Interesting thread.
But I take the position that it is less about who the Mayor is and more about who the Councillors are. You could have the most visionary, progressive Mayor (if you think that's a good thing) but if the Councillors don't support her/him politically at Council or Committee, then it is all for naught. This last election was won/lost (depending on your viewpoint) in the pre-amalgamation suburbs for very good reasons, and the next one will be won/lost in the very same place. It's not about Ford/Miller/Tory/President Bartlett, so much as the Milczyns, Stintzes, Minnan-Wongs, Berardinettis, Thompsons, etc of this world.
How the process at City Hall goes is essentially like this:
(1) Councillors ask staff to undertake a report by popping into the office, or through Committee and Council / City Staff report to Committee and Council on a pre-determined schedule due to operational requirements
(2) Report from staff is released generally one week before the relevant Committee meeting through the agenda and is dealt with at Committee. This is where one can depute. Councillors decide to receive the report without recommendation and pass it along to Council / Make amendments and pass that along to Council / Accept the recommendation and pass it along to Council
(3) Council makes a decision
(4) Rinse, Lather, Repeat.
As strong as the Mayor's Office now is, it is still dependent upon support from the Councillors. Hence the ongoing attempt to handpick and stack the executives of all the Committees, Agencies, Boards, and Commissions that operate under and for the City of Toronto. It's also why one of the strongest ways to have your voices heard is still through the Councillors of this City with a cc: to the Mayor's office, and maybe a cc: to a newspaper reporter. That said, phone calls seem to carry more weight with this Council - makes for better rhetorical flourish during a debate, I suppose.
Anyway, back to my point, for those of you really upset by the events of this past week (whether for or against), there's about 1000 days to the next election - 1000 days to involve the communities of the old suburbs in visioning their neighbourhoods and communities and making that into the election issue regardless of whether one is running for the Mayor's office or the office of one of the many Councillors. And guess what, there's an official plan review underway as well. Anyone interested in trying to crowd-source an official plan alternative and get into the old suburbs, feel free to drop me a line. We could organise a meetup and see if we can tie into the Project 23 initiative. If you want, drop me a line. At worst, we can commiserate over a good meal.
Back to the point. these past 36(?) hours have been eye-opening to many. But the reality is, that this will need to happen again on the 19th of September at Executive Committee once more, on the 26th of September at Council, and again on the 27th of September at Council. And guess what, this will happen again in 2012 and the year after that, and the year after that. If you're an elected Official with a specific agenda that goes beyond simply being re-elected or getting onto a specific ABC because that's the extent of your sense of self, that is precisely upon what you are counting. You're relying upon the fact that at some point, people will tire because they have lives to lead, families to which they have to tend, attempt to save for their retirement and emergencies, and generally shit to do, and you will get your way.
The shape of this City going forward will be crafted as much by a long game as much as these victories/defeats in the interim.
If you're wondering where I get all this from, my background is in urban planning and my day job allows me to interact with elected officials fairly extensively and directly. It's fascinating, yet often disturbing, to watch the way choices are weighed by many of them. It's equal parts affirming of the way we work as a society, but often quite revolting when you realise how easily it can be manipulated.
