Joe Mihevc

Joe Mihevc
Mihevc in 2012
Toronto City Councillor for (Ward 21) St. Paul's
Assumed office
December 1, 2000
Preceded by Ward Created
Toronto City Councillor for (Ward 28) York Humber
In office
January 1, 1998 – November 30, 2000
Preceded by Ward Created
Succeeded by Ward Abolished
York City Councillor for Ward 2
In office
December 1, 1991 – December 31, 1997
Preceded by Tony Mandarano
Succeeded by City Amalgamated
Personal details
Born (1954-02-24) February 24, 1954
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Nationality Slovenian-Canadian
Spouse(s) Rosalee (Bender)
Children 3
Residence Toronto, Ontario
Alma mater University of Toronto
Occupation Adjunct Lecturer

Joe Mihevc ( listen) (born February 24, 1954) is a city councillor in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He represents one of the two St. Paul's wards, Ward 21 St. Paul's.

Background

Mihevc's family was originally from a small village in Slovenia. They became refugees in Canada in 1948. Mihevc grew up in the Toronto area of Dufferin and Eglinton,[1] a working class area that borders the northwest corner of his ward. Raised Catholic, Mihevc obtained a PhD in theology and became an adjunct professor of ethics at the University of Toronto. Mihevc is a strongly progressive Catholic and has been active in social justice, human rights and anti-war issues.

Politics

He first ran for office in 1991 in the old City of York, and defeated incumbent Tony Mandarano, who had been facing corruption charges. Backed by the New Democratic Party, he achieved the title of deputy mayor of York.

Following the amalgamation of York with the five other municipalities of Metropolitan Toronto, which he opposed, Mihevc was elected to the new Toronto city council. In 2000, redistricting resulted in an election battle with the conservative councillor Rob Davis. The election was marred by an anonymous telephone campaign that painted Mihevc as anti-Semitic. Mayor of Toronto Mel Lastman endorsed Davis.

He was chair of Toronto's World Youth Day, and from 2000 to 2003 was chair of the health board. He was in that position during the 2003 SARS outbreak. He also was instrumental in forcing through a ban on the use of lawn pesticides.

Mihevc has been a long-time member of the Toronto Transit Commission and served as Vice-Chair from 2006 to 2010. He supported the St. Clair Avenue streetcar right-of-way. The $100 million investment in new streetcar lanes, hydro undergrounding, new gas lines, and public realm improvements has led to a rejuvenation of the St. Clair West neighbourhood.

Construction was delayed by a failed lawsuit by a group of local residents. A report by a consultant for the TTC, which Councillor Mihevc had commissioned, found numerous faults with the project, among them a lack of centralized project management. This led to a number of changes to construction management protocols.

Despite a high-profile challenge from former pre-amalgamation Toronto mayor John Sewell, Mihevc was easily re-elected to city council in the 2006 election.

Mihevc was re-elected by a substantial margin in November 2010, earning nearly 10,000 of the 17,500 votes cast and approximately 56% of the ward's popular vote.

Councillor Mihevc is currently the Chair of the Board of Health, a TTC Commissioner, and sits on the Community Development and Recreation Committee and the Tenant Issues Committee. He was appointed Newcomer Advocate along with Councillor Joe Cressy in December 2015.

Election results

2014 Toronto election, Ward 21[2]
Candidate Votes %
Joe Mihevc15,74576.9
Ted Bustamante1,7668.6
Cos Licursi1,7288.4
Rosina Bonavota1,2236.0
Total20,462100
2010 Toronto election, Ward 21[3]
Candidate Votes %
Joe Mihevc9,82456.2
Shimmy Posen5,32830.5
Peter Nolan9215.3
Beth McLellan6443.7
Alex Freedman4542.6
Marius Frederick2951.7
Total17,466100

Unofficial results as of October 26, 2010 03:55 am

2006 Toronto election, Ward 21[4]
Candidate Votes %
Joe Mihevc8,09256.7
John Sewell3,32623.3
John Adams2,71219.0
Tony Corpuz1501.1

References

  1. ↑
  2. ↑ "City Clerk's Official Declaration 2014" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-07-05. Retrieved 2017-04-19.
  3. ↑ City of Toronto elections page Archived 2010-10-26 at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ↑ City Clerk's Official Declaration 2006 Archived 2011-06-07 at the Wayback Machine.
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