Sorry Joe.....It Ain't Going To Happen

You are going to see the unions, the left wing social in-activists and the environuts gain more and more power and the city debt will increase to the point that the city will have to declare bankruptcy. You are going to see street violence increase because Miller won't replace retiring police officers, panhandling will become more aggresive and widespread and the homeless will all be housed while the working poor get little if any support.

November 14, 2006
The devil in Mayor Miller
Will he take last night's vote as a mandate to push lefty, lofty agenda?
By JOE WARMINGTON

He's a good man.

It's the "devil" inside him that worries his critics.

It all comes down to how re-elected Mayor David Miller interprets what happened last night. Does he look at it as voters saying, "We like you but we want a better performance" or does he treat it as a vote of confidence to move forward with his lefty, lofty agenda?

Part of me thinks he has seen the light and will be better this time. But my experience tells me he's a politician and now that he has what he wants, he'll do what he wants.

Remember, he's one of these bicycle guys who talks about "creative cities," "beautification" and "green spaces" and "building neighbourhoods." Sounds good but means what?

FALSE ECONOMY

It's projects mentality. Pick something -- the world's fair maybe. Then go out and try to get taxpayers' money to fund it. It's false economy. A quick high. It's credit-card living creating a short, exciting ride with a giant bill at the end.

Sometimes it's worth it but steady planning and dealing with real concerns works better in the long run as past mayors and councils have shown. They built subways, highways and things like the Bloor St. viaduct -- stuff we still lean on today. Somebody was smart back then.

Will this council be smart? It will be run by the five M's -- Miller, McConnell, Mihevc and Moscoe. We can probably live with them but it's that devil Marx that is killing us.

The Marxist leanings of so many councillors is a huge concern. There has to be a combined approach to leading a city. It's not easy for ideologues on any side to do. But they must. You have to be flexible. Friendly. Open. Government can't do it all and neither can business. They have to be partners.

"We have to build it together," construction workers Pat Mifsud and Mike Shehu said of a project they are working on downtown.

They're correct. No one person shines. A building goes up one beam at a time. It's a nice metaphor for Toronto -- a tremendous city that has a future. But Marxism is not going to take us there. Commerce and business is what drives the engine. There's only so much tax money available, so more entrepreneurs and fewer parking enforcement officers.

We need investment and less taxation. We need the city to be open for business -- open for people to try neat stuff.

We need to be a "go-get-'em" society and not a "gotcha" society -- as in gotcha for parking illegally or putting out the wrong coloured garbage bag, putting a bottle in the wrong blue box, driving in the environmentally friendly lane or idling for more than three minutes.

CREATIVITY STIFLED

Marxists love running things. Departments and bureaucracies. They'd have a referee sweater on and a whistle -- nailing every violation if they could. It stifles creativity. It stops the innovative and leads those with ideas to invest elsewhere.

But this mayor, though, is not stupid. He has been given a great gift. A second chance. Make the most of it and let everybody be part of it -- and not just the leftist elite and their tax-grabbing ways.

He could set the tone by striking down that crazy raise they gave themselves. He could set the agenda by meeting with business people and listening to them. In the past, it seems, council only met with those who agreed with them. Not intelligent.

The guy who wanted to offer a free helicopter for the police could not get in the door, the Guardian Angels were pushed away and the mayor made it clear he does not think much of the commuter airport on the island or the NFL coming.

It's a mistake. The mayor should be a developer and not a dynamiter. Grow the city -- don't just run it like a social services department. Dream. Plan. Execute. Lead. Think big. Have some fun, man. Smile.

KNOWS THE ROPES

It's Miller Time more than it was three years ago. He has been re-elected, he knows the ropes and should understand the following problems must be solved if he wants to have a legacy:

The Gardiner Expressway and the gridlock issue, the giant debt of the city, the crime and poverty concerns, the garbage issue, transit, panhandling, homelessness and housing. These are big issues but they can be solved. Heck, it will be fun. Get some stuff done and earn that raise. You work for us.

Insist that the other levels of government take part in our renaissance.

Get the Regent Park project built, build some new subway lines, get the train link to the airport finished, clean up the city, get more tourism here, make it safer. No excuses. Just do it. Somebody is going to have to do it sometime.

Will any of it be done in the next four years? Over to you, Mr. Mayor.