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Fields of fees

Each week, we round up the latest news, views, and rumours from City Hall.


HEADLINES

Housing hustle?

On Tuesday Councillor Aña Bailao announced the names of the three people who will join her on the working group appointed by council to tackle Toronto’s affordable housing problem. The appointment of one man in particular will do little to dissuade those who predict the group will simply give Rob Ford political cover for a mass sell-off of Toronto Community Housing properties when it reports back in May. TCH chair Bud Purves has already recommended selling off over 600 TCH homes to pay for repairs on other properties, and his inclusion is somewhat of a surprise for a group that is supposedly looking for alternatives to a fire sale. The other two members are former Conservative MP Alan Redway, and Prime Minister Paul Martin’s former assistant Jim Plimbett. No TCH tenants are directly involved in the group instead their input will be solicited through a survey and a series of workshops.

Fields for free

Hitting up kids’ sports teams with thousands of dollars in unexpected field fees was one of the more surprising elements of Rob Ford’s 2012 budget, given his self-crafted reputation for standing up for the little guy. After much outcry from leagues that had already registered players before the fees came into effect, the mayor agreed this week to waive the charges and offset them by finding $1.5 million elsewhere in the recreation department’s budget. Left-leaning councillor Janet Davis had wanted to take the money out of the 2011 surplus, but Ford was having none of it, having already watched Councillor Josh Colle lead a January council revolt that took a $15 million bite out of the envelope the mayor had declared untouchable.


BULLETINS

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  • The Toronto Cyclists Union revealed a legal opinion challenging the removal of the Jarvis St. bike lanes on Tuesday, but it may have come too late as crews have already begun scraping off the paint
  • After several failed attempts to delay it, on Thursday Rob Ford dropped his challenge to an audit of his election campaign finances and will now be forced to open his books
  • On Monday the Ontario Court of Appeal ended a three-year legal battle by ruling that Toronto has the right to implement a billboard tax, which will generate $10 million for the arts, not to mention annoy the hell out of aggressive advertisers

#TOPOLI DOCS

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A close read of Rob Ford’s announcement on submitting to a campaign audit reveals the defence strategy he will likely employ if any wrongdoing is found. Instead of stating that he obeyed the law, the press release quotes him as saying “Everything during the campaign was done in good faith with the intention of complying fully with election law.” Ford would retain his post as mayor even if he was found to have broken the law, as long as he did so inadvertently.


MEETINGS, MOTIONS, AND MINUTES

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At a public works committe meeting Tuesday councillors sent the woeful Info Pillar program back to the drawing board. The pillars are the lynchpin of an agreement between the city and Astral Media that allows the company to erect the advertising vehicles throughout the city on the condition they use the resulting ad revenue to build 25,000 pieces of street furniture like bus shelters and garbage bins. The pillars have been panned by councillors across the spectrum for being obstructive and even posing a safety risk however, and public works referred the agreement back to the city’s transportation manager to rework the program and report back on May 16.


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COUNCILLOR OF THE WEEK

Councillor Jaye Robinson is threatening to quit her post on Ford’s powerful executive committee at the end of the year if the mayor doesn’t change his governing style. We’ll forgive her pulling a Leno (“I’m leaving, but not yet!”) if it compels Ford to start seeking accommodation with opponents rather than watch one of his few remaining female allies on council walk.


CITY SOUND BITE

“The next deputant is Heywood Yablowme.”

– In an early contender for sound bite of the year, Councillor John Filion is punked when someone signs up fake names to speak at a health board meeting Monday. Sadly, Anita Hoare, Fu King, Isaac Cox were also no shows.

Download associated audio clip.


NEXT WEEK’S AGENDA

The highlight of a light calender next week will be when City Council convenes for its 22nd session of Ford’s term on Tuesday. The agenda includes a motion by Adam Vaughan that would see a referendum on a new casino in 2014, sorting out the field fee issue, and confirming Councillor James Pasternak as the replacement on the budget committee for Councillor Michelle Berardinetti, who resigned two weeks ago.

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