Wednesday’s Headlines

35 comments

1. I love how lightweights like Minnan-Wong constantly screech stuff like “Leadership is about making tough decisions!!!!!!!!!” until leaders actually make tough decisions. Then, of course, their tune changes. “How dare you make these cuts! It’s all political posturing!” Has Minnan-Wong or any of his buddies actually made any meaningful, concrete proposal on how to fill the $575 million budget shortfall?

2. it’s funny that Ford is usually labelled as one of the guys who doesn’t give a damn what happens outside his own ward – one forgets his occasional forays into neighbouring wards. Bet he never goes near Holyday’s though 🙂

3. The two most popular “big ticket” items that Minnan-Wong and Co. march out are doing away with the Fair Wage Policy and contracting out more municipal services, like all garbage collection.

   Contracting out services is already done in a number of areas. Virtually all construction projects are contracted out, as is garbage collection in Etobicoke, snow removal across the city and a variety of other positions.

   Doug Holyday often cites waste collection industry sources who say that the City could save $200 million annually by contracting out that service. I find that incredibly hard to believe, unless they’re paying their workers minimum wage and cutting every corner possible. Plus, contracting out would take a significant investment in new administrative systems because managing contracts of that size requires infrastructure and skill sets the City doesn’t have right now. Because the logistics would be a nightmare from a fiscal, technical and labour relations perspective, City Manager Shirley Hoy has recommended against contracting out all garbage collection.

   Also, the City recently contracted in garbage collection in the former City of York because it will result in savings compared to the contract that is about to expire with the private sector contractor for that portion of the city. However, private collection remains in Etobicoke because it would be too costly for the City to purchase the additional trucks and transfer stations required to bring that service in-house.

   As far as the Fair Wage Policy goes, critics often say that it doesn’t allow contractors to be innovative. However, innovation is not finding a way to pay your workers less. Innovation is finding better ways to do the task at hand. The Fair Wage Policy is also about social and economic justice. Fundamentally, the City should not engage contractors that keep their workers in a cycle of poverty. It’s not the right example to set for other employers in Toronto and, from a fiscal perspective, it’s also likely to increase the number of people who will need to rely on City services like social housing.

4. I have never heard anything other than high-school debate level rhetoric from Minan-Wong, Stinz and Ford. They constantly harp that “We need to get our house in order!” but never offer more than that line. How long have they been councillors now? Have they not had enough time to go through the budget and find all these supposed savings that are to be had? Oh wait… they have the golf passes and free zoo admission. I heard Ford a few weeks back try and defend that approach by saying “you have to start with the little things to put your house in order”. Sounds like someone has read “The Automatic Millionaire” a few too many times. You don’t fix a half billion shortfall by cutting out a latte every day.

   I never understood the whole free golf pass issue anyway. The net cost to the city is only the revenue that could be had if someone else took their tee off time, not the value of the passes themselves. Are city golf courses really so busy or councillors such big golfers that they are keeping other people from using the courses? Also, do these courses make a profit for the city? If not, maybe we should be reducing the hours for the courses and not libraries.

   As for the Ford visiting another ward incident… I saw it on the CTV news last night. That was the first time I had seen local news in years. It also reminded me of why I never watch local news. It was a blatantly obvious media circus with an all to eagre reporter to cover his huge story. What a stupid farce. I actually want to give kudos to Ford for not having a rage exploding and just laughing in the reporters face at his retarded questions.

5. Adam – you forgot to mention the penalty payment the City will pay for terminating the York contract early, and which council voted to adopt despite not having a figure on said payment.

6. Regarding the interview after the Rob Ford Intervention Protest:

   Vivian Broersma, who showed up to meet Mr. Ford, said the protest was “a disgrace” and like “a mini-riot.” She said she was twice hit by signs, and that another woman was knocked to the ground. She had strong words for Mr. Mammoliti, who she believed orchestrated the protest.

   “I have no use for the man whatsoever,” she said. “He’s just a pompous, arrogant, S.O.B. who has turned this ward into an absolute dictatorship.”

   I love when the papers put in interviews like this. She sure has a gift for exaggeration.

7. Mark, could you provide a source for the “penalty payment”? I think I’d asked you in a past thread about a source when this topic came up but I may have forgotten to go back to check if you had provided it. I ask because in the staff report and debate on the issue, the payment you refer to never came up.

   However, unless any penalty that may have been paid is totally unreasonable, the City will save money.

8. I love when the papers put in interviews like this. She sure has a gift for exaggeration.

   Yeah, isn’t it great? I’m sure that “Hit by signs” = accidentally brushed by a sign and “knocked to the ground” = someone wearing heels tripped on a rock.

   As for “[Mamolitti] has turned this ward into an absolute dictatorship,” I suggest we send Ms. Broersma to some place like Saudi Arabia or Burma and see how it compares to her ward.

9. I’m as sick of the empty right-wing rhetoric of these councillors as much as everyone else, but I disagree on one point. I think private contracting of services and elimination of the Fair Wage policy are both part of the solution.

   I’m consistently disappointed that people who support social goals and smart urban planning (better transit, bike lanes, more trees, well-run community centres and libraries) believe public provision of services is the only answer. What we want is a well-run city with high productivity, and we’re most likely to achieve that via private provision of city services with strong public controls and oversight.

   The Fair Wage policy is an example of a well-meaning policy that ultimately fails those it’s supposed to benefit. Who benefits? Those lucky enough to work on city contracts, a number that I’ll estimate is in the thousands. Who is hurt? The hundreds of thousands of poor Torontonians who use city services the most. Without Fair Wage, they would be getting more services per city dollar spent, and a much broader group of citizens would benefit.

   If we want the city to do a better job of providing public services, then at the same time we raise taxes we should experiment with more extensive private contracting.

10. Councillors Ford, Stinz and Minnan-Wong are full of rhetoric and no substance, but they are smart people who know how to play politics unlike Miller and friends. They know the average citizen has the attention span of a 5 year old and they are able to play with it. People who pay attention (such as the readers of Spacing ) are a minority. The suggestion that councillors should quit they golf passes to save the city money is an absurd proposition, but the common guy that pays these guys’ salaries only hears “councillors use the taxes I pay to play golf while I am working like a dog”, and that is why populism in politics is so big.

    Then you have Mamolitti, that decides to play right into these guys hands by investigating the reasons Ford doesn’t spend any allowance money. It frustrates the decent councillors such as Perks, Vaughn, Pantalone and Giambrone because they are not populists, they want to do what is right and hate playing small politics, but to survive in this world of stupid populist politics you must realize that small gestures (such as cutting golf privileges) mean a lot to the average citizen who can’t grasp how things work in city hall. By not showing small sacrifices and symbolic gestures the city is just giving the Province and Feds excuses not to do their parts and they give the populist councillors ammunition and fodder which is their bread and butter. And that is the wonderful world of Canadian politics.

    The sad scene of people protesting against Ford crossing borders just shows how parochial small interests rule this city. Every small-minded councillor is more concerned with his or her little corner than the city as a whole. And so Toronto keep dragging along…

11. The “cross-border Rob Ford” issue reminds me of something I’ve been wondering for a while.

    Obviously if I’ve got a problem or question dealing with City services around my home, I’ll call my local councillor. What if I’ve got a problem near my place of work, for example? For most people, that would be a different councillor. Would my workplace ward councillor represent me in that case, or would they say they’re only accountable to the ward residents? What about wards I need to travel through to get to work – if I want to push for bike lanes on a street in a ward I need to travel through to get to work, for example.

    As a separate note, I read one of the articles where a Miller-friendly councillor (Mihevc?) noted that the existing contracted services couldn’t be used to help address the (short-term) budget shortfall for the very reason that the City’s in a contractual agreement (e.g., if the City wanted to save on the snow removal budget).

12. If you ever try contacting an NDP councillor about problems in your ward, you will quickly understand why we have problems in this city.Usually there is either no response at all or you will receive a condescending answer that is usually no help at all.I had a constituent in ward 19 that couldn’t even get a response from councillor pantalone about a local issue that she was concerned about.She contacted me and I referred her to rob ford because I know he seems to be one of the only councillors who will at least reply.The results were amazing he responded and helped her with her problem even though Ford didn’t even have too.It’s a sad state of affairs. I think there will be more confrontations like this in the future,and this doesn’t benefit the taxpayers at all.And to think I naively believed that the taxpayer was the boss not the NDP party.And I don’t even belong to any party!

13. What specific issue was it George?

14. Adam – it was discussed before the Council vote.

15. George, your experience isn’t at all reflective of mine. When it comes to Joe Pantalone I’ve always had a prompt response to my concerns — even when we weren’t dealing with a strictly municipal issue. And other councillors who are traditionally grouped into the NDP caucus have been similarly helpful. For example, Joe Mihevc’s office had crews out to clean up my street corner within hours when there was still a small mess left after Salsa on St. Clair and Howard Moscoe offered to call my landlord personally when I was having an issue without me even asking for that support.

