Meet the 3 newcomers to Windsor city council
Angelo Marignani, Mark McKenzie and Renaldo Agostino will be first-time councillors
Angelo Marignani has run six times in Windsor's Ward 7 — in every general and byelection since 2010 — but on Monday night, his luck changed.
Marignani unseated incumbent councillor Jeewen Gill, who finished third in his east end ward.
Speaking with reporters on election night, Marignani said not giving up on your dreams was part of "the Windsor spirit."
"When we get knocked down, we get back up and if you don't play, you don't win. For everyone out there who has that vision, who wants to do good for their city, and although you might lose, keep fighting."
He says his first priorities are health care, speeding and safety in city parks.
Marignani works for Magna International. He's also a former business owner who has served on several agencies, boards and committees including the Downtown BIA.
Marignani is one of three new voices on Windsor city council next term.
In the downtown Ward 3, business owner Renaldo Agostino won by just 75 votes.
Agostino is the president of Turbo Espresso Bar and executive director of the Border City Boxing Club.
One of his ideas to make downtown more vibrant is to scrap the idea of a permanent location for a supervised consumption site in favour of trailer units, but says he'll ultimately go along with the will of council.
He said he fully intends to fight for safety measures downtown to attract new business.
"We're going to make downtown exciting and vibrant again," he said.
Another proposal is his idea to prevent those experiencing homelessness from sleeping in storefront vestibules by putting in planters.
LISTEN: Windsor Morning's post-election panel breaks down the results
Outgoing Ward 3 councillor Rino Bortolin, who did not run for re-election, says Agostino may face some challenges when it comes to turning his plans into reality.
"I think someone like Renaldo will have a lot of moments where reality sinks in, as far as campaigning is very different than being in the position and actually knowing what's possible," he said on CBC Radio's Windsor Morning.
In Ward 4 (Walkerville), Mark McKenzie also had a narrow victory — just 28 votes over his closest competitor Jake Rondot.
Voters in this area of the city were guaranteed new representation because the outgoing councillor, Chris Holt, made an unsuccessful bid to be the city's mayor.
While he may be a new voice on council, McKenzie isn't exactly a new voice for Windsor. He was heard on the radio station 89X FM for many years.
Now a realtor, McKenzie says affordable housing is one of the issues he'll be working on.
"It's not even affordable to build housing, you know with material costs and lack of skilled trades. We definitely got to work with the upper levels of government, try to get more funding," he said.
McKenzie says he's hoping to work with some of the other people who ran for the seat to bring their issues to to the council table.
With files from Stacey Janzer and Dale Molnar