Item - 2015.NA3.1

The Committee of Adjustment Nominating Panel recommends that:

1.  City Council waive the two-term limit provision of the Public Appointments Policy and appoint the following candidate to the Committee of Adjustment, South Panel, Panel A, for a term of office starting on September 1, 2015 and ending on November 30, 2018, and until a successor is appointed:

- Robert Brown

2.  City Council appoint the following candidates to the Committee of Adjustment, for a term of office starting on September 1, 2015 and ending on November 30, 2018 and until successors are appointed:

North (North York)

- Denise Graham

- Derek Lett

- Beth Levy

- Wayne McEachern

- Bruce Mullock

- Rick Ross

- Nadini Sankar

- Giacomo Tonon

South (Toronto and East York)

Panel A

- Edmund Carlson

- Ewa Modlinska

- Nancy Oomen

- Worrick Russell

Panel B

- Alex Bednar

- Michael Clark

- Donald Granatstein

- Wendy Smith

- Lisa Valentini

East (Scarborough)

- Alexandra Flynn

- Eden Gajraj

- Hena Kabir

- Sean Karmali

- David Peacock 

West (Etobicoke York)

- Tony D'Aversa

- Dominic Gulli

- Megan McIver

- Nathan Muscat

- Allan Smithies

3.  City Council direct that the confidential information contained in Confidential Attachments 1, 2, 3 and 4 remain confidential in their entirety as they relate to personal matters about identifiable individuals being considered for appointment to the Committee of Adjustment.

Candidates' biographies:

Committee of Adjustment – North Panel:

Denise Graham

Denise Graham is a Registered Professional Planner who retired from the City of Toronto in 2011. She was a Senior Planner in the City Planning Division and holds a Bachelor of Applied Arts (Applied Geography) from Ryerson. She is a Member of the Canadian Institute of Planners and Ontario Professional Planners Institute. Denise continues to serve her community as a member of the Board of Directors of the Fairlawn Neighbourhood Centre and co-coordinates a lunch program for seniors.

Derek Lett

Derek Lett is senior executive with the Government of Ontario where he has worked for the past 23 years. He is currently the Executive Director in the Office of the Conflict of Interest Commissioner. He holds a specialized honours B.A. in Public Policy and Administration from York University, a Master's in Public Administration from Queen's University, a Certificate in Change Management from University of Toronto and a Certificate in Alternative Dispute Resolution from the University of Windsor.

Beth Levy

Beth Levy has a degree in Urban Planning from McGill University and Columbia University. She worked at a private consulting firm after graduating. Beth has volunteered at Meals on Wheels, Jessie's Center for Teens and Out of the Cold and has participated in a fundraising initiative for The Hospital for Sick Children. Beth served two terms as the chair of the Parent Association at a local school.

Wayne McEachern

Wayne McEachern is a land-use planner with 40 years of experience.  He was born in Toronto and is a life-long resident.  He has professional experience at the local, regional and provincial government levels and has taught courses at the community college, and at university levels.  Wayne also has served on two TTC citizen volunteer panels.  Wayne and his wife have lived in various Toronto locations, currently residing in the North York community.

Bruce Mullock

Bruce Mullock built a lifetime career with The Ian Martin Group in Toronto, providing engineering staffing to government and industry clients.  During his time as Senior Vice-President, Bruce served on two industry boards of directors.  Born in Toronto, Bruce gave 13 years of service to Scouts Canada and his church council, and currently volunteers as a tutor to trades apprentices at Frontier College.

Rick Ross

Rick Ross is a professional engineer with an MBA (York University) and a MASc (University of Toronto) and finished first in his engineering graduating class.  After retiring from a Fortune 100 company, Rick now delivers science workshops in North York, volunteers with the Distress Centre, chairs ratepayers groups, participates in the Neighbourhood Watch, and serves on his community's Police Liaison Committee.

Nadini Sankar

Nadini has previously worked within the federal government in a bilingual capacity, and has worked for the Province for the past thirteen years.  As a Senior Policy Development Advisor with the Ministry of Community and Social Services, Nadini is also an experienced and accredited mediator in good standing with the ADR Institute of Ontario and the Ontario Association of Family Mediation.

Giacomo Tonon

Giacomo Tonon is a seasoned IT professional with more than 20 years of experience in a variety of roles including project management (software development), business analysis, major infrastructure rollouts, and recruiting/hiring IT staff at many levels.  Giacomo works well in teams, is a passionate and enthusiastic trainer and is skilled at building/conducting presentations and training sessions.

Committee of Adjustment – South Panel:

Alex Bednar

Alexander Bednar has a degree in history and the classics from Queen's University and has a Master’s degree from the University of Toronto School of Public Policy and Governance.  Having previously worked for the City of Toronto’s Tower Renewal initiative, Alex is currently a consultant with the Executive Compensation and Governance team at RBC.

Robert Brown

Robert Brown is a senior executive with 30 plus years of experience in both domestic and international business.  Robert has extensive experience in community activity including leadership in residents' associations, presenting before both municipal and provincial government committees, and years of experience leading community meetings and forum-style settings.

Edmund Carlson

Edmund Carlson is an urban and regional planning graduate with a background in minor-variance work.  Edmund has a long history of community activism, and his planning practice has included advising multiple Toronto Councillors on planning matters.  Edmund hopes to combine his strong sense of good city building with his familiarity with the minor-variance process to make a valuable contribution to the City.

Michael Clark

Michael Clark has resided in the City of Toronto for 35 years. He graduated from Osgoode Hall Law School in 1983 and was called to the Ontario Bar in 1985. As an executive and in-house lawyer, Michael has over 25 years of experience in real estate development and property management. He was first appointed to the Committee of Adjustment for the former City of York in 1994 and subsequently served on the Midtown and Toronto/East York panels following amalgamation from 1998 to 2006.

