Let’s Start the 5% Cuts at City Hall with Councillor’s Salaries, Office Budgets and Political Staff
I have said repeatedly that spending at City Hall has been both out of control and irresponsible. I am not ideologically opposed to taxes or spending, but think each need to have a clear purpose that they are meeting.
The last two councils have increased taxes and spending at an totally unsustainable way and have relied on the Province for annual bailouts. I don’t dispute the Ctiy’s claim that the Province has failed to upload areas of provincial responsibility, but if one looks at how this council has responded to financial pressure – it can hardly be seen as an example of difficult leadership or tough decision making.
I don’t believe each department can or should be cut an arbitrary 5% this year and next. Doing so will hurt good and meaningful programs while leaving wasteful, misguided or otherwise unnecessary programs in 90 to 95% in place.
The annual budget has increased 1.5 billion under David Miller’s leadership. There is undoubtedly an opportunity to dig through all of this new spending and find ineffectively deployed resources. There is an opportunity to look at non core areas of spending and find significant cuts to ineffective spending while preserving program funding for well functioning and necessary resource deployment.
But before this Council attempts another ‘do as we say not as we do’ like they did with the unions during the negoiation that led to the longest strike in our City’s history – they ought to look at their own offices first.
They should cut 5% of their 53 100 office budgets, this year and next. They should cut 5% of their 200 000 staff budgets this year and next. And above all they should cut their own salaries 5% this year and next. They could also cut out the catered council meetings, the free coffee, the free zoo, golf, parking and metro passes they give themselves. While they are at it, they could cancel the city boxes at the Rogers Centre and the Air Canada Centre.
None of this spending does anything but stroke the egos of a bunch of ward bosses who find importance through these perks. Gutting these perks, and cutting back Councillor salaries, political staff salaries and councillor’s office budgets would also help them and their staff understand how difficult the current economic crisis is for many Toronto families. Cuts to their own office resources would also allow them to understand how their cuts to real programming impact the civil service as they deploy services to residents.
It seems to me only fair that these guys start with any cuts closest to themsevles and work out toward residents – who pay more than ever and are receiving less than before for it.
Who is with me?
No Comments »City of Toronto Ombudsman To Hold Meeting In Scarborough
I want to start by saying having an City of Toronto Ombudsman is an incredibly important thing and something I think can be said to be a success of the current City Council.
An Ombudsman helps address systemic barriers to action within an organization. At the City of Toronto, this is an extremely important addition to an organization that is sometimes as clear as mud. One of the problems with an 8.6 billion dollar organization with thousands of employees, dozens of programs and departments and work locations is that it is easy for someone from outside that structure to get lost within it, and see their issue unresolved.
The fact that the Ombudsman is holding ‘regional’ meetings within the City to get out there so people know about the service, how to access her office and seek resolutions this way is extremely important.
I’m quite happy she will be at the Scarborough Civic Centre on Tuesday from 7 to 9PM to meet with Scarborough residents and get a sense of the situation on the ground.
All too often the experience I hear when I speak to folks who have contacted a municipal politician or sought help with a challenging aspect of service delivery from the City is one of a run around. I know from personal experience what a frustrating waste of time it can be trying to navigate contentious issues at City Hall because the mentality appears to be that it is safer for the individual on the other side of the phone, desk or computer to ‘shut down’ instead of help you to resolve whatever has brought you there.
In the absence of an army of effective Councillors to use their muscle to seek resolution on behalf of constituents an office like the office of Ombudsman is extremely important and while a very new experiment in Toronto – one I hope will be extremely successful in helping people access their government efficiently and effectively. Let’s hope she and her seven staff can make it happen.
No Comments »On Bussin’s 90 Seconds of Hot Air
Listen to the audio from Councillor Bussin defending Sandra from Toronto. The last minute and a half Bussin is fighting for her own Radio Show!
I don’t agree with what Sandra from Toronto did. I understand that as a fervent member of Toronto City Council’s establishment on the left, she felt duty bound to defend the record of the Mayor who made her less obscure and acted on many of the things the two believe. I get that as his former Deputy Mayor, and the current City Speaker, defending Miller and attacking a possible mayoral candidate who would likely undo much of what Miller has done made sense to her. But the tactic and approach was all wrong, and even her reaction to her bizarre call in, makes the depth of her lack of judgement appear even deeper than her first appearance did.
