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Council Highlights
Archive
September
2005 |
As a service to residents of Ward 25, I provide
highlights of the City Council meeting of September 28
to 30, 2005.
Integrity in Municipal Government
With the revelations of the Bellamy report on the
Computer Leasing Scandals still resonating around
City Hall, Council was hit with further allegations of
cronyism and nepotism with respect to the City's hiring
practices. While the only related agenda item was an
"in camera" personnel item, there were several
announcements by Mayor David Miller and City Manager
Shirley Hoy on revisions to relationships with vendors
and administrative practices. Several Councillors,
including myself, renewed calls for immediate action by
the Provincial Government to implement election campaign
finance reform - to ensure that special interest groups
are prevented from continuing their significant funding
of candidates in the next municipal election. I
received a great deal of feedback from constituents on
the issue integrity in government and have found almost
unanimous support for our proposals on campaign finance
reform.
Official Plan Appeals - Partial Settlement
Council approved a settlement of certain provisions of
the Official Plan which were under appeal. The
settlement negotiations conducted among representatives
of ratepayer organizations, developer appellants and
city planning staff had been strongly encouraged by
Mayor David Miller. While it must still be ratified by
the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB), the "out of court"
settlement effectively prevented the OMB from
determining the essence of the outcome. Included in the
settlement were several provisions which provide some
measure of protection for our stable residential
neighbourhoods. These provisions had been at risk from
alternate wording proposed by developers which favoured
much looser controls on evaluation of new development.
New film studio and media complex
Council approved plans for the construction of a large
film studio in the Port Lands area of the Toronto
waterfront. The studio, financed by the private sector,
will be capable of handling "blockbuster" movie
productions. Council's decision authorizes a ground
lease between the Toronto Economic Development
Corporation (TEDCO) and Toronto Film Studios Inc. as
part of the arrangement for the studio complex. A number
of my colleagues expressed concerns about the deal,
particularly around the structure of the long term lease
negotiated by TEDCO. I supported a motion by Councillor
Walker to have our Auditor General review the matter and
report back with his findings within thirty days,
however, this motion was defeated on the floor of
Council.
Future of the Hummingbird Centre
Council supported a proposal for the re-development of
the City's Hummingbird Centre for the Performing Arts.
The project as conceived includes a tall residential
tower and a podium structure housing an interactive
cultural attraction to be called CityCentre, while
preserving the existing theatre. Council directed a
committee to look into alternatives that could be
pursued for the 45-year-old arts facility if enough
money cannot be raised to finance the
CityCentre concept.
The Hummingbird Centre's re-development is intended to
keep the facility financially viable after its two main
tenants - the Canadian Opera Company and the National
Ballet of Canada - move to the brand new Four Seasons
Centre for the Performing Arts next year.
Assistance with flood prevention
The City is taking steps to assist people who
experienced flooding during the August 19 storm in
Toronto. A subsidy is available to help pay for certain
flood-prevention measures. The homes affected were
mainly in the Scarborough and North York areas. Council
decided to reactivate an earlier subsidy program in
order to help people pay for the installation of a
back-flow valve designed to prevent
storm-sewer overflow from entering homes through
basement water pipes. The subsidy is also available to
help people install sump pumps and disconnect roof
downspouts. The City's web site offers more details at
www.toronto.ca/water.
Limits on bags of garbage
Council lowered the current limit of six garbage bags
for bi-weekly residential curbside collection to five
bags, effective April 1, 2006. A further reduction to
four bags takes effect in April 2007. Limiting the
number of garbage bags for landfill disposal supports
the City's strategy for achieving its goal of 60 per
cent rate of diversion for single family homes by 2008.
Exceptional circumstances, such as large families, may
warrant an exemption from the bag limit. Families must
apply and be pre-approved by the City to qualify for an
exemption. Most single-family dwellings are already
well within the allowable bag limit.
