The Dirty (Baker’s) Dozen

On Monday we typed out a hearty endorsement of twelve incumbent city councilors seeking re-election next month. The nice-to-haves, let’s call them. So how about we bookend the work week with a screaming indictment of a dozen (+1) incumbents who contributed nothing to the well-being of the city and the residents they were elected to serve? I dub these, the need-to-gos. City Hall would be a much better place without them.

From worst to only marginally less worse.

1) Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti (Ward 7 York West)

Two words: Police Investigation. What can you say about a politician who allegedly accepted $80K as some sort of gift while serving in office? And it seems like he can’t understand how anyone thinks he did anything wrong! Add to that his noisy divisiveness and boisterous, braying demeanour whenever there’s a camera or microphone nearby, Councillor Mammoliti needs to be shown the door. A resounding ‘no’ in answer to the question: Could [fill in a candidate’s name here] be any worse?

2) Councillor Frances Nunziata (Ward 11 York South-Weston)

The soundtrack to the Ford administration. Councillor Nunziata succeeded in dragging the position of city council Speaker to the dreary depths of partisanship, procedural disregard and ear-piercing combativeness. She wasn’t a moderator. She was a cheerleader. Her plaintive and repetitive beef about her ward never getting nothing from the rest of the city belies the fact she has represented that ward in some manner or fashion for about three decades now. Ward 11 residents should take a long look in the mirror and reflect upon why that may be.

3) Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong (Ward 34 Don Valley East)

I will give the councilor this much. He adhered closely to the few principles he has when he voted against the Scarborough subway and a casino. The latter had something to do with his religious faith. The former underlined the fact there wasn’t a tax Councillor Minnan-Wong didn’t hate, an investment in the public realm that couldn’t be cheaper. While he may think of himself as the fiscal conscience of city council, he’s actually the spirt of miserliness, determined to shrink the city into helpless submission. His is a pre-amalgamation mindset, one we have to rid ourselves of if we actually are interested in building a cohesive, inclusive city.

4) Councillor David Shiner (Ward 24 Willowdale)

Councillor Shiner would probably rank as a true leader of civic destructiveness if he actually gave a shit anymore. He’s harmful enough as it is and he’s now just going through the motions. Nothing signals that more than his successful non-attempt to ban the selling of plastic bags in the city during the nickel tax debate. He just threw the item up for a disruptive laugh, with little debate, no city staff input or review, only to be caught off-guard when it actually passed. He’s another one from the ancien regime of Mel Lastman with little raison d’etre for serving on city council anymore.

5) Councillor Michelle Berardinetti (Ward 35 Scarborough Southwest)

In a close race, Councillor Berardinetti wins the worst rookie councillor award. It was better being an elephant in this city during her first term in office than say, a cyclist or public transit user. There didn’t seem to be a bike lane she wasn’t happy to tear up or a Scarborough subway plan she didn’t embrace lovingly. The fact that she became one of the most outspoken supporters for the subway extension of the Bloor-Danforth line speaks volumes to the dubious nature of the project. Gender (or location) alone didn’t earn her a spot on Rob Ford’s first Executive Committee. She was a true believer, changing courses only when it became politically expedient to do so.

6) Councillor Vincent Crisanti (Ward 1 Etobicoke North)

Owing his very presence on city council to Rob Ford, Councillor Crisanti proved to be nothing if not loyal. Literally. He was nothing but loyal to the mayor, right to the bitter end, voting against any sort of sanctions against the mayor even after the crack scandal broke wide. Aside from that, I can’t come up with one thing the councillor championed during his first term, few he even bothered to express an opinion on. He did excel in asking confusing questions to both staff and his council colleagues during city council meetings. So I wouldn’t go as far as to call him a complete and utter non-entity. Just a simple non-entity will suffice.

