What I Want in My Mayor.

I had a conversation the other day with my hairstylist. This jabbering is something women tend to do with the people charged with the sacred duty of cutting our hair. I think that maybe we converse like this in order to distract us from the fact that the person holding the scissors standing behind us has the potential and ability to make us look like Pee Wee Herman. So we civilly engage in these banalities in order to avoid such a fate.

On this day we discussed the upcoming municipal elections. Since I still travel up into the suburbs for my haircuts, (I know it is ridiculous but the woman has been cutting my hair since before Younger Son was born) I was a bit surprised to realize how little she understood about the mess that was made of the Toronto civic vote by our vindictive and arrogant new premier. I get that she doesn't live in Toronto and will cast her ballot in a city north of us but she really didn't understand the subtleties of Premier DoFo's meddling in an already in process election and the chaos that this has caused to our rights as citizens to a free and informed vote. While we can argue the merits of reducing the number of councillors in the city, the craziness of doing this three months before the vote when it had been informed, studied, and approved three years ago was political malpractice. There was absolutely no disguising the motives of the premier and while he did win the legality argument in court, the resulting chaos and disengagement of Toronto voters have been palpable. Many council candidates and voters have been confused as to which riding they are a part of or where they are now running. Several incumbents have found themselves running against council colleagues and there have been no debates that have featured the two front-running mayoral candidates one on one. Our incumbent and uninspiring mayor has ridden the wave of apathy towards what looks like a landslide victory tomorrow. The whole mess has me thinking what I want in a mayor for this wonderful but still stagnating city. I will preface these comments with the fact that both of the front-runners are decent, educated, and kind people who I believe only have the good of the city at heart. For one of the only times in my recent voting history, the choice between the two candidates at the head of the pack doesn't involve a scum-sucking corrupt hack who is only interested in his/her own power that comes complete with the demonization of minorities, the disadvantaged, or the raiding of the municipal coffers.

And so...with that in mind.... 

I want a mayor who will stand strong for the city in the face of a meddling provincial government and a premier who wants to use the city as his personal Lego set. I want to see some passion when the mayor confronts DoFo and not total capitulation. When the premier comes for our subways, and make no mistake that is most definitely coming, will the mayor publicly defend this city and tell him to back off or will he/she call for some bullshit referendum?  The mayor of Toronto needs to lead this city in defiance and in a crusade against the damage that Queen's Park is already causing.

I want a mayor who relies on evidence-based and economically sound principals when planning for the city. I don't want back-of-the-napkin transit solutions dishonestly sold to the electorate because there are votes to be had in Scarborough or North York. We are all one city and the integration of transit must be done with all stakeholders in mind. 

I want a mayor who takes the Vision Zero strategy seriously and not in stages. It has been two years since council adopted it and so far this year, there have been more than 50 cycling or pedestrian deaths on Toronto roads. 2018 is on pace to be the deadliest ever. As a driver, transit user, and pedestrian, I have been in more dangerous situations this year than I can count. I want a mayor who understands that creating safe cycling, walking, and transit opportunities is the key to Vision Zero and that even one death on our roads is abhorrent. Worrying about an extra minute for drivers' travelling times is regressive. This city needs a transportation visionary.

I want a mayor who is progressive and sees the city's long game. I think that trying to find a compromise in many issues is commendable but often short-sighted. The east end of the Gardiner should be torn down in order to release the potential of the waterfront. Spending an extra billion dollars to maintain it in order to save drivers 3 minutes in travel time is regressive. Cities all over the world are removing elevated highways while Toronto is trying to save this crumbling and ugly piece of 1940's infrastructure. The Yonge corridor north of the 401 should be reduced to two lanes in each direction in order to create a walkable plaza in downtown North York. This plan has been championed by city planners and transit experts alike. The community wants it. I want a mayor who recognizes that cars are not king.

I want a mayor who will commit to and fight for our most vulnerable. I want funding restored for the safe injection clinics that are on the frontlines of the opioid crisis. I want funding restored for shelters for abused women and children. I want a mayor who recognizes that there are not nearly enough cold-weather shelters for those on the streets and doesn't need to be cajoled and embarrassed into opening up the armories when the temperature drops. I want a cohesive and immediate plan that sees the unlocking of city land to be used for affordable housing and not merely for the profit of greedy developers. 