Personally speaking, I don’t think you slug someone for trying. One thing a guy like John Tory, or anyone else who has run for public office going for them is the right to say they’ve tried to act on the convictions they hold, and for anyone to try to use electoral failure as an attempt to silence someone else to me (as someone who has failed electorally)seems like a pretty bad thing to do in a democracy. We need opposition to those who govern if we are to maintain a vibrant exchange, accountability and the ability to not get stuck in the status quo. We need incumbents to lose to ensure change for good or bad happens. That’s how our system works. When he is a candidate, hit him for what he says, positions he holds and plans he has – that’s all fine with me, but slamming a guy for holding true to his convictions and sacrificing from his own life to advance his ideas, especially considering he lost in doing so – is totally wrong. If folks of diverting opinions don’t butt heads before, during and after elections, the actual voting part is meaningless and soon so do is the governing.
As difficult as it may be for Bussin to accept, she could be the poster girl for the status quo at this point. She represents the problem with politics at City Hall. She has been a City Councillor since 1997, and given the opportunity I would ask her whether she believes her 13 years on Council have been productive in shaping the City, and the community she represents. When she said yes (as I expect she would), my follow up would be, after 13 years what do you still believe you have to contribute that you haven’t in this particular role. If she seeks re-election will 17 years be enough time to get it done? or will she need 21? or 25 years to get whatever it is she set out to do in 1997. It’s clear I don’t accept the idea of career City Councillors, but I’ll stop here on this as although I think it’s a problem, its a discussion for another time.
Before I continue condemning what Sandra from Toronto/ Councillor Bussin did, I’m going to explore how I think she could have done it better, recognizing that what she was trying to do if it wasn’t so poorly executed and haphazard could have been part of a broader political strategy of progressives to weaken John Tory.
Progressives do have an interest in painting Miller as an icon and guys like Tory as a bad, scary, failure. It makes perfect sense why they would like to do this. Let’s accept that Sandra from Toronto/ Councillor Bussin’s actions were based on furthering this legitimate attempt of the left on Council to shore up support for their next candidate and tear down what they see as the greatest threat.
If you’re Sandra Bussin and you want to roll in the mud on this – do it as Councillor Bussin, not Sandra from Toronto. Sandra from Toronto can’t make news nearly as effectively as Councillor Bussin can. She also doesn’t have the weight to frame an argument as effectively either. If Councillor Bussin decided to wish John Tory luck, to tell him that she expects he will fail and opted to blame it on how strongly his views differ from David Miller, who is probably the most brilliant municipal politician in Canada – that would make news. She could have said almost everything she did, and likely set the agenda for the ‘should John Tory run’ story that will be ongoing until he decides what to do. She couldn’t have been as rabid about it as Sandra from Toronto and been effective, but had she have calmed down before going off at the mouth, she really could have framed the issue. The frame of the story would have been Councillor Bussin takes strip off wannabee Mayor. Not Councillor Bussin screws up huge, critics question judgement in light of bizarre attack on John Tory.
Sandra from Toronto screwed up. She weakened Councillor Bussin, and damaged the ability of progressives to go after someone they will need to if they seek to control to control City Hall.
If Councillor Bussin wanted to be evasive on air, – which is wrong and should never have been done, she should have been smarter about it. My first suggestion would be not to identify by ‘Sandra’ as there is a Councillor Sandra Bussin who is publicly very much a fan of David Miller, who also happens to be from Toronto. My second suggestion would be not to split hairs on who you work for. Councillor Bussin’s income comes from the Corporation of the City of Toronto, her letterhead carries that corporation’s symbol, as does her business card. Her email address directs people to email her at the City of Toronto, and her website calls her ‘Speaker of Toronto City Council’. Yes, ideally Councillors work for their constituents, but they are still very much employed by the City of Toronto in doing so.
My final suggestion would be don’t do it because it is really stupid, dishonest and inappropriate.
I don’t agree with Councillor Bussin or Sandra from Toronto did and think what she said was poorly thought out. Her defense was even worse. This ‘give me my own show bit’ is truly crazy stuff. But at the same time, I do understand why someone with her views would want to frame an argument on the topics she attempted to. Sandra from Toronto messed it up so badly though that it not only backfired, but it got Councillor Bussin pretty good too.
My personal view on any statements I give, is that I only say things I am prepared to stand behind. For me, its just a matter of integrity and sort of a check I have on myself to ensure everything I am saying is honest, and provable. In doing so I am prepared to stake my reputation on the words that come out of my mouth (or fingers). If I were an elected official I imagine that would continue to be the same, particularly because the ability an elected official has to direct media attention on an issue.
Had Sandra from Toronto been thinking rationally and not lashing out in anger as it is clear in her voice and temperament she is, Councillor Bussin could have done a lot of good in trying to frame the argument for a progressive replacement to David Miller, but in failing to do so, she called in an airstrike on herself and left her opponent on the high road, looking down on her perplexed.
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