7) Councillor Ron Moeser (Ward 44 Scarborough East)

He came into last term ailing, missing many, many important meetings and decisions during the first 18 months. While his attendance and health appeared to pick up over the last couple years, I don’t think it unfair to make it an issue during this campaign. Even when he returned to work, there were times Councillor Moeser didn’t appear to be on top of the proceedings especially during the last budget deliberations after he was made a late addition to the committee. His most memorable moment over the last 4 years? Railing against ice cream trucks during the food truck debate.

8) Councillor Cesar Palacio (Ward 17 Davenport)

While the councillor wasn’t elected to office on Rob Ford’s coat tails, you certainly wouldn’t know that by how he conducted his council business. A Ford loyalist and then some, he even took to flashing his thumb in support of the Ford agenda during votes after Giorgio Mammoliti thought better of such public displays of affection toward the mayor. Councillor Palacio seemed to take great delight in railing against the St. Clair disaster despite the fact it painted a bleak picture of his own ward. Ward 17 residents have every reason to wonder exactly whose interests their councillor put first, theirs or the mayor’s.

9) Councillor Gary Crawford (Ward 36 Scarborough Southwest)

Not a word of a lie, even now, nearly 4 years on, whenever Councillor Crawford got up to speak at council, I’d be surprised. My immediate thought was, who is that guy? The quietest member of city council, he let his actions speak louder than his words, his major accomplishments being, painting a portrait of Mayor Ford and drumming for the band that played at a few of the mayor’s Ford Fests. After that, he silently supported the mayor’s agenda, rarely getting up to explain why. A loyal button pusher until it became problematic to do so, Gary Crawford is a city councillor without distinction.

10) Councillor Frank Di Giorgio (Ward 12 York South-Weston)

Amiable enough, the Team Ford 2^nd budget chief, Councillor Di Giorgio came across as overwhelmed by all the big numbers. Actually, given his lengthy time in office, he seemed surprisingly overwhelmed by most aspects of the job. He regularly stood up in city council meetings to ask some of the most stupefyingly obtuse questions, to state the most stupefyingly obstuse points, you had to wonder some days how he was even able to find his way to City Hall. When people point to the low quality of local representation as the reason not to give municipalities more control over their future, they will end up pointing to the likes Councillor Frankd Di Giorgio as proof of their argument.

11) Councillor James Pasternak (Ward 10 York Centre)

I’ve conversed briefly with Councillor Pasternak. Councillor Pasternak seems to be a genuinely nice person. However, I still think Councillor Pasternak shouldn’t be a city councillor. His subway obsession in the form of the mystical North York Relief line and the burr he developed up his ass toward the Ombudsman combined to make for a petulant, pandering politician. The fact that he rose to the ranks of both Executive and Budget Committee member speaks more to the emptiness of the Ford Administration than it does to his talents as a city councillor.

12) Councillor Mark Grimes (Ward 6 Etobicoke-Lakeshore)

If anyone knows why it is Councillor Grimes got into politics in the first place, why he continues to seek re-election, maybe they can give us a hint. He doesn’t seem to much like his job, reluctantly participating in city council meetings. I think his main contribution this term was to try and limit the amount of time councilors got to speak during meetings. He gives off an annoyed, can-we-move-this-thing-along vibe regularly, as if he has more important things to do with his time than be, you know, a city councillor. The Midnight Mayor nickname Rob Ford bestowed upon him should ultimately mean nothing more than nobody really sees much of Councillor Grimes. That’s how much of a non-factor he ultimately is.

13) Councillor Glenn De Baeremaeker (Ward 38 Scarborough Centre)

We include this bonus track because nobody so cravenly enabled the push for the Scarborough subway at the city level more than Councillor De Baeremaeker. A largely unremarkable councillor with a penchant for bringing props to council meetings, he displayed a serious lack of political judgment when did he did his 180 from LRT to subway in a matter of months for no other apparent reason than out of pure fear of Ford Nation electoral retribution. Turns out, there is no such thing as Ford Nation and now we’re stuck with an unnecessary subway extension. This Glenn De Baeremaeker is what gives politicians a bad name and supplies political haters with all the ammunition they need.

— helpfully submitted by Cityslikr