Donald Granatstein

Donald L. Granatstein is an investigator with ADR Chambers Banking Ombudsman, a mediator with ADR Chambers, and practices law full-time.  Don has a LLB and BA from University of Toronto, an LL.M. from Osgoode Hall and certificates in Dispute Resolution from Harvard Law, University of Toronto, the LSUC and the University of Windsor.  Don has appeared before courts at all levels and before many tribunals.

Ewa Modlinska

Ewa is a PhD student in the Planning Program at the University of Toronto and is a student member of the Ontario Professional Planners Institute. Her research focuses on urban sustainability, community engagement, and the Tower Renewal Program. Ewa has worked as a research assistant on a number of planning projects for research institutes and the private sector. She holds a Master's in Environmental Studies from York University and an Honours Bachelor of Science from the University of Toronto.

Nancy Oomen

Nancy is an accomplished government and community-relations professional who spent almost two decades with the City of Toronto where she worked with diverse stakeholders to achieve objectives using solid judgement and effective mediation. Nancy has been involved with her local ratepayers' association for about 30 years and she has served several terms as president. She is a highly effective project coordinator and chair of the "Blossom" fundraising event which raises funds for local charities.

Worrick Russell

Worrick Russell is a mandatory mediator, paralegal, consultant and lecturer. His qualifications include degrees and training from several universities.  Russell's various forms of community work build upon his prior experience to provide him with the necessary tools for this position.  Worrick served on the Committee of Adjustment from 2010 to 2014.

Wendy Smith

Wendy Smith is a retired journalist and realtor.  For several years Wendy served on the board of the Harbord Village Residents' Association and is deeply involved in community improvement projects. Wendy is the creator of The Toronto Park Lot Project, an online mapping project which explores the founding history of Toronto.  Wendy received Heritage Toronto's Award of Excellence (media) for this project in November 2014. Wendy is presently working on two books about Toronto's earliest years.

Lisa Valentini

Lisa Valentini is a lawyer and long-time resident of the City of Toronto.  She received her undergraduate and law degrees from Queen's University before articling in Toronto and being called to the bar in 2000.  Her professional career has been exclusively with provincial and municipal governments, including significant experience advising municipal councils, departments and committees during her nine years as an in-house lawyer for municipalities in and around the Greater Toronto area.

Committee of Adjustment – East Panel:

Alexandra Flynn

Alexandra Flynn is a doctoral candidate and adjunct professor at Osgoode Hall Law School specializing in property law and urban governance. She has over fifteen years of experience as a lawyer and senior policy official. Alexandra has received numerous academic and service awards and has a long history of volunteer work on access to justice matters, including as a member of the Community Legal Education Ontario and the Ontario Justice Education Network boards of directors.

Eden Gajraj

Eden Gajraj is a community minded professional who works on behalf of his community and at large.  Eden has received numerous awards in recognition of his contributions and is currently the Managing Partner of Strategy People, a group of professionals providing enterprise planning, event management, government relations, project financing, international relations and information technology services.

Hena Kabir

Hena Kabir is an architectural graduate and planner with 16 years of professional experience in urban planning, urban design and urban revitalization. She is a strong advocate of citizen participation in city and community building and believes people have the right to contribute in making and creating places that they live in.  Hena believes it is now her turn to give back to the City.

Sean Karmali

Sean Karmali holds two Master's degrees, one in Political Science from the University of Toronto and the other in Public Policy from York University. Sean works in the public service and has held a variety of progressive positions within various departments.  Sean's skills include statutory interpretation, judicial administration, and public policy analysis.

David Peacock

David Peacock is a retired Professional Engineer with an MBA from York University. He spent seven years on the Committee of Adjustment for the Toronto North District, followed by four years on the Toronto Licencing Tribunal.  David has been an active community volunteer for the past 20 years in Scouts Canada, ratepayer groups, election poll supervision, the TRCA, local community gardens and other organizations.

Committee of Adjustment – West Panel:

Tony D'Aversa

Tony D'Aversa is a successful entrepreneur, an industry innovator, community leader, and a family man. He is the owner and president of a paper packaging company that manufactures and supplies packaging to top-tier clients worldwide.  Tony is eager to bring his communication and mediation skills, leadership experience, good judgment, and professionalism to the citizens of Toronto.

Dominic Gulli

Dominic Gulli is an academically trained urban planner, with over 35 years of experience in city and transportation planning.  As a former Director for the City of Toronto in the Transportation Services Division, Dominic was responsible for the delivery of transportation services in accordance with the City's Strategic Plans.

Megan McIver

Megan McIver received a BA in Environmental Policy and Business Administration from Trent University.  Megan began her career at Queen's Park where she served as Issues Manager to two of Ontario's Cabinet Ministers, and Senior Advisor to Ontario's Minister of Finance.  In 2015, Megan joined Scotiabank's Small Business Banking team as a Business Analyst where her focus is on regulatory compliance. Megan is an environmentalist, women's and children's advocate, and volunteer.

Nathan Muscat

Nathan is a life-long Toronto resident, passionate about cities and development. He is a trained planner and practices municipal, real estate and development law at the Region of Peel. Nathan attended planning school at Ryerson University and studied law at the Universities of Windsor and Detroit. He worked on revitalization initiatives in Detroit and volunteers with the OBA Municipal Law Executive. He has experience acting for private owners and municipalities on various planning matters.

Allan Smithies

Allan Smithies graduated from Sheridan College's Transportation Planning program in 1978, and was employed by the former City of Etobicoke in a number of positions including Transportation Planner and Manager of Transportation Planning.  Most recently, Allan served as Manager of Traffic Planning/Right of Way Management for the City of Toronto from 1999 until his retirement in March 2014.