Mayor John Tory's Toronto

[AlvinofDiaspar]

This shit move was lost in all the news yesterday of his DRL flip flop. Six years of work wasted so that large property owners don't have to pay more.
Mayor John Tory shelves proposal for a dedicated fee to fund stormwater management
https://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2017/05/16/toronto-flushes-plan-for-stormwater-fee.html

He's going to cry the province didn't let him do it after zeroing out all the other choices he can implement?

AoD

 

[Palma]

The biggest user of storm water run off are public places. Who will pay for this? Number 2, the different classes of property sizes meant that the last category would pay proportionally less than categories with smaller size properties but the city says there are less properties in this category but than why is there not a different class for ravine properties where the size may be large yet the house very small. These ravine properties have less storm water run vs someone who may have a smaller size property yet all hard surfaces with no grass. Apartment or condo building where mostly hard surfaces would be paying less proportionately vs homeowners. Mississauga at least is basing there fees on hard vs soft surfaces which is the right way to do it

 

[salsa]

This shit move was lost in all the news yesterday of his DRL flip flop. Six years of work wasted so that large property owners don't have to pay more.


Mayor John Tory shelves proposal for a dedicated fee to fund stormwater management


https://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2017/05/16/toronto-flushes-plan-for-stormwater-fee.html

Also,

 

[W. K. Lis]

I blame the rising lake waters flooding the Toronto Inlands on parking lots and single story buildings

 

[syn]

Tory changes course on relief line subway, forms alliance with York Region mayors

After threatening to block planning for a Yonge subway extension, mayor pledges to work with York to secure provincial transit funding.





https://www.thestar.com/news/city_h...y-forms-alliance-with-york-region-mayors.html

This shit move was lost in all the news yesterday of his DRL flip flop. Six years of work wasted so that large property owners don't have to pay more.


Mayor John Tory shelves proposal for a dedicated fee to fund stormwater management


https://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2017/05/16/toronto-flushes-plan-for-stormwater-fee.html

Wow.

Tory's lack of leadership is appalling.

Perhaps this could all work out for the best though - with rumblings that Doug Ford is going to run in the next election, perhaps a Centrist/Progressive candidate could come out on top, kind of like Ford did when he was the only 'Right Wing' option in a crowded field of Progressives.

 

[44 North]

Tory changes course on relief line subway, forms alliance with York Region mayors

After threatening to block planning for a Yonge subway extension, mayor pledges to work with York to secure provincial transit funding.

https://www.thestar.com/news/city_h...y-forms-alliance-with-york-region-mayors.html

I don't really care for what's transpired. He completely circumvented City Council and met behind closed doors. I don't follow Josh Matlow much, but I wish the media gave him more attention for calling Tory out on that. Those closed-door dealings are why we're in the mess we're in. If the previous mayor had done the same people would be PO'd, and rightfully so. For all the faults of Council, the fact is it's an open floor where elected voices are heard, recorded, and debated. And ultimately they're the only reason the DRL has gotten to where it is. The Prov didn't want it, and Metrolinx seemed pretty oblivious to general capacity issues on Line 1 and the things included in their Big Move (of which the RL was always listed). Meh, rabble rabble.

 

[BurlOak]

I blame the rising lake waters flooding the Toronto Inlands on parking lots and single story buildings

This is likely true for individual rivers such as the Don, and to a lesser degree the Humber.

But it has no effect on the river levels on the Ganaraska, Trent, Moira, Salmon, Gananoque, etc.
I blame rising lake levels on 50 years flooding occurring every 50 years.

Or this. https://www.thestar.com/news/world/...oll-back-great-lakes-flood-control-rules.html

 

[steveintoronto]

This is likely true for individual rivers such as the Don, and to a lesser degree the Humber.

But it has no effect on the river levels on the Ganaraska, Trent, Moira, Salmon, Gananoque, etc.
I blame rising lake levels on 50 years flooding occurring every 50 years.

Or this. https://www.thestar.com/news/world/...oll-back-great-lakes-flood-control-rules.html

I've been reading up on this, in Upper NYState pubs as well as Cdn, IJC reports and more and there's a few misconceptions people have. This isn't just a '50 year cycle', I won't get into that, suffice to say at this point off-topic is that the the other Great Lakes are not at elevated levels right now, and the Ottawa River is also way above normal flow, and obviously nothing to do with the Great Lakes. It's 'Global Warming' writ large, and it's going to be far more unpredictable and dynamic than recent human history has witnessed.

Getting back to lack of local soil absorption, and using taxing/charging to 'dampen' that: Toronto is far behind other GTHA munis in addressing problem, and it's a huge one, floods or not. One only has to look at a map of how much of Mississauga is paved over or un-absorptive to realize the gravity of the problem.

