City Council Matters #2

The Ontario government is moving ahead with a review of regional government.

They’ve appointed Michael Fenn and Ken Seiling as Special Advisors for the review.

Michael Fenn, experienced
and respected bureaucrat

The review will examine Ontario's eight regional municipalities (Halton, York, Durham, Waterloo, Niagara, Peel, Muskoka District, and Oxford County), the County of Simcoe, and their lower-tier municipalities.*

We’ve been told that the advisors will work with the Ontario Government for the People to figure out how to make it easier to access municipal services. They will identify processes to deliver efficient and effective services, ways to cut red tape and, of course, ensure municipalities are open for business. 

A Useful Resource

A paper entitled The Potential and Consequences of Municipal Electoral Reform, published in 2017, would be a useful resource.

The paper was written by Aaron Moore, an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Winnipeg and  an Adjunct Professor in the Department of City Planning at the University of Manitoba.

Aaron, Moore

Moore puts forward five categories that capture many of the key factors to look at when considering the effectiveness of municipal electoral systems.  They are local democracy, representation, engagement, intelligibility and accountability.  Some elaboration follows:

1. The ideal of local democracy should mean the public has easy access to their elected officials.

2. Representation suggests  that equal or adequate representation of societal groups that have traditionally gone unrepresented is attempted.

3. As elections are the primary means citizens have to indicate their support for or opposition to government and government policies, a system that strives for greater engagement of the electorate is preferred.

4. An electoral system should allow voters to easily find information on candidates and to navigate the system.  Moore uses the term intelligibility to describe this goal.

5. Voters should also be able to use the electoral system to hold elected officials accountable for decisions.  Correctly connecting elected officials to policy decisions addresses the goal of accountability.

Using that framework, Moore then looks at four variants of municipal electoral systems that can be part of reform efforts.

Council size, ward  versus at large elections, the electoral formula ( First-Past-the-Post vs. Ranked Ballots) and political parties aren’t the only potential changes that could be made to local councils, of course.  They may be the most commonly talked about though.

There is a fair bit more research that Moore has looked at can be helpful than I would have imagined.

For example, the idea of ranked ballots is a change that is long overdue in my view.  San Francisco has had a ranked ballot system since 2004.  But research studies have shown it is confusing and causes voters to over vote (voting and ranking more candidates than allowed) thus spoiling their ballot.

In his conclusion, Moore states that “any argument for reform must clearly state such reasons and keep them at the forefront of the ensuing debate…”

That is good advice that it is hoped the Ontario government takes into account.

Moore’s paper can be found at https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/bitstream/1807/78793/1/IMFG_perspectives_20_electoral_reform_AaronMoore_Oct_17_2017.pdf

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*A quick look at Regional governments shows that the results of this review could impact 73 local councils who are part of two-tier or county systems that have been identified for the review and more than 5 million local voters.

CITY HALL MATTERS - City Managers (CAO’s)

Finding a New CAO/City Manager can be a challenge for municipalities.

Take Hamilton, for example.  Their previous City Manager, Chris Murray, left for a similar position in Toronto last summer.

In August, Council put a process in place by determining who’d be on the Steering Committee for hiring a new manager but didn’t do much else, it would seem.

Council’s composition changed significantly with seven new members elected in the fall.  But the process set in place didn’t make room for new Councillor’s involvement in the very important decision of hiring a manager.  Council’s questionable decision to move a Hiring Committee meeting to another City has raised public concerns.  It is a bit of mess and one wonders how it will all impact the work of Council over the next four years.

(An article by Cameron Kroetsch provides some historical context and analysis
https://raisethehammer.org/article/3613/whats_at_stake_in_the_city_manager_hiring_process)

Another Fine Mess

The Southwestern Ontario City of Sarnia has a mess of a different sort.

It has to do in part with building a wall.  No, not that wall. This wall is a real one and separates the mayor’s office from the administrative staff.

A 2016 report concluded that long serving Mayor Mike Bradley had created a toxic work environment by engaging in "egregious bullying and harassment" when dealing with senior city staff.

