Sometimes it seems there may be nothing quite so bad for democracy as an election.
Showing posts with label TorontoSilly Hall. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TorontoSilly Hall. Show all posts
Monday, January 25, 2010
Some Thoughts.....
* how much of the $9.5M raised at the Canadian Telethon came from the Toronto area.
*Add to that amount the amount the taxpayers in Toronto send to Ottawa as income tax, etc.
* I would remind "the mayor's office" we elected councilors to make this decision.* It makes you wonder if we have the "on-the-ground expertise that helps people struck by disaster to rebuild their lives and their communities" why isn't it used to rebuild lives and communities at home?
Toronto cool to Haiti donation
Councillor Michael Walker will urge city council this week to approve $1 million in aid for Haiti, but the mayor’s office remains cool to the idea.
Right cause, wrong cash
Five city councillors in Peterborough, Ont. — a beautiful city northeast of Toronto — correctly think their city shouldn’t have given $10,000 of taxpayers’ money to relief efforts in Haiti.
He Has My Vote...
Parking tickets really a Rob Davis election gimmick
Last Updated: 25th January 2010, 7:13am
It’s a “mock ticket,” said author Rob Davis, a city council candidate for Eglinton-Lawrence (Ward 15).
Davis had 10,000 of the yellow tickets whipped up as a pre-election gimmick, to call attention to his bid for scrapping the $60-a-year city vehicle registration fee. Voters go to the polls on Oct. 25.
“I’ve been busier than a meter maid at a car show,” Davis said on the second day of his windshield-plastering venture.
City council imposed the levy in September 2008, with an annual fund-raising target of $57 million.
Davis called the fee unfair and invited voters to sign a petition to rescind the program.
Davis, who has served on Toronto and the now-defunct City of York councils, was appointed to the Toronto Catholic District School Board in 2008.
Hitting motorists for $60 every time they renew their licence stickers “takes a lot of money out of the local economy,” he said. “You renew on your birthday, so I’m calling this a reverse gift ... uninvite the city to your birthday party.
“The roads in Toronto are not any better than roads in Mississauga, Vaughan and Pickering,” Davis said, calling the fee “a penalty, a fine for Toronto motorists.”
The bottom of his non-tickets — which were paid for out of campaign funds — have two boxes voters can check off:
n I’m voting for Rob Davis, and
n I like high taxes. I’m voting for the other candidate (veteran incumbent Howard Moscoe).
Moscoe supports the fee, saying “Toronto needs the money. It’s a reasonable user fee and it’s being applied to repairing roads.”
Comment:
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Read The Form...
Rocco Rossi - Toronto's new Rocco star: Levy
Rocco Rossi is one feisty underdog who will give the perceived frontrunner in Toronto’s race for mayor, Furious George Smitherman, a run for his money.
Friday, January 22, 2010
How Many Remember Sewell?
Time to ask mayoral hopefuls some basic questions
22 January 2010 08:00
One disadvantage of being a former mayor is the number of times one is asked on the street to comment on those running to be the next mayor of Toronto.
There are three leading candidates already declared, and a few more in the wings with the election still 10 months away. When asked about them, I have three kinds of answers.
First, if there’s a candidate running because he or she wants to solve problems at city hall, then I’ll treat that candidate seriously. So far that hasn’t happened. George Smitherman, Rocco Rossi and Joe Pantalone have all said they want to run because they want to be mayor, and not much else. Making the city a better place isn’t as great a priority for them as becoming mayor. Who can respect them for that?
Second, I want someone who recognizes that city council doesn’t work.
The megacity is a mess for everyone — for councillors who find the 2,000-page agendas unreadable, for residents who find city hall untouchable, for businesspeople who find city staff unresponsive. It is time to dismantle the megacity and try something else, preferably something smaller and more manageable with councillors eager to serve the public interest. Why aren’t candidates clamouring to solve this issue?
Third, in the city’s 176-year history, no one has been elected mayor who has not first served on council. Why do Smitherman and Rossi, neither of whom has been a councillor, think they can break that strong tradition? And if they haven’t cared enough to serve in the past, how much do they care for the city now?
The other side of the coin is that Joe Pantalone has been an insider at city hall for what seems like the last century. He’s already made the changes he thinks are needed. No one can expect him to say it’s not working well.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
If I Was Fiona I Wouldn't Hold My Breath...
