[M II A II R II K]

Politicians to stay on TTC board


March 1, 2010

By JONATHAN JENKINS

Read More: http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2010/03/01/13073451.html

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Paul Ainslie wants the politicians off the bus. The Scarborough East councillor lost a bid yesterday to have city councillors replaced on the Toronto Transit Commission by appointed citizens but said that won’t stop him from pushing the idea as an election issue. “That’s the only place left to debate it,†Ainslie said Monday.

“The TTC needs to be de-politicized. We need people with some business expertise, engineers, independent people who can run the TTC properly. “It’s definitely something that has to change.â€

Ainslie’s idea may have some traction in the campaign, as two frontrunners in the mayoral race, George Smitherman and Rocco Rossi, have made similar calls. But it didn’t fly at council’s executive committee, which deferred the matter indefinitely — sending it to he deepest of procedural black holes.

“It’s disgusting,†Ainslie said. “It’s politicians looking after politicians. We talk about a structural deficit here at City Hall and changing things and the executive committee once again just voted for the status quo.â€

But veteran Councillor Howard Moscoe, a former TTC chairman, said it was laughable to believe “Mrs. Romana would hang up her apron†and step onto the TTC board, arguing instead that citizen appointees would just be friends of politicians with no accountability to the public.

“It goes fundamentally against the democratic process,†Moscoe said. “If you want people to govern, you elect them to govern, and we throw them out if we don’t like what they do.

“We have experts on the TTC. We hire them. We pay them a lot of money to run the TTC.â€

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[Jonny5]

While slightly ineloquent, Moscoe is correct. Ashton is also out of touch if he thinks this hasn't been debated already.
Maybe he wants the e-health cosultants to run the TTC. I'm sure they'll need to expense trips all over the world to "study" transit systems.

 

[W. K. Lis]

When the Toronto Transportation Commission was first born in the 1920's, the commission consisted of people who were knowledgeable about transit. Fred Hubbard, for example, was general manager of the Toronto Street Railway Company, would become a commissioner and then chairman of the Toronto Transportation Commission from 1930-39. It was in later years that the TTC ended up as a dumping ground for the friends of politicians, before it became a dumping ground for politicians. The TTC needs to go back to having people who are actually interested in transit. We need citizens who are not politicians on the commission, even if only in the minority at first.

 

[The Mad Navigator]

The TTC needs to go back to having people who are actually interested in transit. We need citizens who are not politicians on the commission, even if only in the minority at first.

Great idea and all, but how could this be accomplished?

 

[M II A II R II K]

Who should watch over the TTC?


March 08, 2010

by Ed Drass

Read More: http://www.metronews.ca/toronto/comment/article/471387--who-should-watch-over-the-ttc

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The Toronto Transit Commission will continue to be overseen by city councillors, at least until this fall’s municipal election. By January 2011 — around the time we should expect a fare hike — some of the TTC’s board of directors are likely to be citizen appointees. Most Toronto agencies include both elected and appointed members and, considering recent history, there is little evidence the commission should be different.

Another overdue development is the TTC’s new customer service advisory panel, made up of people with experience in the public and private sectors. They need to swiftly set up a series of public sessions across the city. For now, email them via advisory.panel@ttc.ca.

I’m curious if this group can discern if TTC failures in serving customers are due mostly to a culture of indifference, or to inadequate funding. Not to be left out, the TTC’s largest union is also in the process of arranging public meetings — these should be very interesting.

Added to this mix is ongoing scrutiny in the media, plus talk of privatization and expense audits from campaigning municipal politicians, as well as a pilot project to include local residents in the operation of subway stations. From bottom to top, the country’s biggest transit system is about to undergo more examination than it has ever experienced.

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[M II A II R II K]

Toronto Mayor David Miller says no transit fare hike in 2011


1 hour ago by ■ KJ Mullins

Read More: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/288856

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Toronto's Mayor David Miller announced Wednesday morning that the city's budget has improved this year with a sustainable surplus. Toronto, Canada - Miller spoke at City Hall about the year end numbers Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. He stated that the city budget is far more than balanced sheets. Miller said that the residential taxes will be a lower increase than had been planned. This does not mean that it will be lower than last year.

