Residents concerned ‘poor’ area forgotten at city hall

Out of the 90 people who attended the Ward 11 all-candidates debate on the evening of Wednesday, Oct. 13 at the Mount Dennis Legion, there were 10 lucky winners selected from a random draw.

As their prize, they got to ask a question to the four York South-Weston candidates running for city council whose answers would help the audience decide whom they will cast a vote for in the upcoming election.A question regarding the future of the recreation centre to be constructed on Black Creek Drive and Eglinton Avenue came up more than once as residents expressed concern over the lack of community and youth programming in Ward 11.

Candidate Leo Marshall said she recalled this issue being a “hot topic” in the last municipal election.

“So I don’t understand, four years have gone by…and what have we got out of it?” said Marshall. “Let’s really be realistic here. We’re not getting the results we deserve and we need. This is long overdue. Why don’t the councillors at city hall get with it.”

Incumbent Frances Nunziata explained the delay in construction was because negotiations were ongoing between the city and the province, which owns the land for the proposed community centre.

“Then we had to clean up the land,” said Nunziata, adding the project will continue in the new year. “The money is there. Shovels are going down in 2011.”

Candidate Fulvio Sansone said York South-Weston residents have been waiting long enough.

“The fact of the matter is that, we at Ward 11, we’re being constantly told about delays, delays, delays,” said Sansone, noting an effective councillor needs to “have vision and have more clout and say we want this and we want it done.”

Abdi Hashised said as a councillor he would be the one to bring about positive changes.

“Every single day I have seen the issues our community has been facing,” said Hashised, a local resident for 19 years. “This community has been left behind so many years. Crime is so high, business is going down, youth don’t have recreation programs.”

Other residents also asked what the candidates would do to improve the community, which has often been referred to as one of the poorest ridings in the province.

Nunziata noted many of the services were lost in the former city of York since the City of Toronto became amalgamated.

“Hopefully with a new mayor we can bring the services back to York, particularly in Mount Dennis and Weston,” she said, adding constituents can expect a lot of changes, including the possibility of George Brown College setting up a campus on King Street.

Marshall said there won’t be any improvement unless the social issues in Ward 11 are dealt with first.

“The only way we’re going to see some investment in this area is by having a cleaner, safer environment. We have to get to the core of the problems in Weston,” she said. “We have had a breakdown of law and order in this area. It’s not satisfactory for councillors to come every four years and say, We’re going to fix it.”

Sansone said he’d work to strengthen the local Business Improvement Areas (BIAs) in the ward.

“I’d hire someone to be on my staff working solely on economic development,” he added. “We don’t have space to bring industrial jobs. We need to work and bring in high-end retail, revitalize the area, improve transportation and attract more people.”

Hashised noted that doing business is simply too expensive in Toronto.

“Taxes are too high for the businesses so they move,” he said. “On the other side of Steeles, lower taxes, business is booming. South of Steeles, business is dead.”

The Mount Dennis Community Association, which hosted the all-candidates debate, also posed a question to the candidates regarding transit improvements in the area, especially with plans for the Eglinton Light Rail Transit (LRT) being proposed.

Both Hashised and Marshall supported expanding the subway system across Eglinton.

Nunziata said she’d only support the LRT if it was built underground.

Sansone said while subways are preferred, without funding, LRT is what the community needs now and shouldn’t wait for a subway that can take another 10 to 15 years.

For the full Ward 11 profile and more info on the candidates, visit www.insidetorontovotes.ca/wards/north-york-york/ward-11-york-south-weston/

- Clark Kim

The Thursday, Oct. 14 debate, organized by the Greater Yorkville Residents’ Association (GYRA), pitted candidates Simon Wookey, Joel Dick, Ken Chan, Ella Rebanks, Chris Tindal and Kristyn Wong-Tam against one another and, while the viewpoints diverged at times, the overall tone was amiable.

When pressed on the issue of the city’s planning and development processes – a key issue in the rapidly-growing ward – all agreed the city’s current system of dealing with development applications fails to serve residents well.

Chan said he wants to get residents associations such as GYRA more involved at the beginning of the planning process. He added he hopes to hold regular meetings with residents to keep them appraised of upcoming applications.

“I want to bring City Hall back to the community and to do that I want to hold local town hall meetings right in the different neighbourhoods,” he said.

Dick called for more transparency throughout the planning process, both in terms of development applications and the city’s use of section 37 benefits gleaned from developers as part of approving those applications.

“(Residents) believe that by the time they’re invited to a public meeting, the plan is already in place,” he said.

He added he wants an expanded design review committee to improve the esthetics of new buildings.

“We build buildings for the next hundred years,” he said. “We need to make sure new development looks right, feels right, meets the street in the right way.”

Wookey agreed the city must be more inclusive of residents, pointing out that when planning has worked in the city, it has been the result of the city, local residents and local business working together.

“We must make sure that residents and commercial activity work together, that we have 24-hour buildings where commercial, retail and residential work side-by-side.”

Wong-Tam noted roughly 1.17 million square metres of land was developed in Ward 27 between 2004 and 2009, with $26 million in section 37 benefits secured as a result.

With that kind of development taking place and money changing hands, she called for more transparency throughout the process and touted her own record in creating such an environment elsewhere in the city.

“I’ve actually began this new model of community engagement where (residents are) brought into the decision-making processes…at the earliest stage and I actually helped devise the community-engagement framework for councillor Adam Vaughan for ward 20,” she said.

Tindal said engaging the community earlier is a noble goal, but added such steps will accomplish little if the city continues to deal with developments in an ad hoc manner. He called for the completion of larger planning documents that will shape development on a wider scale.

“You’re still saying, ‘condo, yes or no? condo, yes or no? condo, yes or no?’” he said. “Let’s complete the network of Secondary plans.”

He cited Summerhill as a neighbourhood where such planning has led to proper development practices.

Rebanks vowed to partner with residents’ associations and work to abolish the Ontario Municipal Board as a means of ensuring city decisions were kept within the city.

“I strongly believe the people who know a community best are the people who live there,” she said.

On the issue of the public realm, Dick promised to get street repairs done quickly and replace flashing pedestrian crosswalks with full pedestrian-operated stop lights.

Tindal and Wookey touted the creation of a pedestrian mall, which would create more of a sense of community and make the streets friendlier.

Chan said he would call for more police on foot or on bicycle to tackle aggressive panhandlers and cyclists who break traffic laws.

Wong-Tam called for locally planned and designed public spaces; Rebanks cited the Bloor Street revitalization as an example of what the city should strive to achieve.

Nine of the 15 contenders seeking to fill the role currently held by outgoing councillor Kyle Rae did not reply to GYRA’s call for debate participants in time to take part in the debate.

- Justin Skinner

Ward 21 (St. Paul’s West) profile

Even as business starts to pick up along St. Clair Avenue, hard feelings remain over the prolonged construction of the St. Clair streetcar right-of-way among many residents of Ward 21 (St. Paul’s West)

With a municipal election looming, transit and development are two key issues facing the ward, which sees long-time councillor Joe Mihevc facing a slate of challengers including Marius Frederick, Peter Nolan, Shimmy Posen, Alex Freedman and Beth McLellan.

The St. Clair right-of-way took years to complete, with construction delays leading to faltering business and causing headaches and commuting delays for local residents.

The ward, which is roughly bounded by Briar Hill Avenue to the north, Dupont Street to the south, Winona Drive to the west and Spadina Road to the east, has been represented by Mihevc since Toronto’s pre-amalgamation days, when the councillor overtook then-incumbent Tony Mandarano when the ward was part of the former City of York.

More than half the ward consisted of tenants as of the most recent census, with only 24 per cent of the residences in the ward single-family homes.

For many in the ward, the St. Clair right-of-way shook their confidence in the city’s transit vision.

“It just seemed to take forever,” said local resident Steven Brown. “The streets were a mess and you could just see businesses going under.”

The protracted construction led to some fears that similar delays could plague Eglinton Avenue, near the northern end of the ward, once construction begins in earnest on the Eglinton LRT line, a good portion of which is slated to go underground.

“I would hate to see something like that happen again in the city,” Brown said. “It’s a hassle for people who live around the construction and death for a lot of businesses.”

Mihevc admitted he has heard anger over the St. Clair right-of-way while canvassing, but noted the city was not responsible for the bulk of the construction delays along St. Clair.

He said there were a bevy of outside influences that led to the four years of delays along the streetcar line.

“The TTC’s work on St. Clair basically took six months,” he said. “It was delayed one-and-a-half years by a court case, one year for (underground work) from hydro, one year for (underground work) from Enbridge and six months while a new water pipe was put in in the middle of the street.”

Mihevc acknowledged that stores along St. Clair suffered during the construction, but said strong businesses survived and are now thriving with better transit infrastructure.

“Good businesses stayed and were able to weather it while marginal businesses lost out,” he said.

“There are a lot of factors that go into a business succeeding or failing and you cannot fault all the world’s problems on St. Clair construction.”

The incumbent added that the current plan for Eglinton Avenue is to build a light rail line, with a portion of it (from Laird to Black Creek) going underground, which will be less disruptive along most of the road. Construction at the stops, slated to begin near the end of the upcoming council term, will be, he acknowledged, “very localized, but very troublesome.”

Nolan said he saw too many businesses suffer, noting that some of his friends’ stores went under due to the right-of-way. While the work on the right-of-way itself is done, he said, he wants more concessions for businesses that suffered through the construction.

“I’ve heard from people who have had trouble with the city when they were trying to put patios out or put signage up,” he said. “The city needs to give more leeway to businesses along St. Clair; after basically ruining their livelihood for four years, there needs to be some compensation.”

Posen said he wants to avoid similar construction problems on Eglinton. As a resident of the north end of the ward, he said he supports the idea of a subway along the entire route, which he said would be less disruptive to residents.

“We need to protect the businesses here, and there are quite a few that would have a hard time surviving that kind of disruption,” he said. “Once you’re digging, you might as well go all the way and make it a subway.”

Frederick said he hopes to offer more incentives to people shopping along St. Clair, which he said was turned into, “a two-lane country road which is congested at times.”

He said emergency vehicles have a hard time using the road and added that many still do not want to shop along the thoroughfare, a situation he hopes to remedy by improving the parking situation.

“People coming to shop will be allowed two hours free parking,” he said, adding that the city’s plan to make St. Clair a public transit-dominated street is still impacting businesses.

“The city has no business in the business of merchants,” he said.

On his website, Freedman touts the importance of building a subway along Eglinton Avenue, stating that, “the TTC should be an attractive alternative to using a car. In order to make this the case, we must lower fares, improve stations, streamline payments, and do everything else we can to ensure that the TTC is simple and enjoyable to use, and a competitive alternative to other forms of transit.”

Development is also a big issue in the ward, said Dyan Kirshenbaum of the Casa Loma Residents Association. She said the city’s planning department seems all too quick to approve development that undermines the city’s character and history.

“We need to preserve some of Toronto and what’s left of the city,” she said. “I’m not sure how developers look at a property and decide to buy it, but there’s little concern for the community.”

Mihevc said the ward should be well-protected with new zoning bylaws, which he said will strengthen community opposition to development that is out of character with the surrounding neighbourhood.

“It’s a pretty contrived planning process and the OMB’s (Ontario Municipal Board) always lurking in the background,” he said. “A lot of zoning in the city is obviously outdated, but that’s not the case in our ward. In our ward, it’s fresh zoning.”

He cited St. Clair as an example, noting the south side of the street is zoned to accommodate nine storeys while the north side is limited to seven storeys.

Posen said he wants to see more openness in the development process, with the local contingent given more of a say in development matters. That, he said, would ensure any new development would fit in with the character of the ward’s many neighbourhoods.

“There always needs to be community consultation,” he said. “We need to have the businesses and residents in the area contributing to the conversation.”

Nolan agreed, saying that while he does not support an over arching view on development, he wants to take applications from developers, “case-by-case, instead of having some sort of broad overview.”

Freedman promises to get the community more involved at the root level, stating that, “rather than creating plans and then having the public comment on them, the government must involve the people in every step of the process.”

Both Frederick and Nolan said they also hope to see more accountability in city spending, with Nolan calling Mihevc a “tax-and-spender who, it seems, votes yes to every tax increase and no to every cost-saving measure.”

Frederick vowed to work to eliminate a number of taxes if elected.

“I will remove the GAP tax ­— and that is, the garbage, the auto and the property tax,” he said. “Those are illegal taxes upon tax that we in Toronto should not be paying for.”

He added that he will also eliminate all small business taxes.

Contact information for McLellan was not available.

- Justin Skinner

Ward 9 (York-Centre) profile

For Councillor Maria Augimeri, the biggest issue facing the ward she’s held the reins to for the last 25 years is the development of the Downsview Park lands.

Situated at Sheppard Avenue and Keele Street, Downsview Park is slated to be developed into five neighbourhoods, bringing some 20,000 new residents to western North York.

“It will be oversaturated with residential apartment units,” she said. “I’ve been fighting (the development) for 15 years. Three hundred acres of public park land has been sold to developers.”

Calling her quarter-century in politics a “community service”, Augimeri said it would feel as if she was abandoning her constituents if she bowed out now.

“They have me on speed dial, how can I leave them?” she asked. “I’m their service provider, they don’t even call 311. They have me, they don’t need 311. I’m like their granddaughter.”

Noting the need to spruce up Wilson Avenue, Augimeri said a $7.5 million revitalization of the road between Keele and Dufferin streets is planned for next year with new boulevards, street plantings and new sidewalks.

“I think it’s important for people to understand I am an independent candidate,” she said. “I did not vote for (Mayor David) Miller either time. I did not vote for the vehicle registration tax. I am not part of that caucus and I am not tied to any one way of voting. People assume I am with Miller. I am not with Miller.”

Gianfranco Amendola said he decided to enter the political race because he doesn’t believe the community is properly represented.

“I feel residents need someone who cares and will help the community,” he said. “Nobody’s ever opposed (Augimeri) in the past and a lot of people are unhappy and people are looking at the opportunity to take her position.”

If elected, Amendola would hold regular community meetings, work to improve parks and community centres and fight to stop future tax increases.

“I’d like to see taxpayers’ money used in their neighbourhoods,” he said.

While Amendola supports plans to bring a new Humber River Regional Hospital (HRRH) site to Keele Street and Wilson Avenue, he doesn’t believe infrastructure is in place to handle plans to develop Downsview Park lands into mixed-use site with room for thousands of new residents.

“Traffic is going to increase,” he said. “There are already serious traffic issues and it’s crazy now so that’s going to be a problem.”

Amendola also took issue with Augimeri’s handling of the 2008 Sunrise propane explosion aftermath, although he noted the site wasn’t under the city’s watch.

“Many of us complained for years to (Augimeri) that we were not comfortable having that facility there,” he said. “Even though it’s out of her jurisdiction, she should have argued she didn’t want it there.”

Amendola said he would bring accountability to the table and base his decisions on what constituents want and will return phone calls within 24 hours.

Gus Cusimano favours development of Downsview Park but not in its current form.

The insurance broker and council candidate said if elected, he would reopen discussions and bring the proposal back to North York Community Council to try to get a vote for lower density.

“Some development needs to be there, it’s inevitable,” he said. “We need to come to a consensus and move on with it. I’m in favour of development but it has to be proper development.”

The former president of Villa Colombo said revitalization of Wilson Avenue has to consist of more than putting up banners and planting flowers.

“That doesn’t get rid of massage parlours or questionable businesses,” he said. “A lot of people don’t really want to walk on Wilson because of the strange businesses. We need to have meetings with the business owners to revitalize Wilson Avenue properly.”

If councillor, Cusimano said he would fight for direct access from Hwy. 401 to the new HRRH site.

“At least it would alleviate some traffic,” he said.

Michael Calabrese, executive secretary of Downsview Lands Community Voice Association Inc., said while the community welcomes the idea of a state-of-the-art hospital and coroner’s office at Keele Street and Wilson Avenue, the big concern is traffic congestion.

“(HRRH) has made it known that it will have over 600 beds and about 3,500 parking spots,” he said.

“That would mean that potentially 3,500 vehicles will enter the site and exit it at times when the intersection is operating at capacity. As it is, the intersection is so poorly designed and its proximity to the Keele Street exit along the 401, makes it virtually impassible. And that’s now, imagine when 3,500 more vehicles are moving through the intersection to get to the hospital. How will EMS vehicles get to the hospital in time for medical staff to even have a half decent attempt to save a potential life?”

Calling the Downsview Park development the “greatest threat to the integrity of the existing community”, Calabrese said bordering wards have had to deal with basement flooding and he’s concerned the sewer system can’t handle thousands of new residents.

Also, even if half the new residents take the subway, roads will still be clogged with thousands of additional motorists, Calabrese said.

Candidates Wilson Basantes and Stefano Picone did not make contact information public through the city’s election website.

- Fannie Sunshine

Ward 34 (Don Valley East) profile

Nestled between residential buildings and the bustling thoroughfares of York Mills Road and Brookbanks Drive sits a tired-looking Parkwoods Village Shopping Centre with shops and services Ward 34 area residents depend on.

“It needs remodeling,” Judy James said, while at the plaza using the laundromat.

