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Council Highlights
Archive
July 2006 |
 The
Council Highlights are provided as a service to
constituents in Ward 25. The following is a brief
summary of Council’s meeting held on July 25, 26 and 27th
2006.
2007-2010 capital plan
Council approved a 2007-2010 Capital Plan that will
guide the City’s financial planning and annual capital
budget process. The City will require an estimated $5.5
billion for the next four years merely to maintain
infrastructure and other capital assets in a state of
good repair. In adopting the Capital Plan, Council
expressed support for efforts to establish funding
partnerships to help pay for new capital projects and
control the debt load. Council further decided to
liquidate our $980 million investment in Toronto Hydro -
to help pay for the City’s major new infrastructure and
environmental projects. In my view, this is
completely wrong-headed, for many reasons. While we
have been foolishly nibbling at the Hydro Bond for the
last few years to cover shortfalls in capital dollars,
we should be funding new capital requirements at the
time we approve the population growth that drives the
requirement for new infrastructure – namely through
appropriate residential development charges (RDCs).
After the $980 million is gone – in three or four years
– then what will we do? In the meantime, our interest
received from the investment will shrink
correspondingly, thus putting upward pressure on
operating funds and on property taxes annually. I
strongly oppose this type of short-term thinking.
Compensation
for elected officials
Council narrowly approved, by a vote of 22 to 21, a pay
increase for members of Council to take effect on
January 1, 2007 for those elected this November. I
voted in opposition. Councillors’ current salary of
about $87,000 will increase to $95,000 and the Mayor’s
from about $148,000 to $160,000. This will put
Council’s salaries at the 75th percentile of
comparable municipalities. Under the new policy,
Councillors will also receive annual cost of living
increases during the term and an automatic additional
increase, without further public scrutiny, at the
beginning of subsequent terms if/when other
municipalities play leapfrog, dropping us below the 75th
percentile in the meantime. It was disturbing to see
many Councillors vote out of pure self-interest in this
matter. Some tried to argue that increased salaries
will attract better people to run for office –
conveniently omitting the barrier of the unfair
advantage that incumbents have in being able to use
surplus funds from fundraising in the prior election.
Some incumbents will start the 2006 election with
$30,000 or more – enough to fund a full campaign without
doing any new fundraising. And many willingly accept
donations from companies and unions – often with an
interest in City business. Furthermore, the optics of
voting ourselves a pay increase while we are struggling
to balance our annual budget are terrible. As one
constituent I represent put it – “First provide results,
then you get reward!” – that’s good advice.
Green
development standard
Council approved a set of principles and targets that
are intended to promote environmentally sustainable site
and building design. The Toronto Green Development
Standard will be applied to developments undertaken by
the City and its agencies, and will be provided as a
voluntary guide for the private sector. The City will
encourage other
Ontario
cities to take a similar approach to promoting
sustainable development and will ask the province to
consider making green standards mandatory for site and
building design.
Capital
Repairs in Edwards Gardens and Wilket Creek
Council approved $1.2 million to be reallocated, within
2006, to essential repairs in municipal parks hit hard
by the August 19, 2005
storm – for a major part in
Edwards Gardens and Wilket Creek. Current estimates
place the cost of repairing all the bridges, parking
lots and trails across the City damaged in that storm at
$4.7 million. Additional funding to continue the
repairs will be considered in the 2007 budget process.
With global climate change, it appears that such storms
will occur with increasing frequency. That means it
will be critical to establish an infrastructure strategy
to minimize such future damage to our natural areas.
And since intensification of the City continues to
reduce the amount of land available to absorb storm
water, we must devise other retention strategies to
avoid transmitting storm water to our streams and creeks
so rapidly. It will take infrastructure money – and I
continue to believe that money should be sourced, at
least in part, from development which intensifies the
City.
Posters on public property
Council finally adopted a policy on posters, intended to
help the City control visual clutter in public places
while permitting small posters such as community-based
notices about civic and charitable events. The City
will permit such notices to be attached to utility poles
but not to traffic-control devices, street furniture or
trees. The City also plans to set up kiosks that people
can use for community notices. A related bylaw is
expected to be enacted once the kiosks are ready.
Designing
tall buildings
Council approved design criteria that will be applied in
the City’s reviews of proposed tall building projects in
Toronto.
The guidelines will be tested for a year and then
incorporated in an updated edition of the Urban Design
Handbook. Overall, the design criteria are intended to
enhance the public realm and ensure that new buildings
fit well with neighbouring structures.
New
items for blue box
The City will take steps to allow residents to include
three new kinds of items in the blue box recycling
program. Council agreed on a plan that will permit
spiral-wound containers (such as frozen orange juice
containers) in blue boxes starting later this year.
Plastic film (such as grocery bags) and polystyrene
(such as plastic or foam cups and food containers) will
become eligible for recycling in Toronto, but only after
the City introduces larger bins to replace existing blue
boxes. Recycling these new items will divert about 4,000
tonnes of material a year from landfill disposal.
Power
generating plant in Port Lands
Council approved a set of steps for City staff and
agencies to take in order to find out more about the
provincial government’s recently revised plan for a
Portlands Energy Centre. The City wants any new
electricity generating plant to be a co-generation
facility -- that is, capable of contributing to district
heating as well as generating electricity. Council also
emphasized the importance of a co-ordinated effort by
the City, the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization
Corporation, Toronto Hydro, Enwave and the Toronto
Economic Development Corporation in managing waterfront
development.
Parking
for veterans
Council agreed to honour war veterans in
Ontario
by granting them free municipal parking on three
significant days each year. Vehicles displaying an
Ontario veterans licence plate will be able to park free
of charge each September 17 (Battle of Britain),
November 11 (Remembrance Day) and June 6 (D-Day). In
addition, arrangements for free parking will be
considered for other events honouring veterans when the
dates vary from year to year. The Royal Canadian Legion
expressed its support for the proposal when consulted.
About 22,000 Ontario vehicles have veterans licence
plates.
Parking
tickets
Council authorized staff to negotiate agreements with
the states of New York,
Pennsylvania,
Maine
and
Ohio
to help
Toronto
pursue the collection of unpaid City of Toronto parking
tickets issued to offenders licensed in those states.
Other states and provinces that the City contacted were
either unwilling to assist because of prohibiting
legislation or they charge fees that would make
collection unfeasible for Toronto. The City currently
collects payment on about 15 per cent of the more than
100,000 parking tickets issued to out-of-province
vehicles each year.
Letters
of reference
Council adopted guidelines that place strict limits
elected officials providing a recommendation or general
letter of endorsement on behalf of individuals seeking
City positions. Written references are acceptable in
certain contexts -- but not in situations that involve a
relative of an elected official. Details are provided
in a report prepared by the City’s integrity
commissioner.
Procedures at Council meetings
Council approved new procedural rules for Council and
committee meetings, effective when the new Council takes
office in December. The new procedures, which are based
on parliamentary principles, are intended to help make
Council more effective and efficient in its
decision-making as a responsible government under the
new City
of
Toronto Act. The meeting procedures are one in a series
of projects that the City Clerk’s Office is undertaking
to improve decision-making. A related plain-language
bylaw is scheduled to be considered by Council at its
September meeting.
Redevelopment
of the Hummingbird Centre
A business plan to support redevelopment of the
City-owned Hummingbird Centre for the Performing Arts in
downtown
Toronto
received Council’s approval. The project is to include
construction of a condominium tower. The tower will
rise above a podium enclosing a new cultural attraction
called CityCentre that expands the existing facility for
the performing arts at Yonge and Front Streets.
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