"Our current budget can not run a deficit. You can't have a great city for free." The city budget must be set within financial constrains. Miller said that the city is taking the first steps to a 2 year balanced plan with a tax break. The budget surplus is over $100 million higher than had been expected. That surplus will allow for the increase for residential taxes to 2.9% and business taxes to under 1 percent, lower than planned. Miller said that the city budget will be balanced in 2011.

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[DavidH]

Great idea and all, but how could this be accomplished?

How? A new mayor could push a chance in the Commission's structure through. Also, the province might make a change in governance a requiremnet in return for operational funding, as has been rumoured.

 

[leopetr]

I think that this sort of reorg is pointless. Having already elected politicians do the job saves us money because we don't have to hire someone to do it full-time. I don't see any strategic difference between city councillors and people appointed by city councillors.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

The proposal have merit, but one has to think long and hard what "citizens", "users" and "experts" actually meant, how they are selected and held accountable before going further. I mean, the commission is responsible for doling out money - how would unelected officials be held accountable for spending? What about group dynamics - like insularity (e.g. the well documented case in of the nuclear "cult" in Ontario Hydro). Citizens and users are an even tricker group - what is the selection criteria and their "goals"? Can you imagine having transit groupies in these roles - only with the power to authorize spending, transit planning and construction and route changes?

AoD

 

[glesco]

While there are some interesting ideas in the proposal I believe that the TTC should be completely controlled by politicians. Isn't that why they were elected? If your not happy about their decisions, vote against them; if happy vote for them. H owever, their are merits of having "citizens", "users" and "experts" in the governance structure so perhaps the TTC could establish advisory panels to review staff recommendations, at a more detailed level, to provide their own recommendation to the Commission.

 

[waterloowarrior]

While there are some interesting ideas in the proposal I believe that the TTC should be completely controlled by politicians. Isn't that why they were elected? If your not happy about their decisions, vote against them; if happy vote for them. H owever, their are merits of having "citizens", "users" and "experts" in the governance structure so perhaps the TTC could establish advisory panels to review staff recommendations, at a more detailed level, to provide their own recommendation to the Commission.

You can't really vote for or against them unless they are the councillor in your ward.

 

[Chuck]

It's probably not the end of the world to have politicians sitting on the board. If I'm not mistaken, a commissioner's sole responsibility is to vote whether or not to approve projects or proposals that have already been prepared and developed by other departments at the TTC.

What I don't like is how vocal councilors such as Giambrone or Miller can see their pet projects go from pipe dream to reality with next to no opposition, let alone a proper study to determine whether that idea even makes sense. The TTC needs to reorganized from the bottom up to make sure that proper decisions are made with respect to planning, growth, day to day operations, and customer service. So long as all of the proposals put forward to the Commission actually make sense, who sits on the board bears no relevance whatsoever.

 

[W. K. Lis]

I did not vote for a commissioner on the TTC. Neither my councilor nor my mayor are on the TTC. I would rather have someone who actually show transit interest on the commission. Start with a minority of non-politicians on the commission.

 

[unimaginative2]

What I don't like is how vocal councilors such as Giambrone or Miller can see their pet projects go from pipe dream to reality with next to no opposition, let alone a proper study to determine whether that idea even makes sense.

It is pretty amazing that the idea of rapid transit on Sheppard out to farm fields and parkland in Meadowvale just became a given because one of them drew it on a napkin somewhere. No studies considered any other route.

 

[Eug]

Councillor Giambrone expensed more than $3,000 on cabs last year

TTC chair takes taxi home after taping show on streetcar

Giambrone expensed more than $3,000 in cabs last year, including a trip home after riding a streetcar to tape an episode of his Ride The Rocket TV show on a streetcar.

About $2,400 came from his office budget, with the rest being billed to the TTC.

Giambrone, who has a city-provided Metropass, also expensed $256 in tokens and weekly and monthly Metropasses for his staff, including $173.50 in July for “staff travel.”