Public complaints system flawed: Toronto ombudsman
January 21, 2010
Paul Moloney
In one of her first moves as Toronto’s new ombudsman, Fiona Crean asked all civic departments to forward copies of their processes for handling complaints from the public.
That was last December. She’s still waiting.
“We received good procedures from some, mediocre from others and none from yet others,” Crean told reporters Thursday. “Less than half the areas submitted processes or posted them on their website. Openness and accessibility was a problem even for those who had good procedures.”
Citizens must first seek redress from the relevant civic department before approaching the Ombudsman’s office, on Elizabeth St. near city hall, but people often say the municipal public service just isn’t responsive to them, she said.
“I can’t tell you how many people said, ‘I never heard back from the city.’”
In 2009, the office received 1,057 inquiries and complaints and processed and closed 958 of them, or just over 90 per cent, she said. It is detailed in her report.
As a new office, the ombudman focused on individual complaints. In 2010, Crean wants to turn her attention to solving systemic problems.
The first order of business is ensuring the 50,000-employee government develops procedures to handle complaints and publicizes them.
Crean said she also wants to see public disclosure of the city’s standards for how fast to return calls and acknowledge correspondence. However, the departments don’t tell the public what their standards are.
“I’m asking them today to make those public so that residents know what to expect,” she said.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
The Upside Of Pantalooney Running For Mayor...
...he will not be a member of city council!
Mayor Pantalooney? No way
As Mayor David Miller’s right-hand man Panta-looney comes into the race with a cargo hold’s worth of baggage.
Little Joe Pantalone's big shot
Joe Pantalone has decided to go big or go home.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Public Safety Versus Bureaucrasy
Let's reduce the number of city workers leaning on shovels (it is standard procedure that the first thing construction crews do is dig a hole so those on the construction site have something to look into) and have them check the thickness of the ice...
City parks chief wants skating on ponds, no matter what bureaucrats say
City parks chief wants skating on ponds, no matter what bureaucrats say
God News
Pantaloonie gives up his clown council seat, loses mayorality race and goes to roost in his favorite tree.....Little Joe Pantalone's big shot
Joe Pantalone has decided to go big or go home.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Sink Or Swim? Guess Where We Are Heading...
The billion-dollar leak problem
Toronto’s old watermains are cracking up as fast as our financially beleaguered city can repair them
Since the end of December, there have been 93 watermain breaks and leaks from underground pipes in the city. But the news gets even “better.”
So far, the lack of a snow covering (which acts as insulation) and the deep freeze — coupled with the city’s aged infrastructure — has created the perfect storm for watermain breaks and leaking underground pipes, Toronto Water head Lou Di Gironimo told me yesterday.
In fact, Sunday’s water problem at Yonge St. and Davenport Rd. — which kept 19,000 Yorkville customers in the cold and dark for eight hours — was a pipe leak which got into a Hydro vault, he said.
A complicated fix, Di Gironimo said the cost of the Yorkville leak repair could be upwards of $50,000 — far beyond the average $5,000-$6,000 it costs to repair a watermain break on a suburban side street.
Still, considering there have been 93 breaks and leaks in just two weeks, you’ve got to figure Toronto Water has already spent a small fortune patching the problems alone, without really getting to the root of the issue.
(That’s just what’s happening below our streets. I won’t even get into the major thoroughfares like Avenue Rd., that are already showing the cracks and other ruts of winter.)
No wonder. I’ve been saying for years that Toronto’s infrastructure is crumbling around us.
About 69% of all underground water pipes are still cast iron — 7% of them more than 100 years old and another 17% more than 80 years old. The average age of the pipes is 55 years old.
The total backlog of repairs required for underground water infrastructure — watermains and sanitary and storm sewers — is $1.3-billion.
‘Chipped away’
Di Gironimo says the city has to spend a minimum of $254 million per year to “just deal” with the backlog growth. Last year “they chipped away at it” (the backlog) by about $10 million and this year they hope to do so by $77 million.
This year, they’ll spend another $127 million of their $720-million capital budget on replacing or rehabilitating watermains.
“We have to sustain the investment in the infrastructure,” he said, noting that he feels Toronto Water is finally starting to get a handle on the backlog.
