by David RosThe recent Toronto municipal elections have brought about some changes to the political landscape in this city as well as in Downsview.While the city has a new mayor in John Tory, voters have, for the most part, elected to maintain the status quo on city council. Of the 44 seats on council, only 8 will be filled by councillors who were not city councillors during the last term. However, one of those 8 seats belongs to outgoing mayor Rob Ford, who was elected councillor in Ward 2 where he previously served from 1999-2010, and the majority of the new councillors were elected after the previous incumbents had decided not to seek re-election.Downsview voters also chose to maintain the status quo with incumbents, Anthony Perruzza and Maria Augimeri re-elected to city council by comfortable margins in wards 8 and 9.Perruzza, who defeated Arthur Smitherman by more than 7,000 votes was first elected to city council in 2006 and had previously served as a trustee on the Metro Toronto Separate School Board, as a member of North York City Council and as an MPP for York West, will now enter his third term as the representative for Ward 8.Augimeri, who defeated Gus Cusimano by more than 2,000 votes, served as chair of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) has been involved in municipal politics since 1982, when she was first elected as a school board trustee, and has been both a North York and Toronto city councillor since 1985 will once again represent Ward 9.While Downsview voters elected to maintain the status quo on city council, the same can not be said for the public school board trustee race.Tiffany Ford was elected as Toronto District School Board (TDSB) trustee in Ward 4 after long-time trustee Stephnie Payne, announced her retirement. Ford, who defeated Matias de Dovitiis to earn her seat on the board, is a marketing and communications professional who grew up in the Jane-Finch neighbourhood and has previously sat on the board of directors of Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC), Promoting Education and Community Health (PEACH), as well as many other local community organizations.Patrizia Bottoni was re-elected for a second term as Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB) trustee, defeating Marina Laccona. Bottoni was first elected as part of a wave of new trustees in 2010 after the board was put under provincial receivership in 2008 following a spending scandal.CITY WARD COUNCIL 8Anthony Perruzza 8,705

Arthur Smitherman 1,326

Suzanne Narain 852

Princess Boucher 524

Antonio Vescio 431

Thomas Barclay 406

City Council Ward 9:

Maria Augimeri 6,373

Gus Cusimano 4,230

Anthony Fernando 3,367

Danny Quattrociocchi 562

Ances Hercules 248

Wilson Basantes 130

By David Ros PEACH, who have been transforming the lives of marginalized youth in the Jane-Finch community through their innovative approach to education have added a new program which teaches youth how to professionally create, record, mix and master their own music. The organization, which stands for Promoting Education And Community Health, will run a recording studio program which connects youth from priority neighbourhoods with professional musicians and studio engineers. “We're teaching them the basics and if this is something that they want to pursue, they will already have the foundations,” said Zino, a recording artist and the program's instructor. “The facilitators that we're going to be bringing into the space aren't just engineers, we're bringing in managers, we're bringing in promoters, we're bringing in A&Rs, we're brining in people from every aspect of the industry down to the producers and the artists.” PEACH has held a drop-in recording studio program on Thursday nights where youth can have their songs recorded on a first come first serve basis for nearly a decade, but Zino said the new program is a step up from what the organization had been doing before by providing a fully accredited educational program. During the course of the 16 week program, youth will not only be taught how to record, mix and master music using professional grade equipment, they will also be taught a musical theory as well. The program is available to youth free of charge, and 10 participants will be selected based upon an application process. “Some of the [selection] criteria will be basically, general interest and potential in studio engineering and just basic artistry, there is a particular feel that people normally have when they're really interested in something.” Zino said. “We're looking for commitment as well.” According to Zino, the program's participants will be decided based on interviews of the applicants. He also said that there is a possibility of running an additional program for another 10 participants following the initial run. PEACH was formed in 1993 as an offshoot of the Black Creek Anti-Drug focus group, is a charitable organization dedicated to helping marginalized youth to achieve their full potential. In addition to their youth-centred social and educational programs, PEACH also has provides support programs for families as well. These include the wraparound program which connects youth and their families with community outreach workers and the mom's group which provides support for mothers to become active participants in their children's education. If you would like to more information about PEACH, or the studio management program, you can contact them at info@peachyouth.org.