Peter Carlesimo

Peter Carlesimo is a municipal politician in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. He served on the Windsor City Council from 1988 to 2003.

Early life and career

Carlesimo has Bachelor of Arts and Master of Education degrees from the University of Windsor. He is a teacher in private life, serving as vice-principal of St. Angela School in Windsor. He also served on the Essex District Health Council in the mid-1980s chairing its acute care committee. [Alan Cairns, "Council puts CAT scan at top of list", "Windsor Star", 22 May 1987, A3.] He first campaigned for the Windsor City Council in 1985, and narrowly lost the second council seat in the city's second ward to Ted Bounsall. A judicial recount confirmed Bounsall's election by 33 votes.

City councillor

Early years

Carlesimo ran again in the 1988 municipal election, focusing his candidacy on waterfront renewal and economic diversification. He also indicated that he would work to limit tax increases to the rate of inflation, ["Carlesimo to run again", "Windsor Star", 23 September 1988, A5.] and was endorsed by the Windsor Citizens' Group, an organization focused on tax issues. [Alisa Priddle, "Citizens' group backs 12 candidates", "Windsor Star", 24 October 1988, A3.] He won election to the second ward's first council position, and was appointed to the board of directors of Transit Windsor soon after the election. ["'No guff' Millson says he's the boss", "Windsor Star", 23 December 1988, A3.] Carlesimo supported fiscal restraint policies during his early years on council, and voted against purchase of the Windsor Arena in 1990. [Gord Henderson, "You can bank on Munificent Six", "Windsor Star", 29 March 1990, A8; "City dips into riverfront fund to purchase arena", "Windsor Star", 15 May 1990, A3.]

Carlesimo was re-elected in 1991, centring his campaign on calls for reduced spending and taxation. [Chris Vander Doelen, "Ward 2 turnout is usually low", "Windsor Star", 5 November 1991, A5.] He opposed plans for an aquarium and natural history museum on Windsor's waterfront in 1992, arguing that the $29 million price was too high. [Chris Vander Doelen, "Price tag set to derail local riverfront plans", "Windsor Star", 22 September 1992, A1.] He supported for some aspects of a waterfront renewal plan brought forward later in the year, but declined to commit to all aspects of the strategy. [Chris Vander Doelen, "Riverfront plan picks up backers", "Windsor Star", 24 November 1992, A1.]

In 1993, Carlesimo introduced a proposal to give developer Bill Docherty an extended delay on the construction of a multi-purpose arena in the city's downtown core. Docherty was responsible for bringing a casino to the city, and had already made two other delay requests. The proposal was narrowly approved by council but was criticized by Mayor Mike Hurst, who argued that the city was unnecessarily restricting its options for the site. [Lauren More, "Multi-use centre shelved 2 years", "Windsor Star", 20 July 1993, A1; "Future imperfect: Council's blind spot" [editorial] , "Windsor Star", 21 July 1993, A6.] Council reversed its decision following public protests. [Gord Henderson, "Public beat council hands down" [editorial] , "Windsor Star", 5 August 1993, A6.]

Carlesimo served on Windsor's race and ethnocultural committee, library board, international relations committee, and board of health audit committee. He was re-elected to a third term in 1994, focusing his campaign on issues such as waterfront renewal and the completion of a permanent casino in the city. ["Carlesimo seeking a third term", "Windsor Star", 13 October 1994, A5.]

Last two terms

Carlesimo was re-elected again in 1997 and 2000. In September 1998, he voted in favour of a "private-public partnership" to construct an office tower developoment for Chrysler Canada Ltd. [Roseann Danese, "Full speed ahead: Council gives initial nod to Chrysler HQ", "Windsor Star", 17 September 1998, A1.] He later supported of an anti-smoking by-law, and endorsed a property tax freeze in 2000. [Roseann Danese, "Tough smoking bylaw passes", "Windsor Star", 5 October 1999, A1; Roseann Danese, "Slots cash to help needy", "Windsor Star", 10 December 1999, A3.] He opposed the "Jebb proposal" for a six- to seven-thousand seat downtown area in 2000, and recommended that the city develop the arena without private sector involvement. ["The arena" [editorial] , "Windsor Star", 21 July 2000, A8.] Later, he recommended that short-listed candidates for the site be forbidden from contacting public officials. [Roseann Danese, "Arena bidders to steer clear of council", "Windsor Star", 24 April 2001, A4.]

A "Windsor Star" column from 2002 indicates that Carlesimo supported Mayor Mike Hurst on most council votes. ["Our report card on city councillors" [editorial] , "Windsor Star", 9 November 2002, A10.]

Carlesimo was defeated in his bid for re-election in 2003. Reflecting on his time in office, he indicated that he was proud of two new libraries that were built in his ward, as well as successes in waterfront renewal. [Don Lajoie, "Carlesimo stands by record", "Windsor Star", 12 November 2003, A4.]

Federal politics

Carlesimo is a member of the Liberal Party of Canada, and supported Paul Martin in the party's 1990 leadership convention. [Marty Beneteau, "Votes make right turn", "Windsor Star", 15 November 1988, A1; Scott Burnside, "Liberal troops muster for war over delegates", "Windsor Star", 16 February 1990, A5.] He supported Liberal candidate Richard Pollock in a 2002 federal by-election. [Roseann Danase, "Their stripes are showing", "Windsor Star", 26 April 2002, A1.]

Footnotes