    So while I gather that you ran against Deputy Mayor Pantalone in the last election, George, I’d appreciate it if you at least had respect for the voting public and kept to the facts when you present your case to the electorate.

    Mark, is there any paper trail on this fee that the City apparently paid? Not that she’s the brightest bulb in the box but it seems like Sue-Ann Levy would have been on this like crazy if it were even a remotely significant cost.

16. Adam

    see here:
    http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2007/cc/bgrd/cc11.7.pdf

    It refers to the 2007 cancellation and two other previous issues. It doesn’t mention a figure though, only that it can “be accommodated within the budget”.

17. Thanks for the reference, Mark. Since the report says the Works department can accomodate a one time settlement within their existing budget then I think it’s fair to say that contracting in is a cost saving measure. Even if the savings realized in the current year are wiped out by the settlement, those savings will be had every year going forward.

18. I thought his name was George Savision.

19. I’m stating the obvious here, but if that post was by the real George Sawision (or one of his supporters), it was a pretty weak move to bad-mouth Pantalone without mentioning he was recently your political opponent.

    That kind of story travels pretty fast.

20. I’m not writing to bad mouth joe at all just stating an incident that I was involved in.It’s called the truth, sorry if that offends you.The issue was regarding the imposition of taxes and vehicle license fees.

    I was at city hall today and go figure I was refused a copy of the detailed budget!It seems it’s for “staff eyes only”.I wonder if joe would be as helpful as you say and provide a copy of where our money is being spent.Go ahead prove me wrong.It’s not the copy on the web!That refers to general expenditures.
    Good luck with joe on this one.

    As for the voting public I have to agree that joe does serve those that voted for him,I give him that, but he represents the whole ward even those that decided not to vote.I’m just disapointed that the toronto NDP party is just so hypocritical and so self serving.

    I guess olivia chow was right to ask me why I would ever run against joe as if I didn’t have the best interest of my ward in mind.Funny question considering she was his campaign manager.I guess it doesn’t matter that I was born in this ward and have a very strong loyalty.

21. Sorry George — you did bad mouthed Joe and the NDP councillors. Why back pedal away form that? Is it beccause whatever you are complaining about doesn’t have any substance to it.
    Besides, Pantelone won 76% of the vote. So even he did just cater to those who voted for him, he’d be helping 3 out of 4 people in the ward.

22. Excuse me? Do I have to fight the last election all over again?He doesn’t represent 76% of the constituents just 76% of the people who voted, as you state.The voter turnout is abysmall and do you blame the people who have lost confidence in Joe and basically have given up voting.

    Ok I admit it there is no back pedalling here sometimes I try to be polite.But Joe has abandoned the constituents, lied about the tax hike!And basically has run his office in a dictatorial way.You feel that is good governance and representation?????

    In fact Joe sent me a letter thanking me for running such a clean campaign.I’ve known Joe for years and I understand the workings of the NDP party and I have an opinion.Sorry if that offends you.

23. George I’m not a big fan of Pantelone or the NDP, but you sound like McCarthy with your red(orange)-baiting, with your allustions to layton and soviet architecture and NDP this or that. I’d be nuts to vote for you, even if we were on the same side, because you obviously don’t have it together enough to present a sane message.

24. Sorry to burst your bubble but I’m far from being McCarthy, and frankly I resent the implication.I have listened to the persomal jabs from the NDP for quite a few years all lies and rhetoric so you don’t have to get personal.The NDP party and company as well as the liberals and tories are not above public critisism.In fact public input can be a good thing, maybe you could see what is on my website and tell me if that is the rantings of an insame person.

25. pardon the bad spelling

26. Boy am I glad this piece of work didn’t win!

    We need more criticism and public debate but they should focus on the issues themselves, not vague personal attacks.

27. thank you Fin, you would have enjoyed the childish “debate” today between adam vaughan and denzil wong at city hall during the budget cuts announcements.

    I think it would be difficult to achieve anything positive with the present council anyway.The personal attacks make anything I say very tame indeed. enjoy!

