City Council — June 2013
June 11–13, 2013
146 posts
Am I crazy or has Doug Holyday spoken out about the mayor and his issues even more than Robinson has?
New priorities for the Ford administration include speaking really quietly THEN REALLY LOUDLY!!
At #tocouncil, Coun. Lindsay Luby wants to know if we can buy some sort of robot which picks up illegally-parked cars and then eats them.
Rob Ford is up to speak about traffic signal coordination. "This has been an ongoing problem in this city for numerous years."
"Traffic congestion is costing this city billions of dollars every year," says Ford. FLASHBACK TO: mayor opposing transit funding tools.
Coun. Shiner: "This is tinkering like tinkerbell! This is a tinkerbell report!" He is mad about developments causing traffic.
Coun. Shiner says he has floated the idea of a moratorium on development until public transit is built, and constituents like it.
Coun. Perks points out that congestion isn't necessarily a bad thing, because it means people are moving around, doing stuff. Yeah.
(Cities where traffic moves well downtown are generally cities where nothing happens downtown.)
Doug Ford rises to try to take a few shots at councillors who support Sheppard LRT. Points of privilege are raised. And so on.
Doug Ford thinks it's "wonderful" that downtowners can walk everywhere. "But that's not reality!" Suburban people rely on a car, he says.
"And we're going to destroy this city by ramming -- RAMMING! -- streetcars and causing traffic congestion for years!" Guess who said it.
"I'm surprised Councillor Perks isn't asking for horse-and-buggy back!" Doug Ford declares.
And now Giorgio Mammoliti has a motion that "anywhere south of Davenport be reverted to horse and buggy and all asphalt be removed..."
Also Mammoliti moves that "City Council suggest that residents dress in period costume reminiscent of pioneer times."
Expect an angry letter from the butter-churners union.
For the record, I was exaggerating a bit about the car-eating thing, but this is all really happening.
"Sorry, not horse-and-buggy because some of you will think the horses are being mistreated," clarifies Mammoliti. And then he sits down.
Nunziata rules Mammoliti's horse-and-buggy motion out of order. Mammoliti rises to challenge the chair. So we will actually vote on this.
"I believe that the horse-and-buggy is out of order," says Nunziata. Mihevc makes a "cart before the horse" joke.
And everyone votes to rule Mammoliti's horse-and-buggy motion out of order except for Mammoliti, Shiner and Del Grande.
For diehards, there's a special budget committee meeting to discuss the 2012 surplus set for 1 p.m. in Committee Room 1.
And council adopts some traffic signal coordination on a unanimous vote, 39-0. Government rolls on.
Perks motion to extend council lunch break to allow for more time at budget committee fails 22-17. Gonna be a quick one.
Ford says he'll take questions. Reporter starts running through the list of unanswered questions @reporterdonpeat assembled. Ford leaves.
To be fair, @ddale8 wasn't asking about the drug issue, but rather asking when exactly Ford addressed the drug issue as he claims he did.
Here at budget comm, Vaughan points out city has $186m in surplus in the capital reserves but isn't spending it on fixing TCHC homes today.
Vaughan has motion that'd put 10% of the land transfer tax surplus toward immediate TCHC capital repairs.
Vaughan also wants unspent money in Shelter, Support & Housing and City Planning budgets returned to those divisions.
Back at #tocouncil for the debate on Proposed Electoral Reform. Outcome of this will either be terribly exciting or just, you know, terrible
Milczyn asks staff if municipal political parties could be part of electoral reform. Maybe, but it would make watching council so boring.
Now Coun. Minnan-Wong moves to receive the entire electoral reform report for information, i.e. shoot it into space.
Minnan-Wong is mad about the idea of extending the right to vote to permanent residents. Wants people to apply for citizenship.
Minnan-Wong suggests that giving permanent residents the right to vote municipally would mean some people wouldn't bother becoming citizens.
Coun. McConnell has some motions: one to create more voting days on the weekend. Second to allow Permanent Residents the right to vote.
Now Coun. Pasternak has a motion that elections not be held on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays or religious holidays.
Mammoliti rises to predictably oppose giving permanent residents the vote. "This is not a priority for my community!" he says.
Mammoliti mentions St. Clair when speaking about voting reform. On cue, Councillor Ainslie hands Councillor Mihevc a twenty dollar bill.
Now Wong-Tam has a motion that would request the Ontario government to look at ranked ballots. Yes, yes, yes.
(Ranked ballots for Toronto elections, I mean. Also internet voting. Sure.)
Coun. Milczyn has a motion that requests a report on which Canadian cities allow political parties at municipal level.
Now Milczyn says we should be like California with initiative ballots and referendums and such. Yes, because it works so well for them.
Coun. Ainslie explains that electoral reform came about because Ford asked him to make government more open and transparent.
Coun. Davis gives @meslin a shout-out for his Fourth Wall exhibit and all the other cool stuff he does.
Mammoliti says it's ironic that council's left-wing is pushing electoral reform when people are currently fleeing communist countries.
"This is going to cost the taxpayers a lot of money!" Mammoliti only wants e-voting for people so disabled they can't get out of bed.