I want a mayor who will champion programs for at-risk youth and commit to finding the funds. It is a fundamental step to helping curb the gun violence on our streets.

I want a mayor who will invest in green initiatives including demanding proper stormwater management and the greening of rooftops in all new condo buildings. 

I want a mayor who understands that all of this cannot be achieved without new sources of revenue and who sees property taxes as the communal fund that works for the betterment of this city and all of its citizens.

These are just a few of the things that I will be thinking about when I cast my ballot tomorrow.  Toronto deserves it all and not just a nice, decent guy.

Debate or Schoolyard Brawl?

I tuned in to watch a debate last evening and instead I witnessed a schoolyard brawl.

The first of what I imagine will be an endless stream of Toronto mayoral confabs to take place between now and October, aired yesterday afternoon on CityTV and we the citizenry of the GTA came away poorer for the experience.

I can't imagine what the braintrust at CITY were thinking when they developed this ridiculous format. Basically, here's what happened. Moderator (and I use that term loosely) Gord Martineau introduced a topic of interest, let's say transit. Each candidate was given a short period of time to make a statement elucidating their position. When all five were done, a cowbell rang and the free-for-all began. (At one point the useless Martineau even hollered the word "Go" as if this were a WWF match.) Everybody screamed talking points and slogans over the other with neither the debaters nor the audience able to discern who was saying what and when. He who screamed loudest usually came out on top in the scrum, and that person was invariably the bully of an incumbent. Rob Ford was allowed to spew his invectives and endless streams of mendacities that rarely went unchallenged by the others simply because the rest were so intent on trying to get their positions out into the ether. Even the media questions were easily lobbed softballs that permitted the mayor to belch his half a dozen previously rehearsed talking points and did not allow for follow-up questions by the reporters. Ford was grinning and puffing in mock triumph by the end knowing that very little damage was inflicted on him by his challengers, and the people of Toronto were left wondering is there a real candidate that can take on this straw man of a mayor.

I have a bit of knowledge in the art of debate. It is one of the many skills taught to me in synagogue youth group, and I am grateful for the experience. A debate is supposed to be an even-tempered, yet truthful exchange of differing opinions backed up by incontrovertible facts. Each participant is permitted a period of time to present their arguments, followed by uninterrupted periods of rebuttal by their opponents. Questions from the floor should be permitted follow-ups and challenges especially when lies are dispensed, and moderators should live up to their titles and step in when the discussions get out of control. A debate should never be a rugby scrum whereby everybody piles on all at once, and the winner is determined by who emerges from the bottom still breathing.

I have stated on many occasions that because I live one kilometre outside of the city of Toronto, I do not have a vote in the upcoming election. But that doesn't mean it doesn't affect or impact me as a concerned citizen of the GTA. My initial feeling very early on in this marathon of a campaign is that I am of an "ABF" mind....Anyone but Ford. I was hoping to hear something...anything....from last evening's debate to help me in my quest for a candidate. Instead, all I got was a lot of nothing from the challengers, more Ford headlines, and one less opportunity for the media to show this mayor for the fraud and failure he is. It is the first time in months that I actually thought that Ford could win reelection.

The only good news is that it is still very early in the campaign. But the debate coordinators better get their shit together so that this debacle isn't repeated. The bar set for election to the highest office in the city should be much higher than was on display last evening. The citizens of Toronto deserve better from all involved.

The Wise Men and Women of Toronto

Have you ever heard the tales of the Wise Men of Chelm?

In the great tradition and history of Jewish humour, Chelm is a fictional town located somewhere in Eastern Europe that is said to be inhabited by fools. The tales centre around the "wise men", i.e the deep thinkers, who find and postulate ridiculous answers and solutions to the town's quandaries.

A few examples.

One morning, a young housewife of Chelm noticed that something strange had occurred in her kitchen. After she had buttered her toast, the woman accidentally dropped it on the floor and the bread landed buttered side up. Now, everybody knows that this defied the laws of physical nature. Everybody knows that when a piece of toast is dropped it always falls buttered side down. All the great thinkers of Chelm were called and asked to figure out what had happened. They studied, prayed and fasted for three days. When they finally emerged from seclusion, they had their answer. Of course! The young women had simply buttered the wrong side of the toast.