28. PS joe pantalone and rob ford weren’t present!

29. You make wild claims Goerge > thre voters lost confidence in Pantelone? Why has he been re-elected 100 times?

    Ward 19 had about a 35% voter turnout, the same average across the city. While that’s a pathetic turnout, I don’t know how you can tie that personally to Joey Pants — this has a lot to do with the public’s perception of the importance of local politics and the coverage it receives from Big Media.

    You’ll get more respect for your comments if you criticize his policies, and not make wide-sweeping accusations that have little substance.

30. well actually his tax and spend policies were one of the main reasons I ran, along with his disregard for the many constituents, except for those on college street of course.He paid $500,000 to “renovate” the trinity gates, re-named the princes gates to piazza milano and spent millions to make it a glorious italian piazza.He has since had it renamed to piazza princes gates.I hope I have the spelling correct.(if you don’t believe me there is a plaque out in front of the gates).His policy is to spend,spend,spend.Those policies of joe have led us to this crisis.If you ever get a copy of the budgets you will see joes name plastered on some of the greatest expenditures.One thing is for sure joe is king at making sure that the press doesn’t touch him.Ask anybody in the media maybe they can enlighten you.

    But barring that,I smile now when I hear the budget crisis considering joe called me a liar about the crisis levels.I can only ask who really was the liar during the election? He said that the situation was so rosy that there would only be a 1.3% tax hike maximum. Now why would his campaign manager olivia chow allow such a misleading statement? Are the voters of trinity spadina that mis-informed?They are now paying the price,or maybe they really don’t give a damn? right?

31. George, as long as you keep producing lies like Olivia Chow acting as Pantalone’s campaign manager, anything else you say is impossible to believe without some concrete evidence (perhaps a link to a reputable source that heard these alleged comments?). In just about every election Pantalone has ever run in, Chow has also been running. And in the last election, Chow was busy being a Member of Parliament. In short, she wasn’t managing any campaigns.

    Although I know that Chow campaigned with a number of municipal candidates, to somehow take from that that she was managing a campaign shows me that you shouldn’t quit your day job for a life in politics.

32. well check out YOUTUBE search for olivia chow joe pantalone or myself and watch my interview and you will hear it from her own mouth as she does admit to being his chairperson.
    If that isn’t enough I’ll gladly send you a copy of joes campaign fundraising letter where she clearly declares her position.

    As if a federal member of parliament doesn’t have better things to do than ensure NDP local candidates are elected.And yes the money did flow, in fact joe bragged that his war chest was so full that he would transfer the surplus to gord perks campaign.So much for independant local representation.

33. Wow, George > You’ve said in a few comments Chow was his campaign manager but just changed that to chair person — two very different things, as I’m sure you know.

    A chair person is mostly a figurehead position to help advise candidates, not manage day-to-day activities and strategies.

    I’m slightly amused that you equate having a full war chest somehow negates independent local representation. I think being in office for 25 years might have something to do with the good fund raising (and the NDP machine). I think councillors like Vaughan, Ashton, Walker, and Fillion (all self proclaimed indies who raised nearly the maximum limit in the last election) would take offence to your characterization.

    While I won’t get into a shouting match about the CNE gates or T-B gates, spending money on city-building things like our heritage monuments is not exactly a waste of money.

    I’m always left scratching my head at the crowdwho moan about our crumbling infrastructure but don’t want to spend money on upkeep.

34. well I wouldn’t call adam vaughan independant considering he split the NDP in ward 20. But infrastructure does need to be maintained, you know roads,sewers,waterlines and yes even ttc tracks, vehicles. Somehow spending 500,000 on those gates would be great if it actually went to restore those gates.In actual fact the gates were painted with masonry paint, two sections of concrete were added and two gates were built.If you have ever renovated your house or have actually hired somebody to do some work you would realize the real rip off here.I use it only as an example because all the money didn’t go into that gate.This is the problem with expenditures by the city, and the main reason joe pantalone would never allow me to see the detailed figures for the expenditures.Project by project you will find that we are being ripped off.Just look at the money being spent at the exibition, unbelievable!I’m sure you would be suspicious if they charged you $20.00 for a bottle of water at the store,you would immediately know that somebody was trying to rip you off.So why can’t we the tax paying public get the same protection?I know jow isn’t interested and neither is adam vaughan or rosario marchese or even olivia chow.

    And remember trees and flowers are not considered infrastructure,but thats a whole other area of billion dollar spending altogether.

35. PS did you say brian ashton is independant?Wasn’t he part of millers executive?Or do you mean he is now independant after being kicked out of the ndp inner circle?