CITY HALL & KPMG REPORT
• Chris Selley: For Ford, different rules the day [National Post]
• ‘I will assure you that services will not be cut, guaranteed’ [The Star]
• KPMG suggests cuts to policing [The Star]
• Vaughan ‘speechless’ at crossing guard cuts [The Sun]
• Final report suggests deepest cuts yet [The Star]
• Critics see KPMG report as ‘smoke and mirrors’ [The Star]
• Prospect of privatizing Toronto’s library sparks outcry [Globe & Mail]
• Proposed library closures likely to be tough sell [The Star]
• Dropping $3.8M grant could leave thousands of kids hungry [The Star]
• Thousands sign up in support of Riverdale Farm [Globe & Mail]
• Don’t dump Riverdale Farm, city asked [The Sun]
• Cuts up to taxpayers, Ford says [The Sun]
• The KPMG report: Close libraries, sell the zoo, cut back on police [National Post]
TTC
• All hail the new Toronto Rocket [The Star]
• Shiny new subway cars enter TTC service [National Post]
• Ford plotting to oust TTC chief over subway extension [The Star]
• Mayor Ford trying to push out TTC general manager, sources say [Globe & Mail]
OTHER NEWS
• Fiorito: The tour the mayor never took, part 2 [The Star]
• Police board defers discussion of chief’s G20 review [The Star]
• Man gets 21 months for torching G20 police car [The Star]
• Mississauga Mayor’s gala likely violated income tax laws: Revenue Canada [National Post]
4 comments
I am beginning to wonder if Fiorito and Levy aren’t the same person engaged in a too-clever-for-me piece of performance art. Fiorito’s columns are so saccharine it hurts my teeth (“No! Kittens, suffering? In Toronto! Oh the shame!”) and Levy’s tend to be so sour I get heartburn (“What are these ‘children’ things that we care so much about their quality of life.”)
I must meet this clever actor and complement them on churning out so much work week after week.
R.
Globe story about police board’s response to proposed KPMG proposal to cut police numbers…
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/police-board-blasts-consultants-who-called-for-layoffs/article2105877/
Surprise, surprise … they don’t like the suggestion. Many of the KPMG suggestions have been ridiculous. But I think it’s become very clear that compared to other municipalities, the size of our police and fire services is positively bloated. Crime is down, Fire services seems to spend most of their response time attending things EMS are better qualified to handle… and yet these areas have continued to grow their budgets well beyond what they should be. Former Mayor John Sewell has long been saying that Toronto’s Police budget is out of control. It pains me to think that it probably still will be after this whole KPMG exercise is over.
It’s crazy politics samg — your feeling is shared widely.
People forget that the city is a corporation owned and hired by the people to look after management of a geographical area. Council is the executive board with the mayor as chair. That board, like any corporate board is responsible only to make sure that the proper people in management are in place and doing their jobs properly, and if the city board isn’t happy with what the city manager is doing, the city manager, needs to fix it to the boards satisfaction.
Realistically the TTC board should NOT contain any city council members, because in reality it’s a conflict of interest (between the city and the TTC). Since the TTC is a division of the city, the city should appoint a TTC board. The city then should offer the TTC a contract, to manage transit, and that contract is for a negotiated amount of money, for a negotiated level of service. If the TTC can’t manage to provide the level of service for the money, that’s not the cities problem, it’s the TTC’s problem. The TTC should then decide the best way to provide that service for the money.