along with that kind of a change, we have to make sure that it’s smart growth and it’s done properly. We have a town that people just want to come to, whether they live here or they just visit. We have 2.5 million visitors a year. They can’t all be wrong.”
With growth comes a responsibility to manage development in a way that will not change NOTL’s small-town character with heritage charm to spare.
“We’ve managed development as best we can,” he said. “But we
still have more things to accomplish."
In terms of dollars and cents, Darte said the town has seen almost half a billion dollars in new construction.
“We’ve welcomed in wineries, craft breweries; we’ve seen expansion of the brewery program at Niagara College, additional retail space at the Outlet Collection, among many other key projects."
Heritage properties — seven in total — were designated over his current term and the town has also “financed and equipped a highly trained volunteer fire service.”