George Smitherman proposes expert council to reform city; existing city council apparently unqualified
Yesterday, while racking up the endorsement of former mayor John Sewell, George Smitherman unveiled his latest idea for reforming city hall: a group of seven experts that could iron out all the kinks in the whole amalgamation thing, 13 years after the fact. The panel will include a number of local notables, including former chief city planner Paul Bedford and developer Stephen Diamond.
The Globe and Mail reports:
During a news conference Thursday in front of the York Civic Centre on Eglinton Avenue West, Mr. Smitherman said the seven-member group would have to report by April, 2011, and devise proposals that don’t increase spending. “We want them to come back with recommendations that are cost neutral,” Mr. Smitherman said, adding that the millions of dollars the city spends to send lawyers to the Ontario Municipal Board could be diverted to boost community engagement in local planning.
Campaign organizers chose to stage Mr. Smitherman’s announcement on the grounds of the former City of York’s municipal chambers, using the building as a backdrop to illustrate the disconnect between neighbourhoods and city hall.
Of course, the people of Toronto are electing not seven, but 45 people to a group specifically charged with making city hall work better—namely, city council—which we imagine will have to approve any substantial changes anyway. Why not have the actual people in power try and come up with some ideas?
The success rate of substantial reforms is pretty low when they’re outsourced to third parties in Canada—see the failed electoral reforms in B.C. and Ontario—but the key difference here seems to be that Smitherman would be backing the reforms personally. Or maybe there’s a simpler explanation to all this: Smitherman’s observed the behaviour of our councillors and has decided that, for a panel of wise elders, none of them could quite make the cut.
• Smitherman proposes panel of brainstorming ‘experts’ [Globe and Mail]
• What the #!%*? – Reforming City Hall [National Post]
• Sewell’s got a job [Toronto Sun]
• Sewell to head reform panel if Smitherman is elected [Toronto Star]
• Ex-mayor Sewell would lead panel for Smitherman [CTV News]
You really shouldn’t lump the electoral reforms in B.C. And Ontario into the same thought process. The ones in B.C. were good solid reforms set aside because people were spun (or didn’t like them, whichever). The ones in Ontario were ridiculous from top to bottom and actually would have exacerbated a lot of the problems with the electoral system.
Name-dropping Sewell and Bedford almost buys my vote outright! Joe’s got his work cut out for him.
What? So he is looking for cost neutral proposals? I’ve got a cost neutral proposal for you George: how about NOT having 7 other people that you may be paying to come up with solutions when you have an entire city council who, I would hope is more than capable. I see where this is going.
I see where this is going: a council to come up with proposals that will take until April 2011 to prepare. Then another year or two of reviewing these proposals and it won’t even be brought up in council chambers until long after people have forgotten that the project ever took place, if ever.
I think the people of Toronto are speaking very loudly and clearly here. The proposals are out there from those that live in the city. We see everything that’s wrong with the city, post-amalgamation and otherwise. You don’t need to spend more money having another council come in.
I’m undecided…but I can say that I have NO faith in George Smitherman. He talks a big game…but ideas like this cement the notion that he’s just another politician who offers nothing of value or substance. E-Health all over again? I hope not.