Toronto Silly Hall

City Council

His Highness Comrade Miller

Mayor's trim, budget isn't

Despite world's economic woes, there's a surreal sense of calm and arrogance inside City Hall

By SUE-ANN LEVY

At our City Hall Media Gallery Christmas party last week, I was surprised to learn that in recent months Mayor David Miller has trimmed his own personal fat by 47 pounds.

If I do say so myself, the mayor -- who turns 50 on Dec. 26 -- is looking very lean and fit these days.

Now if only King David could have applied the same discipline over the past year to the excess in his bloated city administration.

Fact is, while the rest of the world is hanging on by their fingernails -- hoping to keep their jobs and watching their investments sink into the dumpster -- there's a surreal sense of calm and arrogance inside Socialist Silly Hall.

One only has to look at how few of the recommendations of the mayor's own fiscal review panel have been implemented in the year since the panel released its insightful 86-page blueprint for fiscal sustainability.

I had my doubts that the mayor would do much with the blueprint, considering that the day the report was released Miller chose to interpret its findings as a ringing endorsement of the city's efficiency and sound managment. (Insert laugh track here.)

So I couldn't help but laugh at the idea that the mayor is in "constant contact" with the panel members.

"The mayor is speaking to them all the time and will continue to do so ... particularly now," his spokesperson Stuart Green told me late last week.

In fact, claims Green, his boss consulted with the panel while creating two new corporations -- Invest Toronto and Build Toronto -- with $10-million in seed money from one of the city's barebones reserve funds.

PROPERTIES TO BE SOLD

It remains to be seen what those two entities will accomplish -- Build Toronto will supposedly "unlock the value" in some of the city's 7,000 properties worth more than $18 billion (this according to the mayor). I'm betting few city properties or pieces of land will ever be sold off to the private sector to raise the target $150 million annually recommended by the panel.

Frankly, if the mayor is indeed in "constant contact" with the panel members, it must be a one-way dialogue (with Miller doing all the talking and not much of the listening.)

For other than increasing his own powers and that of his hand-picked executive committee, King David has done nothing to put the city's fiscal house in order.

The panel's proposed cost reduction target of $50-million for this year didn't happen. While the 2009 operating budget won't be released until Feb. 10, I'm guessing the $150 million in efficiencies proposed for next year will be the furthest thing from Miller's mind as he and his minions continue to travel, endorse pet projects and spend, spend, spend their way out of the recession.

To date the city's unions have just laughed at the panel's suggestion that negotiated pay hikes be "in line" with broad labour market averages and the "city's fiscal health."

The firefighters already got 9.8% over three years; TTC workers 9% and the police were just handed 10.3% over three years.

Kevin Gaudet, Ontario director of the Canadian Taxpayer Federation, said those kind of wage hikes "create hostility" in the rest of the non-public sector world.

"All of us in the private sector feel lucky to have our jobs ... we thank our bosses for not firing us this year."

Yet even the panel's proposal to review the city's generous merit pay plan -- which rewards managers and non-union staff pay hikes of 6% simply for doing their jobs -- is sitting in limbo.

"He (the mayor) is looking into it but nothing's been done yet," says Coun. Peter Milczyn.

Coun. Denzil Minnan-Wong's proposal to look at the idea of monetizing (converting to cash) the city's share of the Toronto Parking Authority and Toronto Hydro to fix the huge backlog of road, rec centre and park repairs went down in flames at council earlier this month.

That suggestion also came straight from the fiscal review panel.

In the past year, Coun. Karen Stintz has put forward seven motions at council asking the mayor to implement a variety of panel recommendations. All but one -- which was declared redundant -- have been sent to the mayor's office with no further response.

"Over the last five years our operating budget has increased by $1.5-billion," she said. "I don't think the people of Toronto feel they've received a $1.5-billion material benefit in their quality of life."