{"id":1369,"date":"2006-12-04T19:32:02","date_gmt":"2006-12-04T23:32:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacingtoronto.ca\/?p=1369"},"modified":"2006-12-05T01:42:15","modified_gmt":"2006-12-05T05:42:15","slug":"the-scorched-earth-reality-of-new-councillors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2006\/12\/04\/the-scorched-earth-reality-of-new-councillors\/","title":{"rendered":"The scorched-earth reality of new councillors"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Two weeks ago on our Spacing Votes<\/a> blog, Karen MacKenzie wrote about the transition process<\/a> faced by newly elected councillors. The article touched on the handing-over of files and information from the incumbent to the councillor-elect. In that piece Gord Perks, the new councillor for Parkdale High Park, comes across as slightly prophetic:<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153If I’m lucky, I’ll have a [chance to chat with the former councillor and her assistant]. If I’m unlucky, I’ll go in and there will be nothing left but lightbulbs and paperclips.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Perks said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I may not see a single piece of paper.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This weekend, the Globe and Mail<\/em> reported<\/a> that Perks did not receive one single file from the out-going Sylvia Watson. And when I spoke with Perks earlier today he said “It was the cleanest office I’ve ever walked into.”<\/p>\n

Strange, isn’t it, that one of Watson’s assistants told Spacing<\/em> that although there is no official process in place which would dictate the crossover, Watson is interested in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153serving the community,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and would help out in any fashion. The other downtown newbie, Adam Vaughan, has received only a half-dozen slim file folders from the former office of Olivia Chow. One City Hall observer told me they watched a dolly cart with about 10 boxes with “OC” scrawled on the side be removed over the last two weeks: “There were a number of personal items in that office, but not that<\/em> much stuff.”<\/p>\n

I can only imagine how few files will have been left by outgoing councillor Peter LiPreti and his bitter rival<\/a> Anthony Perruzza. Adrian Heaps, a newly elected Scarborough councillor, also showed up at City Hall to find a barren office. Ron Moeser, a former city councillor until 2003 when he lost to Gay Cowbourne, found an empty office too, though I feel a little less sorry for him since he laid waste to his office before handing it over to Cowbourne.<\/p>\n

Am I the only one surprised that there is no policy or process in place to hand over ALL files gathered during a councillor’s term in office? I find these actions completely undemocratic because the decisions to remove these files are based solely on self-interest and not focused on the needs of constituents.<\/p>\n

These actions are far reaching. Files do not adhere to the rigidity of council terms and remain open long after a councillor has departed. What if a development application was under consideration or a community group had come to some kind of agreement with the councillor? Other departments in the city might have documentation, but how is a councillor to know the files even exist? Having talked to Adam Vaughan on Friday last week, he was excited to get working on issues surrounding the island airport, but any information on the dispute was nowhere to be found.<\/p>\n

I understand that outgoing councillors and their staff have put their blood, sweat and sometimes tears into their work and don’t want the incoming councillor to take all the credit.\u00a0 But outgoing incumbents need to realize that the paperwork they are destroying has much more importance to the city than their bruised egos.<\/p>\n

