Who's running to be London's next mayor? It's a long list

In just six short weeks, Londoners will elect a new mayor in what promises to be a very different contest than the 2018 race. 

Back then, four well-known candidates were vying for votes to be mayor. Former MP Ed Holder won, but isn't running again this time. Back then, he squared off against left-leaning city councillor Tanya Park and conservatives Paul Cheng and Paul Paolatto along with five other runners. 

This year, 10 candidates are in the mayor's race as part of the Oct. 24 municipal elections in Ontario.

Josh Morgan is a two-term councillor and deputy mayor who has Holder's endorsement. The only other candidate with experience serving in elected office is former Liberal MPP Khalil Ramal. 

Former MPP targets City Hall

Ramal served as MPP for London-Fanshawe from 2003 to 2011 in the Liberal Dalton McGuinty government. 

Ramal, who immigrated to Canada from Lebanon in the late 1980s, says Londoners' tax bills are too high. He also says issues related to homelessness in downtown London have become worse over the past four years. As well, he says, voters in Old East Village have told him they feel unsafe in the downtown core. 

"We cannot keep blaming the province or the feds or outsiders about his. We have to do our own job inside the city. We have to have our own plan to do it."

Ramal has a campaign website and says he plans to roll out planks in his platform in increments, starting with his plan to address homelessness.

Morgan targets 50,000 new housing units

Morgan rolled out his campaign platform on Wednesday, setting a target for London to have 50,000 new homes in a decade, with 10,000 of those in the downtown core. It builds on a plan by the province to build 1.5 million homes in the same time period. 

"We have to look at a way that we incentivize high-density development in the place that is the most expensive to service," he said. The current official plan calls for 20,000 units over the next 10 years, which Morgan said "isn't going to get us where we need to be on housing supply." 

Morgan's platform also includes a plan to create 200 new supportive housing spaces for people with mental health and addictions, which he said will require help from the province. 

In his platform, Morgan also vows support for a request from London Police Service for 50 new front-line officers, including members of the COAST team, which pairs police officers with mental health works.

You can read Morgan's full platform here.

O'Connell sees 'democratic deficit'

This will be Sean O'Connell's third run at City Hall (he ran for council in 2014 and for mayor in 2018). 

The 46-year-old civil servant is a student of government and a regular transit rider who's frustrated that the last council only backed half the Bus Rapid Transit plan. 

He also believes there's a "democratic deficit" at City Hall, arguing that two vacancies on council should have been filled with byelections, not council votes. Also, he said, Coun. Michael VanHolst should not have been allowed to vote on a council motion that admonished him for speaking publicly against vaccinations.

"He should have declared a conflict," said O'Connell.

O'Connell has a campaign website with blog entries and some policy ideas

His goal: get people living in poverty to vote

For Dan Lenart, a successful campaign doesn't necessarily mean getting the most votes and becoming London's 65th mayor. 

This is his fourth mayoral campaign. Each time, he's finished near the bottom of the results table. So why's he running? Lenart volunteers with Sanctuary London, a local organization that provides a free lunch service on Talbot Street.

It's run in partnership with the Talbot Street Christian Reformed Church. Lenart also runs a writing group for the homeless, out of the downtown library, called Grit Uplifted. 

Lenart is on a first-name basis with scores of people who sleep rough on London's streets, and said his campaign is about putting their needs front and centre in the campaign. 

"The problem is getting poor people to vote, that seems to be the biggest problem," he said. 

Lenart wants to see the police budget reduced slightly, with some of that money diverted to housing. 

"It's controversial, I know, but I know it would help," he said. "These issues are not discussed by these Ivy League types of people. They want the condos to come in. They want to talk about those issues, not these street-level issues." 

Retired nurse wants to cut council size in half

A life-long Londoner, retired nurse Johanne Nichols wants to address what she sees as waste and inefficient planning at City Hall. She says council cost taxpayers money by dithering on the Adelaide rail underpass (she'd have preferred an overpass). 

She also wants to cut the 14-member council cut in half, and said she'd donate at least 80 per cent of her salary to a good cause if she's elected. 

That pared-back approach will also apply to her own campaign, which will be a no-frills affair. 

"No, I'm not putting up any signs or posters. I've ordered some business cards with my name on it and it's just going to be word of mouth basically," she said. 

Mechanic wants to fix homelessness

Norm Miles is a mechanic who also drives street sweepers and snow-clearing equipment. 

He's entering the mayor's race for the first time to raise issues about homelessness, which he says have affected his family. 

However, with no high-profile endorsements or donation money for a slick campaign, he understands he's facing an uphill battle. 

"It's hard to get your name out there. If they don't know you, a lot of people aren't going to bother."

He has a web page devoted to his campaign. 

Other contenders

Also running is Sandie Thomas, a pastor and leader in London's Black community who wants to build a community centre serving the Black community. You can read about that project here. Her campaign website is here. Other runners in the mayoral race include Brandon Ellis, Jeffrey Daniel and Carlos Murray.