The town of Chelm had decided to build an new synagogue. They enlisted the help of some of the strongest and ablest young men in the area to go to the mountaintop and gather the largest and heaviest stones for the foundation. The young men put they stones on their shoulders and trudged down the mountain toward the new synagogue location. "Fools," cried the wise men. "You should have rolled the rocks down the hill." Faced with their own stupidity the young men did the only thing that they could. They put the heavy rocks back on their shoulders, trudged back up the mountainside, and proceeded to roll them back down the hill.

I have been regaled with Chelm stories since my earliest days at synagogue religious school. I just never could have imagined that one day I actually might reside in Chelm.

Because that is exactly what Toronto has become. Chelm.

The utter stupidity that has engulfed this city for much of the past three years has been staggering. It probably isn't necessary to rehash the obvious, but for expediency here goes. Toronto has a mayor who has finally dropped his translucent veneer of idiocy. He has been caught with his pants on fire and has been exposed as a duplicitous individual of questionable character with a probable substance abuse problem that has been exacerbated by his cavorting with gang bangers, drug dealers, and others who have been indicted on a myriad of offences. (It doesn't even serve me to provide links to all of his misdeeds. Just click on any news outlet site from anywhere in the world this morning and there is  the whole sordid mess.) He has continually denied every accusation, publicly trashed the reputations of those who rightly called him on his shit, bullied his detractors with threats and innuendo, and sicked his attack dog of a brother on anybody who got close to his secret life of drug dens and "drunken stupours." He has lied repeatedly and broken the public trust to which he was elected.

His answer to all of this? "I am sincerely, sincerely, sincerely sorry."

No explanations for the illegal activity. No acknowledgment of his substance abuse. No elucidations of the very public meetings with drug dealers. No mea culpas for his racist and homophobic rants. No justification for the smear campaigns against some very reputable journalists and fellow politicians. No expounding on the almost four hundred pages of police documents that show hizzoner under surveillance for months. No elucidation of the now iconic photograph that displays the mayor of Toronto with his arms around three men in front of a reported crack house. (One of the men has since been murdered and another has been arrested on various drug offences.) Nothing, except blah blah blah....sorry sorry sorry....can't turn back the past....must move forward.

My kids did better with apologies at the age of 6.

And yet, there are those "wise men and women" of Toronto who are still behind the mayor. They've got his back.

"He's doing a great job," they say.

"Who care's what he does in his private life? Isn't he entitled to a private life?"

"Can't you see he's apologized? Enough already." 

And then there's my personal favourite.

"Of course I'd vote for him again. He's just a regular guy trying to lowering my taxes."

Chelm bullshit!!

The mayor of the fourth largest city in North America is entitled to a private life when his actions do not directly impact his job. We aren't talking about him taking his wife and kids to the movies, here. He signed up for this life and all its scrutiny. That is part of what being the chief magistrate of Toronto is all about. Being tanked and loaded while in full public view cannot and should never be a part of any mayor's private life. We will never know if he made important decisions for Toronto while bombed and in a "drunken stupour", but the possibility is there and as citizens we should all take tremendous offense at that. Cavorting with known criminals on a daily basis is a breach of his elected office. The city of Toronto is no longer simply grappling with an image problem (although I do believe there is an element to that thinking) but rather a business problem. If the CEO of any major corporation was caught screwing around on company time, he or she would be escorted from the building post haste.

And as for his apology? Well...he's been so very honest before, we should simply take him at his word. (That was sarcasm, Chelmites!)

This mayor has been an unmitigated public disaster and it is time for him to step aside and address his demons. But in typical Chelm fashion, there is no mechanism for his removal unless he himself chooses to walk away from the job. I have no doubt that he will stubbornly stay on and continue to spout his Chelmnian mantras until next October's election, but we here in the Big Smoke should be ashamed of our enabling his ongoing nonsense and particularly of our own stupidity.

So did you hear the latest in Canadian folklore? There are these great stories of the Wise Men and Women of Toronto.....