In the week leading up to the 2026 Municipal Election, we will be featuring profiles for candidates running for Mayor in Niagara's three largest municipalities - St. Catharines, Niagara Falls and Welland.
Today's profile is Pat Chiocchio who is running in Welland. Pat Chiocchio was born and raised in Welland, where he built his life with his wife, Lorraine, and raised their family. A proud father and grandfather, Pat’s commitment to community service is rooted in the values of hard work, respect and family that he learned from his parents. Before entering politics, Pat worked as the Adult Day Program Coordinator with Niagara Region, gaining frontline experience with issues affecting local families, including seniors’ care, accessible housing and transit. He served more than 14 years on Welland City Council, including as Vice-Mayor, and helped lead the effort to protect Welland Hospital and Port Colborne Urgent Care, rallying 25,000 residents. Since 2018, Pat has served on Regional Council, including co-chairing Public Health and serving as Chair and Vice-Chair of the Police Services Board. He remains focused on bringing people together, protecting families and helping ensure Welland remains a vibrant, supportive community for future generations.
What is the single biggest issue facing your municipality right now, and what is the first concrete thing you would do as mayor to address it?
First of all, Welland is facing several issues right now. Affordability is a major concern. When knocking on doors, I'm hearing from people who are worried about their property taxes, water bills and keeping up with everyday expenses. We need to review spending line by line, find efficiencies and make sure residents receive value for every tax dollar spent. Infrastructure is another concern. Our area has grown quite a bit, and our roads, water and sewer systems need attention as we plan for future growth. Growth has happened quickly, so my platform stresses that infrastructure must come first. Before approving new development, we need to understand the impact on traffic, services and existing neighbourhoods, and ensure that growth pays its fair share of the costs. The third issue is public safety. This is very important, particularly when it comes to homelessness, mental health and addiction. Throughout my campaign, I've stressed the need for a visible police presence downtown and in other community hotspots. We also need treatment and support for people facing homelessness, mental health challenges and addiction. These issues are all connected. My focus is to work with council, residents and community partners to keep Welland affordable and safe while ensuring the city grows responsibly.
Property taxes are a major concern for many residents. How would you balance keeping taxes affordable with the need to maintain roads, infrastructure and municipal services - and are you willing to raise taxes if you believe it's necessary?
I just, again, this is, after the election, it's probably one of our first main topics that we're going to deal with is the budget. So as a council and staff, we will look at line by line budget review, working with council, again, each department, I would like each department to explain its spending the service residents receive and whether there is more cost effective way to deliver it. We have to look at our core services and make sure that we are delivering it cost effectively. I would review purchasing practices, looking for any duplication and explore shared services where they can provide real savings. Before approving major projects, I want the full construction cost, ongoing operating costs and impact on taxpayers. So, those are very important to me. As we move forward, we need to be transparent as possible.
Niagara continues to grow. How should your municipality handle new development and housing while making sure infrastructure and services can keep up with that growth?
A full analysis of the whole area, before growth comes into play, we need to look at can the existing infrastructure handle the pressures of water and sewer, our roads, our sidewalks, our emergency services, that all has to come in play first before new development comes into play. A full financial information needs to be done on the cost so that people are aware. We need to be as transparent as possible to the residents moving forward because what I'm hearing at the door is, you know, some of these developments that are taking place, they're not getting the full information and they just feel like they're in the dark. So for myself, it's being transparent. knowing how much is going to cost as we move forward and let the people know what the costs are. And first and foremost is infrastructure first. I've been stressing in the last few months is that we need to make sure our infrastructure can handle any new development that's coming in play.
What do you believe Niagara's municipalities and the Region should be doing differently together, and what would you personally do as mayor to improve regional cooperation?
It's working together. You know, we need to streamline both at the regional level and at the city. And we need to see where the duplication are. Once we do a core service review of both, I know the region right now is in the middle of doing a core service review of the region and the city needs to do the municipality needs to do the same. We need to come together and see where the duplication of services are. We need to look at procurement where we can maybe work, save some monies there and look at our procedures. And it's just about teamwork. It's about bringing, working together with the other mayors of the other municipalities and working as a team as we move forward.
If elected, what is one thing you would change about how your municipality operates that residents would actually notice within your first year?
What I want is earlier public input, clear financial information and better follow-through. I've been hearing these concerns at the doors, and I want to be a team player and as transparent as possible. Residents should have a meaningful opportunity to speak before major development and spending decisions are made. Council should receive clear information about the options, costs and consequences. We need to provide as much information as possible to council and residents so they can make informed decisions as we move forward. When it comes to development, infrastructure needs to come first, as I stated. Before supporting any major growth, I want to know whether our roads, water systems, sewers and drainage can handle it, what upgrades are needed and who will pay for them. That's what you're going to see as the difference over the next four years. I'm going to communicate with residents, council and staff. We're going to work as a team, and I'll share as much information as I can.
Four years from now, what do you want residents to be able to point to and say, "That's what this mayor accomplished"?
It's exactly that. It's accountability and transparency. Moving forward, I want the people to say, okay, even though decisions may not go how people might want it to go, but I'm going to be transparent and I'm going to let you know that this is how it is. I'll give you as much information as possible and be transparent as possible. But I want also the decisions that myself and council and staff make moving forward, I want us to be accountable for it. We will introduce performance measurement on our core services or any projects that we implement. We will be transparent and make us accountable, staff accountable, and inform the citizens of Niagara.
Chiocchio is one of eight candidates running for Mayor in Welland, alongside April Jeffs, Gary Graziani, Brandon Simon, Natashia Bergen, Graham Speck, David McLeod and David Clow.