It Is A Myth That Elected Officials Run The City....

....it is actually bureaucrats and unions.

Letter of the Day

I think the editorial "City Hall spits in the face of taxpayers" (Nov 18) is off base.

This year, every city agency, board, commission and department has been told for 2010 they must cut 5% from their 2009 budget.

As the vice-chair of the Budget Advisory Committee this is quite frustrating. Proposed budgets for 2010 have not even been submitted. There isn't even a firm idea of what the expected deficit will be.

This is being done without any mandate from the budget committee, an elected body, it is being done from staff level. I would assume the mayor directed it.

What is commonly known is the TTC is proposing a huge budget again. A budget, even with the new fare increase, that has a $50-million deficit and no fix in sight.

The city can not run a deficit. Last year the city budget was commonly referred to as "the Transit Budget." Other areas -- roads, recreation centres, libraries -- were told to scrape by with the understanding that would be rectified starting in 2010.

Now we see a proposed 2010 capital budget with 59% of residents' tax dollars going to public transit. More than in 2009. This doesn't include tax dollars to operate public transit, just to build it.

In the face of this scenario, other departments are being asked to slice into their proposed budgets before they have even shown finance staff their numbers. You can see why frustration is building.

While I will agree it's ludicrous for departments such as the Toronto Zoo to ask for additional staff during a mandated hiring freeze, they should not have to cut from a budget we approved at council less than six months ago.

The optics aren't good. Council approved a union contract (I voted against it) which gave unionized employees a 2% raise annually for four years, did very little to remove a sick bank liability, and enshrined the right to look at contracting-in services, while including nothing about contracting out, and also approved a number of "one-time" items in the budget adding up to the millions of dollars. And municipal politicians wonder why people are becoming cynical about where their tax dollars are going?

If you were hanging around City Hall you would have seen $8 million approved for environmental assessments for transit projects, with little idea how anyone is going to pay for the proposed projects.

In Scarborough and other areas these Light Rapid Transit lines are being looked at with little appreciation for community input or advice. The TTC seems more interested in moving buses, streetcars, and subways, than the people using them, or the environment they run in.

One person told me when he gets on the subway he just "closes his eyes and wishes the ride was over."

We cannot continue to pump all kinds of money from our municipal tax base into public transit at the expense of every other municipal department run by the city.

Is it admirable to cut 5% from every department's budget to support public transit? What happens when you take the TTC to a public library to look for a job, and the library's closed because of budget cuts -- money needed to feed the TTC?

Or when you call for a fire truck and it doesn't show up for 12-15 minutes?

Or see recreation programs cancelled due to safety concerns in buildings?

PAUL AINSLIE

CITY COUNCILLOR WARD 43

VICE-CHAIR, BUDGET ADVISORY COMMITTEE