That’s small comfort for residents, who’ve experienced water rate hikes of between 6 and 9% per year throughout Mayor David Miller’s two terms. The average household water bill will jump from $352 in 2004 to $618 this year — a 75% increase!
(This year’s 9% water rate hike is estimated to bring in $70 million — just slightly less than 10% of Toronto Water’s total revenues for 2010).
Di Gironimo appears to be doing what he can to tackle the backlog under a socialist regime that can’t (and won’t) focus on the city’s priorities.
But it’s too little, too late.
Despite all of his best-laid plans, he admits there’s only $200 million in the Water Rate Stabilization reserve fund — an amount that will probably be used up in the next couple of years dealing with a flood of repairs until the backlog can be addressed.
Little wonder, considering the current political regime has been sticking its fingers in the dike for years hoping nothing will happen — while sinking the city further and further into debt to pay for frivolous pet projects.
Aggressive plan needed
That’s why it is so important that the would-be mayoralty candidates have a firm plan to tackle the backlog that is even more aggressive than the current one proposed by Toronto Water.
Why not sell off assets like Enwave — funded to the tune of $33 million out of the Toronto Water reserve a few years ago — or other city businesses to help address the backlog?
(Toronto eyes sale of green-energy utility
Cash-strapped city ponders sale of 43 per cent stake in Enwave to raise up to $100-million)Just imagine. A City Hall spending tap that actually uses the money to rebuild a city crumbling right out from under us.
Call it my pipe dream.
sue-ann.levy@sunmedia.ca
Friday, January 08, 2010
I Have Advocated This For Years...
Civic reform starts with fewer city councillors
January 08, 2010
Richard Gilbert
When announcing his retirement last month after 18 years of distinguished service, Toronto councillor Kyle Rae was forthright about who he thinks is to blame for the city's troubles. Some of the harshest words were about his council colleagues: "They're only interested in maintaining the status quo in their small-minded residential neighbourhoods. They're not interested in the city; they're only interested in their neighbourhoods."
Rae is not alone in being concerned about the parochialism at Toronto City Hall. Here's a possible solution to this and some other problems with city council:
Cut the number of ward councillors from 44 to 22. Each councillor would represent a federal/provincial riding rather than half of one. This would substantially reduce the size of city council, which is too large for a body that has no formal political groupings. Montreal and Vancouver have overt party politics at the municipal level, but Toronto does not seem to be ready for this.
Add six councillors elected at large with a mandate to address city-wide issues.
Have one election for the mayor and these six councillors. Voters would have seven votes each for the at-large candidates. The candidate receiving the most votes would be the mayor; the next six would be the at-large councillors. The city would benefit from the service of several excellent but unsuccessful candidates for mayor.
Potential candidates for mayor who would not be interested in an at-large councillor position would not stand. This could be a good thing.
Give the six at-large councillors, together with the mayor, special powers in respect of city-wide planning issues. However, as a check on excess, each decision should require the support of a third of the ward councillors. Put another way, decisions about city-wide planning issues could be vetoed by two-thirds of the ward councillors.
City council adopted a useful definition of city-wide planning issues in 2008. These issues concern the whole city or are of potential interest to the whole city. They include "changes to key infrastructure, transportation and open-space systems," as well as land-use issues of city-wide importance. According to the city's rules, the chief planner decides whether a planning issue is city-wide or not.
The at-large councillors and the mayor would not have special powers with respect to approval of the capital and operating budgets. These and all matters except city-wide planning issues would be decided by simple majorities of what would be a 29-member council.
City council has the power to make some of the changes proposed above, although not for the 2010 municipal election. Provincial permission would be required for some changes. If the council elected in 2010 were to request such permission, it would likely be granted.
In the meantime, the whole city could benefit from robust debate during the coming municipal election period about the best structure for city council.
I would like the above proposals to be given fair consideration, but better ideas may well come forward. The need for reform is evident and urgent.
Richard Gilbert was a Toronto councillor fromOur Loss...
Tory bows out
The Best Mayor Toronto Never Had bowed out of the city's election race yesterday with his signature good humour and good grace.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Left Lists Accomplishments Of Clown Council
Council highs and lows
The year in review
The city imposes a one-year moratorium on new bars on Ossington between Dundas and Queen.
