Agreed. Can someone explain to be (in a boring political science way) how the political process actually works in City Hall.
I know how parliament works, but how does City Hall work? There are no parties right? So does the Mayor just propose things and then everyone votes?
Also why is Doug Ford so 'powerful'? Is it simply because Rob Ford choses to listen to him as his 'advisor'?
How does it work?
I think you've already got a pretty good grasp on it, as the machinations of the municipal decision making process is actually a good deal simpler than the process with the other orders of government.
Quick summary:
- An item, like this one regarding the Port Lands, is drafted ether by the City Manager (or another bureaucrat) or by a Councillor
- In most cases, the item appears on the agenda of a relevant committee, be it Parks & Recreation, Economic Development or, in this case, the Executive Committee
- At Committee, citizens have an opportunity to send communications or give deputations. Members of the committee can debate the item, make amendments, and vote to adopt, reject, or defer. A majority vote is required; if an item doesn't pass through committee, council will never see it
- Once adopted by committee, the item goes to a meeting of Toronto City Council, where all 44 councillors plus the mayor get to vote on it. A majority vote is required for an item to pass, in which case staff will execute the item
In the abstract, this means that all councillors are free to vote with their convictions. In the absence of a party structure, there's no pressure for them to vote along ideological or party lines. In practice, however, there
are parties at City Hall. The Mayor holds a ton of influence on critical items, as councillors who don't vote the way he wants them to could see themselves thrown off committees. The mayor could also use his power over committees to ensure items that are important to certain councillors are deferred or delayed.
In short, opposing the mayor makes it much harder for councillors to get things done in their ward. This is less of a concern for councillors like Adam Vaughan, Mike Layton, Kristyn Wong-Tam, etc. as their electorate is mostly sympathetic to the political situation, but for more middle-ground councillors like Josh Colle or Jaye Robinson, it's harder to just cast off and lose the political opportunities being a friend-of-the-mayor provides.
As an example of what I'm talking about in practice: Councillor Josh Colle indicated prior to the Jarvis Bike Lane vote that he would not support spending money to remove the lanes. However, on the day of the vote, the Mayor stood and held an agenda item relating to the planned revitalization of Lawrence Heights, in Colle's Ward. (A 'hold' means the item, which would otherwise just be approved in a blanket vote, will be debated and amended on the floor of council.) When it came time for the Jarvis vote, Colle voted to remove the lanes.
The mayor released his hold on the Lawrence Heights item soon after, without debate, and it passed.
As for why Doug Ford has so much power? Because the mayor lets him. When Rob was elected, they actually had City Hall look at the cost of adding a door that would open right from Doug's City Hall office into the Mayor's Office. Doug wields tremendous personal influence over his younger brother, even though he has little in the way of formal power. (He's on the Budget committee, but not the Executive.)
I've written about the Port Lands move here:
http://fordfortoronto.mattelliott.ca/2011/08/30/port-lands-terrible/