Now Doug Ford wants to know why Adam Vaughan went to CFM in Vancouver to learn about e-voting when he could have just googled it.
Holyday and Del Grande are about to speak on this item. Brace yourself.
Councillor Berardinetti has a motion to shorten the election period to 6-8 weeks. Currently, the election period is a year.
Officially, I mean. In Fordlandia, the election period is now. Each day. Every day. Forever.
I like the idea of a shorter campaign period, but it'd give incumbents a bigger advantage unless they really tightened up some rules.
Councillor Del Grande is up now, telling a story from what he was a kid in the 1950s, the child of Italian immigrants.
Del Grande too seems to believe that extending the municipal vote to permanent residents would somehow "devalue" citizenship.
Stintz is opposing extending the vote to permanent residents. It's not her best speech.
Doug Ford said he didn't have the right to vote municipally when he lived in Chicago. "YES YOU DID!" say like 9 councillors simultaneously.
Doug Ford characterizes ranked ballots as another attempt to get rid of the mayor. Then he advocates for a strong mayor system.
And we're getting ready to vote on electoral reform motions. My motion to decide elections by spinning a giant wheel went unmoved.
First motion: Denzil Minnan-Wong wants to kill all electoral reform items by receiving it. That fails 16-25. Fords in favour.
Second motion: Pam McConnell wants to ask province to extend the right to vote to permanent residents. PASSES 21-20! Wow.
Next: James Pasternak wants to make sure elections aren't held on religious days or holidays. It passes 34-7.
Filion amendment to only look at ranked ballots for mayoral election fails 15-26.
Now Wong-Tam's motion to look at RANKED BALLOTS (!!!) and internet voting passes 26-15.
Mammoliti is heckling the votes, suggesting that by looking at electoral reform councillors are ignoring transit and other issues.
Vaughan motion to look at internet voting for disabled persons passes 31-10. Fords against it because, well, who knows.
Carroll motion to consult with Ministry of Municipal Affairs on Election Finance Review passes 31-10.
Here's the vote on the McConnell motion re: extending the vote to Permanent Residents. Very close. http://t.co/e8P4mMTZzn
And here's the vote on Wong-Tam's motion re: ranked ballots. http://t.co/ILdWLWqojo
(I got the rest of 'em too. Let me know if you have any requests.)
.@JayeRobinson, it should be noted, didn't vote with the Fords on any of those significant electoral reform motions.
Per a request from @SharkDancing, here's the vote on Vaughan's motion re: internet voting for disabled persons. http://t.co/BOcTcUCClw
I guess the Fords tried to impress people with a mysterious $10 million cheque from Build Toronto. But come on. it wasn't even novelty size.
You can't walk around giving out stuff like this and then try to impress us with normal-sized cheques. https://www.canoe.ca/
"I know as much as you do right now," says Rob Ford. Ford also tells reporters, I think, that his "cable was out all night."
Yes, confirmed. Mayor Rob Ford was without cable television for all of last night, he says. More on this as it develops.
New chapter in Toronto's plastic bag saga as report recommends educational campaign encouraging reusable bag use. https://secure.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2013.PW24.2
25 councillors in the chamber this morning for day 3 of their meeting. Lending too much credibility to Ford's "cut council in half" plan.
Good to see @Ward18AnaBailao put her name down in favour of bike lanes on Bloor. https://secure.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2013.PW24.10
Pretty concerned about the mayor's cable. @RogersHelps, please get on this. @TOMayorFord needs to stay informed.
Ford says he hasn't been briefed by Chief Blair yet. He has "no other information." Ford is not aware if he's being investigated.
At council, Budget Chief Di Giorgio is criticizing councillors who take in Section 37 funds but don't use it to build affordable housing.
Ford says the reality is that "he inherited a complete mess at Toronto Community Housing."
Ford again lauds TCHC Gene Jones for turning things around at the housing corp. Now Ford is back to talking about the auditor's report.
"Why did I get rid of the board? I'll remind people." He's reading off wasteful expenses from the auditor's report.
This is an odd message from Ford. Yes, seniors were evicted unfairly, but we really tackled that spending scandal!
Ford is now comparing eviction numbers from 2008 versus 2011. "Obviously my administration is doing the right thing!"
"You have to be there to see the improvements that have been made under the new leadership of Mr. Jones," explains Ford to Gord Perks.
Ford says no seniors in TCHC have called him to say they're going to be evicted. So they don't exist?
Ford: "As far as I know, no seniors have called me saying they're being evicted. If there is a problem, I'm sure that TCHC sends notices."
Holy hell, did he even read this thing?
Ford to Perks: "I KNOW IT'S SENSITIVE! I KNOW IT'S SENSITIVE! YOU'RE THE SAME PERSON THAT CONDONED ---"
This is old-school Councillor Ford stuff. He's shaking with rage.
Ford: "More people were evicted under David Miller's regime than Rob Ford's. That's a fact."
Doug Ford: "The left side of this council attacks you constantly! We don't do the same to them!"
Vaughan asks Ford if he supports sending notices in tenant's language. Ford says there's always a translator available when he visits TCHC.