James has called the area home for 20 years. She also shops at the local grocery store and pharmacy.

She adds “It wasn’t like this before,” noting how busy the roads surrounding the shops have become.

The area is slated for redevelopment, which council has approved, and the plaza will be demolished. It will be replaced with 741 condominium apartments consisting of five mid-rise buildings ranging in height from 10 to 19 storeys, a three-storey building with townhouse units and retail space, which will include an affordable grocery store and pharmacy.

However, this still has some local residents like Liz Smith concerned. Smith, who was sitting outside in the square at the Parkwoods plaza on break from her full-time job at Food Basics, notes if the grocery store shuts its doors she will most likely lose the luxury of being so close to work. The nearest store she would most likely be transferred to is in Scarborough. Smith is concerned about her job security once the redevelopment begins.

“We don’t know if we are going to have a job.”

With the new development on its way she’s also concerned about the traffic congestion.

“Traffic is bad enough now. It will be even worse with the new buildings.”

Local residents Steven Brown and George Myatt who were chatting over a cup of coffee echoed the traffic congestion concern.

“Have you ever seen traffic here in the mornings?” asked Myatt, a retired mechanical engineer who has lived in the area for 40 years.

“A lot of people aren’t taking the TTC because it’s easier to drive. The cars are parked. Walking is faster,” Brown says of the morning rush hour traffic on York Mills Road. Although a traffic study may not ease every local residents’ concerns about congestion on the arterial roads encompassing their neighbourhood, one is set to start next year and is a motion moved by Ward 34 incumbent Denzil Minnan-Wong, who was first elected in 1994.

“At council, one of the motions I moved was to conduct a traffic management study, which will start next year, paid for by the developer, involving all the neighbourhood stakeholders, to look at all the ways to address and alleviate congestion,” Minnan-Wong said.

“The only way to deal with congestion on main arterial roads is to have better transit. And that’s why we need things like Transit City and the LRT lines.”

While there will not be an LRT stop within walking distance for the residents of York Mills Road, Brookbanks and Fenside drives, Minnan-Wong says because York Mills Road is an arterial road, a lot of cars using the road are not from the neighbourhood.

“If someone, for example, might be coming from Sheppard and Warden, if the Sheppard Line was finished — that’s one less car on the road.”

The residents are also concerned about keeping an affordable grocery store, such as Food Basics, in the area and that’s what Minnan-Wong has been hearing at the door, too.

“For a lot of people of modest means that’s an important grocery store for them — especially if you don’t have a car.

“One of the things I and the residents’ association was able to negotiate was to retain the grocery store. The Food Basics is going to stay.”

The pharmacy will also stay, he says, it was a concession he was able to negotiate with the developer.

Also, $1.5 million to improve the Brookbanks library, which is located just behind the plaza.

“There’s been a remarkable amount of infrastructure that’s been built in the community in the last two years. We’ve got, in the area, new basketball courts, new tennis courts and a youth hub centre, in the Roywood community,” Minnan-Wong said.

Looking to unseat the incumbent is Peter Karl Youngren, a former minister in the area for more than a decade who has been working at the grassroots level with the community setting up services from food banks to community computer classes. He is also the founder and chair of a not-for-profit organization created five years ago called 4Life.

“It’s certainly not the year to be the professional politician,” Youngren said. “I think that folks are looking for fresh ideas, looking for fresh perspective, looking for someone with dirt under their fingernails, so to speak, from working hard in the neighbourhood with the community,”

When it comes to the Parkwoods redevelopment Youngren says residents feel there are unanswered questions.

“A lot of folks don’t know what’s going on. So, no, there has not been enough transparency regarding the Parkwoods plaza development.”

He adds, as a resident of the area, he’s sitting in the rush-hour gridlock on York Mills Road, too.

“I too am the one in that traffic on York Mills and on Brookbanks and on Underhill and a lot of the other roads surrounding the plaza and it’s brutal. Absolutely brutal. I have a deep concern about that.”

He’s found that residents feel there isn’t a place they can go to get answers on what the studies are saying about the traffic in the area. “All they know is that it’s already over burdened.”

Overall, Youngren says the people at the doors are concerned about a lack of communication between city hall and residents.

If he’s elected, he proposes a number of different ideas as a result of talking to the people of Don Valley East.

“We’ll be launching a seniors’ association, a youth association, and a business and tenants’ association.

These will all be in the first few months of taking office. To really reach out to a lot of folks that have not had the service they need from city hall.”

He also intends on launching an interactive website the residents of Ward 34 can go to in order to find out precisely what is being developed in the riding, by whom, the minutes of any meetings that have taken place and any traffic impact studies.

Once elected to office, Youngren’s “first point of business” will be to make sure there’s greater transparency at city hall by having more town hall meetings so residents can voice their concerns.

Youngren, who is the co-founder of the Toronto Celebration Church, a non-denominational, multicultural church, is familiar with working with community members for a common goal.

“When you have the ability to manage and to excite the community at a grassroots level on a common goal … you have the ability to do a great amount with very little money. And we’ll take that same attitude to city hall.”

Stephan Stewart is also running for the seat in Ward 34. She declined an interview with The Mirror.

- Angeline Mair

Ward 7 (York West) profile

This isn’t the way the race was supposed to be.

Ward 7 Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti, the headline-making incumbent for 15 years, started this year’s municipal election campaign running for mayor.

That paved the way for his many opponents, who accuse Mammoliti of running his ward with an iron fist, to bring new blood to the Ward 7 council chair.

At the same time, those opponents also suspected Mammoliti’s mayoral run was a sham, convinced he would return to the relative security of running for Ward 7.

In early July, Mammoliti announced he was bailing on his mayoral plans after polls showed he had only about five per cent support.

He has since declared his support for frontrunner Rob Ford, who is backing one of Mammoliti’s challengers, Nick Di Nizio.

