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3| O akville B eaver | T hursday,M ay 17,2018 insidehalton.com You don't paY unless I ge t You moneY. My team of experienced lawyers can help you with: - Disability Claims* *Short-Term Disability, Long-Term Disability, CPP - Car Accidents - Slip and Falls - Wrongful Dismissal oFFiCeS in oAkviLLe and ToronTo For a free consultation call: oakville: 905 .842 .2022 Toronto:Toronto:T 416 .644 .3999 email: sspadafora@slspc.ca Denied DisabledBenefits? I can help. injured? happY 150 th canada- InjurY and emploYment law - Sam Spadafora Mississauga Store 5980 McLaughlin Rd. (In The Heartland Center Near Loblaws) Mississauga, ON Oakville Store 243 Speers Rd. Oakville, ON Burlington Store 1515 North Service Road Burlington, ON Shop online www.conceptlighting.ca *See store for details Concept Lighting Group ENTIRE STORE IS ON SALE!ENTIRE STORE IS ON SALE! PLUS WE PAYTHE SALESTAXPLUS WE PAYTHE SALESTAX INSTALLATIONINSTALLATION SALESALE WE gIvE mONEy bAck TO pAy fOR yOuR INSTALLATION* WE gIvE mONEy bAck TO pAy fOR yOuR INSTALLATION* Local business leader Peter Longo will serve as Oakville's Ward 4 town councillor until the end of the current term of council on Nov. 30. Longo, who resides in Ward 4, was appointed to the position during a spe- cial council meeting, which was held to fill the vacancy on May 7. He will also serve on the town's administrative ser- vices committee. Council heard from 16 candidates who each had five minutes to make their case as to why they should be chosen to fill the council seat. Ultimately the job went to Longo who received votes from seven of the 10 councillors present. "I'm honoured," said Longo. "There was quite a slate of people who were here - a cross section of Oakville. I completely believe in this community and am just overwhelmed." Longo is the current se- nior director for Strategic Sourcing and Logistics at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto. He has 22 years of lead- ership experience in the health care, pharmaceuti- cal and telecommunica- tions industries. Longo is also the cur- rent chair of the Halton Re- gion natural heritage advi- sory committee, past chair of the regional ecological and environmental adviso- ry committee and was a member of the stakeholder advisory committee for Of- ficial Plan Amendment 198, which laid the groundwork for Oakville's Natural Her- itage System. He holds a masters in environmental studies (MES) and environmental planning from York Uni- versity. During his allotted five minutes Longo spoke to council about why he felt he was qualified for the council job. "I am aligned with coun- cil's determination to pro- tect and maintain a vibrant community with good fis- cal management to provide important community ser- vices for all," he said. "I bring a balanced per- spective on issues. I am a fair and effective decision maker and my career ad- vancements show and indi- cate this." Longo noted he has been using his planning back- ground since 2002 to help with the preservation of green space in north Oak- ville. He said recently he has added his voice to those on the Save Glen Abbey Coali- tion who are fighting plans by ClubLink to develop the Glen Abbey Golf Course. Longo said he knows the importance of wisely spending taxpayer dollars to get the best results and pledged council would find him to be a person who both listens and communi- cates carefully and some- one who is perceptive, re- spectful, approachable, fair, patient and consistent with all. Council also heard from 15 other candidates includ- ing Lee Conley, Joel Dart, Rohit Dhamija, David Has- lam, Hart Jansson, Peter MacFarlane, Cheryle McCullagh, Adrian Paris, Sushila Pereira, Gerald Popp, Jordan Rosenberg, Christopher Saunders, Ad- nan Shahbaz, Oliver Vadas and Bob Vaudry. The hopefuls included a former chair of the Oak- ville Chamber of Com- merce (Popp), numerous business leaders and entre- preneurs, and dedicated volunteers. The appointment was held to fill a vacancy on council, which was created by the sudden resignation of former councillor Roger Lapworth. Lapworth resigned March 29 citing personal reasons. Given that a municipal election will be held Oct. 22 the town's bylaws prohibit- ed a byelection and pre- vented the seat from sim- ply being left vacant. Council voted to fill the vacancy through appoint- ment on April 3. NEWS Peter Longo is Oakville's new Ward 4 councillor Longo chosen from 16 candidates who addressed council May 7 DAVID LEA dlea@metroland.com Peter Longo David Lea photo l See LONGO, page 21