All Entries Tagged With: "Toronto City Council"
Ashton: Ford May Stop The Gravy Train, But Here Comes The Grease
Former councillor Brian Ashton suggests that mayor-elect Rob Ford may need some political grease to get his agenda through: “For our new mayor, it’s not all roses and “watch-people-jump” when you speak. You are where the buck stops and media criticism begins. The bag of goodies is indispensable for greasing the political slews, but is [...]
Globe Ed: Rob Ford’s Election Is A Mandate For Change
The Globe and Mail editorial board offers that the larger challenge for mayor-elect Rob Ford is to successfully bring change to Toronto: “Mr. Ford ran a blunt campaign that fed an appetite for change. He responded to, as he put it in his victory speech last night, a popular sense that “enough is enough”. But [...]
Star Editorial: Ford Needs To Reach Out
The Toronto Star Editorial Board thinks that mayor-elect Rob Ford’s first order of business is to start building bridges with Council and other stakeholders: “He needs to extend a hand beyond the right-wing councillors who backed his campaign to the more progressive ones who opposed him. It would make sense for Ford to put at [...]
Levy: City Hall’s Broken, Voters Want It Fixed
The Sun’s Sue Ann Levy offers her thoughts on last night’s election results – voters are fed up: “By giving Ford the nod, Toronto citizens have said enough to wasteful spending on pet projects while basic needs like road repairs, parks maintenance and our dirty streets are consistently neglected. They’ve said enough to self-serving politicians [...]
James: What Happens Now? Four Turbulent Years
Royson James predicts that the next four years will be marked by political battles as Mayor Ford works to push his agenda through council: “Issues like contracting out garbage services and ending sole-source contracting and the sale of city assets promise titanic struggles among the left-leaning councillors. And any mayor who attempts to cut front-line [...]
Mayor-Elect Ford, Meet Your Fresh-Faced Council
The wave of change did not stop at the mayor’s chair last night, as a full six incumbent councillors went down to defeat last night, putting a total of 14 new faces on council: “It is this council that will have to deal with the extraordinary Mr. Ford, who not only comes with an aggressive [...]
James: Vote Evokes Caution Where Others Boldly Go
Royson James notes that neither of the two mayoral frontrunners evoke a strong positive reaction, which will have an impact over the next four years, no matter who wins: “Rarely have Toronto residents approached the polling booth with such uncertainty to elect a new mayor. And if the opinion polls of the last week are [...]
Worthington: Behind The Rob Ford Surprise
Sun pundit Peter Worthington looks at why Rob Ford has had such success in the 2010 election, when incumbents are under fire: The fact that council on occasion has wanted Ford reprimanded or punished for not spending enough on his own office, or for buying his own paper clips, is hardly reason for voting him [...]
Mayoral Promise, Meet Reality
The Globe and Mail examines how difficult it is for the Mayor of Toronto to follow through on their promises, especially compared to U.S. jurisdictions: As noble a pursuit as politics may be, many of the city’s best and brightest clearly believe it’s easier to get things done outside of city hall. Contrast that to [...]
Nickle: New Council And Mayor As Shackled As The Last
Pundit David Nickle figures that no matter who wins in just over a week, change will not be easy to come by: “The reality is that any mayor and council who comes into the job is going to be facing the same constrained set of options as shackled the last. The city’s books never balance [...]
Soknacki: Rob Ford’s War On Waste
In a guest editorial in the Star, former budget chief David Soknacki offers insight on Rob Ford’s tactics to fight spending as a councillor and why he was often a lone wolf: “If any other councillor found savings, they would typically be brought to budget committee and offered in exchange for funding one of that [...]
Kuitenbrouwer: Representation From The Outside
The Post’s Peter Kuitenbrouwer notes that a full 13 members of council do not live in the ward that they represent: “Perhaps the most creative spin on not living in one’s ward goes to Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti (York West), who represents the city’s northwest, ranging to the north border of Toronto on Steeles Avenue, but [...]
James: Scent Of Mayor’s Power Attracts City Councillors
Royson James of the Toronto Star wonders which councillors will offer their endorsements as they determine which candidate has the best chance of becoming mayor: “This is politics, yes. Make it personal and you violate the rules of the game. So, expect others to saddle up to the Rob Ford cavalry, even as the hardline [...]
The Smell Test: Ford’s Thrifty Budget
The Toronto Star examines the claims from mayoral candidate Rob Ford that he had saved taxpayers significant money by not dipping into his office budget: “Smell test: By rarely touching his office budget (in 2005, he expensed only $2) and paying for some things out of his own pocket, he has not spent about $530,000 [...]
Ford Hammers Away At Duel Themes: Better Customer Service And More Accountability
This morning, mayoral candidiate Rob Ford unveiled more details on his plans to increase accountability at Toronto City Hall: “Announcing the second part of his “taxpayer protection plan” outside his company’s Etobicoke label-making factory, Ford did say his team is “running a very good campaign.” “We’re going to put an end to the party at [...]
Hume: The Party’s Over Regardless Of Who Becomes Mayor
The Star’s Christopher Hume thinks we’ve already seen the outcome of this year’s election: “Anger against politicians has reached such a fever pitch that some now see incumbency, the city councillor’s greatest asset, as a liability. And yet, Ford is himself a 10-year council veteran. If term limits existed, he might already have outstayed his [...]
Thomson Announces Accountability Platform
Mayoral candidate Sarah Thomson has outlined her “Honest Day” accountability platform for Toronto City Hall, where she pledges, amongst other initiatives, that she will dock the pay of members of Council who miss meetings: “Queen’s Park requires senior government people to be in the Legislature. We should have similar responsibilities at this hall. Hard work [...]
