I was leaning toward Alvin Tedjo but the lack of mention for cycling made me vote for Carolyn Parrish instead.
If Alvin had mentioned cycling at all, I would have voted for him, despite the unhelpful rhetoric about 0% tax increases.
As a whole, the candidates platforms were not very good and I had to decide very quickly who to vote for at advance polling since I knew I'd be out of the country on voting day.
Alvin's campaign was very confusing. The look of his materials seemed to present as the progressive choice, but he wanted 0% tax increases (which is actually tax reductions given inflation) for wealthy homeowners, he wanted nothing to do with cycle infrastructure - it's like he played to the audience instead of what he actually believed in, and came across as phoney.
In fairness to Alvin Tedjo, he did propose investing $5 million to advance the city's cycling master plan forward from a long term-horizon to be implemented in 2026. However, the controversy surrounding the Bloor bike lanes (and to a lesser extent, the pilot on Aquitaine in Meadowvale) plus Dipika Damerla and Stephen Dasko playing to the anti-bike lanes crowd meant the issue took up a fair bit of oxygen and I don't think there was much desire or room for any rational conversation on cycling during the by-election. The city absolutely does need to do more on cycling infrastructure, including speeding up implementation of existing plans and it would be good if Mayor Parrish and council took up the initiative.
I voted for Carolyn Parrish as well. I agree that Alvin had the most pro-housing message and platform, and he was right about the need to build a more complete city. However his financial plan was just nonsense, and that goes beyond his tax freeze for 2 years which would have had a huge financial impact down the road. Not only did he want the property tax freeze, he also proposed filling part of the revenue gaps using reserve drawdowns, and using the provincial and federal housing accelerator money. That money so far as been a one time grant and what happens when it runs out? There's no guarantee that future money tied to housing will exist in the future, or be as generous. The current housing money should be used to deal with the city's infrastructure backlog, not plug operating budgets just to hand out tax freezes, and rebates to seniors.
As someone who observes city council regularly, this has kind of been Alvin Tedjo's MO the past 2 years. In the past 2 budgets he has advocated for reducing the city's infrastructure levy from 3% to 1 or 2%, despite staff's warning that it would put the city's capital program, already underfunded, in danger and leave a huge gap due to the loss of compounding revenue. Also, in 2023, while the city's budget had no MiWay service hour additions he didn't move a motion asking for a staff report about adding more service to the budget - but was happy to move a motion for free kids fares which cost revenue. This despite the well known overcrowding issues and service reductions across the system which also disproportionately impacted Alvin's ward.
It's tough to say whether he would have won if it was just a two horse race between him and Carolyn Parrish. According to the last Mainstreet poll which was pretty accurate, in addition to the issue of bike lanes, Damerla and Dasko did get a fair bit of the senior vote as well. Also, in what wasn't a good sign for his chances, Alvin was polling well behind in his home area of SW Mississauga.
I hope he takes this opportunity to review some of his past approaches, especially financially so he can offer a more complete and financially sound platform if he chooses to run again.
As for Carolyn Parrish, I get that some will easily apply the 'boomer' and associated stereotypes that come with it, and I have no doubt we're in for a few more off the cuff comments. But I think people are going to be pleasantly surprised that she's actually quite progressive on major issues. She has oft spoken out about the unsustainability of keeping taxes artificially low. Having watched many Mississauga meetings over the years, she was a early
supporter for fourplexes and many times has been the lone rational voice and yes vote at Planning and Development committee meetings over development applications. One that comes to memory is a t
ownhouse development in Cooksville, a short walk away from the future Dundas BRT and within distance of Cooksville GO. She has advocated for rezoning of underused commercial areas so they can be developed into residential areas.
www.parrishformayor.com
www.mississauga.ca
