{"id":18561,"date":"2011-03-14T14:09:27","date_gmt":"2011-03-14T18:09:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacingtoronto.ca\/?p=18561"},"modified":"2011-03-15T13:36:28","modified_gmt":"2011-03-15T17:36:28","slug":"lorinc-the-gang-of-six-swing-votes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2011\/03\/14\/lorinc-the-gang-of-six-swing-votes\/","title":{"rendered":"LORINC: The gang of six swing votes"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

For anyone interested in the tectonics of the 2010-2014 council, last week\u2019s tortured evening session \u2013 dedicated to the bloody business of rooting out the Toronto Community Housing Corp.\u2019s board and replacing it with Case Ootes \u2013 offers a glimpse of how politics in Rob Ford\u2019s city hall will work, or not, in coming years.<\/p>\n

Because the meeting ended so late, well past the deadlines of the major dailies, some of the more intriguing details of council\u2019s decision haven\u2019t really penetrated the public consciousness.<\/p>\n

Yes, we all know the brothers Ford got their way and canned the board, this despite the fact that auditor-general Jeff Griffiths, in his report on the procurement problems<\/a> [PDF], made it clear the directors had in fact passed several policies calling on the TCHC brass to be more diligent about purchasing decisions.<\/p>\n

But the politics of accountability prevailed on Wednesday night, and in more ways than one. Consider the other motions that accompanied the sacking<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u2022 That Ootes\u2019 compensation and term of office be made public;
\n\u2022 That TCHC begin posting on its website the expenses of all staff and directors earning more than $100,000;
\n\u2022 That the board (i.e., Ootes) directly approves all purchases over $1,000 while they (he) are re-writing the procurement rules;
\n\u2022 And that the TCHC disclose all meetings between the managing director (Ootes) and lobbyists.<\/p>\n

Every one of these successful secondary motions came from the centre-left, and specifically the following sponsoring councillors (in order): Josh Colle, Shelley Carroll (twice), and Adam Vaughan. All the resulting votes were split sharply along partisan lines, with the mayor\u2019s regulars opposing each one.<\/p>\n

Which brings me to the core of the issue, and specifically six individuals who hold a remarkable degree of power in the city these days, though I believe they, as a group, have yet to realize the extent of their influence.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The swing vote bloc on this council comprises the following six councillors: Ana Bailao (Davenport), Josh Colle (Eglinton Lawrence), Mary-Margaret McMahon (Beaches East York), Michelle Berardinetti (Scarborough South-west), Josh Matlow (St. Paul\u2019s) and Jaye Robinson (Don Valley West). Some lean more to the left (Bailao and Matlow) and others lean more to the right (Robinson and Berardinetti). But if last week\u2019s votes were an indication, neither the left nor the right owns them outright, and therefore they are worth watching.<\/p>\n

Looking for bellwethers? My nominations would be Colle and McMahon.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

click chart to view it larger<\/em><\/p>\n

A few notes: They are all rookies, but not all 14 newbies on council swing, as it were. Kristyn Wong-Tam and Mike Layton almost never break ranks from the left, and James Pasternak and Vincent Crisanti have a similar voting record with the mayor\u2019s gang. As well, there are a few right-of-centre veterans who will occasionally exercise a measure of independent thought, including Chin Lee, Frank DiGiorgio, and Gloria Lindsay Luby.<\/p>\n

For the 15 substantive motions moved during the TCHC board debate, all but Robinson supported each of the left\u2019s three winning motions. As well, Colle scored near unanimity on both his substantive motions (the other had to do with ensuring the new board would be in place by mid-June).<\/p>\n

Interestingly, Berardinetti (who is related by marriage to Josh Colle and his father, Eglinton-Lawrence Liberal Mike Colle) managed to pull off a perfect at-bat, voting with the winning side on every one of the main motions, including those put forward by the centre-left. McMahon, who beat left-winger Sandra Bussin last fall, and Robinson, who beat a right-winger in Cliff Jenkins, also voted mainly, though not exclusively, with the right. Of the two, McMahon seems more willing to side with the opposition.<\/p>\n

Bailao, Colle and Matlow \u2014 whose wards include large chunks of the old City of Toronto \u2014 mostly voted against the mayor\u2019s party, but not consistently so. Colle \u2014 unlike Bailao and Matlow \u2014 did opt to support the Fords\u2019 bid to oust the TCHC board, reckoning that the broad brush politics of this tale won\u2019t be altered [editor’s note: this sentence has been corrected from an earlier version]<\/em>.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the moral of the story? Certainly, if I were one of these six politicians, I\u2019d probably take care not to align myself too closely with one side or the other, thus increasing my leverage and the price of my support.<\/p>\n

For progressive voters who have mounting concerns about the way the brothers Ford intend to run this city, the trick will be figuring out what makes these politicians uncomfortable enough to risk the wrath of the mayor\u2019s whips. Indeed, if the centre-left block on council actually wants to rein in the right, they\u2019d be wise to spend some serious time trying to understand how the city looks to the gang of six.<\/p>\n

Not to be overly dramatic, but as they go, so goes Toronto.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For anyone interested in the tectonics of the 2010-2014 council, last week\u2019s tortured evening session \u2013 dedicated to the bloody business of rooting out the Toronto Community Housing Corp.\u2019s board and replacing it with Case Ootes \u2013 offers a glimpse of how politics in Rob Ford\u2019s city hall will work, or not, in coming years.Continue reading “LORINC: The gang of six swing votes”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4051,"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":[1050,17242,17245,3907,22100,17241,14213,1365,722,16347,16562,17151,16538,14860,15291,3005,9112,426,16585,15150,227,3994,1276,19,17243,391,16526,17244,496],"class_list":["post-18561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-adam-vaughan","tag-ana-bailao-davenport","tag-beaches-east-york","tag-chin-lee","tag-editor","tag-eglinton-lawrence-liberal-mike-colle","tag-frank-digiorgio","tag-general","tag-gloria-lindsay-luby","tag-james-pasternak","tag-jaye-robinson","tag-jeff-griffiths","tag-josh-colle","tag-josh-matlow","tag-kristyn-wong-tam","tag-managing-director","tag-mary-margaret-mcmahon","tag-mayor","tag-michelle-berardinetti","tag-mike-layton","tag-rob-ford","tag-sandra-bussin","tag-shelley-carroll","tag-toronto","tag-toronto-community-housing-corp","tag-usd","tag-vincent-crisanti","tag-winger","tag-york"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLORINC: The gang of six swing votes - 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