Municipalities take pride in being the level of government closest to the people.
But proximity has its drawbacks. Ratepayers see how their money is being spent. They notice when two or three police officers are standing idly at a construction site while drivers negotiate the pylons with no difficulty. They ask questions when the city buys a theatre or a landfill site or a shipment of street furniture. They draw conclusions when the mayor tells them Toronto is financially strapped, then council spends $1 million to hire bylaw officers to oversee dogs in off-leash parks.
If citizens scrutinized federal and provincial expenditures as closely as they do local ones, they'd find plenty to complain about. But few do. It requires rounding up armloads of documents (often with fees attached) and making sense of them.
At city hall, everything is accessible. Residents see the link between the taxes they pay and the services they get. They expect their money to be managed the way they'd do it, if they were in charge.
That means local politicians have to watch the nickels and dimes, send consistent signals and listen to ratepayers' concerns.
It is surprising that Mayor David Miller, who usually has his finger on the pulse of the community, failed to recognize how skeptical Torontonians were about his plan to create two new city taxes.
It is disappointing that he blamed recalcitrant councillors for scuttling his proposal, when many ordinary citizens wanted the city to rein in its spending before imposing new taxes on home sales and vehicle registration.
3 comments:
I do find it interesting, that none of the conservative members of city council, certainly not bloggers who are sensationalizing this issue have ever shown a way to solve the 500 million budget deficit.
So far all we've heard is something about watching the nickels and dimes, and the theatre purchase.
And nothing else. Oh. Something about union wages.
But. No solutions. No roadmaps, no concrete plans for actually doing something about this.
It sort of reminds me of that loud mouthed ninny named Pitfield who ran a campaign based on 'what Miller isn't doing'. Remember that? And those pie in the sky pledges about ttc expansions etc.?
Right. Sure. It's a sad situation. But I see no light at the end of tunnel, nor anyone who prepared to show it.
do I get the chicken sound for this contribution?
What you refer to as "the chicken sound" is a rating given your posting by our editorial board. I apologize for their lack of sensitivity in assessing your "contribution."
Putting the general consensus aside I believe that cutting back on expenses is the first step in acheiving fiscal control and I can't think of anyone, whether you label them leftist, neo-con, etc. who has not suggested that Toronto needs to first get their house in order.
If doing the right thing makes your life a little more difficult I offer no apology.........
You've stated the obvious. Even I have stated it.
We ALL KNOW that city council needs to tighten it's money spending and get it's house in order.
Yes... we know.
However, I am pointing to a much much larger issue, that seems to be left out here. It is being sidelined while I watch people yabber and howl about office budgets.
I see no solutions being offered. Beyond office budgets before you get too excited.
oops. I've once again crossed the threshold of the privilege of being posted.
Or I will receive some kind of reprimand or comment on my personal life given I've dared come back online a second time today.
Or even a string of unintelligible caps. Hard to say eh?
;)
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