As usual, nothing is straightforward in Ward 7.

The mayoral bid behind him, Mammoliti said he is now re-committing himself to completing his legacy in York West, especially the $10-billion redevelopment of Emery Village.

“Building a city within a city needs to be finished. We’re seeing our streets finished and people are liking what they’re seeing. This election really does give me the mandate to finish this off,” he said.

Mammoliti said he has established himself as a councillor who gets things done, even if that means aggressively pushing his agenda.

“I have always been my own guy at city council. I don’t sing the tune for anybody, I do what’s right for Ward 7,” he said.

But he is facing eight challengers, many of whom complain Mammoliti’s legacy has been one of heavy-handedness and favouritism of Emery Village at the expense of other neighbourhoods in the ward.

For instance, take Mammoliti’s proposal to build a $3.5-million flag pole in Emery Village, a project that has become the latest barometer of animosity against the councillor.

Mammoliti insists the 125-metre (375-foot) pole complete with flag as big as a football field at Finch Avenue and Hwy. 400 will bring tourist dollars flooding into the area and provide a gathering place for the community.

Although BIA members will pay after the city fronts the money, Di Nizio calls the flag pole a “frivolous expense” at a time when Ward 7 residents’ top concerns are being over-taxed and wanting better services for seniors and children.

Di Nizio also questions Mammoliti’s commitment to wiping out property taxes for low-income seniors when he voted for new taxes in the past.

Candidate Larry Perlman, part of a coalition of 15 candidates banding together to fight further spending increases at city hall, would even go as far as breaking up the Emery Village Business Improvement Area (BIA) because he said Mammoliti is running the organization as his own personal fiefdom to usher in pet projects.

“These are the things that stick in people’s craw,” said Perlman, who would introduce a voluntary two-term limit for councillors and would donate 20 per cent of his salary to community projects.
Flag pole critics also accuse Mammoliti of orchestrating the vote so only a tiny percentage of the 2,700 BIA membership participated in the meeting.

It’s not the first time Mammoliti has been accused of manipulating proceedings to his own advantage.
Opponents say he cherry picks supporters to attend invitation-only meetings. At other meetings, he has hired security officers to police the events and critics complain he won’t entertain their comments and questions.

Unfazed, Mammoliti takes the criticism in stride, promising more of the same if re-elected.

Suggesting you can’t make an omelette without cracking some eggs, Mammoliti said the majority of Ward 7 likes his “aggressive” style because he gets results, such as the redevelopment of Emery Village and ridding the community of a criminal element.

“If you want someone a little softer, a little more conciliatory with other councillors, you will be taking a chance in (not) getting infrastructure done in Emery Village and also somebody who will most likely dismantle Emery Village rather than building what we rightly deserve,” he said, adding he may pursue criminals “even maybe more aggressively” if re-elected.

Candidate Sharon Joseph, executive director of social service agency Breakaway Relief, accuses Mammoliti of being overzealous in his pursuit of “criminals.”

She pointed to his decision to have basketball hoops removed from a park to discourage drug dealers from congregating.

Mammoliti is also proposing an 11 p.m. curfew for children under the age of 14, adding parents who allow their youngsters out unsupervised in the middle of the night could see their children turned over to Children’s Aid.

Rather than such heavy-handed approaches, Joseph said she wants to reach out to youth with recreation and education opportunities.

“What I see from the present councillor, he is not relating to young people,” she said.

“If you get rid of them at every corner, they will rebel. They will kill and rob.”

Joseph also wants to property taxes for small business owners reduced.

While several candidates accused Mammoliti of favouring Emery Village over other neighbourhoods in the ward, resident Thompson Syvon, who lives at Jane and Finch, isn’t sure his part of the ward is overshadowed by Mammoliti’s supposed preferential treatment of Emery Village.

But he considers securing a training centre to teach young people trade skills and reducing steep rents to be top priorities.

Candidate Christopher R. MacDonald would hold quarterly meetings with residents in the ward’s diverse communities to ensure their voices were heard. He also pointed to the need to bring jobs to the community, encourage more interaction between the police and the community to address safety concerns and address the tax burden on seniors as top priorities.

Focused on making the city more financially responsible, candidate Scott Aitchison believes savings can be found to spend on crucial services such as roads, transit and providing better programs for seniors and residents with disabilities. He also said Mammoliti’s flag pole is an example of money poorly spent that could be used for more important services.

Ward 7 residents are most concerned about overspending at city hall, the lack of meaningful services for seniors and youth and the loss of feeling of neighbourhood, said candidate Victor Lucero. He wants to see programs such as language instruction or dance classes that engage seniors and services that encourage youth to stay in school. Lucero would create six committees to address the needs of different neighbourhoods in the ward and the business community.

Candidate Sergio Gizzo, on leave from his job in the constituency office of York West MPP Mario Sergio, said his focus is on cutting spending and using city funds more wisely to provide better services.

He pointed to city daycares as an opportunity where tax dollars can be better employed. Funding could be stretched to provide more daycare spaces if the city relaxed its rules by allowing more assistants to help at child care centres so early child educators could be spread over more centres.

A supporter of George Smitherman for mayor, Gizzo called Ford the equivalent of former premier Mike Harris because he is looking to slash municipal services.

“If it was not good enough for the provincial government, what makes you think it’s good enough for municipal government?” he said.

Candidate Stefano Tesoro did not provide contact information.

- Lisa Queen

Ward 37 (Scarborough Centre) profile

Four candidates seeking Scarborough Centre council seat

The last two elections in Ward 37 have been won in a landslide by Michael Thompson, but that does not mean the community itself has also stayed the same. Three new challengers have put their names on the ballot to be sure city hall keeps on top of the changing needs of Scarborough Centre.

As wards on the fringes of Scarborough are able to utilize undeveloped land, candidates are looking at ways to reinvent Ward 37 in terms of land usage and how the city views the unique neighbourhoods there. Along with physical and psychological changes in the ward comes a need for economic planning to support new developments.

