The 2010 Brantford municipal election was held on October 25, 2010, to elect a mayor, city councillors, and school trustees in the city of Brantford, Ontario.
Results
John Sless has worked at the Brantford Charity Casino and as an independent consultant. He ran for the Brantford city council in 1974 and 1976 and was defeated both times; on the latter occasion, he was backed by the United Auto Workers. He was elected for the city's second ward in 1991 and was re-elected in 1994, 1997, 2000, 2003, and 2006. Sless was regarded as an ally of mayor Chris Friel on council until the latter's defeat in 2003. He supported a long-term plan for downtown revitalization in 2002, was known as a supporter of sports and recreation programs, and in general opposed proposals for harsh cuts in municipal services. Some local writers have noted that Sless was a clear and articulate, but not a frequent speaker on council. He was the most prominent opponent of a plan to demolish several buildings on the south side of Colbourne Street in 2010; he argued that the demolition was not properly budgeted and that there was no plan for redevelopment. Mark Littell is a businessperson in Brantford. He is the founding chair of Brantford's Habitat for Humanity, has been president of the city's Rotary Club and Community Reserve Board, and has served on the Grand Erie Training and Adjustment Board. He also chaired the Brantford Airport Commission in the early 2000s. Littell was elected to the Brantford city council in 2006, winning a seat in the city's first ward. While on council, he chaired a city taskforce that recommended demolishing several buildings on the south side of Colborne Street. Littell argued that the buildings had blighted the community for several years, while opponents argued that they had historical and cultural value. Council endorsed demolition on June 7, 2010, and work crews began talking down the buildings the following day. Littell was fifty-five years old in the 2010 campaign and proposed integrating more services with Brant County in a bud to reduce property taxes. Dianne M. Austin was born in Etobicoke, Toronto and later moved to Norland to raise a family. She is a veteran community organizer. In the 1980s, she led in a public campaign against school closures. The campaign was initially targeted against the Victoria County Board of Education's decision to close five village schools in favour of larger, consolidated units. Later, she joined with other groups across the province to form a group called the Save Our Schools coalition. She herself was elected as a school trustee to the Victoria County board in the 1988 municipal election and sought to reduce the power of unelected directors of education. She was re-elected in 1991 and 1994. In 1995, Austin became executive director of Big Brothers and Big Sisters in Victoria-Haliburton. She was elected as reeve of Somerville Township in the 1997 municipal election; by virtue of this position, she also served as a regional councillor for Victoria County. She opposed her community's amalgamation into Kawartha Lakes in 2000. Austin moved to Peterborough shortly before her term ended and was appointed as chief executive officer of the Peterborough and District Association for Community Living, a group that assists people with developmental disabilities. In 2001, she led a campaign to ensure low-income disabled people would receive subsidized bus passes. She also oversaw the building of new group homes to provide greater privacy and independence. She later moved to Brantford, where she served as executive director of the Brant United Way from 2007 to 2009 and subsequently became a regional manager for the ALS Society of Ontario. She was fifty-four years old during the 2010 election and focused on targeting unemployment. Her campaign included both Liberal and Conservative organizers, although she stressed that she was not representing any party ideology. Mike Quattrociocchi was born and raised in Brantford and graduated in law and security from Mohawk College. He is a property developer and has been active with Habitat for Humanity. Before running for office, he was a citizen member of Brantford's community development committee. He sought election to the Brantford city council in 2000, at age thirty-two, and finished third in the city's first ward. He was elected on his second attempt in 2003 and was appointed to serve on the city's brownfields committee. Nominated for the Canadian Urban Institute's brownfield cleanup and redevelopment award in 2004, he lost to fellow Brantford councillor Marguerite Ceschi-Smith. He was appointed to the city's police services board and corporate services committee in December 2005.