{"id":31802,"date":"2022-08-25T13:42:18","date_gmt":"2022-08-25T17:42:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=31802"},"modified":"2022-09-01T18:20:16","modified_gmt":"2022-09-01T22:20:16","slug":"and-theyre-off-race-is-on-for-auroras-next-council","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/and-theyre-off-race-is-on-for-auroras-next-council\/","title":{"rendered":"And They\u2019re Off! Race is on for Aurora\u2019s next Council"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The race is on to be Aurora\u2019s next mayor and one of six Ward Councillors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Town Hall was a flurry of activity on Friday as residents stepped up to put themselves forward for public office on the last day to register.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As a result, all incumbent Council members will be challenged by new and returning candidates, while it\u2019s a three-way race for Aurora\u2019s top job of Mayor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mayoral candidates include local business owner and Aurora Black Community Association founder Phiona Durrant, who filed her nomination papers on July 21, incumbent Tom Mrakas, who is seeking a second term after filing his papers on August 9, and local blogger and community advocate Anna Lozyk Romeo, who signed up Friday with just hours to spare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In Ward 1, incumbent Sandra Humfryes is facing challenges from Nick Biase and Sport Aurora\u2019s Ron Weese.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In Ward 2, incumbent Rachel Gilliland is being challenged by residents Alison Connolly, Marco Di Girolmo, and Daniel Lajeunesse, who also stood for election in 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Aurora\u2019s longest-serving incumbent, Wendy Gaertner, is seeking re-election in Ward 3 where she is being challenged by Alexandra Bonham, Owen Heritage, and Harold MacDonald.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s a three-way race in Ward 4 where incumbent Michael Thompson is seeking a fourth Council term in a field that includes former Ontario New Blue candidate Iwona Czarnecka (who was previously registered to run in Ward 5 before switching to Ward 4 late last week) and Carson Day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s a crowded field in Ward 5 where incumbent John Gallo is seeking re-election in a field that includes two-time Council candidate Ian Clark, Steve Fleck, Mae Khamissa, and Robert Lounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ward 6 will see incumbent Harold Kim challenged by Robert James Fraser and Greg Smith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On the education front, six candidates have stepped up to represent Aurora and Whitchurch-Stouffville at the York Region District School Board. Candidates include Luther C. Brown, Bridget Kilgallon, Asim Sayed, Mary Sled-Lucas, Elizabeth Terrell, and Melanie Wright. Incumbent Bob McRoberts, currently Trustee for Aurora-King, did not seeking re-election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A much smaller field is seeking the Aurora, King, and Whitchurch-Stouffville trustee position at the York Catholic District School Board. They include incumbent Elizabeth Crowe and Al Itwar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trustee candidates for Conseil scolaire Viamond are Nicolas Bigaignon, Stefania Sigurdson Fobes, and Hanane Jaouich.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Donald Blais has been acclaimed as trustee for Conseil scolaire catholic Mon Avenir.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Election day is Monday, October 24.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For more information on this year\u2019s municipal election, and to find your ward, visit aurora.ca\/en\/your-government\/elections.aspx.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Watch for more profiles on municipal candidates in future editions of The Auroran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>By Brock Weir<br \/>Editor<br \/>Local Journalism Initiative Reporter<\/strong><\/p>\n\r\n<a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-24 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-facebook nolightbox\" data-provider=\"facebook\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Share on Facebook\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newspapers-online.com%2Fauroran%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F31802&amp;t=And%20They%E2%80%99re%20Off%21%20Race%20is%20on%20for%20Aurora%E2%80%99s%20next%20Council&amp;s=100&amp;p[url]=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newspapers-online.com%2Fauroran%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F31802&amp;p[images][0]=&amp;p[title]=And%20They%E2%80%99re%20Off%21%20Race%20is%20on%20for%20Aurora%E2%80%99s%20next%20Council\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:24px;height:24px;margin:0;margin-bottom:5px;margin-right:5px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Facebook\" title=\"Share on Facebook\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" style=\"display: inline;width:24px;height:24px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/image\/social\/regular\/48x48\/facebook.png\" \/><\/a><a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-24 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-twitter nolightbox\" data-provider=\"twitter\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Share on Twitter\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newspapers-online.com%2Fauroran%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F31802&amp;text=Like%3F\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:24px;height:24px;margin:0;margin-bottom:5px;margin-right:5px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"twitter\" title=\"Share on Twitter\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" style=\"display: inline;width:24px;height:24px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/image\/social\/regular\/48x48\/twitter.png\" \/><\/a><a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-24 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-mail nolightbox\" data-provider=\"mail\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Share by email\" href=\"mailto:?subject=And%20They%E2%80%99re%20Off%21%20Race%20is%20on%20for%20Aurora%E2%80%99s%20next%20Council&amp;body=Like%3F:%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newspapers-online.com%2Fauroran%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F31802\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:24px;height:24px;margin:0;margin-bottom:5px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"mail\" title=\"Share by email\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" style=\"display: inline;width:24px;height:24px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/image\/social\/regular\/48x48\/mail.png\" \/><\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The race is on to be Aurora\u2019s next mayor and one of six Ward Councillors. Town Hall was a flurry of activity on Friday as residents stepped up to put themselves forward for public office on the last day to register. As a result, all incumbent Council members will be challenged by new and returning [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-8gW","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-29 21:07:35","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31802"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31802\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}