TEN (+3) MOST UNWANTED

I fully agree with Sue-Ann's list........

Here's 10 for the road

By SUE ANN LEVY

Make this election count -- vote out councillors who've stayed too long

They're ready to raid your pocketbooks to the tune of $95,000 each next term and in my view, at least half of the current crop of municipal politicians don't deserve the job of dogcatcher, let alone councillor.

Yet, unless a miracle occurs between now and next Monday, most of this deadwood -- propped up by their name recognition and a $53,100 office budget which they can use to promote themselves -- will be returned to their cozy council seats for another term, now extended to four years. They'll not only be "rewarded" with an extra year to mess this city up, but that 8.9% pay hike they voted themselves last July.

But it's not too late. Here are my picks of the top 10 councillors who've outlived their useful shelf life and have got to go. In most cases, there are some viable fresh faces bidding for their seats...

10. Maria Augimeri (Ward 9): I can't think of a single city-wide issue this 21-year North York councillor has led during this past term. She voted against the councillor pay hike in July, even though she'd voted against rescinding it five months earlier.

9. Peter Li Preti (Ward 8): Like Augimeri, this 21-year North York councillor should have called it a day years ago. He makes no discernible impact at council, spending most of his time at his computer, and rarely seems to show up on time for TTC meetings, one of the few committees he sits on.

8. Suzan Hall (Ward 1): Give her some credit for speaking up for contracting out garbage collection in her Etobicoke community and for voting against the pay hike. Still, she has not established a presence at City Hall and is more often than not just a sure vote for the mayor's agenda.

7. John Filion (Ward 23): This 15-year North Yorker is what I'd call a perfect example of the Peter Principle in action. A good socialist seal, Filion was rewarded with several high-profile jobs in the Miller regime this term: Chairman of the Board of Health for one. Not that he made an impact even with that profile.

6. Mike Feldman (Ward 10): I can't figure out what has possessed this self-made man to run again. Ego, perhaps? As one of three deputy mayors charged with overseeing council meetings last term, he regularly seemed confused and disinterested, even downright bored. It's clearly time for Feldman, who will be an octogenarian by the time this term is up, to hit the links full-time and make way for someone keener.

5. Gloria Lindsay-Luby (Ward 4): This one-time fiscal conservative not only supported the controversial pay hike but regularly backed the mayor -- and earned a much-coveted position as head of the economic development committee.

4. Joe Mihevc (Ward 21): The huge mess on St. Clair Ave. says it all. This NDP councillor refused to listen to constituents -- which I'm told is par for the course -- when he backed the $95-million-plus St. Clair dedicated streetcar line project. His day of reckoning may come on Nov. 13 -- in this campaign, former mayor John Sewell is nipping at his heels, hoping for a council comeback.

3. Raymond Cho (Ward 42): A political chameleon, the only political party this shameless self-promoter has not yet joined is the Green Party. In this election, he's facing an interesting challenge from his former executive assistant Bonnie Irwin, whom he fired, rehired and then fired during this term.

2. Kyle Rae (Ward 27): This councillor -- who does not speak to me -- has grown so out of touch that the Coalition for Municipal Change decided to target him with their own candidate. That candidate, Carol Golench, and another young up-and-comer, Chris Reid, are viable alternatives.

1. Howard Moscoe (Ward 15): What can be said about this 27-year politician that hasn't been said before? He led the charge for the pay hike, was behind the secretive Bombardier subway car purchase and regularly put his foot in his mouth this past term. The TTC chairman has grown so arrogant he's now travelling around on a big (non-TTC) bus to promote his re-election bid.

One more thought: Remember the names of these three left-leaning councillors -- and good Millerites -- who I'm convinced would never in a million years hold key positions anywhere but in the current regime at City Hall: Sandra Bussin, Pam McConnell and Paula Fletcher.

Time to boot all of them out and take a chance on someone new!