{"id":1518,"date":"2007-02-08T03:18:41","date_gmt":"2007-02-08T07:18:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacingtoronto.ca\/?p=1518"},"modified":"2013-01-21T13:18:37","modified_gmt":"2013-01-21T18:18:37","slug":"dale-duncan-at-city-hall-feb-8-2007","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2007\/02\/08\/dale-duncan-at-city-hall-feb-8-2007\/","title":{"rendered":"Dale Duncan at City Hall: Feb 8, 2007"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Getting out the muzzle<\/h3>\n

Allan Crawford isn’t allowed to talk to me anymore. The outspoken Parks, Forestry and Recreation employee faced a disciplinary hearing Feb. 1 for blabbing to me about an idea he had for breathing life back into BikeShare, Toronto’s now-defunct, popular bike-lending program. I wrote about Crawford’s plans in Eye Weekly on Jan. 18 (\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Can BikeShare be saved?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The problem, I’m assuming (since Crawford’s been reprimanded, he’s a little short on details), wasn’t that he was spouting bad ideas, but that he was saying the city had the capability — and cash — to follow through on good ones. When the message coming out of city hall is \u00e2\u20ac\u0153we’re broke,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d having a member of staff tell people they can rejig a few things to find money for certain projects can be dangerous.<\/p>\n

Crawford isn’t the most patient of men — this is the same guy who boasts of building a small BMX park by the Wallace Emerson Community Centre in a matter of three days, and huffs incredulously when anyone asks why the community wasn’t consulted. When Crawford sees an inkling of opportunity to build a program, public space or partnership that’ll promote youth engagement or skills development, he pummels ahead with an enthusiasm that evokes either admiration or exasperation, or a little of both.<\/p>\n

It’s easy to sympathize with the frustration he feels towards policy and protocol. Considering all the people who could use a bit of help in this city, and the urgency with which they need it, taking the time to go though all the proper bureaucratic procedures — such as maybe waiting until council approves its budget before talking to the media — can be excruciating. I suppose that’s what we have to expect when a big government deals with local matters. In a city the size of Toronto, there are many worthy programs to consider. Staff must stay on message. It’s the politicians’ job to make promises they may or may not be able to deliver.<\/p>\n

Rookie city councillor Adam Vaughan says he wasn’t surprised to hear Crawford was disciplined for speaking out of turn. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It’s part of a disturbing sense I get that we’re not supposed to talk about stuff,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he says. Are there more appropriate channels? \u00e2\u20ac\u0153There could be, [but] everything I’ve felt so far [as a councillor], I’ve felt like we’re not supposed to talk about it. I’m finding it really uncomfortable.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

As for BikeShare, cycling advocate Glenn De Baeremaeker says he and other councillors haven’t given up on finding funds for the program yet. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153At the political level, we’re still looking under rocks everywhere,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Getting out the muzzle Allan Crawford isn’t allowed to talk to me anymore. The outspoken Parks, Forestry and Recreation employee faced a disciplinary hearing Feb. 1 for blabbing to me about an idea he had for breathing life back into BikeShare, Toronto’s now-defunct, popular bike-lending program. I wrote about Crawford’s plans in Eye Weekly onContinue reading “Dale Duncan at City Hall: Feb 8, 2007”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4003,"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":[7,21758,21759,2],"tags":[1050,3402,4355,28,408,331,35,423,905,22085,4555,19,4556],"class_list":["post-1518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bikes","category-community","category-features","category-politics","tag-adam-vaughan","tag-advocate","tag-allan-crawford","tag-behaviour","tag-councillor","tag-dale-duncan","tag-dale-duncan-columns","tag-eye-weekly","tag-glenn-de-baeremaeker","tag-politics","tag-rookie-city-councillor","tag-toronto","tag-wallace-emerson-community-centre"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDale Duncan at City Hall: Feb 8, 2007 - 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\/2007\/02\/08\/dale-duncan-at-city-hall-feb-8-2007\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dale Duncan at City Hall: Feb 8, 2007 - Spacing Toronto\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Getting out the muzzle Allan Crawford isn’t allowed to talk to me anymore. 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