Mayor Bradley

Council acted on the report by putting sanctions in place against the Mayor.
They docked his pay, restricted his access to City Hall to work hours only and permitted him to only speak with staff through an intermediary.

Perhaps surprisingly, (voter is always right) Bradley won re-election by a large margin in October.  Many incumbent Councillors were defeated or retired.

Now the City Manager has left and a new one is needed.

Earlier this week, Sarnia Councillors voted to keep in place the sanctions on the Mayor.  An issue was whether the sanctions (on or off) will hurt the search for a new manager.

Council also voted to get an outside legal opinion on keeping the sanctions on.  That will take time and cost money.
https://www.theobserver.ca/news/local-news/sanctions-to-stay-for-now

In the Soo

Meanwhile Sault Ste. Marie Council is also looking for a new top staff person.

Mayor Christian Provenzano recommended that a Selection Committee made up of himself, an experienced and a new Councillor be approved.  Those other two members would be gender balanced.
https://www.saultstar.com/news/local-news/cao-and-city-to-part-ways-at-end-of-contract

Council, then, in an open meeting voted for three members to be part of a Selection Committee.

Sault Ste. Marie - City Hall

Mayor Provenzano also put forward the idea that money would be saved by not hiring a consultant.

It that doesn’t work they’ll start the process over again.

“But obviously if that comes to pass, we'll be back here (to Council) and we'll be talking about that," the Mayor told the Soo Today. https://www.sootoday.com/local-news/mayor-hilsinger-niro-lead-search-for-the-next-horsman-1238890

They have some time as the current City Manager doesn’t finish his four year contract until August.

It will be interesting to see how this all turns out for these three cities.

Some Reading

Michael Szarka researched the whole idea of the problem of recruiting CAO’s for small municipalities in Ontario. It is an interesting read.  https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1173&context=lgp-mrps

More from Doug Ford

William Lyon Mackenzie was a rebel, a writer and publisher and Toronto’s first mayor.

As a “provincial” politician he was expelled from the legislature five times - not just for the day but for good - until the voters sent him back.

Mackenzie was a nasty man, at least when it came to calling political opponents names.

And yet it was Mackenzie's strong belief that information should be available to the people.  He put considerable effort into this by publishing written documents and transcripts of debates in the Colonial Advocate and at public gatherings so that people could discuss and form their own opinions on issues.

I wonder what he would have made of today’s eight second sound bites and twitter politics.

This thought ran through my head as I mused about the current provincial election in Ontario.  Like Mackenzie, Conservative Leader Doug Ford is railing against the elites although arguably not the same elites who Mackenzie attacked in 1837.  Perhaps if Mackenzie was still around he would adapt to the modern person’s idea of communicating by twitter.  We thought we would try out this idea by putting out Doug Ford’s ideas in limerick form so they could fit into tweets.

Here they are with sources and but a few words of introduction.

----------

Doug Ford’s favourite book is How to Win Friends and Influence People.

                                           Dale Carnegie

               Just read How to Win Friends and Influence People
               It is a book that has certainly no equal
               I’ve read it from back to front
               and folks just let me be blunt
              Genuine sincerity is the key to it all.

(Source John Filion -The Only Average Guy, p 33)

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Ford engaged in a public debate with famous author Margaret Atwood when, as a City of Toronto Councillor, he was pushing to close libraries.

         

                                Power Politics

              I wouldn’t have the slightest clue
              If she walked by me, would you?
              well good luck to @MargaretAtwood
              I don’t know her, think I should?
              I fight 4 the people, what’s she do?
           
(Source: John Filion -The Only Average Guy, p 177)

----------

Doug Ford talks about the political platform of Ford  Nation.


        Subways, Subways, Subways

Folks we just represent the people & that’s it
We’re as grassroots as they come & you’ll have 2 admit
#FordNation stands up 2 the political elite
Gives quality service, finds ways 2 unseat
Unreachable leaders & build underground transit.

(Source:  Ford Nation p 7, 271)

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Some have compared Ford  to American President Donald Trump.

                     We Were First

         Lots of signs and big rallies for our base
         Trump did it too but just in case
         You thought it was his idea
         Cause you read the lefty media
         We put that winning formula in place

(Source:  Doug Ford - Ford Nation: Two Brothers: One Vision p 110)

                                                       ----------
Like many populists Doug Ford differentiates himself from regular politicians.

