syn
Senior Member
Mel Lastman did not have a spending freeze -- he dug deep into City reserves to cover the shortfall from his tax policy. Guess what? Running a city worth living in requires spending. Cutting spending to the point where you are no longer providing good services is not good governance or fiscally responsible. Toronto's problem is not that it is providing too much service -- it's that people shriek like small children when they are asked to pay their share of living in a civil society.
It's amazing how many people don't realize this. You have no idea how many people (especially those in the suburbs who weren't overly familar with what he did) think he was a great mayor largely based on his tax freeze.
The truth is, it was irresponsible and left the city in bad shape.
People want amazing services, yet they also don't want to pay any taxes. I hate taxes as much as the next guy, but they obviously have their place.
Given that 60% or more of the City's budget is non-discretionary I would be fascinated to know what cuts to spending Glen would suggest. Personally, I would like to shave a few hundred million off the police budget but I think we can all agree that would be political suicide if it were even possible.
Oddly enough one of Ford's promises was to expand the police force by 100 - that will largely cancel out any savings he gets from reductions to city council (assuming he can even push that through). The money would be much better spent on crime prevention, but politically it makes everyone feel better to know there'll be more police walking around (even though crime is relatively low).
As for Miller, I think he may've given people too much credit. A lot of his messages simply weren't suited for public consumption. As much as we knock Ford and his ridiculous 'Gravy Train' rhetoric it was a simple message that covered a lot of issues in an easy-to-understand way for people.
Miller's attempt to outline why the city had to raise taxes and why the City of Toronto Act was a good thing was simply too complicated. There are still many, many people who don't understand the relationship between the city, provincial and federal governments.
Hopefully during the next election there's a candidate who can really help people understand the important issues with an easily understood campaign message.