Monthly Archives: February 2011

Notes On A Budget Debate From The Peanut Gallery

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Well, it’s done. Mayor Ford got his first budget passed thoroughly, decisively and, gleaning from the post-meeting rhubarb and chatter, in near record time. We are now fully living in a Rob Ford Toronto. And yes, the sun did rise, the snow did fall and a vehicle registration tax rebate showed up in the mail. Delivered to the wrong address as I haven’t owned a car for years now.

There were few close votes, no losses that ultimately mattered but the mayor did not emerge unscathed. On day 1 of the budget, he made the mistake of getting up to speak, ostensibly to let council know which way he was voting on a handful of amendments and get his ducks in a row. This opened him up to 3 minutes of questioning from any and every councillor who so chose. That he (and his team) didn’t realize this would happen speaks volumes. After 10 years on council, the mayor remains oblivious to how the place works and/or he thinks that as mayor, normal rules don’t apply.

Whatever the thinking, Mayor Ford got caught in the headlights. Nothing Speaker Nunziata did — herself, no wizard when it comes to council protocol, and another staggering example of ignorance from someone who’s spent decades in municipal governance — could save the mayor from a spectacular car crash of a performance. Captured here by the Torontoist in all its glory, it may be the last time we ever see the mayor attempt this stunt again. Certainly by day 2, his team had resorted to quiet note passing in order to lean on the councillors they needed to get votes passed.

Even in silence, the mayor managed to further embarrass himself. When a motion was brought forth to accept $100,000 from the province for HIV awareness and education, the mayor was on his own voting against it, 44-1, summoning up images from his days as a councillor. This, even after an amendment was attached to make sure it didn’t become an annual program that the province mandated and funded less and less. Just another addition to the Gravy Train. Still, no go for the mayor who simply proved himself to be a confirmed homophobe, and no amount of post-vote talk of looking after the taxpayers of Ontario could overturn the fact Mayor Ford simply has a problem with teh gays.

More ominously still for the mayor, despite drumming up overwhelming support for his budget, the items included in the operating budget passed on average of a 31-14 vote, he made no new friends in the process. He used all the powers of the bully pulpit that come with the office of mayor, trumpeting his overwhelming mandate from the voters of Toronto that was echoed throughout the press, giving him seeming powers of edict. All of which is most certainly his prerogative. He’s not the first to have done that.

What he did not do, though, was build a consensus. There was no coalition of the willing. Only those councillors who believe and are counting on the fact that Mayor Ford represents the will of a majority of Torontonians. While dubious, at this point of time, it seems like a safe bet.

And will continue to be so as long as the mayor pulls off what no other fiscally conservative politician has done in 30 years. If he can turn a surplus into a deficit with tax cuts and then balance the books, pay off the debt without ever raising taxes again or cutting services, Mayor Ford will have his way at City Hall for as long as he wants. He won’t need friends. Just allies.

But if, as history has shown, this economic theory isn’t nearly as solid in practice as it on the chalkboard, and taxes have to rise, valuable assets put up on the auction block and taxpayers of Toronto start seeing all those ‘reallocations’ and ‘readjustments’ as nothing more than major service cuts when their regular bus doesn’t arrive or if it does, it costs more to ride or their library branch is no long open on Sundays or their classes and courses at community centres cost more, Mayor Ford will see his council support dry up. Fair-weather friends like Councillors Mammoliti and Stintz will bail at the first sign of trouble. New councillors now sitting on the fence, won’t be nearly as compliant.

Think I’m just engaging in wishful thinking? Maybe. But I witnessed a telling moment yesterday. Josh Colle, one of the freshman councillors and political moderates, voted with the mayor on every budget item save for the Parks and Forestry and Library budgets. That’s not blind adherence but pretty solid support. In turn, when Councillor Colle’s motion came to a vote, a motion, let me add, that bore no financial impact on the budget, it just asked for a report on front yard parking fees and was shepherded through with the help of Councillor Cesar Palacio, a councillor plucked out of well-deserved obscurity owing solely to his slavish devotion to the mayor, it lost by one. You know who voted against it? Mayor Ford.

When the results were announced, catcalls could be heard directed at Councillor Colle. “They’re not your friends, Josh!” Through either neglect, political expediency or (and I’m unwilling to tar the mayor with this yet) pure spite for not toeing the line absolutely, Mayor Ford hung the new councillor out to dry. If one were the suspicious type, one might even suspect Palacio’s motivation for not stepping up and fronting the motion himself and risk drawing the mayor’s ire.

“They’re not your friends, Josh.”

Even in absolute victory, Mayor Ford sowed the seeds of future discontent although, given his focus purely on the here and now, he’s probably losing very little sleep over that fact. It’ll be interesting to see how he navigates more choppy waters when the political winds change (and they always change) and contentious matters like garbage privatization or transit matters come to council. When the mayor finds the atmosphere a little less friendly.

— nuttily submitted by Cityslikr

Gone Fishin’

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For councillors, that is.

