khris
Senior Member
Experience key in tough times, says McCallion
PHINJO GOMBU
URBAN AFFAIRS REPORTER
Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion, who has led the GTA's second-largest city for three decades, turns 88 years old in February and shows no sign of quitting.
She gets by on five hours of sleep a night, reads three daily newspapers every morning and still puts in 14-hour days, poring over stacks of documents, attending council meetings and representing her city at everything from conferences to barber shop openings.
In a year-end interview, McCallion spoke on issues ranging from her fears for the city's fiscal health, the struggle to urbanize Mississauga, the lack of transit, and her rapport with council, including her relationship with rival Councillor Carolyn Parrish.
Parrish has focused on the city-owned power company, Enersource, and the salaries paid to politicians, including McCallion, who sit on the board. (The mayor has since returned the $32,000 she received each year as a board member.) The feuding has sparked talk about who might one day replace McCallion. But McCallion says that as long as her health holds out, she will run in 2010.
Q: As one of the GTA's longest-serving mayors, you have seen your city transform from suburb to urban centre. What are your thoughts on how Mississauga has evolved and outside calls for a single GTA-wide level of government have grown? Any concerns?
A: When I became the mayor of Streetsville, our parks person was a volunteer. The person who looked after our recreation, looked after the Lions pool that was built, was the bank manager. All volunteers. ... I do not believe in bigness. I believe there is a certain size of a city and when it gets too big, the administration is hard to control and the public has less involvement in the operation and input into the operation of the city.
Q: You have lost a number of key votes on council. Does it bother you and does it affect your ability to carry out your agenda?
A: No, it doesn't concern me at all because when you know the reasons (councillors) are voting the way they are, and if it ever gets out in the public, it will be very serious. In other words, some of the councillors are afraid of Councillor Parrish (see accompanying story). No question about that.
Q: Mississauga's cash reserves from development have begun to dwindle and you have begun to talk about the need to take on debt to run the city. Do you fear for your city's financial future?
A: Unless we are successful on relieving the property tax of social costs, health and education ... Unless those things happen, municipalities will go further into debt ... And we will go into debt. (Property tax) is a regressive tax. It does not benefit from a successful economy, but it sure suffers from a bad economy. (When) welfare goes up, social costs go up and it's on the property tax.
Q: What is your biggest regret?
A: The biggest regret has been, and I hope that other municipalities will also concur, is the lack of transportation planning in all our development plans. The city started out with single-family homes. ... You can't build a public transit system based on single homes. You need the density.
Q: Are you going to run for mayor in 2010?
A: I've always said, that if my health remains the way it is, which is pretty good, I will offer myself to the people of Mississauga. ...
Q: You've had one of the best runs any politician could want. Isn't it time for fresh blood?
A: I think sometimes experience is better than fresh blood, when it's tough times.
Source
There is a video at the link as well.
PHINJO GOMBU
URBAN AFFAIRS REPORTER
Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion, who has led the GTA's second-largest city for three decades, turns 88 years old in February and shows no sign of quitting.
She gets by on five hours of sleep a night, reads three daily newspapers every morning and still puts in 14-hour days, poring over stacks of documents, attending council meetings and representing her city at everything from conferences to barber shop openings.
In a year-end interview, McCallion spoke on issues ranging from her fears for the city's fiscal health, the struggle to urbanize Mississauga, the lack of transit, and her rapport with council, including her relationship with rival Councillor Carolyn Parrish.
Parrish has focused on the city-owned power company, Enersource, and the salaries paid to politicians, including McCallion, who sit on the board. (The mayor has since returned the $32,000 she received each year as a board member.) The feuding has sparked talk about who might one day replace McCallion. But McCallion says that as long as her health holds out, she will run in 2010.
Q: As one of the GTA's longest-serving mayors, you have seen your city transform from suburb to urban centre. What are your thoughts on how Mississauga has evolved and outside calls for a single GTA-wide level of government have grown? Any concerns?
A: When I became the mayor of Streetsville, our parks person was a volunteer. The person who looked after our recreation, looked after the Lions pool that was built, was the bank manager. All volunteers. ... I do not believe in bigness. I believe there is a certain size of a city and when it gets too big, the administration is hard to control and the public has less involvement in the operation and input into the operation of the city.
Q: You have lost a number of key votes on council. Does it bother you and does it affect your ability to carry out your agenda?
A: No, it doesn't concern me at all because when you know the reasons (councillors) are voting the way they are, and if it ever gets out in the public, it will be very serious. In other words, some of the councillors are afraid of Councillor Parrish (see accompanying story). No question about that.
Q: Mississauga's cash reserves from development have begun to dwindle and you have begun to talk about the need to take on debt to run the city. Do you fear for your city's financial future?
A: Unless we are successful on relieving the property tax of social costs, health and education ... Unless those things happen, municipalities will go further into debt ... And we will go into debt. (Property tax) is a regressive tax. It does not benefit from a successful economy, but it sure suffers from a bad economy. (When) welfare goes up, social costs go up and it's on the property tax.
Q: What is your biggest regret?
A: The biggest regret has been, and I hope that other municipalities will also concur, is the lack of transportation planning in all our development plans. The city started out with single-family homes. ... You can't build a public transit system based on single homes. You need the density.
Q: Are you going to run for mayor in 2010?
A: I've always said, that if my health remains the way it is, which is pretty good, I will offer myself to the people of Mississauga. ...
Q: You've had one of the best runs any politician could want. Isn't it time for fresh blood?
A: I think sometimes experience is better than fresh blood, when it's tough times.
Source
There is a video at the link as well.