1. Do you support a property tax cap ensuring future hikes are no greater than the rate of inflation?
Yes.
2. Where, specifically, do you advocate finding savings in the current city budget?
Toronto is now the 4th largest city in North America, after Mexico City, New York and Los Angeles. New York City (NYC) provides a good city management model for comparison. For example, the NYC has 235 positions in the Planning Department with plans to reduce staff, whereas the City of Toronto Planning Department has more than 300 positions with plans to add more staff.
The NYC Planning Commission reviews and provides NYC Council with recommendations on nearly 500 public and private development applications each year. NYC planning processes are streamlined, democratic and efficient. The performance of the City of Toronto Planning Department does not match that of New York City, and major legislative and management reforms need to occur, which will result in financial efficiencies. This exercise of comparison with New York City and other jurisdictions needs to be continued.
3. Do you support reducing the size of Toronto City Council?
New York City (NYC) has 8.3 million people and 51 City Councillors. Toronto has 2.6 million people and 43 City Councillors. Proportionally, Toronto is clearly “top-heavy”.
Each Toronto City Councillor is allocated more than $450,000 (2013 budget) annually in the City budget for a total of $19.7 million for 43 Councillors. They would like to increase the number of Councillors. The question is, will increasing the number of Councillors (more of the same) and related costs provide substantial, or incremental, improvement in management for the City? The answer is “incremental”, at best.
The solution is to reform City management by creating Community Districts and Community Boards, based on the New York City model. You can then create 23 Community Districts based on the Provincial Ridings’ boundaries, with Community Boards, each having a City Councillor and up to 50 citizen members on their Community Board.
The 23 Community Boards will be funded by the $9.2 million re-allocated from the elimination of 20 Councillors, who will be replaced by 1,150 citizens on Community Boards, to hold public meetings, and to subsequently provide information and recommendations to City Council on all City matters.
This will result in vastly improved and inclusive public consultation, efficiency in the flow and exchange of information, identification of further options and solutions to problems, better oversight and management of city operations within communities, and obtaining far more benefit from the current expenditures for Toronto City Councillors. To review draft legislation for Toronto Community Boards, see: www.peggymouldercampaign2014.com.
4. Will you support contracting out garbage collection east of Yonge Street?
Which communities will be affected by this proposal? With Community District Boards in place (as discussed in #3 above), meetings should take place within the affected communities to discuss the pros and cons, and find out from the residents, who are very knowledgeable about the physical layout of their neighbourhoods, what they think will work and what may not work.
With Community Boards in place, all information is provided on the proposals at public meetings; minutes of the public meetings are recorded; the Community Boards of the affected communities then take a recorded vote and provide a written recommendation to City Council on the proposal. This is how all subject matters affecting citizens and their neighbourhoods should be handled.
5. What are your thoughts on the Municipal Land Transfer Tax – will you support reducing it or eliminating it?
Yes, I will support reducing it. If the City is relying on this Tax for general operations, then other funds will have to be found to replace this source of funding.
6. Toronto’s unemployment rate is much higher than the provincial rate. What are your ideas to create job growth in Toronto?
Communities need to consider and build on the attributes within their communities which can attract business and new jobs. In South Etobicoke, we have the waterfront, cultural heritage, a community college, and employment lands which can all be levered to attract tourism, visitors and new business.
We need to reform City government so that our community visions are not thwarted by City Councillors and support staff at Toronto City Hall, who, for example, often dictate demolition of our cultural heritage buildings because they cannot recognize the economic value.
We also have the PanAm Games in 2015 which will put Toronto in the spotlight. We all will need to put our best foot forward and promote Toronto as a city of opportunities.
7. It seems City Council has been debating public transit forever with little results to show. How would you fund new transit projects to ease congestion for everyone? Do you feel we need to change the current transit planning process?
There are two current detailed reports on transit: the Metrolinx Investment Strategy and the Transit Investment Strategy Advisory Panel Report, each recommending various funding options for transit. The funding from these options is to be dedicated to transit and for no other use:
(a) capped increases to gas and fuel taxes from 0.5-0.10cents/L
(b) a modest increase in Corporate Income Taxes
(c) transfer of a portion of the HST on gas and fuel
(d) increase Development Charges to fund transit
(e) pay-for-parking at transit stations
(f) use of municipal borrowing capacity and debt at a debt-to-revenue ratio of 2.5 to 1, and applied to debt retirement upon completion of projects
(g) federal government investment.
I would support some reasonable configuration of any of these funding options. We cannot get the City moving without funding.
The City has requested changes to the Metrolinx Board to include municipal and citizen representation, and greater consultation with the GTHA municipalities.
Proposals concerning transit and funding should also be reviewed at public hearings within (23 proposed) Toronto Community Districts, with minutes of the meetings recorded, and proposals subsequently voted on by the Community Boards, with a written report to City Council to form part of the public record on transit and transit funding. These public meetings would include teams of City, TTC and Metrolinx staff assigned to the particular Community District to provide information and participate in the discussions.
In our Ward 6, a draft transit proposal has been created by one of our residents, Paul Chomik, P.Eng. following many resident discussion groups over the years, and forwarded to the TTC Chair, TTC General Manager and Metrolinx, identifying areas for improvement and expansion of services for public transit in our neighbourhoods. “Big Ideas” from our citizens and communities must be encouraged and discussed at the Community level through Community Boards, and then elevated to City Council once the “Big Idea” is supported by the Community Boards. New York City has benefited from Community Boards for the last 45 years. Toronto is a half-century behind with respect to democratic and efficient government.
8. Labour negotiations will be a big part of the next council term. What advice do you have for the city’s negotiating team to get the best deal for taxpayers?
The City of Toronto employs 35,000 people: 20,000 full-time and 15,000 part-time. The remaining 2.6 million residents pay their salaries, which are generous in these times when there is widespread unemployment. I would kindly ask that everyone be reasonable and fair.
9. Do you see opportunities for public-private partnerships (P3s) involving the City of Toronto? Where, specifically?
Too often P3’s prove to be more costly to taxpayers by 15% on average than with traditional procurement methods. This has been the case with Presto, eHealth and ORNGE. Studies show that the Provincial Government has overpaid on 28 P3 projects by about $1 billion, with no real idea of the risks they may be assuming (Siemiatycki-Farooqi-2012).
Governments have the resources to hire appropriately experienced lawyers and professionals who can create and review contracts that protect the public interest. Clearly, City politicians and support staff have a responsibility to ensure all contract proposals, P3 or otherwise, are carefully scrutinized by appropriate professionals to protect the public interest, and to ensure that citizens are receiving good quality products and services at a fair price.
10. What is the top issue of concern for residents in your ward? What will you do as Councillor to address the issue?
A recent poll of our area identified transportation as the top issue for residents in Ward 6. As noted in #7 above, I support a draft plan for transit prepared by one of our residents, Paul Chomik, P.Eng. for South Etobicoke in response to residents’ concerns. Important transportation issues to be addressed are:
- Re-instatement of the Long Branch 507 streetcar to Dundas West Subway Station will connect residents more quickly to the subway system and avoid the traffic congestion experienced with the streetcars on Queen St West to Yonge St
- A new GO Station for Humber Bay and a Humber Loop Transit Hub
- Bicycle lanes and cycle tracks are required for the safety of cyclists and to create fully connected bicycle routes in South Etobicoke and throughout the City of Toronto