It’s day 2 of the Great Budget Debate of ’11. Up today? The Operating Budget. That’s right, I said the Operating Budget.

So, no post today but you can follow the proceedings on my Twitter feed, somewhere  in that direction.

Down there, on the right side of the page. No, your right. Under the calendar and the archives. Although, if you’re bored, you can check out a few of the oldies, we’ve posted. A favourite of mine is from June 10th of last year. Yeah, that was a good one.

Keep going, past that orange thingie… I don’t even know what that is. See where it says `All Fired Up in the Big Smoke on the’ and underneath there’s that blue bird? That’s us on the Twitter. Recent Outbursts will start at around about 9:30 and will continue until the party’s over.

That’s where you can find me.  If anyone’s asking.

— pickerly submitted by Cityslikr

Buckle Up! It’s Budget Debate Time.

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So today begins 4 days of debate, bluster, posturing, finger pointing and maneuvering before the 2011 operating and capital budgets are voted on and put into action. After being fast tracked through weeks of committees, public deputations and PR battles, the day of reckoning is nigh. The expedited budget, Mayor Rob Ford’s first born, is prepped and ready to go.

To be sure, this budget will be passed, pretty well intact. I’m betting the final vote won’t be that close. Even councillors not aligned with the mayor, sitting nearer the mushy middle than the far right, will go along with the budget especially those representing the more suburban wards. They can’t ignore the big fat goose egg of a property tax increase their constituents will hold tightly onto as proof City Hall is finally listening to what they want. The increase in user fees and various ‘minor’ cuts will take some time to poke holes and deflate the belief bubble many voters insist on living within, convinced that yes, you can get something for nothing.

What will be interesting to watch are the votes that occur when various motions and amendments emerge. Again, the mayor will have his way almost certainly 100% of the time. But some of the votes will be much closer than the final yea or nay on the budget. While Mayor Ford has been on the kind of winning streak at council one expects from someone newly minted into the office, there have been times when his team has had to whip enough councillors in place to secure 1 vote victories. Expect to see some of those in the lead up to Monday’s big vote.

Also expect to see the mayor relatively quiet and sanguine throughout the whole process. Aside from the odd moment when his former boisterous councillor self has turned red-faced and threatened to erupt, he’s been congenial, amiable and seemingly happy to oblige. His brother, Doug, will probably bubble over in exasperation once during the course of the 4 days at all the lefties who simply refuse to understand that government’s just lousy with waste.

Deputy Mayor Holyday will riff on that theme as well, more regularly than Councillor Ford. Taking his glasses off, he’ll chide council to be more serious about taking up the challenge of fiscal responsibility. He may not start a statement with an ‘In my day…’ but that’s just what it’ll feel like. Every time he opens his mouth.

Budget Chief Mike Del Grande will grumpily inform every councillor who thinks the cuts in the budget are too draconian that We. Just. Can’t. Afford. anything. And Everything. Is. On. The. Table. He will also remind everyone that he’s got a thankless, dirty job but someone’s got to do it.

Speak Nunziata won’t be able to mask her contempt for those she disagrees with and will rule them out of order even if they aren’t and brush aside the city clerk who tells her she’s not following protocol. Protocol and procedures are not the Speaker’s strong suits. How many she ignores, steamrolls and/or disregards is anybody’s guess but the over/under currently is 11.

Councillor Mammoliti will rise often and patronizingly tell dissenting councillors that he understands where they’re coming from (he doesn’t) and implore them to just trust him and his newest, bestest friend, the mayor. Councillor Thompson will talk and talk and talk, sounding as if he’s not totally in the mayor’s corner but will invariably vote with him every time. Fingers crossed that councillors Palacio and DiGiorgio aren’t inclined to try and match councillors Mammoliti and Thompson verbosity for verbosity as, well, actually, let them talk. We’ll need time for the occasional pee break. Councillor Milczyn will counter every criticism of the budget with examples of atrocities committed under the Miller regime.

Councillors Vaughan and Perks (ably assisted by newcomer Josh Matlow) will all bug Speaker Nunziata, Deputy Mayor Holyday, the budget chief, councillors Ford, Shiner and Milczyn to no end. Perks and Vaughan will be the ones bringing forth motions and amendments that will send Team Ford scrambling to beat back. If anyone is denied a point of order or not voted an extension to speak, it’ll be either Councillor Vaughan or Perks. Someone will inevitably call one of them a Left Wing Kook which will leave things wide open for councillors Carroll and Davis to seem more than reasonable in pointing out the unreasonableness of much of the budget and its proponents.

Oh yes, it’s going to be 4 days of fun and games, made all the more circus-like because of the inevitability of the ultimate outcome. A budget vote with a safety net. Ironic since it will be the first step toward a more sweeping attempt by the administration to dismantle the safety net the city has carefully stitched together over the last 7 years, beginning with an entire budget review process that will start up almost immediately upon passage of this budget. So enjoy the frivolity, folks, because for here on in it just might get loud.

— prognosticatingly submitted by Cityslikr