Familiar faces trounce competition in Dollard

While all the incumbents in the Dollard des Ormeaux election, including Mayor Ed Janiszewski, returned with a healthy margin of victory on Sunday, people waited with bated breath for results in the three-way District 3 race.

District 3 was the only Dollard council seat where the incumbent, Howard Zingboim in this case, did not seek re-election after serving a few terms, leaving the door open for a newcomer. Mickey Max Guttman won with 495 votes (34.4 per cent), 11 more than Erwin Schwartz (33.7 per cent) and 36 more than Mitch Trapid (31.9 per cent).

“An amazing experience,” Guttman said moments after finding out about his tight election win. “I have to say my competitors were awesome. It was a clean race. My hat goes off to them also.”

Guttman, a chartered accountant by trade, said he hopes to help Dollard be fiscally responsible and maintain or improve the level of services it offers citizens; he also wants to address regional issues and thinks the West Island should have its own metro stop.

“The issues here are mostly about security, people want to live safely, speeding is an issue. Going door to door, I made a full page of notes. I will address them and I am accessible, I will be open to the public. I want to make Dollard the best community it can be.”

Janiszewski, 75, first elected mayor in 1984, garnered a whopping 85 per cent of the votes against challenger Shameem Siddiqui, representing a 7,161 margin of victory. Janiszewski wasn’t surprised at the mayoral race results, saying it was not much of a challenge to begin with, and suggested that may have contributed to the low voter turnout, recorded at 28.4 per cent.

“Voters expected me to win, it reduced the number of my supporters who voted,” Janiszewski said.

The mayor said quality of life issues remain his priority.

“We want to add some facilities for seniors programming. Many of us are getting older, 75 is the new 55 for me and 80 is the new 60 for others,” Janiszewski said. “Our programs for kids have always been fabulous since the time I moved here in ‘64. I am hoping to get a grant to build a proper water-polo and synchro pool that is deep at both ends. In the next four years I hope to do that. We have the surplus to finance our half of it and with a grant for the other, hopefully, we can complete this project.”

Other than that, Janiszewski said he will keep lobbying Quebec City to “correct the injustices” inherent in the Montreal agglomeration set up.

“The two big items, water and the financing of the Ville Marie area, because some of our people work there, is totally unjust and has to be corrected. We have to start playing hardball with Quebec. However, we always vote Liberal so they take us for granted,” he added.

With no West Island metro stop on the horizon and rush-hour traffic to downtown a major headache, Janiszewski said De Salaberry Boulevard should be extended east through a part of Boise de Liesse regional park to the proposed Bois Franc station in St. Laurent, perhaps reserving the new section only for public buses. He added parking lots could be set up along De Salaberry so people could drive there to grab a bus to the new metro stop, as a part of extension plans that were announced this summer but have not yet started.

Incumbents re-elected Sunday included Errol Johnson, Herbert Brownstein, Morris Vesely, Alex Bottausci and Colette Gauthier. Peter Prassas and Zoé Bayouk were acclaimed in their respective districts.

For more on Dollard election results, check www.ville.ddo.qc.ca.

Chronicle, Jonathan Dempsey



Chronicle, Jonathan Dempsey