"mad as hell, won't take it anymore"

That should be the motto for the municipal election but it is going to turn out to be a "anyone but" election. Anyone but Miller. Anyone but Moscoe. Anyone but Mihevic. Anyone but Connell. And the list goes on and on and includes all of those who did the bidding of teflon mayor.

Council needs fresh ideas ... and this veteran visionary has plenty

By JOHN DOWNING

I once introduced John Turner before a speech by saying when you consider his past, including a stint as PM, he really needed no introduction. And I sat down, to the surprise of the audience -- and Turner.

David Garrick, the candidate for councillor in Parkdale-High Park, also has so many accomplishments, he needs no intro. But let me give him one anyway, because not all voters were around several decades ago, when Garrick ran everything from the Ex and Royal Winter Fair to the CN Tower and SkyDome.

In his rare spare time, he was a lead director of Variety Village, Shaw Festival, CAA and 14 other boards and associations.

You get a taste of the ideas spilling out of him when you see the pumpkins in his campaign office in Swansea Plaza on Southport St. One is called Waste Not, the other Want Not.

It's his slogan. His location is symbolic too. The grocery stores are closed and all the thousands in the new condos (many of them seniors) have to pay just to shop. Garrick is used to negotiating with CEOs who move stores around like chess pieces.

(I confess, before the other five candidates grumble, that Garrick has been my partner in everything from bridge to fishing and eating, and we're old friends when he doesn't complain about my playing.)

Garrick appeals to the "mad as hell, won't take it anymore" crowd, which these days in Toronto is most of us. He opposes the annual tax hikes and will return the salary increase for councillors if he can't persuade others to cancel it. As a school trustee, he turned a salary increase into a scholarship.

He's infuriated at City Hall's operation, pointing out he built the Tower quicker than the city is "fixing" The Queensway. He's mad at the intrusion of the tree bylaw, where it can cost $500 and a long delay just to be able to hire someone to cut your own tree. He often has clever lines, famous through letters-to-the-editor and repetition by columnists.

'THEY'RE KILLING US'

Nothing in this world is certain except for death and taxes, but Garrick says "the problem with City Hall is they're killing us before we're dead."

When Garrick rescued the city sesquicentennial celebration as chair, he produced a surplus, a rare word around City Hall, and invested it to pay for the next big anniversary.

Moses Znaimer, the TV guru, doesn't endorse politicians, but he backs Garrick because he helped start the tradition of the Nathan Phillips Square party on New Year's Eve and had the idea for the Eyes camera on the Tower.

Retired chief David Boothby endorses Garrick because of his lengthy work as Crime Stoppers chair, helping the police games and his donation of two police horses (which were named in a Sun contest.)

Diane Dupuy, founder of Famous People Players, endorses him because he provided her first job, then arranged when the Players began (when the mentally retarded were still segregated) for their first job and sponsor.

The way council has screwed up everything to do with tourism, stadiums and arenas in the last two terms shows we need a Garrick there who has run stadiums and been an international leader in travel and fair associations.

Our costly debacle over a new city slogan wouldn't have happened with Garrick around.

We've had our pockets picked in several deals with Maple Leaf Sports.

We even put the soccer stadium in the wrong place.

Unfortunately, I don't live in his pleasant ward, so I can't vote for him myself.