VoteToronto.ca releases its tome on political donations. The biggest corporate suck-ups? The self-styled defenders of “the little guy”: Frances Nunziata, Giorgio Mammoliti, Case Ootes, Denzil Minnan-Wong, Rob Ford and Peter Milczyn.
Sun City Hall columnist Sue-Ann Levy goes down in flames in the St. Paul’s by-election. So much for the great right hope.
The city unveils its plan for ethnic food carts to much fanfare. The fare turns out to be just fair, too.
David Miller wins a vote to freeze non-union civic workers’ wages.
Council’s plan to remove the centre lane from Jarvis passes after raucous debate and charges by right-wing councillors of a “war against cars.”
City passes new green roof bylaw.
City council gives its blessing to the province’s planned extension of the Yonge line into York Region, despite the fact that ridership is already at capacity on the line.
The Toronto Environmental Alliance and Environmental Defence float a proposal to make the Humber and Don part of Ontario’s Greenbelt. It makes green sense.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Too Bad This Type Of Innovativeness Is Not Prevelant In City Politics
What do get? The Mammolitis, Mihevics, Bussins, Pantaloonies and of course the Moscoes......
Strokes of genius
Entrepreneurs draw on talents to survive during recession
I just got word of the new Miss Voluptuous Canada pageant.
Va-va-va-voom. Very clever. Yet more proof we are in the company of geniuses.
Miss Voluptuous. Miss VolUPtuous. Miss VolupTUous. Really rolls off your tongue, eh?
The pageant will fill a void. Miss Canada Plus has been belly up the last two years -- and no wonder, with such a boring name.
I was a judge once, but most media stayed away -- until I spilled the beans about the winner being a practising witch.
Otherwise, yawn. Miss Canada Plus? Sounds, well, heavy.
Now along comes a promo queen named Princess Boucher. She waved her creative wand and, voila: Miss Voluptuous.
"Sounds rosy and plump, eh?" Ms Boucher, 47, tells me. "'Plus-size' is so blah."
You understand the power of a name when yours is Princess. (It's a twist on Prince, a kin's last name.)
But you never know when inspiration will strike.
Boucher's bolt from the blue came just last Monday, sitting on her couch in Brampton.
"I'm a size 16 to 18, and I was thinking, 'why not have something that makes big women feel good about themselves and for people to acknowledge we have talents, too?"
Miss Big Canada? Don't think so. Miss Canada XL? At your peril.
So Miss Voluptuous it is. In just a few days, Princess is already fielding entry and sponsor calls. (See princesspromotioninc.com). The pageant is set for May.
Can't miss. I'll be a judge if they ask. Maybe a bit of genius pixie dust will fall on me.
Then I get a call from Viktor Mitic, 40. He's an artist with no wish to starve.
And a recession is no time for dummies.
Art dealers in this town are hunkered down like the rest of us. In tight times, what are you gonna buy? A Rembrandt? Or food for the kids?
A year ago, Viktor took stock and said, "I'm out of cash.
"How am I going to get the dealers to look at my work."
His last bright idea was painting Jesus Christ, then plugging Him full of bullet holes.
I feared there was a lightning bolt in Viktor's future. But nothing like this stroke of genius:
Want to sell paintings? Paint the sellers!
So, he did, after trudging from gallery to gallery, snapping the owners' pics with his cellphone.
Thirty six in all. La creme. Movers, shakers and career-makers like Stephen Bulger, Jamie Angell, Katharine Mulherin and Phillip Gevik.
Lo and behold, Viktor had no trouble getting a gallery showing, at Odon Wagner Contemporary on Davenport Rd. The display, naturally, includes a lovely painting of Mr. Wagner.
The top dealers in town turned out for the opening Thursday night -- at least those in the exhibit.
"Before, I could never even get them to look at my portfolio," Mitic marvels.
You see, art dealers can be a ruthless, grumpy, competitive lot. In the best of times. But few of them are short on ego.
So most of the paintings are sold or on hold -- at $3,600 each.
"Pretty soon, I'll have my work in every gallery collection in Toronto," says the artistic genius.
An accompanying coffee table book, $35, is selling like crazy, too. There are 36 editions -- each with a different dealer on the cover.
Bravo! Another master stroke. This is what separates us from the apes.
