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Next Mayor of Toronto?

I think you vastly over estimate any demographic shifts that have happened in the 416. For every young professional in a 'suburb in the sky' there is a suburbanite empty nester that is getting older and as such is progressively voting at a much higher rate. Plus, have to remember that it is still 9 months out, plenty of time for people to flesh out alternatives to transit city and the current ttc operating structure that might appeal to urban condo dwellers. Plus, can always point out to the urban core that Transit City is just another subsidy from the core to the suburbs (has worked in the past re:Sheppard).

Also, I am not sure how Hume turned what was basically a 'I want to examine transit city to make sure the TTC is't screwing up and going way over budget like St Claire (and plus lets get our operating house in order and make sure we can afford it)' into 'will cancel transit city'.
 
Remember that the local media, including Hume, is very downtown-centric. We've heard a lot over the years about how a main issue in Miller's first race was the Island bridge. Let's be honest here: no one in places like North York or Scarborough based their vote on that bridge. I'm sure most suburban 416ers have never heard of that bridge proposal. Vastly more people outside of the core sphere of political awareness didn't vote for Barbara Hall simply due to things like soundbites they heard on the news about her garbage policies, or because a friend or relative said something of dubious accuracy and changed their minds. It's certainly possible that transit will be a 'main issue' in this campaign but that doesn't mean the votes of actual people will be swayed (and the entire urban blogosphere is good for, what, a thousand votes?), particularly when the election is so far away. True, there's more people living in condos on transit lines, but most of them walk or drive. Transit is the kind of issue that I can see having an actual impact on the final vote tally *only* if taxes or strikes or garbage or faux pas or negative/personal attacks are all not in play in October...if it's made an issue now by campaigners, I think it'll be forgotten in a few months.
 
Darwinkgo said:
Also, I am not sure how Hume turned what was basically a 'I want to examine transit city to make sure the TTC is't screwing up and going way over budget like St Claire (and plus lets get our operating house in order and make sure we can afford it)' into 'will cancel transit city'.
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The media have all been saying this is Rossi's position for a week now, and Rossi hasn't come out and denied it. If they had mispresented his position, we'd have quickly heard about it.

Perhaps in the future, he might realise that this position has put him out of the race, and he might start recanting, and accusing the media of twisting his words ... but if that were true, he would have spoken up long ago.
 
^ If it was September I would say you're right. But it is January - little need for rapid response now, besides us interested folks on here, and the urban blogging community alluded to above, I don't think many are paying attention. I mean, I would bet that more that 3/4 of people don't even know what transit city is (and that is with a reasonably big ad push by the city/ttc)
 
"Change YOU can believe in...
It's Tramsfer City STUPID!
You talking to me (reflection in mirror)? You talking to me?"

Um, okay, if he wins I'm moving to Alberta.
 
scarberiankhatru said:
Remember that the local media, including Hume, is very downtown-centric. We've heard a lot over the years about how a main issue in Miller's first race was the Island bridge. Let's be honest here: no one in places like North York or Scarborough based their vote on that bridge. I'm sure most suburban 416ers have never heard of that bridge proposal.
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This is very true. It is often forgotten that it wasn't just downtown cyclists and arts voters who voted for Miller in 2003. The other half of his coalition, and the one that really elected him, was in neighbourhoods like Rexdale, Malvern, Downsview and Jane and Finch. In these areas crime and social justice issues are of ever increasing prominence, and Miller was the only candidate to really address them. Miller won all those neighbourhoods in 2003. This was a sharp contrast to Barbara Hall in 1997, who dominated downtown but didn't really register anywhere in the outer suburbs. Giambrone has to try to win this vote as well if he is to have any chance.

MetroMan is right that demographics have been swinging to the left, as the size of the troubled inner suburbs has grown at just as fast, if not a faster rate, than the downtown urbanist group.
 
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Hahaha. I just saw Gimabrone's video. Cute. That's about it. He ain't getting far if that's what he's bringing to the fight.

Seriously, with the rep the TTC has right now, why would he want to give up his council seat and run for mayor? Does he really believe he has a a shot? If pictures of sleeping TTC employees or streetcar drivers doing their banking en-route keep showing up, he might actually make himself more unpopular.
 
To be fair, it's not like the TTC has taken a recent nosedive when it comes to customer service or anything. If you were to plot things on a line graph, things would look pretty flat for, what, like thirty years?
 
scarberiankhatru said:
Twice now, I've seen SRT 'drivers' eating soup at the wheel. Sadly, I have no pictures.
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I'm not seeing a big problem with that ... except perhaps the risk of spilling fluid on the controls. It's not like they have much to do once they press the button and let the ATC take over.

GraphicMatt said:
To be fair, it's not like the TTC has taken a recent nosedive when it comes to customer service or anything. If you were to plot things on a line graph, things would look pretty flat for, what, like thirty years?
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Quite frankly, after growing up in Montreal - I'm still surprised how friendly most TTC drivers are, even after over 20 years of using the TTC. I was shocked coming to Toronto and encountering bus drivers who actually spoke to people!
 
