This article was produced as part of the Local Journalism Initiative.

Rachel Chernos Lin is back as city councillor for Ward 15 Don Valley West, and her priorities include responsible development, traffic management and community safety. 

Coun. Chernos Lin won the councillor seat in the 2026 Toronto municipal election with 67.47% of the vote and will begin her first full term on Nov. 15. She was first elected councillor in a by-election in 2024. In this year’s race, Sheena Sharp came in second with 22.65% and Denis Tsang came in third with 9.9%.

The Green Line reached out to Chernos Lin to learn more about her priorities for the next four years. Here’s what you can look forward to:

• Community safety: Chernos Lin told The Green Line in an email that she’ll continue working towards establishing a new community safety hub in the East York Town Centre. She said she’s connecting with Toronto Police Service and Morguard (the real estate company that owns and operates buildings that saw three shootings in Thorncliffe Park this summer) to move the concept forward.

• Responsible development: Chernos Lin has promised to push all three levels of government to ensure community needs are met with the Transit Oriented Community coming to Thorncliffe Park with the incoming Ontario Line. She said she will be working closely with community members to ensure existing and new residents benefit from new developments. This comes as a follow-up to a motion she introduced in her last term directing City staff to consider the needs of a growing Thorncliffe Park in future plans for parks, community amenities and recreational spaces. 

• Tenant support: Chernos Lin said she will continue to build on work she and her team have already undertaken “in supporting tenants across Don Valley West.” She said she will keep communicating with property management to address pressing tenant issues and will also support strengthening RentSafeTO to ensure property standards and safety are maintained.

• Traffic and congestion: Chernos Lin said she would like the City to adapt best practices to make lane occupations a rarity — which means limiting developers taking up space in the right-of-way. She said developers should be required to carry out work on their property to keep all road users and pedestrians moving safely and efficiently, wherever possible.

“These are just a few of my priorities coming into office for my first full term, but as always my approach is informed by what I hear from residents. As challenges arise, I am committed to hearing from my community and acting as their voice at City Hall,” Chernos Lin said in an email to The Green Line.

Here’s how Chernos Lin responded to election pledges shared by local organizations and advocacy groups:

• Chernos Lin didn’t respond to the Community-led Planning Pledge to fund community-led planning and center community voices. 
• She didn’t sign or respond to TTC Riders’ pledge to push for more reliable, affordable, accessible, frequent, fast, and safe public transit.
• She didn’t respond to Cycle Toronto’s pledge to improve cycling infrastructure in the city.
• She partially committed to some demands raised by Toronto ACORN to give RentSafeTO teeth, stand up to Ontario and tackle heat and affordability. You can check the details here.
• She didn’t sign the Toronto Environmental Alliance’s pledge to commit to voting for a maximum temperature bylaw, plant trees in hot neighbourhoods, cut single-use trash at big events, pause approvals for big AI data centres and cut emissions.

If you want to learn more about how Chernos Lin plans to address different issues important to Ward 15 and specifically Thorncliffe Park, check out our Q&A with her here.

What priorities would you like The Green Line to track and report on in the coming year? Leave a comment on this page.