Somewhere on this article is a link to a twenty minute interview done by a small newspaper in Rochester NY (Democrat Chronicle), must run right now, will find the actual interview later as it indicates at how even Rochester, one tenth the size of Toronto, was taking this seriously before Toronto was:
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2017/05/04/lakeshore-bracing-another-flood-watch/101281960/

 

[christiesplits]

Tory changes course on relief line subway, forms alliance with York Region mayors

Can someone explain to me the political rationale behind this decision? Why is Tory playing ball with his neighbours when the DRL should be his number one priority? Is this an effort to unite GTA mayors against the province? It just seems odd.

 

[Palma]

While we're in the habit of using the left/right distinction in Council politics, it's a bit confusing. The right invariably supports blowing very large amounts of money on projects that simply don't bear economic scrutiny, like SSE or the Gardiner East rebuild. Meanwhile, they consistently underfund basic maintenance of our existing assets. That's hardly the wise stewardship of our hard-earned tax dollars they profess.

Because they all want to follow how the mayor votes and get key appointments.

 

[rbt]

Can someone explain to me the political rationale behind this decision? Why is Tory playing ball with his neighbours when the DRL should be his number one priority? Is this an effort to unite GTA mayors against the province? It just seems odd.

If you expect Wynne will make both subway expansions an election promise and you know that Browne, the most likely future holder of the pocketbook, is only really interested in Yonge and otherwise looking to reduce capital spending; then getting York Region into the game makes sense. There is very high probability of a mild recession during the next term for Ontario; so anything other than a total commitment can cause a project to be delayed (then shelved if subway ridership falls a bit).

If Tory can hold York Region to rejecting Yonge money if Don Mills subway is unfunded, then he can twist Browne into paying for a chunk of Don Mills too.

I don't think it'll play out that way.

 

[WislaHD]

I'm seriously wondering about Desmond Cole.

I would vote Ford in that scenario.

Seeing as Soknacki isn't running, how about Keesmaat? She has her faults, but we need a genuine city planner as mayor more than anything, and she is the best best and name recognition.

 

[jje1000]

IMO, sell off the Victorians in Cabbagetown and consolidate housing so that there are fewer individual properties. I also wonder if TCH rents out any of its units at market rates? Could be a way of subsidizing other units.

Half of Toronto Community Housing homes to hit ‘critical’ status within five years
Data provided to the Star and made public for the first time shows the condition of each social housing development as the city faces a $1.73-billion repairs backlog.

Already, the data shows more than 30 social-housing properties are in serious disrepair. Of 364 developments — which include houses and groupings of low-rise buildings and towers — another 222 developments are ranked in “poor” condition, with dozens edging on critical condition, based on a standard ranking used by the housing corporation.

Those critical sites are homes for more than 3,000 individuals and families.

The data shows a pervasive problem at a time when the city is grappling with how to keep thousands of units open with a $1.73 billion funding gap.

Of the 364 developments, more than 100 were offloaded onto the city by the province more than a decade-and-a-half ago without money needed to cover the repairs. Of the buildings in the critical and poor categories, more than a third were downloaded by the province.

At the same time, the city was also saddled with tens of millions of dollars in provincial debt costs for the buildings while the province has yet to contribute any funding for critical repairs.

To keep on track with a 10-year, $2.6 billion plan, Toronto Community Housing needs to do $438 million worth of repairs next year.

It is $350 million short.

By the end of this year, Toronto Community Housing has said they will have to close 600 units. Another 400 are expected to be closed next year if funding isn’t secured.

The most severe problem is a group of Victorian-era heritage homes in Cabbagetown, which on their own require millions to fix structural, roofing, and other deficiencies. Their heritage status complicates repairs as it requires construction follow a specific, legislated standard.

The city was made solely responsible for thousands of social housing units in 2001, after they were transferred from the now defunct Ontario Housing Corporation under former Conservative premier Mike Harris.

But the buildings, many built in the 1960s and 1970s, came without reserve funds and in varying states of disrepair.

Though the province was providing funds to compensate, in 2013 they unexpectedly announced they were phasing out those payments — which had totaled $150 million annually. The funds stopped coming last year.

The city not only contributes to mortgage payments through an annual subsidy to Toronto Community Housing, it has also, since 2001, been responsible for handling other provincial debt related to the buildings.

https://www.thestar.com/news/city_h...to-hit-critical-status-within-five-years.html

 

[Videodrome]

Have they officially declared Ron Moeser's seat vacant yet? I forgot that Council is going on.

 

[Soop]

Have they officially declared Ron Moeser's seat vacant yet? I forgot that Council is going on.

It's on the agenda. http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2017.CC29.1

I used to listen to council a lot and haven't been lately. It's not so much of a circus anymore.