Joe Mihevc

Joe Mihevc
Toronto City Councillor for (Ward 21) St. Paul's
Incumbent
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	February 24, 1954 Toronto, Ontario
Nationality	Slovenian-Canadian
Spouse(s)	Rosalee (Bender)
Children	3
Residence	Toronto, Ontario
Alma mater	University of Toronto
Occupation	Adjunct Lecturer
Religion	Roman Catholic

Joe Mihevc (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

His 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 right-wing councillor Rob Davis. The election was marred by an anonymous telephone campaign that attempted to paint Mihevc as anti-Semitic. There was no evidence to support this claim. Mayor of Toronto Mel Lastman endorsed Davis, despite an earlier pledge to remain neutral.

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 is a champion of 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 small group of 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 Mihevc	15,745	76.9
Ted Bustamante	1,766	8.6
Cos Licursi	1,728	8.4
Rosina Bonavota	1,223	6.0
Total	20,462	100

2010 Toronto election, Ward 21[3]
Candidate	Votes	%
Joe Mihevc	9,824	56.2
Shimmy Posen	5,328	30.5
Peter Nolan	921	5.3
Beth McLellan	644	3.7
Alex Freedman	454	2.6
Marius Frederick	295	1.7
Total	17,466	100

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

2006 Toronto election, Ward 21[4]
Candidate	Votes	%
Joe Mihevc	8,092	56.7
John Sewell	3,326	23.3
John Adams	2,712	19.0
Tony Corpuz	150	1.1

References

2. City Clerk's Official Declaration 2014
3. City of Toronto elections page
4. City Clerk's Official Declaration 2006

External links

• City of Toronto Councillor Profile