Waterfront renewal
Council took another step in the revitalization of
Toronto's waterfront, approving the implementation plan
for the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation's
new structure. The organization now includes the Mayor
of Toronto as a member of the corporation's board of
directors. The City, the Province of Ontario and the
Government of Canada have together given the waterfront
corporation the role of "master developer" responsible
for creating a dynamic, accessible and sustainable
Toronto waterfront. In a related decision, Council
approved a five-year business plan and 10-year forecast
defining priorities for the waterfront initiative.
Labour settlement with Local 79
Council approved the Memorandum of Agreement between the
City and CUPE Local 79, bringing into effect tentative
agreements that were reached in August. The four-year
agreements, covering approximately 20,000 City workers
in four bargaining units represented by Local 79, are
retroactive to January 1, 2005 and expire on December
31, 2008. Key issues were wages, seniority rights and
provisions for contracting out work. Council also
approved salary increases for non-union staff and
elected officials.
Hiring of police officers
Council granted Toronto Police Services authority to
hire 50 new police officers this year and an additional
100 next year, bringing the total complement to 5,456
police officer positions. Funding is to be provided
through Toronto Police Services surpluses and provincial
funds.
Managing information technology
Council endorsed a proposed inventory system that will
be used to track the distribution of computers and other
electronic equipment (such as copiers and fax machines)
in the organization. All purchases of electronic assets
are co-ordinated centrally by the Information and
Technology Division. The asset management system is
designed to manage the technology life cycle
effectively.
Consultation on new street signs
Council directed staff to establish a review process,
including public consultation, to consider proposed
changes to the design of street name signs that are put
up as old signs are gradually replaced in the many
communities that now make up Toronto. The City's Urban
Design Section and the Roundtable on a Beautiful City
will be asked to participate.
Appointment - Board of Directors, Municipal Property
Assessment Corporation (MPAC)
The City of Toronto Council, while paying approximately
20%-25% of MPAC's operating costs, recently had its
representation on the 24-member MPAC Board of Directors
increased from zero to one. Council has appointed me as
the City of Toronto's representative to the Board. As a
long time advocate of improvements to the policies and
procedures of MPAC, I am looking forward to taking up
this new challenge and will work towards increasing the
fairness of assessments for all property owners and for
bringing greater openness and accountability to MPAC.
Committee Items
Two items are working their way through the Committee
system and will get to Council soon. The first is a
proposal, called Enhancing the Business Climate, which
would significantly increase residential taxation - in
order to reduce the municipal taxes of our commercial
and industrial sectors. The theory is that reduced
business taxes will prevent an exodus of business and
jobs from Toronto - and hence prosperity will be
maintained. While this is an admirable objective, it is
not clear how this will be measured and it could simply
be a benefit conferred on a few at the expense of all
homeowners. This item will be considered at the Policy
and Finance Committee on October 20. If you wish to
make your views known, you can do so in person or in
writing. You may also wish to copy Mayor Miller at
mayor_miller@toronto.ca.
The second is a proposal called Right to Access, which
would permit property owners to make repairs and
alterations to their property by accessing a
neighbouring property. The original proposal did not
provide for any notice to or rights for the neighbouring
property owner. I proposed an amendment which would
provide rights to the neighbour in these circumstances.
This is currently being evaluated by city staff and will
be a future item at the Planning and Transportation
Committee. Again, you are welcome to make your views on
this issue to the Committee.
OMB Reform
I continue to work with a group of seven other
Councillors and ratepayer representatives to actively
press the Provincial Government to implement significant
reform of the Ontario Municipal Board. The OMB's
pattern of decisions over the last decade has
significant affected the stability of our wonderful
residential communities. We have visited Queen's Park
several times to advocate changes to the OMB. It is
very clear that new rules and new people are required
for the OMB. There are recent indications that the
Government will very soon be announcing proposals for
OMB Reform.
If you wish to unsubscribe to Council Highlights, please
e-mail me at
councillor_jenkins@toronto.ca.
For more information on any topic, please call my office
at 416-395-6408 or check my website
www.cliffjenkins.com.
Cliff Jenkins
Councillor, Ward 25
City of Toronto
phone: 416-395-6408
FAX: 416-395-6439
e-mail:
Councillor_Jenkins@toronto.ca
or visit my website:
www.CliffJenkins.com
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