Return To Municipal Politics
Perruzza returned to municipal politics after his provincial defeat. With the amalgamation of North York into the City of Toronto, he campaigned for the new city's seventh ward council seat in the 1997 municipal election. He was endorsed by the Toronto Star newspaper, but finished fourth in the two-member division.
He campaigned for Toronto City Council's redistributed eighth ward, which includes the Jane and Finch area, in the 2000 municipal election. He was endorsed by the Toronto Star, the Canadian Union of Public Employees and the Ontario Public Service Employees Union. He was narrowly defeated by Peter Li Preti.
Perruzza challenged Li Preti again in the 2003 municipal election, charging that his opponent was negligent in defending the rights of tenants. He was again endorsed by the Toronto Star. Li Preti was re-elected by a reduced margin.
Perruzza challenged Li Preti a third time in the 2006 municipal election. He called for a licensing system for landlords, and focused on community safety issues.
Several incidents occurred during advanced polling on the weekend of November 4–5, 2006, leading to Perruzza and Li Preti accusing one another of dirty campaigning and the breaking of numerous election and criminal laws. Among other claims, each candidate accused staff from the opposing campaign of interfering with elections staff, campaigning illegally at polling locations and intimidating their opponent's voters. No criminal charges were laid by police. However, in a completely unprecedented move, the City of Toronto hired off-duty police officers at a cost of approximately $23,200 to guard all 40 voting locations in the ward on election day to assure that voters would remain safe and free from harassment.
Perruzza defeated Li Preti on election day, winning the Ward Eight seat by a margin of about 5%. He is an ally of Toronto Mayor David Miller, who was re-elected over challenger Jane Pitfield.
Read more about this topic: Anthony Perruzza
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