Three candidates in the heated Ward 3 race have complained to city election officials after what they allege is an illegal attempt to influence voters — the latest in a series of bizarre incidents that have dogged the inner-city ward.
Ralph Agostino, Bob Assadourian and Mark DiMillo all complained to the city on Wednesday after they say supporters for opponent Matthew Green, who is considered a front runner, stood outside an advanced polling station persuading people to vote for him.
They're also concerned about an incident at Pinky Lewis Recreation Centre earlier this week where they say a Green supporter and another woman had a confrontation at the advance polling station, prompting police to respond.
'There are 15 of us running. One of us is going to win. But we've all put a lot of work into this.'- Mark DiMillo
All three candidates say they complained about a Matthew Green poster next to the advance poll at an apartment building at 30 Sanford Ave. S, as well as a Green supporter riding a scooter adorned with Matthew Green signs who hovered near the door of the building.
"If somebody were to lose by 35 or 40 votes, how do we know those 35 to 40 votes weren't influenced?" Agostino said.
Whoever wins the Ward 3 race, they'll likely win it by slender margin, said DiMillo, whose campaign office has twice been targeted by thieves. So every poll matters.
"There are 15 of us running," said DiMillo, an entrepreneur. "One of us is going to win. But we've all put a lot of work into this."
"Matthew's run a flawless campaign. He's run campaign 101. He knows what he's doing. It wasn't an innocent mistake."
Green chalked up the complaints to some candidates "spending their time on the wrong things" less than two weeks before the Oct. 27 municipal election.
Argument at Pinky Lewis
"I would say this is lack of experience by certain candidates on how to conduct themselves in an election," he said.
The incident with the resident on the scooter, Green said, was just a matter of residents not being clear on whether a room or the entire property counted as a polling station.
"One of the requests I made to (city election head) Tony Fallis is to post in and around the building the rules regarding campaign materials," he said.
And "accosting" and photographing the senior citizen on the scooter, he said, "is going to affect their vote more than mine."
At Pinky Lewis, Assadourian and DiMillo say, a woman wore a Matthew Green shirt into an advanced polling station. When another resident shouted to her, an argument erupted, and the two women were removed.
Had a green shirt on
The supporter was merely wearing a green shirt, said Green, who owns a fitness business. She "was almost assaulted. She was harassed and intimidated because she had a green shirt on."
Assadourian said the other party in the argument called him down to Pinky Lewis, and he found police when he got there. Fallis investigated that incident too. He could not be reached for comment.
The other woman "lives on Cannon Street with her husband, and they'd never cast a vote in their lives," said Assadourian, a contractor. "They are non-voters. That's the sad part."
Assadourian also went to 30 Sanford and photographed the resident on the scooter. The candidates had been at the site a week earlier for an all-candidates debate, Assadourian said, only to learn later that the head of the tenants association was a Green scrutineer.
It's just the latest in a series of unusual twists in the Ward 3 campaign, which also includes Maria Anastasiou, Sean Gibson, Jol Hess, Eva John, Brian Kelly, Victor Mejia, Byron Millette, Drina Omazic, Carlos Pinho, Tim Simmons and Bernie Szajkowski.
Bernie Morelli represented the ward for more than 20 years before his death earlier this year. Former mayor Bob Morrow has represented the ward in the interim, but is not running in this election.
Lawyer letters and bizarre YouTube videos
Earlier this month, Catholic school board trustee candidate Anthony Perri threatened Green with legal action over an exchange they had at a mayoral all-candidates meeting after Perri shouted at a gender equality activist to sit down.
Then on Oct. 9, someone posted a video purporting to be the notorious hacker group Anonymous, calling Green a "shadow candidate" and purporting to "expose" his connections to the Mount Olive Lodge #1, a Masonic lodge founded by black Canadians. Among its members were Lincoln Alexander and Green says he's proud to be a member of the organization, which focuses on youth and education.
On Tuesday, the campaign got more bizarre. Agostino charges in a media release that candidate Drina Omazic had distributed a flyer nearly identical to one that Agostino's late brother Dominic distributed in 1999 — and on Oct. 14, Dominic Agostino's birthday. Dominic Agostino was an MPP for Hamilton East.
Omazic, a chief of staff to Fred Eisenberger during his 2006 to 2010 mayoral term, says her mail-out was "inspired" by Dominic Agostino's flyer, but she didn't know it was his birthday.
"As a political junkie, I've been doing politics since the 90s," she said. "I've saved pieces, as have other people on my team, that we all think are good examples."
Agostino, a realtor and long-time Catholic school board trustee, also says that someone has torn down about 150 of his signs.
The race is so messy, DiMillo said, because everyone knows how tight it is.
"We all know this race is going to be won and lost on 200 or 300 votes."
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