"10 things Miller needs to hear
A 10-point plan for the mayor
1-Face reality: Toronto residents will pay more.
2-Get rid of councillors' perks and expenses.
3-Call in a private-sector team to look at city books for waste.
4-Outline a clear plan that shows steps city will take to regain fiscal health.
5-Hold emergency council debate on the plan framed around two questions. Will the city provide services for all? Or will the city be run like a business?
6-Deliver literature to every household explaining Toronto's fiscal position and the plan to fix it.
7-Send teams of politicians and staff door-to-door to speak with residents, inform them of the issues and urge them to hold provincial candidates accountable.
8-Mayor meets with city leaders to step up the "1 Cent Now" campaign. Talk with business leaders across the nation concerned about lack of investment in cities.
9-Mayor releases findings of the waste audit. Commits to fixing any problems. Any recommendations about privatizing would be debated in light of the outcome of the earlier emergency meeting. (#5)
10-Armed with progress report to council, result of Oct. 10 provincial election, and any other developments, mayor makes recommendations to Oct. 22 council on steps to move ahead on fiscal plan.
The mayor should have seen this fiscal crisis coming. Still, it's not too late to do something about it. Here's our plan
Aug 25, 2007 04:30 AM
Royson James
City hall columnist
Days before he was re-elected mayor, David Miller said: "Our city is stronger, thanks to sound fiscal management and new partnerships with the federal and provincial governments to bring hundreds of millions of dollars of new investment in policing, transit, child care and the waterfront."
He boasted that in three years he'd wrung more money from Ottawa and Queen's Park than his predecessors had in three decades.
The future – Toronto by 2010 – looked great.
Torontonians returned Miller to city hall. But within months, citizens were brooding over a very different Toronto, one where community centres are to be closed on Mondays, libraries on Sundays, sidewalks left snow-covered. What went wrong?
Toronto ratepayers have not been told the truth about their city's finances. Mel Lastman started the megacity off with three years of tax freezes, followed by hikes of 5 per cent, 4.3 per cent and 3 per cent. If that was dumb, Miller's continuation of the low tax policy is madness.
Miller's four years of 3 per cent increases (3.8 per cent this year), are not as high as those in the 905 region and not nearly enough to pay the bills. Worse, it's a missed opportunity to gain needed revenues. Most dangerously, it lulled voters into thinking the city's finances were in order..."