                   The Average Politician

          He is blowing the smoke where the sun don’t shine
          The average politician does it all the time.
          In front of the people
          They are always agreeable
          People aren’t stupid they see this fake line.

        (Source:  City News October 13, 2016)

Doug Ford - In His Own Words (more or less)

I’m not sure if anyone has noted that the three so-called major party leaders in this June’s provincial election all got their start as elected officials at the local level.

Premier Kathleen Wynne served one term as a Toronto District school Board trustee in 2003.  She then won the provincial riding of Don Valley West in 2003, 2007 (defeating John Tory), 2011 and 2014.

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath was in her third term as a Councillor in Hamilton when she won a by- election in the riding of Hamilton East in 2004.  She was subsequently re-elected in the riding of Hamilton Centre in 2007, 2011 and 2014.

Conservative leader Doug Ford served one- term as a City of Toronto Councillor (2010- 2014), ran for Mayor in 2014 and was about to run again when he somewhat suddenly became leader of his provincial party.

It is probably fair to say that province wide Ford is the least known of the three leaders. Two books shed light on Ford’s beliefs and background.

The first was John Filion’s excellent 2015 work The Only Average Guy, Inside the Uncommon World of Rob Ford.  More recently (2016) Doug Ford’s own book was released.  It is called Ford Nation: Two Brothers, One Vision.

I’ve used those sources and others to let you know a bit more about Doug Ford mostly using his words, limerick style.

Dale Carnegie was a big influence on Doug Ford, as he told John Filion.

                                                           

                                                                   Dale Carnegie

                                        Just read How to Win Friends and Influence People

                                        It is a book that has certainly no equal

                                        I’ve read it from back to front

                                        and folks just let me be blunt

                                       Genuine sincerity is the key to it all.

                            

                              (Source John Filion - The Only Average Guy, p 33)

City of Burlington "Gives In"

Hard to believe that forty years have passed since an east end resident’s group took up a fight from which Burlington City Council had backed down.  

On March 16, 1978 the Hamilton Spectator reported that even though the City of Burlington had given up its opposition to a McDonald’s restaurant a residents’ group was going to continue the fight.

A developer was keen to put a McDonald’s restaurant in Parkwood Plaza, a small plaza in south east Burlington Ontario.

Jim Ryan of Kenwood Avenue, a leader of the resident’s group, spoke with the Spectator at the time.

Jim Ryan addressing Council forty years ago

“The City appears only to have gone through the motions of opposing the restaurant,” said Ryan, who later became a City Councillor.

Ryan believed that the City’s decision meant that it was actually abrogating its planning responsibilities and passing on that responsibility to the Ontario Municipal Board.

Not just one but three OMB hearings were held before this planning issue was resolved.

Using accounts from local and national papers, I’ve assembled a community history of this seven-year battle.

You can find a serialized account at https://findingawaytofightbigmacattheomb.wordpress.com/

Responding to Metrolinx’s Plan: “More Transit - Less Parking”

An important document for pubic transit is Metrolinx's Draft 2041 Regional Transportation Plan.

You can read that document at

https://www.metrolinxengage.com/en/collections/draft-plan 

Burlington for Accessible Sustainable Transit (BFAST) is interested in this plan. BFAST is a group that advocates for better transit service in Burlington. They aim to make Burlington Transit more convenient, reliable, accessible and affordable and enhance Burlington’s economy and quality of life.

I was around Burlington and involved in the formation of this group six or so years ago.  Since then BFAST has done a good job making their case but have not been listened to by short sighted, narrow minded decision makers in Burlington. 

BFAST's Doug Brown 

Doug Brown is BFAST’s Chair.  Following are Doug’s comments from a recent consultation on that plan. 

In the "Big Move" 25% of funding was to go to the Greater Toronto Hamilton area (GTHA) municipalities. Of this 25%, 15% was to support local transit improvements. This funding should have resulted in an infusion of $300 million annually to local transit systems. Such a commitment would have resulted in large improvements to local transit. 

