Next Mayor of Toronto?

[js97]

All of which is to say that I'm going to be an enthusiastic backer of Mr. Smitherman, unless somehow convinced otherwise. So that's my €0.02.

Hey... I hope you (and all other smitherman supporters) at least research what he's running on (he has not disclosed anything yet).

I initially favoured smitherman (simply based on his previous political stripe), but after meeting the guy and having a 10-15 minute conversation with him, it was obvious this guy was not the person i wanted to be mayor... in fact, i wouldn't even let him house sit!
To be quite frank, he came across arrogant and disconnected. He's looking for a cushy job and a pretty fat pay cheque. It seems like everyone else is too!

I think Rocco is the only one that doesn't need the pay cheque. THe rest of the clowns are career politicians, more concerned about their jobs then the welfare of the city.

 

[kettal]

The thing I don't get about Rossi's bike lane position is that it seems almost entirely motivated by the debate over Jarvis this past spring, but that issue was only tangentially related to bike lanes. Getting rid of the middle lane on Jarvis was motivated by issues that have nothing to do with bikes and, indeed, the bike lanes were only added to the plan late in the game.

So he is saying he'd stop the Jarvis plan entirely and leave it 'as is'?

I get the impression that Rossi's research involved reading the opinion page of an issue of Toronto Sun, and not much else.

 

[MetroMan]

The Star is reporting that Giambrone sent out invitations for his Mayoral Candidacy launch party set for February 1 at Revival on College St.

"I can say there's been a lot of interest in my intentions for the 2010 municipal election,” Giambrone said in an email Sunday night, “and I've said I'll be announcing them in late January, which is fast approaching.

“I'm looking forward sharing my plans with Toronto in the next week or so, and participating in an exciting election. On February 1, I'll be gathering with some friends and supporters to celebrate Toronto.”

I wish him luck but I'm not sure he'll have the support necessary to beat out Smitherman with Pantalone sharing many of the same supporters.

It's going to be sad to lose one or both Pantalone/Giambrone from city council once the election is over.

Giambrone brought a fresh perspective into the TTC and became an accomplished councillor in his ward.

I'll be torn between Pantalone, Giambrone and Smitherman.

 

[Archivist]

Calling the mayor's job "cushy" and a "fat pay cheque" is a bit absurd. Neither is true. If I were looking for either, I would have gone into banking, where you can make huge mistakes and still retain million dollar bonuses.

And I'm not sure that opposition to Rossi can be interpreted as being support for Smitherman.

 

[jn_12]

People really have no clue what being a politician involves. They assume you show up at council once in a while and make decisions on a whim, and then go out to Harbour 60 after where you laugh at all the poor decisions you made for the city.

I had a professor in my undergrad who was a former Federal Minister and trust me, it's about as far from easy as possible. He put in 10-12 hour days and then was sent home with a 3 inch binder that he was expected to know for the next morning. I'd imagine being the head of the 5th (6th?, 7th?) largest government in this country is probably involves as much or more work, especially since the mayor is expected to be "in the know" on most of the city's doings.

 

[ratoronto]

Rossi plans to kill TransitCity and the Jarvis bike lanes?

Ridiculous Grandstanding.... Shows a complete lack of understanding of municipal finances and city building!

 

[Jonny5]

People really have no clue what being a politician involves. They assume you show up at council once in a while and make decisions on a whim, and then go out to Harbour 60 after where you laugh at all the poor decisions you made for the city.

I had a professor in my undergrad who was a former Federal Minister and trust me, it's about as far from easy as possible. He put in 10-12 hour days and then was sent home with a 3 inch binder that he was expected to know for the next morning. I'd imagine being the head of the 5th (6th?, 7th?) largest government in this country is probably involves as much or more work, especially since the mayor is expected to be "in the know" on most of the city's doings.

For every federal minister, we've got a dozen backbenchers that fill a seat and just keep their mouths shut. Political office is what the politician makes of it. We have stories from the past year of councillors on six week vacations during the strike and conducting city business in strip clubs. Clearly there are times the job is not too taxing.

When you have a council full of veterans, like Toronto, you also have people who know the system and a good institutional memory. They can likely get their jobs done faster than a rookie who may be overwhelmed. Also, wards have different workloads. I'm sure Vaughan has to spend a lot more time reviewing complex development proposals than Grimes and some members are on committees that require a lot more work and technical knowledge.

