....they provide an abundance material for the gristmill of blogging. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
City Hall's rulers getting nervous
With their leader, David Miller, on the sidelines for 2010, signs of skittishness emerge on the left
During a feisty debate earlier this week about banning union and corporate donations in the next election, deputy mayor Joe Pantalone took a bizarre swipe at the media.
While he said he supported the ban, Panta-looney -- who grows dottier by the day -- felt corporate entities like the one that owns this paper should also come under some sort of scrutiny for the "undue influence" it exerts on its City Hall reporters.
"Their articles are often rewritten by editors," he said. "These corporate interests often assign reporters to follow a certain party line."
He also claimed the media at City Hall have a "split personality" -- providing information to citizens but doing so in a way that sells papers.
For the record, I don't remember a single time in my 11 years at City Hall that one of my hard-hitting columns was rewritten by my editors, or I was told what to write.
But it struck me that Panta-looney and his crew of NDP colleagues are feeling mighty nervous right now about what the 2010 election will mean for them.
It has been said Mayor David Miller and his socialist minions are repeatedly frustrated at their inability to get their message out about all the wonderful things they've done for the greater good of this city -- that their bevy of creative taxes, user fees, rules, bylaws and ridiculous policies are best for us because they contribute to city-building.
This nervousness was reinforced during Coun. Joe Mihevc's "Setting the Agenda 2010" brainstorming event at his home away from home -- Artscape Wychwood Barns -- on Tuesday evening.
'SPARK DIALOGUE'
The event was positioned in the material sent beforehand as an attempt "to spark dialogue among Torontonians about the challenges, opportunities and visions for Toronto in 2010 and beyond." Mihevc told the crowd his aim is to "facilitate conversation around the future of this city."
Now I'm all for breaking the apathy that plagues municipal elections. Mihevc should be commended for his attempts to rouse public interest.
But within the first 30 minutes, it became clear to me that most of the 170 Torontonians who were there to "dialogue" were all the usual suspects who count on Mihevc and his cohorts at Socialist Silly Hall to fund, support, give an ear, and rally to their pet projects and causes.
In fact, the councillor had already "set the agenda" before anyone turned up Tuesday night -- the NDP agenda, that is. People were asked to join dialogue tables to discuss burning issues like cycling, public spaces, arts and culture and urban architecture (huh?).
I sat at the lone table dedicated to fiscal matters.
The message I got loud and clear is The Friends of Joe Mihevc will fight tooth and nail to preserve every funding scheme, every pet project, every union fiefdom, every social engineering idea that has been created since Miller came to power.
Even as the crowd acknowledged a $500-million deficit next year, a growing city debt and no reserve funds, there was a warning that the next mayor better not mess with any cuts since that would destroy the fabric of this city.
Economic advocate Hugh Mackenzie, who spoke at Mihevc's request, said the city must be careful not to resort to the "politics of fear" practised by small "c" conservative politicians who engaged in tax cuts.
"We are not going to build a city we need by getting into conversations about who can freeze taxes for longer," said the economic advocate.
Of course he never did say who will pay the price for the continued largesse. I'm guessing he'd advocate for new and higher taxes.
Sigh. It will be a long election year indeed.
Fire up the B.S. detectors. The socialists are already on a roll.
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