Political newcomers Fawzi Bidawi, Isabelle Champagne and Sergio Otoya Salazar are all looking to bring a fresh face to Ward 37 and stop Thompson from winning a third term in office. Thompson won in 2003 with 50 per cent of the vote and with 87 per cent in 2006.

Midland Park Community Association co-chair, David Barnes, has been keeping his ear to the ground in the ward for more than 10 years and thinks there is still a great deal for voters to keep in mind when casting a ballot on Oct. 25.

“One of the top issues is services, and when I say services, I mean facilities; libraries, pools and gyms. These are things that are used by people to improve their lives,” said Barnes.

“Of course, transportation would be an issue too…local kids can’t walk to many of the services.”

The ward slightly decreased in population between 2001 and 2006 and is comprised of 62 per cent first generation Canadians. As a vibrant cultural destination with plenty of Middle Eastern and East Indian small businesses, Barnes has seen a great deal of immigration over the years. He can’t say there has been an equal rise in support for those that might struggle to adapt in Canada.

“We need something to help them integrate, get them employed and get them working,” said Barnes.

For council hopeful Bidawi, public safety is an issue that needs to be addressed before any redevelopment can occur. While Toronto police 41 Division confirmed major reported crimes have been on the decline since 2006, Bidawi still feels there is a “perception of danger,” in the ward that scares away shoppers and business owners. In order to change this perception, Bidawi plans to push several initiatives to help build a more positive reputation.

First, he would lobby for installation of police cameras on several street corners to help deter crime and make police presence more visible, similar to those installed in Toronto’s club district several years ago. With the increased sense of safety these camera’s would provide, Bidawi plans to bring customers into local businesses by promoting the unique services and food that locals already know of.

He would promote Kennedy Road as a quality furniture district and make Lawrence Avenue East the cultural jewel of Scarborough. With so many Middle Eastern shops and restaurants, he would lobby for customized street signs to differentiate it a unique area.

“There are lots a names you could use, but Lawrence of Arabia is something I have been considering,” said Bidawi.

However, Thompson questioned Bidawi legitimacy as a community guardian.

Earlier this year, Bidawi approached the stage during the Taste of Lawrence festival, shouting at Thompson as he honoured the leader of the local business improvement area. Supt. Robert Qualtrough of Toronto police’s 41 Division confirmed that Bidawi was also cautioned for intimidation after taking photographs of licence plates and community members following a meeting about a property Bidawi was under contract with as a security guard.

Bidawi said he was simply demanding to speak with his councillor at the Taste of Lawrence and was just doing his job after the community meeting. He does not feel these two incidents should hurt his chances in the election.

Since first elected, Thompson said he has kept in touch with constituents with town hall meetings and that he adapts to changes in the ward.

He originally ran on a platform of getting tough on crime and said he has been proactive in reducing crime rates since then, but his current campaign is more focused on economics and more accountable taxing and spending at city hall.

“The number one issue that people have is the issue of money; taxes and spending. That is to say that people want to ensure they have more money in their pocket so that they can spend it and not necessarily give more money in taxes so the government can spend it in ways they are not supportive of,” said Thompson. “I’ve spent the last seven years on record talking about the need to make sure we have better financial management systems in place.”

Thompson also pointed to several major redevelopment projects which will have a big impact on Ward 37 in the near future.

Working with the city and private developers, he said he has helped push through a few important residential and commercial land deals. He said new local jobs are on the way now that a buyer has been found for the old Nestle plant on Birchmount Road. He said he lso helped arrange a $120-million reinvestment in the townhouses just south of Victoria Park Avenue and Ellesmere Road.

In place of a run down area with a reputation for criminal activity, three mid-rise condo units will be under construction in the near future, he said. “I’ve been working there for about 12 years to try and get someone to redevelop that site,” said Thompson.

He said he has also been working on convincing the city to purchase surplus land on the corner of Lawrence and Midland avenues, where David and Mary Thomson Collegiate Institute and Bendale Business Technical Institute are being combined into a single school. Thompson wants new recreational facilities built there to compliment the new educational facilities.

Champagne said she supports fixing inefficiencies in the city’s budget, building subways and focusing on customer service.

She has a few local ideas such as reviewing harmonized driveway bylaws, but feels what separates her from other candidates is her background in the customer service industry.

“I think I am the one that is more tuned into the need to address questions. You have to own the call and not wait two weeks to get anything done,” said Champagne. “It’s a lot easier to lose a customer than win one back.”

She would look at ways to improve the 311 call service in Toronto and make sure she returned all calls to her own office within 24 hours.

Sergio Otoya Salazar, at age 20, is the youngest candidate running in the ward. He is currently enrolled as a political science student at York University and has always been interested in helping the community.

He has worked with the city parks department for several years and has the enthusiasm to try and make a change.

“I’ve always resided in Scarborough. It surprises me the way people see Scarborough is not a very good way and I think that can be improved very much. Scarborough has so much potential,” said Salazar.

“The most important issue is improving Scarborough. Bringing business back to Scarborough that have picked up and moved elsewhere like Mississauga and Brampton.”

He plans to offer tax incentives to attract business back to Ward 37.

“It’s very rare that you hear someone say they are going clubbing or going shopping in Scarborough,” said Salazar.

More information about each candidate is available on www.insidetorontovotes.ca

- Eric Heino

Ward 39 (Scarborough-Agincourt) profile

Rooming houses also a big issue

A plan to build condos on the Bridlewood Mall site is among the big issues in Scarborough-Agincourt’s Ward 39.

Incumbent Mike Del Grande, who faces challengers Kevin Xu and Caldwell Williams, said he “had to vote in favour” of the plan in order to get a new $2.4 million library in the mall. The library will be paid for by the developer and money from Section 37 funds (funds provided by developers for community projects).

