“You stood with us for the good days and the hard ones. I'm going to miss being your mayor more than you can imagine.”
Longtime Niagara Falls, Ontario mayor Jim Diodati offered a tone of reflection, thanks, and good luck wishes in a Facebook video he posted Thursday, days after his bid for a fifth term was rejected by voters in one of several upsets among Niagara Region elections. Diodati was defeated by Lori Lococo, a two-term councillor, who gained a majority of the votes among five candidates, including the incumbent.
“Lori, congratulations on your win, and I truly wish you every success because your success is Niagara Falls' success,” Diodati said in the video. “Please carry on with the major projects that we've started and keep the momentum going. To everyone who put their name forward for this election, and to every councilor new and returning, congratulations and thank you. It takes guts to stand up for your hometown.”
Among the issues during the campaign was whether to support Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s ambitious multi-billion dollar Discover Niagara Strategy, a tourism driven plan to transform Niagara Falls into what Ford has described as “the Las Vegas of the North.”
Diodati has supported Ford, and endorsed the latter in his run for election. Lococo, meanwhile, entered the race for mayor with a notion the public was not feeling satisfied that it was being heard.
Lococo ultimately gained 51 percent of the vote.
Diodati’s loss was just one of several among longtime mayors in the Niagara Region. Wayne Redekop was defeated in Fort Erie by town regional councillor Tom Insinna, while in Port Colborne Bill Steele was defeated by Bea Kenny.
In his goodbye message, Diodati stated that whether he’s in the mayor’s chair or not, he’ll do everything he can to support the people of Niagara Falls, Ontario. He noted the community’s ability to unite in times of adversity, including the COVID pandemic and while he personally was undergoing cancer treatment.
“Our river city is the biggest small town in Canada, a place where everyone knows your name, and I wouldn't trade a single corner of it. Niagara Falls, I love you,” he said.