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link — Comments Off on The federal election and our missing mayor
27
Mar 11

The federal election and our missing mayor

The Globe & Mail story has a good story about transit and the role it should play in the federal election. According to the byline, it’s written by — deep breath — Siri Agrell, Les Perreaux, Wendy Stueck and  Josh Wingrove.

They start strong:

Commute times in Canadian cities are no longer just a source of rush-hour irritation, but a national liability affecting the economic performance of our urban centres and requiring immediate intervention from Ottawa.

via Transit problems across Canada prompt calls for politicians to address issue – The Globe and Mail.

Canadians tend to totally let the federal government off the hook when it comes to this kind of thing. We are the only G8 country without a National Transit Strategy. That should make you angry, especially in an era of rising gas prices.

The article features quotes from the mayors of Vancouver, Calgary and Port Moody. This is all that is said about Toronto:

In Toronto, congestion has reached epic proportion and large-scale projects by the regional transit authority Metrolinx (the Big Move plan) have been thrown into jeopardy by the election of Mayor Rob Ford, who is firmly opposed to expanding light rail.

Despite publicly threatening to lead a campaign against the Provincial government if they didn’t provide additional funding for this city, our mayor has made no demands of the federal government. Missed opportunity.

link — Comments Off on Waterfront ‘gem’ is no hologram
27
Mar 11

Waterfront ‘gem’ is no hologram

The National Post’s Chris Selley takes a look at the eastern part of Toronto’s Waterfront, which is way better than most people realize:

The next leading contender for Mr. Miller’s primary legacy is probably that Holy Grail of municipal improvement — waterfront redevelopment. It wasn’t Mr. Miller’s baby like Transit City was, but it did start to pick up steam in his second term. I don’t think many people have really noticed. I didn’t really notice myself until a waterfront-themed debate during the mayoral campaign, when George Smitherman suggested things were looking pretty darn good on the urban shore of Lake Ontario. I took a skeptical walk in the rain and ended up both wet and rather impressed.

via Chris Selley: Miller’s waterfront development more impressive than you think | Posted Toronto | National Post.

The work being done by Waterfront Toronto really is impressive. The proposed underpass park for the West Don Lands, set to begin construction soon, is the kind of big-sort-of-crazy thinking we could use more of in this city. Even through this period of budgetary challenges, we have to keep building this city.

Rob Ford has continuously voted against waterfront development. At a Waterfront debate held last year, his only concrete idea for the area was the removal of the Queen’s Quay streetcar, to be replaced with buses. Also more parking.

link — Comments Off on Appealing billboards
27
Mar 11

Appealing billboards

Following up on news from a while back, we learned this week that the Planning and Growth Management Committee will indeed push for the city to appeal the recent court decision regarding the City’s Billboard Tax. This is a good thing.

The Globe & Mail’s Patrick White notes that the news is a bit surprising:

The committee’s unanimous decision was somewhat surprising considering it includes several key supporters of Mayor Rob Ford, one of 12 councillors who voted against taxing so-called third-party billboards in late 2009.

“Even if the mayor wanted to repeal the tax, I would hope he would still vote to appeal,” said Mr. Milczyn. “This comes down to a fundamental issues: Does the City have the right to tax?”

via Toronto, ad firms plan separate appeals over billboard tax ruling – The Globe and Mail.

Milczyn’s question is funny given some of Ford’s anti-tax rhetoric. The old-school Rob Ford, unencumbered by handlers and communication staff, wasn’t too far off from the belief that the city shouldn’t have the right to tax.

Other news from the Planning & Growth committee: They voted to throw out the entiriety of Toronto’s harmonized zoning bylaw. It only took six years of staff time to produce the bylaw, so why not just tear the whole thing up and start fresh? That doesn’t sound like a waste of resources at all.

The move is interesting because it was immediately opposed by Scarborough Councillor Norm Kelly, who previously chaired the committee. InsideToronto.com’s Mike Adler quotes Kelly in defence of the new bylaw: “We’re one city, let’s start acting like it from a zoning perspective.” Kelly has been, up to this point, a 100% supporter of Ford Nation.

link — Comments Off on When it’s time to party we will party hard
24
Mar 11

When it’s time to party we will party hard

At Eye Weekly, Edward Keenan makes the case for bringing parties to municipal politics in Toronto:

The way municipal government in Toronto currently functions is already similar to a party system: right now, the mayor seems to be directly controlling the votes of about 22 councillors. The opposition, organized around the NDP’s unofficial caucus, controls about 14 or 15 votes. The other dozen or so are swing votes. It’s just that everyone pretends there are no teams, because every councillor wants to appear to be a free-thinker, with allegiance only to his or her constituents.