So I’m going to issue an challenge to the new city council: if you want voters to believe that you’re acting with their best interests at heart, please enact legislation that demands all correspondence and files related to ward issues cannot be destroyed or removed from City Hall and must be passed along to the next city councillor. If my recommended rules are not to their liking, I counter-propose this: upon re-election, they must destroy all files accumulated during their previous term and start from scratch again. If that doesn’t seem fair, then they will start to understand (and possibly remember) the tremendous learning curve and challenges faced by new members of council.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two weeks ago on our Spacing Votes blog, Karen MacKenzie wrote about the transition process faced by newly elected councillors. The article touched on the handing-over of files and information from the incumbent to the councillor-elect. In that piece Gord Perks, the new councillor for Parkdale High Park, comes across as slightly prophetic: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153If I’mContinue reading “The scorched-earth reality of new councillors”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1022,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1050,3906,3908,655,408,3930,3260,313,3256,4061,4060,628,4059,22085,3259,89,1179,314],"class_list":["post-1369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-adam-vaughan","tag-adrian-heaps","tag-anthony-perruzza","tag-city-councillor","tag-councillor","tag-councillor-and-her-assistant","tag-gay-cowbourne","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-gord-perks","tag-incoming-councillor","tag-karen-mackenzie","tag-olivia-chow","tag-peter-lipreti","tag-politics","tag-ron-moeser","tag-scarborough","tag-sylvia-watson","tag-the-globe-and-mail"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe scorched-earth reality of new councillors - Spacing Toronto<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2006\/12\/04\/the-scorched-earth-reality-of-new-councillors\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The scorched-earth reality of new councillors - Spacing Toronto\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Two weeks ago on our Spacing Votes blog, Karen MacKenzie wrote about the transition process faced by newly elected councillors. The article touched on the handing-over of files and information from the incumbent to the councillor-elect. In that piece Gord Perks, the new councillor for Parkdale High Park, comes across as slightly prophetic: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153If I’mContinue reading "The scorched-earth reality of new councillors"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2006\/12\/04\/the-scorched-earth-reality-of-new-councillors\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Spacing Toronto\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2006-12-04T23:32:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2006-12-05T05:42:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/this.is\/mypocket\/works\/you_name_it\/younameit_room01.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Matthew Blackett\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Spacing\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Spacing\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Matthew Blackett\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2006\/12\/04\/the-scorched-earth-reality-of-new-councillors\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2006\/12\/04\/the-scorched-earth-reality-of-new-councillors\/\",\"name\":\"The scorched-earth reality of new councillors - Spacing Toronto\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2006\/12\/04\/the-scorched-earth-reality-of-new-councillors\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2006\/12\/04\/the-scorched-earth-reality-of-new-councillors\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/this.is\/mypocket\/works\/you_name_it\/younameit_room01.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2006-12-04T23:32:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2006-12-05T05:42:15+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#\/schema\/person\/4f3b818d7e3504a6e4626afc774b2574\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2006\/12\/04\/the-scorched-earth-reality-of-new-councillors\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2006\/12\/04\/the-scorched-earth-reality-of-new-councillors\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2006\/12\/04\/the-scorched-earth-reality-of-new-councillors\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/this.is\/mypocket\/works\/you_name_it\/younameit_room01.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/this.is\/mypocket\/works\/you_name_it\/younameit_room01.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2006\/12\/04\/the-scorched-earth-reality-of-new-councillors\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The scorched-earth reality of new councillors\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/\",\"name\":\"Spacing Toronto\",\"description\":\"Canadian Urbanism Uncovered | Toronto Architecture, Urban Design, Public Transit, City Hall, Parks, Walking, Bikes, Streetscape, History, Waterfront, Maps, Public Spaces\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#\/schema\/person\/4f3b818d7e3504a6e4626afc774b2574\",\"name\":\"Matthew Blackett\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3eb8fd719ea39ea94dc1b32911c80f51?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3eb8fd719ea39ea94dc1b32911c80f51?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Matthew Blackett\"},\"description\":\"Matthew Blackett is the publisher, creative director and one of the founders of Spacing magazine. He is the author, editor, and photographer of 11 books. He is also a graphic artist, product designer, and deeply-committed advocate for Toronto. TWITTER: @MatthewBlackett INSTAGRAM: @MatthewBlackett\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/author\/matt\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The scorched-earth reality of new councillors - Spacing Toronto","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2006\/12\/04\/the-scorched-earth-reality-of-new-councillors\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The scorched-earth reality of new councillors - Spacing Toronto","og_description":"Two weeks ago on our Spacing Votes blog, Karen MacKenzie wrote about the transition process faced by newly elected councillors. The article touched on the handing-over of files and information from the incumbent to the councillor-elect. In that piece Gord Perks, the new councillor for Parkdale High Park, comes across as slightly prophetic: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153If I’mContinue reading \"The scorched-earth reality of new councillors\"","og_url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2006\/12\/04\/the-scorched-earth-reality-of-new-councillors\/","og_site_name":"Spacing Toronto","article_published_time":"2006-12-04T23:32:02+00:00","article_modified_time":"2006-12-05T05:42:15+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/this.is\/mypocket\/works\/you_name_it\/younameit_room01.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Matthew Blackett","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Spacing","twitter_site":"@Spacing","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Matthew Blackett","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2006\/12\/04\/the-scorched-earth-reality-of-new-councillors\/","url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2006\/12\/04\/the-scorched-earth-reality-of-new-councillors\/","name":"The scorched-earth reality of new councillors - Spacing Toronto","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2006\/12\/04\/the-scorched-earth-reality-of-new-councillors\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2006\/12\/04\/the-scorched-earth-reality-of-new-councillors\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/this.is\/mypocket\/works\/you_name_it\/younameit_room01.jpg","datePublished":"2006-12-04T23:32:02+00:00","dateModified":"2006-12-05T05:42:15+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#\/schema\/person\/4f3b818d7e3504a6e4626afc774b2574"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2006\/12\/04\/the-scorched-earth-reality-of-new-councillors\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2006\/12\/04\/the-scorched-earth-reality-of-new-councillors\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2006\/12\/04\/the-scorched-earth-reality-of-new-councillors\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/this.is\/mypocket\/works\/you_name_it\/younameit_room01.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/this.is\/mypocket\/works\/you_name_it\/younameit_room01.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2006\/12\/04\/the-scorched-earth-reality-of-new-councillors\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The scorched-earth reality of new councillors"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#website","url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/","name":"Spacing Toronto","description":"Canadian Urbanism Uncovered | Toronto Architecture, Urban Design, Public Transit, City Hall, Parks, Walking, Bikes, Streetscape, History, Waterfront, Maps, Public Spaces","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#\/schema\/person\/4f3b818d7e3504a6e4626afc774b2574","name":"Matthew Blackett","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3eb8fd719ea39ea94dc1b32911c80f51?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3eb8fd719ea39ea94dc1b32911c80f51?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Matthew Blackett"},"description":"Matthew Blackett is the publisher, creative director and one of the founders of Spacing magazine. He is the author, editor, and photographer of 11 books. He is also a graphic artist, product designer, and deeply-committed advocate for Toronto. TWITTER: @MatthewBlackett INSTAGRAM: @MatthewBlackett","url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/author\/matt\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1022"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1369"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1369\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}