City Hall needs fresh meat
Long list of the over-the-hill troughers from both sides should follow Mayor Miller's lead and say goodbye
By SUE-ANN LEVY, TORONTO SUN
Much has been made in the past two weeks about who will succeed David Miller as mayor of our financially-strapped, infrastructure-impoverished city.
Yet even with the strong mayor powers His Blondness has used (and abused) under the City of Toronto Act, his vote is only one of 45.
As is evident here at Socialist Silly Hall -- where several councillors have turned a public calling into "jobs for life" -- the power of incumbency is very strong indeed.
If Premier Dalton McGuinty had kept the best interests of taxpayers in mind, he would have introduced term limits when he decided in 2005 to extend the council term to four years. But he did not.
No wonder it is pretty near impossible to topple a firmly entrenched councillor who has the name recognition and years to accumulate a huge war chest.
Incumbent councillors also have their $53,100 office budgets to shamelessly promote themselves.
And why should this group of entitled egomaniacs want to give up their $99,000 "jobs for life" when they can determine their own expense accounts, jet off to obscure conferences, feed their faces at the public trough and determine that they deserve a raise while the rest of the world takes a pay freeze.
I've made no secret of the fact that like over-ripe bananas there is a long list of councillors who are well past their best-before date -- starting with Howard Moscoe, who will have served 30 years by next November. The over-the-hill trougher is starting to sound silly at council and no longer commands the media attention he once did.
Long-time deputy mayor Joe Pantalone (29 years), who grows dottier and more arrogant by the day with his pronouncements about which trees can come down and which should stay, runs his ward like the King of Little Italy.
His constituents are no longer impressed, as I discovered while campaigning in the most westerly reaches of the St. Paul's riding last month.
Other councillors who have outlived their useful shelf life include, in my view, John Filion (25 years), Pam McConnell (15 years), Sandra Bussin (13 years), Mike Feldman (19 years), Kyle Rae (19 years), Michael Walker (23 years) and Maria Augimeri (25 years).
So I can only hope the same appetite for change that propelled Miller to decide he's not running again will encourage some fresh blood to emerge from the woodwork.
That's where folks like Stephen Thiele and his Toronto Party come in.
Thiele, who co-founded the party in 2006 and now has about 300 members, is trying put together a slate of right-of-centre candidates who can run under a set city-wide platform.
"People are tired of independent fiefdoms and the inefficiencies that causes," he said. "I think Toronto is ready for change."
Thiele feels it's especially important to have a strong slate because he believes the NDP faction will try to hang onto power all they can.
"We've beheaded the mayor," he said, speculating there will be revenge from the NDP who will try to put forward more left-wing candidates to take out the centre-right faction.
He noted they already have candidates interested in running against Rae, Moscoe, Gloria Lindsay Luby and Augimeri.
"This council hasn't changed for so long ... the city hasn't transformed in any meaningful way and they're all to blame," he said.
Go convince those who are hanging on for dear life, however.
Take Feldman, who is 81 and seems to prefer a good game of golf to his council duties these days.
Nevertheless he told me yesterday he wants to "wait and see" before deciding whether to run again.
"Age is only a number if I feel good," he said. "I'm not saying yes and I'm not saying no."
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