But formalizing party alliances would add some coherence to the debate. Councillors have an obligation to consider their local constituents, while parties could specialize in big-picture, city-wide thinking. Instead of having a single vision—the mayor’s—that each councillor, for varying reasons, is either for or against, we’d have two or three separate articulated visions. The mayor’s proposals could be weighed against alternatives, rather than simply against the status quo.

via Let’s get these parties started – EYE WEEKLY.

I do think there’s some merit to the idea, especially as it would serve to codify what already exists. I’d hate for things to get so rigid, though, that council votes would be a foregone conclusion. One of the things that makes council so entertaining is that – despite the whips – votes often go in unexpected and surprising ways.

The real benefit to parties would be that it would force some councillors who like to keep quiet to actually develop principles (and, sure, ideology) rather than tailoring their views to whomever the mayor happens to be.

link — Comments Off on Rob Ford still working at Deco Labels
22
Mar 11

Rob Ford still working at Deco Labels

I think the Star buries the lede on their story by Robyn Doolittle about the Ford family business, Deco Labels & Tags, and its work for the city over the last decade. The company has done “$130,000 worth of work on 98 contracts” for various city departments since 2000. They bid on these contracts fairly and there seems to be no clear indication of any wrongdoing. This doesn’t seem particularly newsworthy.

What is interesting, though, is this bit towards the middle that details Mayor Ford’s itinerary, which still includes time blocked for meetings and work with Deco Labels:

For years Ford served as Deco’s chief financial officer. Today, his name does not appear on Deco’s federal business profile, although copies of Ford’s itinerary obtained by the Star through a freedom of information request show the mayor is still involved with the company.

On Jan. 20, Ford was scheduled to attend a “family business” meeting from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. The following Monday, his itinerary said “Deco all day” from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., though the day also lists budget committee and property standards meetings.

via Mayor’s company raises conflict questions – thestar.com.

It’s kind of crazy that they had to file a freedom of information request to get a copy of the mayor’s schedule. Openness and accountability!

Also: should the mayor of Canada’s largest city really have time to devote to meetings regarding a family-owned for-profit business?

link — Comments Off on Pleasure Island
22
Mar 11

Pleasure Island

David Rider talks to Giorgio Mammoliti, who is once again pushing the idea that there should be a Red Light District on Toronto Island:

“To put it in an area away from the city might make some sense, and the islands fit the bill,” he said. “The industry exists and we’re not making a penny from it . . . I haven’t raised it with the mayor and his people yet, but I will.”

Asked if a red light district would take away from the island’s wholesome family vibe, he responded: “I’m not sure how wholesome it is with the whole nude beach,” referring to clothing-optional Hanlan’s Point Beach. “If you look hard enough, you’ll find somebody without pants on.”

via Mammoliti renews push for Toronto Island brothels – thestar.com.

I don’t believe he has ever been to Toronto Island.

If we’re going to look at a Red Light District, maybe it should be located near Mammoliti’s giant flag pole.

link — Comments Off on Ideology and partisanship are okay
21
Mar 11

Ideology and partisanship are okay

Josh Matlow used his space in the Toronto Star today to bang a drum he’s been banging for a while now. The beat goes like this: City Council is too ideologically divided and partisan and if we all worked together we could get more done:

Party politics are alive and well at city hall.

I don’t mean official parties — they’re banned in Ontario’s municipal governments. But aside from a small handful of moderate councillors, team sports and competing ideologies have divided council into two camps — the right and the left.

via City Hall Diary: While parties are banned, partisan politics thrive – thestar.com.

First, ideology shouldn’t be a dirty word. An ideology is a structured set of beliefs — everyone who isn’t a complete and total pragmatist is ideological in one way or another.

Second, partisanship is just another word for strategy. Sometimes it works, sometimes it sucks, but it’s always necessary. It’s easy to point to the bad stuff — some councillors just mashing a button based on a cheat sheet handed out by the mayor, or a councillor opposing the mayor just because he’s the mayor — but how much more disorganized would council be if all members just focused on their own agendas with no regard to the bigger picture?