Vaughan asks again if Ford would support sending notices in tenant's first language. "At what cost?" asks Ford in response.
Ford suggests that sending councillors to the FCM conference cost $100,000 and all that money could have gone to TCHC.
Ford says councillors have been "unfairly attacking Mr. Jones' leadership." Says Jones has done more in one year than some have done in five
Matlow asks Ford if he supports the ombudsman's recommendations. "Some of them," Ford says.
Ford: "I can't support having Ms. Crean doing Mr. Jones' job." Ford thinks all evictions should just go through the CEO.
Ford of Jones' work at the TCHC re: evictions: "Obviously he has fixed the problem." Wow.
Coun. Cho asks why Ford kicked him off the TCHC Board in 2011. Ford says it's because Cho approved wasteful expenses. Cho denies this.
Cho asks Ford which recommendations he supports specifically. Ford estimates that ombudsman made 100 recs. She made 30.
Carroll tries to ask Ford about "Mr. C" in the ombudsman report. Ford instead tells her how he would deal with a tenant not paying rent.
And we're going to a ten minute recess. Anyone want to play tetherball?
That councillors get to ask questions of the mayor anytime she or he speaks is one of my favourite procedural things.
We're back. Davis asks Ford if he disputes the facts in the report. Ford again says he inherited a mess at TCHC.
"I know that I've been to more TCHC units than any person in this council chamber," says Ford.
Ford now lists off all the councillors who voted against his 2011 motion to dissolve the TCHC Board and replace them with Case Ootes.
Ford now says Davis supports the misappropriation of funds. Davis asks that Ford withdraw that remark. Davis asks for Speaker ruling.
Nunziata asks Ford to apologize to Councillor Davis for his comment. Ford sort of withdraws it, but off-mic. Davis wants him to say it again
Most of the old TCHC board ultimately resigned. The issue at council in 2011 was was whether to kick off tenant reps, appoint Case Ootes.
Davis points out 75 evictions of seniors in 2011/2012 per ombudsman report. She asks if Ford disputes those numbers. Ford returns to old #s.
"Nobody supports Toronto Community Housing more than I do!" responds Ford to a bunch of Davis questions. Nunziata moves things along.
Ford: "Adam Vaughan's blowing me kisses." Pam McConnell is trying to ask questions. I dunno.
McConnell suggests that Ford's previous administration eviction number includes procedural evictions part of Regent Park/Alex Park projects.
Ford: "I know I do a fantastic job in helping people in Toronto Community Housing. If they call me, I'll be there."
And that is all the questions for Rob Ford. What a ride.
Ford votes against Matlow motion that'd see ombudsman informed on all TCHC evictions. But it passes 28-8.
Doug Ford votes against ombudsman's report on TCHC. Rob Ford not in the chamber for vote.
"All of the evidence will come out in court," says Police Chief Bill Blair. And we all squint and read between those lines.
First question to Blair is about Ford and the alleged crack video. Blair says he is "not able to disclose."
Reporter asks if Mayor Rob Ford is linked in any way to this investigation. Blair won't say.
.@stephaniesmyth on CP24 says police have wire taps of "persons of interest" discussing the alleged Ford crack video.
Ford says there was a white Dodge Caravan following him last night and taking photos. License plate is BPVW345.
"I've already answered all these questions! I have nothing to do with this!" declares Ford to reporters as he walks to the elevator.
Ah, so the confidential report on Toronto Port Lands Co.'s 2011 consulting contracts has been made public. https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2013/cc/bgrd/backgroundfile-59488.pdf (PDF)
It lists 2 $25,000 sole-sourced contracts for work on the alternative port lands plan championed by Doug Ford. You remember the Ferris Wheel
Doug Ford is painting himself and TPLC as victims in the port lands fight, because Waterfront Toronto has a well-paid communications person.
Doug Ford: "If if it wasn't for this proposal, we'd still have a city dump ... on the most valuable land on city waterfront in the country!"
(The Commissioners solid waste drop-off depot still exists in the port lands.)
Doug Ford wants to know if Pam McConnell was involved in the "Blue... whatever they were called." He means @CodeBlueTO.
I don't think there's a single councillor left that takes Doug Ford seriously. He speaks and then there's just jokes and laughter.
Rob Ford just sent me an email letting me know I'll be getting emails. I am patient and understanding. http://t.co/3aSFJ2syyL
(The email also spells 'involvement' as 'invovement' but come on. Be patient and understanding.)
Ford says reducing council will save "a lot of time and taxpayer money." Says "that's what the people of this great city want."
Mayor Ford says he has "talked to numerous people and they always say, 'Why do you have so many councillors?'"
"That's one of the reasons," Ford says. "Matlow gets Mihevc. I'd love to see that one." Says he'd have to support @JoshMatlow.
Council approves a @gordperks motion that deletes mayor's reduce-the-size-of-council recommendation 23-10. Doug votes against Rob!
Here's the vote that pretty well kills any hope of Ford delivering on his council-shrinking campaign promise. http://t.co/9cukS2Ge9W
