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AlvinofDiaspar
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From the Globe:
Toronto mayoral candidate Pitfield takes aim at high-rises
'We have gone condo crazy,' councillor says in speech to campaign supporters
JENNIFER LEWINGTON
From Thursday's Globe and Mail
Mayoral contender Jane Pitfield says she would let local neighbourhoods decide the height and size of condos -- and perhaps have all the tall buildings south of Bloor Street.
"We have gone condo crazy," said the Don Valley West councillor, who last night notched up her campaign to unseat Mayor David Miller on Nov. 13.
"It would be pretty basic," she said of her city planning philosophy. "Maybe north of Bloor wouldn't have anything over a certain height."
Ms. Pitfield's views on intensification and development -- last week she opposed a Four Seasons high-rise hotel in Yorkville endorsed by Mr. Miller -- are among several ways she hopes to differentiate herself from the incumbent.
She said she is giving up her ward seat, one she has won handily in successive elections, because, she argues, the city is in decline.
Last night, in her first major public event since filing for the mayoral race in January, Ms. Pitfield announced a two-month "listening tour" to hear from residents.
Her official campaign launch is set for September, when she will announce a detailed platform.
She used last night's event to take several sharp jabs at Mr. Miller.
"David Miller has to go," she told about 125 supporters at a Thorncliffe Park banquet hall. "There is no direction, no focus and no vision," she said, charging his "NDP agenda" is too downtown-focused and fails to stand up for established neighbourhoods and taxpayers.
Although 16 contenders have lined up so far against the mayor, Ms. Pitfield is regarded as the only serious challenger. But, even among her potential supporters on the right, she is seen as facing an uphill campaign to unseat a mayor who still enjoys high favourability ratings.
But her strategy, like that of right-leaning mayoral candidate John Tory in 2003, is to woo voters in the inner suburbs of Scarborough, North York and Etobicoke. In 2003, Mr. Tory (now Ontario Conservative Leader) chased Mr. Miller to a credible second-place finish.
"We are overtaxed and Toronto is badly managed," she told supporters. "And our city has lost its focus on some critical business needs: job creation, industrial renewal and more research and development."
But it is the development issue that has some residents in some areas exercised. The city's proposed official plan sets out broad principles for the location of tall buildings, such as on major arteries and along subway and transit lines, but there are no hard and fast rules for the size and density of buildings, with the final design the result of discussions with area residents, city planners and politicians.
Earlier, in an interview with Ms. Pitfield, the 51-year old married mother of four spelled out her position on issues she hopes will resonate. She said more power should be put in the hands of neighbourhoods, potentially with council as a whole having no say in the final decision.
"We can't allow professional planners to decide that they know what is best," she said. "We should know who we are here to serve, the people who elected us."
Ms. Pitfield also paints herself as an alternative to Mr. Miller on ways to end the city's current reliance on shipping its garbage to Michigan, under a long-term contract.
She says all options should be discussed, including controversial new technologies -- essentially cleaner forms of burning waste -- that some view as too costly and too environmentally risky.
Mr. Miller is on record as opposed to incineration in any form, arguing instead for more aggressive recycling to reduce waste sent to landfills.
Last night, Ms. Pitfield identified several people who have joined her campaign as advisers. They include former top Canadian Olympic committee official Paul Henderson and Paul Oliver, who ran Barbara Hall's unsuccessful bid for mayor in 2003.
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She is obviously taking a page from Karen Stintz on the matter, pandering to priviledged NIMBYies while masquerading as the "defender of the neighbourhood". Solution - dump all tall buildings south of Bloor!
That sound as legit as her campaign for the job.
AoD
Toronto mayoral candidate Pitfield takes aim at high-rises
'We have gone condo crazy,' councillor says in speech to campaign supporters
JENNIFER LEWINGTON
From Thursday's Globe and Mail
Mayoral contender Jane Pitfield says she would let local neighbourhoods decide the height and size of condos -- and perhaps have all the tall buildings south of Bloor Street.
"We have gone condo crazy," said the Don Valley West councillor, who last night notched up her campaign to unseat Mayor David Miller on Nov. 13.
"It would be pretty basic," she said of her city planning philosophy. "Maybe north of Bloor wouldn't have anything over a certain height."
Ms. Pitfield's views on intensification and development -- last week she opposed a Four Seasons high-rise hotel in Yorkville endorsed by Mr. Miller -- are among several ways she hopes to differentiate herself from the incumbent.
She said she is giving up her ward seat, one she has won handily in successive elections, because, she argues, the city is in decline.
Last night, in her first major public event since filing for the mayoral race in January, Ms. Pitfield announced a two-month "listening tour" to hear from residents.
Her official campaign launch is set for September, when she will announce a detailed platform.
She used last night's event to take several sharp jabs at Mr. Miller.
"David Miller has to go," she told about 125 supporters at a Thorncliffe Park banquet hall. "There is no direction, no focus and no vision," she said, charging his "NDP agenda" is too downtown-focused and fails to stand up for established neighbourhoods and taxpayers.
Although 16 contenders have lined up so far against the mayor, Ms. Pitfield is regarded as the only serious challenger. But, even among her potential supporters on the right, she is seen as facing an uphill campaign to unseat a mayor who still enjoys high favourability ratings.
But her strategy, like that of right-leaning mayoral candidate John Tory in 2003, is to woo voters in the inner suburbs of Scarborough, North York and Etobicoke. In 2003, Mr. Tory (now Ontario Conservative Leader) chased Mr. Miller to a credible second-place finish.
"We are overtaxed and Toronto is badly managed," she told supporters. "And our city has lost its focus on some critical business needs: job creation, industrial renewal and more research and development."
But it is the development issue that has some residents in some areas exercised. The city's proposed official plan sets out broad principles for the location of tall buildings, such as on major arteries and along subway and transit lines, but there are no hard and fast rules for the size and density of buildings, with the final design the result of discussions with area residents, city planners and politicians.
Earlier, in an interview with Ms. Pitfield, the 51-year old married mother of four spelled out her position on issues she hopes will resonate. She said more power should be put in the hands of neighbourhoods, potentially with council as a whole having no say in the final decision.
"We can't allow professional planners to decide that they know what is best," she said. "We should know who we are here to serve, the people who elected us."
Ms. Pitfield also paints herself as an alternative to Mr. Miller on ways to end the city's current reliance on shipping its garbage to Michigan, under a long-term contract.
She says all options should be discussed, including controversial new technologies -- essentially cleaner forms of burning waste -- that some view as too costly and too environmentally risky.
Mr. Miller is on record as opposed to incineration in any form, arguing instead for more aggressive recycling to reduce waste sent to landfills.
Last night, Ms. Pitfield identified several people who have joined her campaign as advisers. They include former top Canadian Olympic committee official Paul Henderson and Paul Oliver, who ran Barbara Hall's unsuccessful bid for mayor in 2003.
_________________________________________________
She is obviously taking a page from Karen Stintz on the matter, pandering to priviledged NIMBYies while masquerading as the "defender of the neighbourhood". Solution - dump all tall buildings south of Bloor!
That sound as legit as her campaign for the job.
AoD