So Mr. Mitic is having a very merry Christmas. "I'm finally going on that Mexican holiday," he tells me. I assume he's flying genius class.
What's next, Viktor? How about painting the newspaper writers of Toronto?
I bet Bonokoski will order extra prints.
Wednesday, December 09, 2009
A Visionart In A City Where Elected Officials Wear Blinders
A love letter to Toronto from an ailing visionary
In an open letter, an ailing David Pecaut has issued a call to arms for those who love Toronto, urging collective leadership, not negativity, to...
Thursday, December 03, 2009
Issues Not On Agenda.....
...and they will never be until we get rid of the dinosaurs on our Clown Council.
What’s on the table for the mayor's race
What’s on the table for the mayor's race
>> More
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Antonia Is Correct And Results Are Obvious....
....and foremost at the municipal level and to some extent at the provincial level.
Sunday, November 08, 2009
Understandable When You Factor In The Sick Day Debacle
Councillor rips high cost of clean
A veteran city councillor wants the city to come clean on why it spent more than $645,000 on hand sanitizing bottles for staff.
First Things First...
.....going in how much funding did each level of government commit? How will each level of government ensure that these $$$ are recovered when the games actually take place? How much has the private sector committed? Are all parties at all levels of government committed to the games....everyone will be facing elections in the near future.Jubilation as Toronto gets Pan Am shotThen why was Miller there if he is not involved Just because he has that ability to ruin a good thing.
Dr Knuckles
Pan Am plan needs major fix
After 25 years of hoping beyond hope, Toronto has been awarded the right to host a multi-sport games. Well done!
Now, the work beginsSo now that the Pan Am Games have been snapped up by Toronto, what's next in the process?
When the celebrations from last night's bid victory have subsided, the first thing on the games' organizers to-do list will be to form an organizing committee.
But who will be on the committee remains to be seen -- although it's expected that some of the key names from the successful bid team will stay on in an organizational capacity.
"I think decisions on that will be taken in the next little while," Deputy Premier George Smitherman said last night. "The Minister of Health Promotion Margarett Best within the government of Ontario, will become a much more central figure in bringing that to life and people should expect quite a bit of action on that in short order."
Smitherman was asked if bid chairman and former premier David Peterson would be part of the games' organizational team.
"I'm not sure what the intentions are but I would say he's done a great job for us so far," Smitherman said.
"He's invested very substantially of his time in this, so whether he continues forward or not, I'm not sure, but we owe him a great debt of gratitude."
Thornhill MP Peter Kent, who was the federal government's representative at last night's local Pan Am Games victory reception, said the immediate next steps will be to strike the organizing committee and find office space for the committee to call home.
Kent was asked who would form the Pan Am Games organizational team but like Smitherman said it's too early to tell.
"At the moment, I don't know," Kent said. "That's the new challenge. An awful lot of people who were involved in the bid committee will, I'm sure, take over and make the transition but that's to be determined and that's for Toronto and Ontario (to decide), with our support from Ottawa."
Deputy Mayor Joe Pantalone said it's time to get down to work.
"The next step in the process is really now to implement," Pantalone said. "We already have the plans. Don't forget, a lot of the facilities are already there and need to be refreshed, and some new ones need to be built. There's a plan."
brett.clarkson@sunmedia.ca
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Hey Comrade Miller....Coors Started And Now.....
.
...theHarper and Baird team on the bandwagon. I think the beer ads were inspired by John "F#@&k Off" Baird.
...theHarper and Baird team on the bandwagon. I think the beer ads were inspired by John "F#@&k Off" Baird.
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About Me
- Unhypentated Canadian
- I lean to the right but I still have a heart and if I have a mission it is to respond to attacks on people not available to protect themselves and to point out the hypocrisy of the left at every opportunity.MY MAJOR GOAL IS HIGHLIGHT THE HYPOCRISY AND STUPIDITY OF THE LEFTISTS ON TORONTO CITY COUNCIL. Last word: In the final analysis this blog is a relief valve for my rants/raves.
Rob if you put one on my car, my fellow councillors and I will get the city to sue you at the taxpayers' expense!
What do you think all the new fees and taxes are for.
We have lots of perks taxpayers need to pay for.
Joe, January 25th 2010, 6:41am