I'm sure the hardest working people are the staff who get handed that binder from the Minister around 10 pm and are told to have a summary on his desk by 6 am.

 

[kettal]

Mayor of Toronto is not an easy job, the pay is very low compared to the stress and work involved. I'll believe some people are in it for the glory, power, or the thrill of winning, but nobody is in it looking for easy money.

 

[SunriseChampion]

So he is saying he'd stop the Jarvis plan entirely and leave it 'as is'?

I read a quote of his somewhere (I apologise I don't have a source as I don't remember where I read it) stating he's against any changes to Jarvis, or at least implying as much.

 

[Hipster Duck]

With the number of GO Transit expansions and improvements already in progress, this statement doesn't hold up. GO is where the real regional transit will happen, not the TTC. As you said, the GTA population is growing much faster than Toronto. Neither Transit City, nor a new bunch of subways will serve the regional interest, they're both suited for medium distance travel.

Yes, I agree with you kettal. That's why I don't think the mothballing of a project like TC will really affect commuting patterns, insofar as the most urgently needed projects are regional in scope and they are being built by GO/Metrolinx regardless of who's mayor.

Giambrone brought a fresh perspective into the TTC and became an accomplished councillor in his ward.

To be fair, if Giambrone were a TTC chair in a non-politically aligned role and at a time when building TC was not in the cards, he'd be a pretty good guy. Service has markedly improved on some routes and the TTC's website no longer looks like it was designed by Grade 11 students on a Geocities site in 1996. However, as a councilor, he has let his judgment get clouded by ideology and doesn't have a problem with being thoroughly paternalist under the assumption that what he is doing is "progressive". The retrofit of Lansdowne street can only be described as a Pyrrhic victory that incrementally increased sidewalk space while doing virtually nothing for bicylists and simultaneously pissing off local residents with his lack of community consultation. His latest plan to restrict the number of bars and restaurants opening on Queen West is another example of top-down social engineering of an organic urban environment; the kind our very own Jane Jacobs rallied against in Manhattan during the dark days of Robert Moses. Who else is doing that? Oh yeah, Pantalone!

 

[UrbanPrincess]

at first i was all for Giambrone (and i still am). However, after Rossi's platform was released I would be happy with anyone but Rocco Rossi (unless they have an equally absurd platform). I really hope Torontonian's don't buy into his ideology.

 

[js97]

Calling the mayor's job "cushy" and a "fat pay cheque" is a bit absurd. Neither is true. If I were looking for either, I would have gone into banking, where you can make huge mistakes and still retain million dollar bonuses.

And I'm not sure that opposition to Rossi can be interpreted as being support for Smitherman.

Apologies, in comparison.

None of these guys, except for Rossi, would be
qualified/experienced to work in banking (look at their backgrounds).

Giambrone, Pantalone, nor Smitherman.

And I'm fairly confident that none of the three would be able to cut out a 200k+ pay cheque in the private sector.


also, On Giambrone's interest in TTC service, call me pessimistic but I blieve it's linked to his heavy union support (i.e. more union jobs) instead of better service. I guess it comes hand in hand? But does that mean anyone can increase 'service' to the TTC? - hire more people

 

[GraphicMatt]

Are we holding up banking as a model of private sector efficiency now?

 

[nfitz]

also, On Giambrone's interest in TTC service, call me pessimistic but I blieve it's linked to his heavy union support (i.e. more union jobs) instead of better service. I guess it comes hand in hand? But does that mean anyone can increase 'service' to the TTC? - hire more people

I'll call you pessimistic!

All else aside, Giambrone has shown an interest, and even had some success, in improving service, improving communication (NextBus), expanding service, etc. And he has no trouble admitting when something is wrong, and isn't working.

Personally, I think him running for mayor is unfortunate. I think another term at TTC would be best to show what he can do. He may make a good mayor one day ... but I don't think it is his time yet.

 

[Woodbridge_Heights]

Calling the mayor's job "cushy" and a "fat pay cheque" is a bit absurd. Neither is true. If I were looking for either, I would have gone into banking, where you can make huge mistakes and still retain million dollar bonuses.

And I'm not sure that opposition to Rossi can be interpreted as being support for Smitherman.

A perfect example of the political mindset of this board. Big corporate = Bad, public servants = Good. Both positions involve managing multi million dollar organizations though so why create the dichotomy? Every position is what you make of it. For every bank executive who carelessly goes about his business there is a politician working to serve his own interests and taking bribes from any number of special interest groups.