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As the mayoral race gets drowsier and harder to connect to, the battle for midtown’s Ward 21 just keeps getting hotter.
Here John Sewell is fanning flames of discontent over the St. Clair streetcar right-of-way in an attempt to snatch the seat from popular incumbent Joe Mihevc.
Sensing the two lefties will split the progressive vote, former councillor John Adams is attempting to sneak up the middle – well, actually the right. These are three formidable pols with a divisive issue on their hands in a politically engaged ward.
So it isn’t a surprise that the humble St. Matthew’s United Church on St. Clair has more bums in the pews for the October 26 all-candidates debate than it’s seen in years of Sundays.
Getting to the meeting offers a clue as to why 150 people have cut their dinner hour short to attend. From the St. Clair West subway station, I’m faced with a barrage of conflicting signage about where to catch the westbound bus since the streetcar is grounded by construction.
I get up to street level and, wow, there’s a massive lineup, 50 people or so. Peering west, it’s mayhem as far as the eye can see. This does not look good. How long have all these people been waiting for the bus? Almost 15 minutes, harrumphs a tired-looking woman carrying grocery bags.
This is St. Clair at 6:45 on a Thursday night! If I lived around here I’d be pissed off, too.
There’s a difference, though, between being grumpy and wanting to scrap the entire project, which also includes money for street beautification. The fact that Mihevc’s favoured to win despite the construction says something about his presence in the community.
Presence in the ward is a testy issue. Towering above the crowd, Sewell takes the mic at the beginning. “People ask me, ‘Why are you running against Joe Mihevc?”
“It’s a good question,” someone yells out. I agree.
Why is Sewell, lover of sustainable cities, cyclists and streetcars, trying to take down Mihevc, lover of those very same things and someone Sewell has supported in the past?
“I can’t run against Rob Ford in Etobicoke. This is where I live,’ he says. “City council is not listening to people. They are asleep down there.’
Almost palpable in the room is the feeling among those for and against the project that the consultative process was flawed. “It seemed like all the decisions were already made,’ says one former Mihevc supporter who has moved to Sewell.
Backers of the plan say that ride time is going to be cut by 15 per cent from end to end. “We are going to have close to subway-like service all along St. Clair,’ says Mihevc.
Sewell’s not having it. “We need to stop this at Vaughan Road,’ he tells the crowd.
Adams, affable in a casual pullover, spells out a similar vision to Sewell’s, although he’d like to see subway expansion. “I’m appalled that the TTC has given up on building subways,’ says Adams, who is rumoured to want to run for the Tories here in the provincial election.
Sewell’s plan to leave the streetcar as it is west of Vaughan includes the installation of cameras on the vehicles to ticket cars that use the TTC lane or make left turns during rush hour. “If it doesn’t work, then we can go back to their plan,’ he says.
Mihevc, who won the ward in 2003 by 7,000 votes, chides Sewell. “Where were you at all the public meetings?’ he asks, calling him a johnny-come-lately to the issues. “Sewell’s campaign is the politics of fear and negativity,’ Mihevc concludes in his final remarks.
Okay, sounds a bit like the typical poli-bmmmf of an incumbent, but he’s got a point.
Sewell’s attacks are not just on the streetcar right-of-way (“There will be no more street parking, and sidewalk width will be cut in half’) but on the state of the city in general.
“The city is in decline. There is no planning at City Hall, and they just ram decisions like St. Clair down people’s throats.’
At times it isn’t clear whether Sewell would rather run for the mayor’s job or Mihevc’s. “I thought about running against Miller for a minute,’ he tells me later. “But I can’t win votes in the suburbs and Miller’s got all the developers behind him.’ Too bad. As a mayoral candidate he could have ignited that race and spared us the Pitfield/LeDrew comedy hour.
Instead, “no one gets what Sewell’s doing,’ Mihevc tells me as we walk along St. Clair on a rainy Sunday after the debate. “A year after the fact, he comes in against the plan and is very misinformed.’
Yes, there will be as much street parking on St. Clair as before, he assures me. Four recently built green Ps actually increase car parking by 80 spots. He shows me the southeast corner of Bathurst and St. Clair. Here the sidewalk does narrow, so much that it’s difficult to stop because we’re in the way of other pedestrians.
“It had to happen to accommodate the lefthand turn,’ he says. He then goes on to point out areas where the sidewalk will be wider than it was before.
Transit advocates who support the project, like Steve Munro, agree with the naysayers that the process has been abysmal. “The public is not stupid. People get inconsistent answers at public meetings. Then a lot of bad blood gets created. It’s pushed some who hadn’t made up their minds over to the no side,’ Munro tells me. “Ultimately a right-of-way and increased service will improve things.’ As long as the neighbours can keep it together while the thing gets build, that is.
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