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Kyle Rae Calls It Quits

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dt_toronto_geek

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I just read about this today, somehow this slipped under my radar.

I know some on the board here will be happy about this, I have mixed feelings. He's served for nearly 20 years so perhaps it is time for him to move on and usher in some new blood. I've had many dealings with Kyle and his Assistants over the years (he was also my neighbour for several years) who without exception solves problems within a day or two, runs an efficient office, is always good to deal with and is tough as nails - and I admire that. Outside of the office he's a great guy with a wicked sense of humour who'll stop on the street and take the time to talk shop or shoot the breeze to anyone who cares to approach him. I can't say I agreed with all his politics and there were a a few disappointments along the way but I think he's served my Ward and the City very well for as long as I've lived here, and my hat is off to him.


Council veteran Kyle Rae won't run for re-election

Kyle Rae, Toronto's first gay city councillor, is calling it quits.

In an email sent to supporters Friday, Rae announced he will not run in next year's municipal elections and thanked everyone for the support. He didn't give a reason for the decision but fondly talked about the transformation of the downtown's landscape in the almost two decades he has been a councillor.

He also sang paeans to heritage preservation in the city, making a special mention of a TD Canada bank – with the work of Mies van der Rohe – that has been designated as a city heritage landmark.

"I look forward to challenges and new opportunities but will certainly not miss parking complaints, oversized fences, noisy neighbour issues, garbage questions and dogs in parks," Rae said.

The 55-year-old was first elected councillor from Ward 27 – Toronto Centre-Rosedale – in 1991.

A longtime member of the New Democratic Party, he left it in 1993 because of the failure of the NDP government to pass reforms on gay rights issues.

Before becoming a politician, Rae was executive director of the Church Street Community Centre in the heart of the Church St. and Wellesley Ave. area.

Source

Letter to his Supporters

Xtra's! Editorial
 
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What do Torontonians like / dislike about Rae?

Being a New Yorker who is unfamiliar with the political landscape of Toronto (but who is someone who is interested in learning more), I'm curious about what people like and dislike about Councillor Rae.

From the little I've read elsewhere about him on the internet, he seems to me to be rather interesting and admirable. At least from afar -- and if what I've read is accurate -- he seems to be one of those rare LOCAL politicians who thinks beyond NIMBY-ism and still, somehow, manages to get re-elected time and time again -- from a very politically aware district no less! So (if this is true), you wonder, "How does he manage to do it?"

By the way, in NYC we seem to have someone similar, Councilperson Christine Quinn. She represents Greenwich Village in the City Council, and she seems to be similarly both unpopular and popular / powerful (and an automatic lock at getting re-elected). In her case, her unpopularity (to the degree that she is unpopular) seems to stem from the fact that she seems to be angling to run for Mayor and some perceive her anti-NIMBYist positions in the Village (and elsewhere) as attemps to sell out the Village (and other places, like Coney Island, too?) in order to get elected as Mayor. And to other critics, she seems only mildly anti-NIMBY (her anti-NIMBY reputation being a result of the extreme NIMBY-ism of her constituency).

Do Councillor Rae's critics feel the similarly about him? Or are there other reasons that people like or dislike him (e.g., perhaps some feel he is selling out for indirect, or hidden, personal monetary gain, etc.)? Or do people feel he's being principled, but that his principles are just way "off base"?

- - - - - - -

P.S. -- Most of what I read about Councillor Rae so far has to do with his support of the construction of 100 (?) Yorkville Avenue. Now I realize that this is a very slender thread upon which to base an opinion (even a tentative one), but from the Google satellite photos (which shows the site being empty) and from the Google street map photos (which show the near completed project), I have to tentatively say that it seems like a terrific project to me. So, at least for the moment, it seems to me that Councillor Rae took a courageous stance in this instance.

My only reservation is that the block seems unusually long and it seems to me that such a project would have been better "digested" if a small "lane" (I don't know if the word has the same connotation in Toronto as it does in New York) or two were put through the site (for instance, by perhaps extending Bellair Street through the site).