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TTC customer service levels has been declining for years now; the result of too much job security, misplaced aggression (lashing out at the customers whom are the reason you're employed instead of your employers whenever they threaten to scale-down your wage/benefits), and becoming too accustomed to behaving a certain way or witnessing a certain ethic by your co-workers and then following suit. How many people here can relate to bus drivers or fare booth collectors barking short, condescending "Yes/No" answers to customer's concerns, and the oh so famous parking the bus inexplicably for several minutes at a time during a trip to go buy a coffee. Giambrone may not be the root of the problem but he's extremely ineffectual in trying to resolve it. So to me personally thus far, Rossi and Thomson both sound like they have an infinitely better grip on reality in what challenges Toronto faces ahead.

This is not about urban/suburban favortism, about choosing a candidate whom will be coming at us with a top-down imperialist set of orders. It's about getting in office someone whom actually pays attention to majority constituents' wants and tries their best to meet those; actually consulting with professionals in the field, not going just going by what a monopoly (TTC) only concerned with self-perpetuating its dominion has to say on issues of public transport.
 
I don't think that suburban Toronto is so stereotypically 1950s American as some assume. Every suburban driver knows the arguments in favour of "The Better Way". Council's biggest cycling advocate aside from Miller is from Scarborough. If there's no champion of making transit work for suburbanites or improving Toronto in some substantial way, they connect with the taxes and roads issues.

We'll just have to see the quality of the leading candidates and what their ideas are.
 
This could be either good or bad news, depending on how David Miller finishes off his term but I've heard from two independent sources that Mayor Miller will be @ Revival Bar for Adam Giambrone's campaign launch. I wonder if he'll endorse him.

UPDATE: I got in touch with a third source who claims that Giambrone was contacted by David Miller who offered his support but not an endorsement. Adam Giambrone is still considering whether he'd like to be associated with the current Mayor.

As such, take this information as a rumour which I'm leaving here for discussion and pending further confirmation.
 
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MetroMan said:
This could be either good or bad news, depending on how David Miller finishes off his term but I've heard from two independent sources that Mayor Miller will be @ Revival Bar for Adam Giambrone's campaign launch. I wonder if he'll endorse him.
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If I were Giambrone, I'd politely decline that offer.


nfitz said:
Really! And it appears to have worked very effectively, getting him free publicity from every major news outlet. The video is harmless, wasn't expensive, and you'd have to have a pretty big stick up your butt to find anything in it to complain about other than production values; I haven't seen any complaints other than production values. But if it was slick and professional then there would be people complaining about the cost.

And as someone pointed out - it's getting about 100-times more views than Rossi's video - even though Rossi's video contains some very controversial platform material; such a cancelling Transit City or removing bike lanes.
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Well, just about everyone I've talked to has stated that their opinion of him has now gone from "Who?" to "What an idiot". That might not be justified and an overreaction, but to be quite honest, I had the same latter reaction. That comment earlier about "joke candidate" is dead on.

I do agree this free advertising has given him name recognition. However, I'd be surprised if it actually increased his chances of winning. The comments on that video are pretty negative. I think at best, he can hope it hasn't harmed his already slim chance at winning. He actually went on 680 News to emphasize that this video wasn't about any specific issues and that the people of Toronto should have a sense of humour, and that he'd take real Toronto issues seriously. ie. He was on the defensive about it.
 
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When I was told by a source in Miller's camp, I called a friend who's working with Giambrone, and he confirmed it. It looks likely that Adam Giambrone is welcoming the Mayor's presence and perhaps an endorsement.

I guess that he realizes that he won't be able to shake the Miller association, so he's embracing it. Many of us continue to believe that David Miller could have been re-elected if he ran again and Giambrone's best chance perhaps lies in being endorsed by the Mayor.

I can't help but think that if there's an endorsement, this will be a heart breaking announcement for Pantalone who sees himself as Miller's successor, having been the Deputy Mayor under David Miller for 2 terms.

UPDATE:

As I posted above in my original comment on this information, I got in touch with a third source who knows that Miller contacted Giambrone offering his support but not an endorsement. Giambrone is still undecided if he wants to be associated with the Mayor.

Interesting how following a lead on something like this will yield even more interesting information: Mayor Miller also offered Joe Pantalone support -- no endorsement. Giambrone and Pantalone are working on a "gentleman's agreement" where if one gains a substantial lead in the polls, the other will bow out and endorse the leader. Joe however, is reportedly upset that Adam is running because he considers himself "the rightful successor to Miller" and feels Giambrone is "jumping ahead in the line".

My opinion? I don't think Joe can do it and Giambrone has a far better chance at winning the office. Both Pantalone and Giambrone had a lot to lose by not running so they both had no other choice but to throw their hats in the ring. With Rossi or Smitherman as Mayor, both would have most certainly lost their prominent positions in municipal chairs and committees. The only way to save themselves was to run. May the best man win.
 
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