I think there’s a nice spirit to what Matlow says about this stuff, but I worry both that there’s too much naiveté there and that he’s pulling too much toward a kind of blasé “the truth is in the middle” philosophy that just waters everything down. In some cases councillors must fight, not compromise, for that which they believe. We should demand nothing less.

Related: Matlow liveblogged his day on the job for 680news. Worth checking out.

link — Comments Off on Sheppard subway a two (hundred)-step process
20
Mar 11

Sheppard subway a two (hundred)-step process

InsideToronto.com’s David Nickle got Councillor Norm Kelly to talk on the record about the new Toronto Transit Infrastructure Limited group (made up of Kelly, Doug Ford and former Councillor Gordon Chong) and their plans for the privately-financed Sheppard subway extension:

“It’s a two-step process,” said Kelly. “The first is to get P3 money that would fund the study, and then at the end of the study see who might be attracted to the line in the private sector – see if they agree with the numbers we come up with. We’re taking the nascent steps to create a business case.”

Kelly said he hoped to have the funding “sooner rather than later,” but would not commit to a timeline or share any theories as to how a public private partnership might work, other than to say the subway would be built by the private sector and operated by the Toronto Transit Commission.

via InsideToronto Article: Company seeks ways to privately finance Sheppard subway.

“Taking the nascent steps to create a business case” is code for “THIS WILL TAKE A MILLION YEARS.”

Don’t be surprised, though, if the federal government announces their full support for this project and funds the P3 study in the next few weeks. It would make a very good election announcement and work to build confidence that the Conservative Party cares about 416 ridings.

link — Comments Off on Vision matters
20
Mar 11

Vision matters

The Globe & Mail, shining a spotlight on urban issues across the country, asked the mayors of Canada’s biggest cities what they’d like to see in the looming federal budget. The one that will probably trigger an election. Most mayors took the opportunity to talk about the challenges facing cities, and the need for increased, reliable funding from all levels of government. They took the time to put together thoughtful responses to the question at hand, demonstrating their belief that cities are a critical part of the Canadian economy.

Our mayor, on the other hand, said this, as reported by The Globe’s Siri Agrell:

But the mayor of Canada’s largest city stayed conspicuously mum on the subject. Toronto’s Rob Ford declined to share his hopes for the federal budget, saying in an e-mail only that he hopes it shows “respect for taxpayers’ money.”

via Canada’s big-city mayors are wondering: After the stimulus, what’s next? – The Globe and Mail.

During the election, not a lot was said about the candidates’ visions for the city. Transit plans sort of played into things a bit, but there were no real discussions about ideas for growth and development (or redevelopment) in various areas. Toward the end of the campaign, the Toronto Sun wrote a dumb editorial where they claimed that Ford’s sole “vision” was to “cut wasteful spending.” Royson James jumped on the vision-doesn’t-matter bandwagon too, writing, “The Toronto electorate, circa 2010, is not looking for a silver-tongued prophet with a vision of an ascendant Toronto.” (Emphasis added.)

Of course, despite the rhetoric, the reality is that vision does matter. Vision always matters. Even if somehow the administration is able to drastically reduce the size of the city government, freeze or lower the tax burden and eliminate the debt, the question will always be: what next? How are we going to move Toronto forward? What kind of city do we want to be?

That we elected someone who has no idea what the path forward looks like is, I think, the saddest part of all of this.

link — Comments Off on The Rob Ford pattern
17
Mar 11

The Rob Ford pattern

Eye Weekly’s Edward Keenan has written a virtuoso account of the mayor’s first 100 or so days in office. Required reading for those who are struggling to understand the Ford phenomenon. I don’t think anyone is able to get inside the mayor’s head like Keenan does. It’s compelling and kind of creepy.

I liked this bit in particular:

In Ford’s dealings with the tax freezes, the budget, transit policy, the TCHC and on other files, here’s the discernable pattern: first, the mayor makes a rash and poorly reasoned statement in the press that nonetheless channels legitimate anger in the general public. He then does an end-run around all the usual procedural checks to ram the policy through. Council’s left-wing members put up a fight that impresses their base of supporters while earning no concessions and looking worse for it to the general public. Then Ford wins a landslide victory in the council vote, and his will is done.

With each decision, the city is left worse off—financially and otherwise—than it was before Ford took action.

via Rob Ford’s first 107 days – EYE WEEKLY.

That the opposition left has been painted largely as a bunch of whiny obstructionists in the media is, I think, a symptom of the fact that neither side has seized upon a truly polarizing issue as of yet. That’ll come next year.

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