“I wasn’t going to win the day with the other councillors. They had been lobbied, so they had already made up their minds,” Del Grande said when asked how he voted on the issue. “It was basically put to me by everybody: if I wanted the library I had to get on side as the local councillor.”

Del Grande, 56, said the original plan called for more than 1,400 units. That number was reduced to 975.

“It’s like trying to make the best out of a lousy situation,” he said. “I’m not happy about it, just the general trend of density intensification. There’s no subway line; this is not a town centre.”

Williams, 23, said he’s not in favour of the plan either.

“There are areas within Ward 39 that are not affluent that require more attention,” he said. “Taking that money and that time and using those resources to build condos could’ve easily been put into these (less affluent) communities.”

Xu, 43, said he needs to “do more research” on the issue.

Ward 39 is bounded by Steeles Avenue to the north, the CNR tracks to the east, the Tam O’Shanter ravine and Finch Avenue to the south and Victoria Park Avenue and Birchmount Road to the west. The population is 55,940; the average family income is $43,173.

On childcare, Del Grande said 80 childcare spaces will be provided at the Chester Le Public School near Finch and Victoria Park avenues. “They’re building an attachment to the school,” he said, noting the facility will cost $3 million.

Williams, a community worker, said people living outside the Chester Le area would be reluctant to use the day-care centre because of the stigma attached to the neighbourhood.

On public safety, Williams said he favours “increasing the relationship” between the police and the community.

He suggested that people act violently as a last resort and that society needs to understand the root causes of crime. “So one thing would definitely be education, one thing would definitely be employment, one other thing would be equality and equity. These are the harder things to change. It’s just easier to say they’re violent, let’s throw them in prison.”

Williams said the response to his campaign has been largely positive though he has received racist remarks while canvassing and through emails and phone calls. “It comes with the territory,” he said. “Perhaps it’s because of my age so they feel a sense of power over me, who knows.”

Xu, an entrepreneur, said his first job as councillor would be to help low-income earners “build their skills to find well-paid jobs.”

He also favours licensing rooming houses to increase safety and generate revenue for the city. “Every house, every apartment, every room should be built under the safety code.”

Del Grande said he opposes rooming houses. “A home is a person’s biggest investment and that should not be jeopardized by people wanting to make a buck in the neighbourhood.”

Williams said legalizing rooming houses is fine “as long as there’s proper accountability and the proper procedures are in place.”

Xu said he wants to freeze property taxes, cancel the $60 vehicle registration fee, reduce the salaries of councillors by eight to 10 per cent and cut the number of councillors from 44 to 30. He is also proposing a plan to build a $100-million multi-level corridor along Hwy. 404 and the Don Valley Parkway between Steeles Avenue and the Gardiner Expressway. “When the DVP was designed and built in the 1950s the daily volume was 60,000 cars,” he said. “The volume right now is double or triple at least.”

Xu said many residents of Ward 39 use the 404 and DVP during rush hour and are “frustrated everyday.”

Del Grande questioned how Xu’s project would be paid for.

“At the end of the day it all boils down to money.”

Williams called the plan “interesting.”

Del Grande served as a Catholic School Board trustee before being elected to council in 2003. He was easily re-elected in 2006, garnering 7,964 votes to second place finisher John Wong’s 1,888.

The councillor, who endorsed Rob Ford for mayor and is a chartered accountant, suggested during a recent all-candidates debate that he may play an important role in a Ford administration. After the debate, Del Grande said that he would consider taking on the job of budget chair if he is elected councillor and Ford is elected mayor.

“He (Ford) asked me if I could help him with respect to the finances,” Del Grande said. “In order to really do what I’m trained to do, it would make sense for me to be the budget chief and controller.”

Xu and Williams favour George Smitherman for mayor.

Longtime local resident Agnes Kamerman said she’s concerned about people neglecting their rental properties. “I have called the city about one particular property, but they don’t seem to do anything. Nothing has changed.”

Kamerman noted the ward has been getting better services such as more frequent street cleaning.
Cyleta Gibson-Sealy, a resident of Glendower Circuit, said she’s concerned about the image of her area, which has been labelled a priority neighbourhood.

“There’s a lot of stigma attached to living there,” she said. “As soon as people hear about priority neighbourhoods they think of nothing but guns and violence.”

Gael Gilbert of the Agincourt Community Services Association said poverty, unemployment and public transit are big issues in the ward. “We have a lot of residents working shift work, working late at night, having to wait long periods of time for buses to arrive. It’s particularly difficult in the winter,” she said. “We would encourage a good hard look at improving that system.”

The municipal election is on Oct. 25.

- Andrew Palamarchuk

Ward 20 (Trinity-Spadina) profile

Ward 20 houses many of Toronto’s hot spots and cultural landmarks like the CN Tower, the Rogers Centre, the Entertainment District, Kensington Market, the Art Gallery of Ontario, Queens Quay and the Royal Ontario Museum.

Bounded by Christie and Bathurst streets in the west to University Avenue in the east and from the Canadian Pacific (CP) Rail tracks on the north to Lake Ontario on the south, the Trinity-Spadina ward is also home to a number of strong residents’ associations comprised of people who value their downtown lifestyle and are looking to hear from candidates about their plans for everything from garbage collection to nightclubs.

Four candidates have thrown their name in the hat to run against incumbent Councillor Adam Vaughan, a former journalist and broadcaster elected in 2006. Dean Maher, a native of Newfoundland who works in the telecom industry; Roman Polochansky, who holds a degree in biophysics and biochemistry from the Russian State Medical University in Moscow; Mike Yen, an employee of the Canada Revenue Agency who lives in the downtown core of the Ward; and Ken Osadchuk.

The Entertainment District
The King-Spadina Residents Association is concerned about planning, in particular in the Entertainment District, which is home to a number of nightclubs, and the Entertainment District’s impact on the community.