However, this commitment has quietly disappeared from the Big Move and from the 2041 draft Regional Transportation Plan (RTP).

Instead, we have more parking planned at GO stations!  It looks like the first mile/last mile will be by car for most GO users.

Even using the lower parking scenario, GO will be creating 30,000 additional spaces. Using the estimate of $40,000/space (the Clarkson parking facility cost $40 million to create 1000 spaces) means that these additional spaces will cost will more $1.2 Billion! 

It would be far more cost effective to invest this money in local transit. 

Clarkson GO Parking - $40,000 per spot

In addition, the large parking lots and parking garages surrounding suburban stations will create large barren parking zones. This will make it more difficult to develop pedestrian-friendly mobility hubs around each station. 

Also, Metrolinx should be charging for parking at GO Stations. A recent study in Hamilton clearly showed that paid parking will greatly increase the transit modal share1 . Metrolinx needs to review the extensive research on parking strategies carried out by Shoup et al2.

References

1. Pinder, Matt: By the Numbers: Impacts of Paid Parking at Work on Commuter Modal Share, Published July 08, 2015 in "Raise the Hammer" https://www.raisethehammer.org/article/2647/by_the_numbers:_impacts_of_paid_parking_at_work_on_commuter_mod

2. Shoup, Donald:  The High Cost of Free Parking:  Updated Edition Paperback– Apr 1 2011

Metrolinx Meeting

There will be a report back on the Draft 2041 Regional Transportation Plan at a Metrolinx Board meeting. That meeting takes place at Metrolinx, Thursday December 7th at 11:10 a.m. Union Station West Wing, Peter R. Smith Boardroom 97 Front St W, 4th floor.

A Taxing Time

(An earlier version of this story appeared in the Sherman Hub News and North End Breezes.)

I’ll receive my municipal tax bill in the mail this week.

Just about everyone has an opinion on taxes, right?

Take President Donald Trump. On paying taxes Donald apparently doesn’t.  “That makes me smart," he said during a debate last year.

Others have funny ideas about tax avoidance.  “Dear IRS, I am writing to cancel my subscription. Please remove my name from your mailing list.” (Snoopy - aka Charles Schulz)

I’m partial to Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.’s adage:

“Taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society.” 

In that context, most of us look for fairness in our tax systems.  What exactly “fairness” is remains subject to debate.  Indicators, though, should include simplicity, ability to pay and transparency.

That said, multi-residential property taxation in Hamilton fails the fairness test.

Today, there is a greater awareness by tenants that they pay taxes through their rent.   Ten years ago, the Clinic and community partners reached out through the I am a Tenant and I Vote Campaign to bring this reality to public attention.

At the time, tenant advocate Tom Cooper noted that many tenants were unaware that they were, in fact, paying much higher taxes than those in single family homes.

Writing in Raise the Hammer (https://raisethehammer.org/article/577/tenants_and_taxes), Cooper used real property to property comparisons.

Tenant tax rates were, in some cases, “three times higher than the 'residential property tax rate' their neighbors in the bungalow down the street are levied,” maintained Cooper.

More recently, Don McLean, co-founder and coordinator of Citizens at City Hall (CATCH), told a tenant’s conference that the tax rate on multi-residential units in Hamilton continued to be set at 2.74 times the rate on single-family homes.

“Tenants are effectively paying 20% of their rent in the form of municipal taxes,” said McLean in March 2016.

It is a fact that Hamilton is the one of the leaders in the dubious category of taxing tenants unfairly. While cities like Toronto have set out to address the disparity, Hamilton has turned a blind eye.

Finally, the province has taken note of this injustice and last year announced a review of the property taxation of multi‐residential apartment buildings. In April, they told municipalities that property taxes for new multi-residential apartment buildings must be charged at a similar rate as other residential properties.  It is thought that this will encourage developers to build more new purpose-built rental housing.  This is a good thing.

Meanwhile, some municipalities like Hamilton have had a freeze put on any increases in the property tax burden for multi-residential apartment buildings. The freeze is in place while the issue is studied.

Let’s see what happens.  Tenants have been waiting a long time for fairness.