The first challenger for Gloria McCluskey’s seat at City Hall has stepped forward.
Tim Rissesco is running for the Dartmouth Centre riding in this fall’s general election; an incumbent-less race due to councillor Gloria McCluskey's plans to retire. The executive director of the Downtown Dartmouth Business Commission made the announcement on Twitter.
I am running for Councillor in Dartmouth Centre this Fall. Plan to spend the next few months hearing from residents. #lovethistown
— Tim Rissesco (@Dartmouth_Tim) March 10, 2016
Rissesco has been ED for the Dartmouth business commission since 2012. Before that he spent 12 years as a law officer with Canada’s Competition Bureau. He also ran for the Liberals in the Dartmouth South byelection held last year after Allan Rowe’s sudden death. Rissesco narrowly lost that race by about 100 votes to NDP candidate Marian Mancini.
Aside from lobbying for increased ferry service across the harbour, Rissesco has been one of the most public voices who recently spoke out against the now-rejected staffing changes at Dartmouth’s King Street fire station. Back in January the DDBC hosted a “fiery” public meeting at Alderney Landing about the proposal.
Current Dartmouth Centre councillor Gloria McCluskey is retiring in October after more than two decades of public service. She joins a growing list of sitting councillors who won’t be re-offering, including Peninsula North representative Jennifer Watts and Waverley-Fall River-Musquodoboit Valley councillor Barry Dalrymple.
