Speaking of spending sprees...from the Star:
Stintz tapped public purse for public speaking tips
Councillor spent $4,500 of public money on voice lessons
Constituents said she spoke too fast, sounded 'shrill,' Karen Stintz says
Mar 23, 2009 06:19 PM
Donovan Vincent
City Hall Bureau
Paul Moloney
City Hall Bureau
Saying she takes feedback to heart, councillor Karen Stintz is defending the $4,500 (US) she billed the city for public speaking lessons after some of her residents told her she spoke too fast and sounded "shrill.''
Stintz, a vocal opponent of Toronto Mayor David Miller, last year used the services of Lynda Spillane, an author and vocal coach. The expense showed up recently on the city's website, which since late last year has been posting councillors' spending from their $53,100-a-year office budgets.
Stintz, a young, bright light on council, and a fiscal conservative, took the public speaking lessons last year in Toronto.
She did so after being told she speaks too fast and that her message is being lost as a result. She adds that some of the criticisms she's heard were written in the media.
Stintz has defended her decision to charge the taxpayers for lessons to improve her speaking style.
Touted as a possible challenger to run against Miller next year, she's a key member of the opposition group on council that, although outnumbered by the mayor's supporters, hammer away regardless.
She is positioning herself as someone who would exert more control over city hall spending than Miller, and has criticized him for increasing taxes every year since taking office in late 2003.
The councillor for Ward 16, Eglinton-Lawrence was first elected after answering an advertisement from ratepayers seeking a candidate to take on then-incumbent Anne Johnston in 2003.
That was her first foray into politics after a seven-year career working in both public and private sector jobs.
Married with two children, she has a master's degree in public administration from Queen's University.
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/607019
AoD