But I have to say that, at least from the Google street view, I was very much taken by what I saw of the Annex (which I've never seen photos of before) and it seemed to me that 100 Yorkville is a project that greatly adds to this wonderful district rather than subtracts from it.

I also have to say, though, that I think I can understand the opposition too. If you take the Google street views a block or two away, where all the old buildings seem to have been wiped out and replaced by bland modern buildings, you can see what people might be afraid of happening to the Annex in the future. But, so far, at least, it seems to me that 100 Yorkville is still a positive rather than a negative.
 
Whoops! I meant Yorkville (not the Annex)

Re-reading my post, I see a Freudian slip. If I remember correctly from my readings the area that 100 Yorkville Avenue is located in is, of course, Yorkville -- not the Annex.

So my previous post should have read said this instead:

But I have to say that, at least from the Google street view, I was very much taken by what I saw of Yorkville (which I've never seen photos of before) and it seemed to me that 100 Yorkville is a project that greatly adds to this wonderful district rather than subtracts from it.

I also have to say, though, that I think I can understand the opposition too. If you take the Google street views a block or two away, where all the old buildings seem to have been wiped out and replaced by bland modern buildings, you can see what people might be afraid of happening to Yorkville in the future. But, so far, at least, it seems to me that 100 Yorkville is still a positive rather than a negative.
 
Benjamin, I think you will find almost everybody here is supportive of Rae's policy and politics. However he has become so comfortable and lazy in his guaranteed seat that there is no motivation for him to take care of the real difficult issues. This is also true of almost every incumbent on council.
 
kettal said:
However he has become so comfortable and lazy in his guaranteed seat that there is no motivation for him to take care of the real difficult issues. This is also true of almost every incumbent on council.
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Yeah, in the next november Toronto election it would be nice to see a fresh start with the new mayor and 1/2 to 3/4 of the current municipal councillor's gone. No love lost..:rolleyes:
 
The Metropolis/Toronto Life Square fiasco was in his ward, so I'd put some of the blame for that on his lap. I'm also more than a little irritated about how the Jarvis streetscaping is being handled (the community information sessions all yielded an opposition to bike lanes on Jarvis, and somehow that got overturned). I don't think he's done enough to promote transit in the core either (tho the same charge can be made of pretty much the entire council). As someone living in his ward I don't feel he's done anything for me personally. I think fresh blood will be a good thing.

And Enza's a great lady (I've run into her many times in the Village), but I'm not so sure she has the chops to be a great politician. Just on recognition she'd stand a chance of winning if she ran, but I'd prefer someone tougher and more knowledgeable
 
I walked past Councillor Rae this morning on my way to the gym and almost thanked him for the early Christmas present.
 
I'd love to see the province force term limits on city councillors. Two 3-4 years terms and that should be it. In Cabbagetown we've had the same councillor for over 15 years. Becoming a city councillor should not be a longterm career, instead you should do it for 3-8 years, and then move on.
 
I wish the best for Rae after leaving politics. He's generally been good for his ward, though I found him a bit too aggervating in his persona as the king of downtown/DT east. The lay-by infringment of public space on Bay Street, and his cold, detached response to crticism of Pusiteri's exclusive use of that space (narrowing the sidewalk, near a subway entrance) to be one of his worse decisions. That and the pro-1BE projects have neen determined.
 
P.S. -- Most of what I read about Councillor Rae so far has to do with his support of the construction of 100 (?) Yorkville Avenue. Now I realize that this is a very slender thread upon which to base an opinion (even a tentative one), but from the Google satellite photos (which shows the site being empty) and from the Google street map photos (which show the near completed project), I have to tentatively say that it seems like a terrific project to me. So, at least for the moment, it seems to me that Councillor Rae took a courageous stance in this instance.
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It was his support for a taller 18 Yorkville that caused controversy. Planners wanted 12 storeys. He pushed and got 40 or so.
 
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