By Derek Vanderlee
NIAGARA FALLS, Ont. — Lori Lococo will be the next mayor of Niagara Falls, Ont. On Monday night the two-term city councillor unseated Jim Diodati, ending his 16 years in the job and making her the first woman to lead the city across the river from Niagara Falls, N.Y.
With all polls reporting, Ms. Lococo had 14,058 votes, or 51.45 percent, to Mr. Diodati’s 11,401, or 41.73 percent, according to the city’s unofficial results. Paul Manning had 986 votes, Kevin Martineau 510 and Michael Lucid 366.
Turnout was 34.25 percent of 80,349 registered voters, up from 27.5 percent in 2022, the Niagara Falls Review reported.
‘We have a spending problem’
“I’m shocked in one way and I’m not shocked in another way,” Ms. Lococo told the Review at the Royal Canadian Legion hall on Spring Street, where supporters had gathered.
“We heard it from you. We heard it at the door. You wanted change. I’m happy and humbled to be that change,” she told the crowd.
Her campaign focused on affordability and on how City Hall spends money. She has pushed zero-based budgeting at the council table, an approach that makes departments justify every line from scratch each year instead of building on the year before.
“The main focus will be affordability, the budget and our spending. We can do better and we will do better. We don’t have a revenue problem. We have a spending problem. We are spending money where we shouldn’t be,” she said in her victory speech.
She named one early target in an interview with 105.7 The River: the city’s community improvement plan (CIP) incentive programs.
“I want to review CIP programs, to see if we’re getting a return on investment. We’re putting a lot of money into these, but what is the return,” she said.
Asked about being the city’s first woman mayor, Ms. Lococo played it down. “It’s nice that I am the first woman mayor, but that’s not I hope why people voted for me,” she told the Review.
Diodati: ‘time for a change’
Mr. Diodati had sought a fifth term. During the campaign, the Review reported, he had support from LiUNA and pointed to a $3.6-billion hospital project in Niagara Falls, while Ms. Lococo won a rare endorsement from the city’s firefighters.
In defeat, he recalled advice from a predecessor. “I remember Wayne Thomson saying to me, a number of years ago, it’s pretty hard to fight the idea when people say it’s time for a change,” Mr. Diodati said. “That’s always resonated with me.”
He also urged the new council to keep major projects on track. “We’ve got some serious and significant forward motion on so many things. I just hope they keep them moving forward because there’s been an awful lot of heavy lifting that went on to get us to this point,” he said.
Ms. Lococo thanked him for his 23 years in public life. “We have done some great things in Niagara Falls and Mayor Jim has been the guiding direction for that,” she said. “But people were ready for a change.”
A new council and a new region
Retired firefighter Fred Audibert, a political newcomer, got 14,449 votes, the most of any candidate on the city ballot. He joins incumbents Tony Baldinelli, Ruth-Ann Nieuwesteeg, Mona Patel, Mike Strange and Chris Dabrowski, along with former councillors Kim Craitor and Joyce Morocco.
The new mayor will also take on a bigger regional role. Under the province’s reform, Niagara’s regional council will be made up only of the region’s mayors, with a chair the province is expected to appoint.
“I will work with the chair and the 11 other mayors to ensure that the residents of Niagara Falls will be heard,” Ms. Lococo said.
Upsets across Niagara
Niagara Falls was not the only upset. In Fort Erie, Tom Insinna defeated incumbent Wayne Redekop, and in Port Colborne, Bea Kenny beat incumbent Bill Steele, 105.7 The River reported. In St. Catharines, Mat Siscoe easily won a second term.
Several races were very close. Pat Chiocchio won Welland’s open mayoral seat by 55 votes over Graham Speck, the St. Catharines Standard reported. Tim Whalen won in Thorold by 40 votes, and Pelham Mayor Marvin Junkin held on by 15. Vaughn Goettler will be Niagara-on-the-Lake’s new lord mayor.
In Toronto, Mayor Olivia Chow won re-election over Brad Bradford. “Tonight, the people of Toronto have spoken,” she said, CBC News reported. Mr. Bradford conceded: “It’s indisputable, and she has my good wishes.”
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