AM980 host Andrew Lawton speaks with coalition president Matthew McGuire about the city playing musical chairs with taxpayers money.
Andrew Lawton Show: Musical Chairs With Taxpayers Money
Toronto’s gravy-obsessed City Hall just bought 30 chairs for $75,000
Ever since Rob Ford took command at Toronto City Hall, the administration has existed under the auspices of “ending the gravy train.” A few dollars saved here, a couple pennies pocketed there. And now we know where all that money was going. Chairs, really expensive chairs. According to revelations that came out this week, City Hall just bought 30 new chairs. At a cost of almost $75,000.
The Toronto Sun first revealed the purchase Thursday night, detailing the $74,850 purchase. Not surprisingly, the Toronto Taxpayer Coalition was incensed by news of the $2,500-per-chair purchase.
Taxpayers foot $74,850 bill for 30 chairs at Toronto City Hall
You might want to sit down for this.
Toronto taxpayers shelled out $74,850 to buy 30 new chairs for a lounge inside City Hall, the Toronto Sun has learned.
The chairs now sit in the members’ lounge — a room tucked behind the city council chamber that often hosts city functions and is the spot where councillors hold private meetings during council meetings.
Adam Vaughan Is A Liar
Newstalk 1010 host Jerry Agar speaks with coalition president Matthew McGuire, who asserts Adam Vaughan is a liar for accusing the group of fraudulently signing the names of fake people on a petition.
Taxpayers Shell Out $75,000 bill for 30 chairs at Toronto City Hall
You might want to sit down for this.
Toronto taxpayers shelled out $74,850 to buy 30 new chairs for a lounge inside City Hall, the Toronto Sun has learned.
The chairs now sit in the members’ lounge — a room tucked behind the city council chamber that often hosts city functions and is the spot where councillors hold private meetings during council meetings.
Mayor Rob Ford slams $75K chair purchase
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford says the person responsible for the city’s decision to pay almost $75,000 on chairs “is no longer with the city.”
Speaking to media this afternoon, Ford wouldn’t identify the staffer and refused to say whether the person was fired or resigned.
He also would not clarify whether the staffer’s departure was related to the purchase of the chairs, but said “there’s a series of issues going on.”
Toronto Council Rebuffs Taxpayers Coalition Proposal To Reduce Its Size
A petition from the Toronto Taxpayers Coalition demanding that City Council immediately reduce its size by half was rebuffed by council.
In doing so, it may have set the stage for a battle at the Ontario Municipal Board, that could see voters elect a 25-member council as early as next year.
“We’ve been talking about going to the OMB, we’re prepared to do so, and we’re going to consider everything that happened today,” said Matthew McGuire, president of the organization that he claims represents between 3,000 and 4,000 Toronto taxpayers.
Toronto Councillors Vote Against Cutting Council Size
Like asking the turkeys to vote for Thanksgiving.
Councillors voted 25 to 13 Thursday against cutting the size of council from 44 to 25 seats but not before getting an earful from the Ford brothers about why there are too many councillors.
Mayor Rob Ford tried to get colleagues to vote to cut council to match the 25 federal Toronto ridings in time for the 2014 election in response to a petition request from the Toronto Taxpayers Coalition.
EDITORIAL: Citizen Groups Have Stake In Local Election Issues
Despite a tight campaign window, several community groups have sprung to action and organized three all-candidates’ debates for the upcoming Etobicoke-Lakeshore provincial byelection.
It’s impressive, as three is typically the maximum number of debates you’d expect in a riding during a regular election where a campaign is often twice as long as the byelection slated for Aug. 1
Even in the city’s east end, where the Scarborough-Guildwood byelection campaign is under way, there’s one meet-and-greet currently on the calendar.
Toronto Votes Against Slashing Number of Councillors From 44 To 25 After Lengthy Debate
By a vote of 25-13, city council voted Thursday not to adopt the requests set out in a petition commissioned by the Toronto Taxpayers Coalition to slash the number of councillors from 44 to 25. The petition became the centre of a lengthy debate that often ranged off target and at one point had Mayor Rob Ford wish he could take over the school board. He and his brother, Councillor Doug Ford, asked council to vote in favour of the petition’s guidelines in the name of efficiency and saving taxpayers money. Other councillors spoke out against the petition, saying the city’s growing population would require more councillors, not fewer. Matthew McGuire, leader of the taxpayers group, was dissatisfied with the debate and the vote. “Councillors are not known to want to eliminate their jobs,” he said. Mr. McGuire now intends to take the matter to the Ontario Municipal Board. Some of the debate’s highlights: