Paolatto considering run for London city hall in 2018 municipal election

It’s still more than a year away, but a list of prospective candidates for the upcoming 2018 London municipal election is beginning to take shape.

Outgoing police services board budget chair Paul Paolatto told members during his last board meeting Thursday afternoon he’s considering running for either mayor or councillor next year.

“I have some personal and professional situations that I have to consider, but this time next year if things don’t change…I think I’m going to try to make a run at it, and I’ll be on a ballot somewhere in this city. We’ll see.”

The relationship between the council and the police services board has been fraught with tension — in November 2016, Paolatto called for an investigation by the Ontario Civilian Police Commission into the handling of last year’s budget breakdown and the possibility that Mayor Matt Brown impeded a compromise that would have saved tax payers $1 million.

Paolatto later called it “disrespectful” that only four councillors responded to a letter he sent to council asking for support or response to the probe.

“The biggest issue — and it’s something I’ve started to talk about particularly over the last couple of months — was around the level of respect. And I think it’s something we need to work on, and so if I don’t see it necessarily as prevalent as it should be, then maybe I can play a role in helping to bring that in,” Paolatto said.

Mayor Matt Brown also sits on the board which guides London’s police force, and has already expressed interest in running for re-election. When asked about his reaction to Paolatto’s tentative bid, Brown focused on thanking the outgoing budget chief for his work on the board.

“He dove into the police budget like no board member before, line-by-line in many cases,” Brown told AM980. “The police service is better for it, and the community is better for it.”

During a speech thanking Paoletto for his contributions to the board, Brown credited Paolatto for his deep understanding of numbers, and his dedication to finding solutions that work for everyone.

Paolatto has served as the board’s budget chair for the past six years. Municipal candidates don’t start filing nomination papers for the October 22, 2018 election until next year.

“I don’t really know if it’s too early,” Paolatto said. “But I’ll tell you this much — if you see me launch my Twitter account, you know it’s time.”