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Chief Planner Jennifer Keesmaat to leave City of Toronto

TheTigerMaster said:
Doug Ford to announce plan to run either for mayor or MPP next month

Any path for Keesmaat to win in 2018 with potentially Ford and Tory running?
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MPP sounds like an easier route, with the Ontario Liberal troubles, general middle class malaise and whatnot that invites the Trump/Rob Ford style populism.

I think Tory should still be fairly strong, especially considering that he's avoided any sort of serious scandal so far and has charted a fairly neo-conservative pathway. Plus, the downtown/mid-suburban cores can look towards the Ford experience as a direct cautionary tale.
 
Doug is running for Mayor. He slipped when asked if he was running: he said that he has "a year and a bit". The provincial election is in June (10 months). The municipal election is in a year and 2 months — a year and a bit.

That changes things, should Keesmaat choose to run.
 
jje1000 said:
MPP sounds like an easier route, with the Ontario Liberal troubles, general middle class malaise and whatnot that invites the Trump/Rob Ford style populism.
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Keesmaat has frequently been a vocal critic of the plans of her superiors. I don't see her as the type to obediently tow the Liberal Party line, especially since much of what they advocate for is antithetical to what she's advocated for.

MetroMan said:
Doug is running for Mayor. He slipped when asked if he was running: he said that he has "a year and a bit". The provincial election is in June (10 months). The municipal election is in a year and 2 months — a year and a bit.

That changes things, should Keesmaat choose to run.
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Her only realistic path, in my opinion, is to run for a Council spot in one of the new wards, and then run for the Mayoralty in 2022. The anybody but Ford voters will again rally around Tory in 2018.
 
TheTigerMaster said:
Her only realistic path, in my opinion, is to run for a Council spot in one of the new wards, and then run for the Mayoralty in 2022. The anybody but Ford voters will again rally around Tory in 2018.
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Maybe not. Trump might have ruined the populist politician for this generation of voters. Ford Nation has cooled — when was the last time you heard of a widely attended Ford BBQ? I don't think the average voter wants to return to the Ford era which Doug is running on. I think that if another strong candidate is running and Doug is just one of several, he's going to be relegated to a Mammoliti type niche and will either not make it to the end or will perform poorly in polls, allowing a potential Keesmaat to make the race about her vs Tory.

Olivia Chow simply ran a bad campaign and was unable to prove herself a viable Ford Nation killer. Tory was our only shot against Doug. Also, Rob Ford was the incumbent and Doug was his proxy so it made it easy for him to claim one of the two "main event" slots by default. The dynamics of this campaign will be very different. It's not 2014 anymore. I think there's room for multiple candidates, including a progressive challenger to Tory.
 
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TheTigerMaster said:
Keesmaat has frequently been a vocal critic of the plans of her superiors. I don't see her as the type to obediently tow the Liberal Party line, especially since much of what they advocate for is antithetical to what she's advocated for.
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I thought the same about Adam Vaughan - a smart progressive who is notoriously aloof and doesn't play well with others. Like Vaughan, I could see Keesmaat offered a high profile role like an urban affairs portfolio or cabinet position and be content with following marching orders.

Still, it would be a big gamble. She could easily be sitting in the backbenches of the opposition.
 
Something I've realized from listening to the Invisible City
Invisible City | Free Listening on SoundCloud podcasts is that she would make an excellent prof or broadcaster. My fear, as others allude to, is that she could be too easily buried being a councilor or MPP, MP. She discusses that in her podcasts. Perhaps that could be addressed by having multiple roles. She's managed to find the time for these podcasts and still be head planner.

It's very hard not to like this woman.
 
Probably for the better, with the whole Ford vs Tory fight that the 2018 election looks to be.

Hopefully she can return to politics/planning in the future.
 
No doubt she was put in an extra tough situation with the Tory Smarttrack, but something doesn't smell right politically here either:

1. Promotes a design for that skins the SSE down to the almost nothing
2. Walks away before the election to not face any questions
3. Gets lauded and promoted as anti-SSE thru the City's "Left" media, in a barrage of articles following her resignation

Maybe just a lot of smoke, but the timing and the fact she had her hands all over creating highly questionable "one stop" subway is worth following her next steps in the Political realm

Wouldn't be shocked if this is just setting the stage for the political assault coming this election to try and kill the SSE. If thats the case. I imagine she lays low for a while they preserve her image until the 2022 elections.
 
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@steveintoronto How do you figure I hate her or I think this current subway is sound planning?

I just stated the recent events possibly have to do with a future move in politics and possible support for certain poltical team. I never mentioned anything about sound planning, if anything I acknowledged she was in a tough spot as planner under Tory as a planner. But it sure looks like a political affiliation may be coming down the road due to the recent events. Which is odd because she could have put the SSE in a more vulnerable state with one stop.

Seems some take offense (or should i be equally as disrespectful and say"folks like you") a certain political side being questioned for highly questionable political elements or on their platform itself.

She has more more to do with supporting the one stop than most (which is the worst subway plan possible) and also the 7 stop LRT is far from gods gift to sound transit planning and is just as mired in politics at this stage as any plan. It certainly has flaws.

Transfer LRT and a One stop subway. Both plans Keesmat has supported? No hate, i just dont like either plan and find her support here very Interesting in addition to the step down and heavy politicized media promotion in past week
 
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There could be an independent candidate who would run against the one stop subway but am I wrong in recalling that no political party is against it? That would suggest that no established political apparatus would openly aid a candidate who runs against the incumbents on that issue.
 
OneCity said:
@steveintoronto How do you figure I hate her or I think this current subway is sound planning?
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For readers wondering why my post is missing, it's because I realized right after I posted that it would be misunderstood, so I deleted it. One City's line of attack on Keesmaat is not clear, which was exactly one of my points that I'll make again:
You'd be damning her no matter what she did, and since you reinforce that with your follow on post, I stand by it.

Since she had no ability to over-rule the Mayor and Council's completely misguided and uninformed decisions, if she had a failing, it's not resigning at that time. But then, of course, some would be chiding her for resigning when the going gets tough. In the event, she stayed and tried to make a piece of turd shine.

In the event, I and anyone else informed without a bias from living in Scarberial Denial will support canceling the subway. It's one of the most azz-backwards moves this city has ever made. It even tops the Sheppard Subway. And even the architect of that, Lastman, doesn't support SSE.

And I also challenged One City in my deleted post to name one...ONE...accredited transit authority who thinks it is a good plan. I note that One City has ignored that challenge.

Are you a quitter?
 
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