Pantalone vows to be ‘prudent’ with city cash if elected mayor
Who better to fix what ails city hall than the man who’s spent 29 years in local politics, says mayoral candidate Joe Pantalone.
While critics paint Pantalone as a member of the tax-and-spend crowd, he says they’ve got it wrong: He would, in the style of 1960s New Democratic Party leader Tommy Douglas: Be careful with the people’s money.
“As Tommy Douglas said, ‘If you don’t have a nickel, you don’t spend a nickel.’ He was very prudent. He was one of my idols and I plan to follow that school of thought.”
Pantalone opened his campaign office yesterday in a former hairdressing salon on Clinton Street in the heart of his Little Italy turf. A couple of dozen supporters and well-wishers packed the office.
Pantalone would expect to battle Shelley Carroll for centre-left votes, except that Carroll hasn’t declared she’s a candidate for mayor. “Shelley might be persuaded by some to run,” said New Democrat MPP Rosario Marchese, who dropped by to wish Pantalone well.
If Carroll stays on the sidelines, Pantalone would become a leading candidate in a race that includes former deputy premier George Smitherman, Liberal Party strategist Rocco Rossi and Coun. Giorgio Mammoliti.