“We are looking for a revised policing strategy, some useful policy changes at the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario and a dramatically improved licensing, inspection and enforcement regime from a number of city departments, including municipal licensing and standards, buildings and fire,” said the residents association’s Don Rodbard.

He said residents are not opposed to nightlife, but are adamantly opposed to how many of the local nightclubs are operated.

“While both the Toronto Police Services (TPS), the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) and Councillor Vaughan have been highly supportive, the municipal authorities have not been at all helpful.”

Maher said he believes there is a need to bring more residents into a conversation about how to introduce new restaurants and bars into the area.

“We need to stick with the bylaw enforcement that we do have and when it comes to the policing issue, now that the big box nightclubs are gone or on their way out… we need to develop a specialized strategy just for the businesses that are actually causing the problems.”

Vaughan has been chairing a task force out of the mayor’s office to try to bring in a stronger licensing regime for what are known as high-risk nightclub licenses. He said they brought in coordinated enforcement of public health, fire, police, building inspectors and licenses inspectors that are all plugged into a common database so when you call up a nightclub you get the entire profile.

“That has allowed us, when the licenses are transferred, to bring the record of the club to bare at the hearing and it allows us to impose conditions,” Vaughan said. “So every single nightclub transfer that has happened in the last four years, we have imposed new conditions that were imposed effectively by the residents and my office.”

The next step in alleviating problems is in the new harmonized zoning bylaw created by the city, which frames how nightclubs can grow in the area. The bylaw will effectively stop nightclubs from getting bigger without speaking to city hall first.

Yen said the necessary laws are in place to address bars and clubs; they just need to be enforced in a timely and effective manner.

“It’s just a matter of making sure we have enough officers out there to make sure issues that are ongoing are dealt with,” Yen said. “I don’t think we need anymore laws.”

Community engagement
Tim Grant, chair of the Harbord Village Residents’ Association, said his association wants to know from candidates what they plan to do to engage neighbourhood organizations in building a better city.

Maher said he plans to create neighbourhood associations in areas where they don’t exist, as he said he is attempting to do with the City Place development. And in areas where there are neighbourhood associations, he would try to draw more people into them.

“That way their voice is stronger and when they have issues when it comes to traffic, they can come as one good voice,” Maher said.

During his term, Vaughan said he worked with the community to map the entire ward from a land-use perspective, looking at how the neighbourhood is used, what services are missing as well as areas of change and stability. When an issue arises in the ward, Vaughan, planners and residents turn back to that document.

“We have probably the most extensive consultation process for planning anywhere in the city. I think it is the model for the rest of the city,” Vaughan said. “When somebody starts talking about redeveloping a property, we bring it to the community first and then we workshop with the staff and the developer from that point forward.”

The idea, he said, is to build the solution in the neighbourhood and take that solution to the neighbourhood, rather than take a problem to city hall.

In addition to advocating for creating a more user-friendly city website, Yen said he would adjust his community meeting schedule to better engage residents.

“We have to inform residents better because a lot of times they don’t find out about things until the last minute,” Yen said. “We need to pick a time (for meetings) that is more suitable to everyone. I think a weekend would be good. I find that sometimes these meetings don’t start until 6 or 6:30 p.m. and a lot of people work late.”

Garbage bins
In the summer of 2008, the city instituted waste and recycling bins across the city and according to Grant, the suburban style system doesn’t suit downtown neighbourhoods.

“The proliferation of large bins on small front yards has diminished many a downtown streetscape,” Grant said.

All of the candidates interviewed agreed the waste management system doesn’t work in Ward 20.

“Maybe we need to privatize the garbage collection so we can get garbage collectors who can pick up garbage bags,” Maher said.

According to Vaughan, the solution is simply to go back to bags in the downtown core.

“When the city deals with challenges with a one-size-fits-all solution, it alienates everyone,” he said.

“The bins might work out in the suburbs with garages, but with Victorian row houses they don’t work, residents above stores, it doesn’t work.”

Yen said he has heard the concerns about the bins from residents while campaigning door to door and he, like Maher, would seek to privatize garbage collection.

“If you privatize it then you can get companies that can meet the needs of each individual area,” Yen said.

Gentrification
Across the entire ward, residents want to know whether candidates think the continuing gentrification of the city core is cause for concern.

“(What) measures would you take to arrest it,” asked David Harrison with the Annex Residents’ Association. “Would these include support for inclusive zoning policies to ensure that a proportion of units in new residential buildings are reserved for assisted housing?”

Maher said he is not concerned about gentrification and believes the focus should be on the city and not just the ward, and let the downtown ward grow.

“Some politicians look at their ward as a little island nation unto itself. Ward 20 is not Singapore. We don’t have to do everything within this area or nothing. We are one big united city,” Maher said. “We don’t need to do a social engineer project with people’s investments. People are taking out high mortgages and it just concerns me that a city councillor would try to influence a development when that affects a person’s mortgage and so forth.”

The renewal of older housing stock and buildings is a good thing, Vaughan said, but only while not displacing working families.

“We have been working very hard at promoting a concept of economic diversity, which creates a downtown where everybody can live,” Vaughan said.

Meanwhile, Yen explained he believes small businesses are being squeezed out and that is destroying the unique fabric of the communities in Ward 20.

“I think there are far too many condos going up,” Yen said. “We don’t have appropriate infrastructure to handle the volume as it stands now. We need to stop condos and protect the existing small businesses.”

Despite several attempts, Toronto Community News was unable to reach candidates Ken Osadchuk and Roman Polochansky.

- Erin Hatfield

Ward 12 (York South-Weston) profile

Keeping seniors in their homes and youth off the streets have emerged as the two big issues in Toronto’s Ward 12, the eastern half of the York South-Weston riding.

The area’s seniors made up just under 15 per cent of the ward’s population in 2006 —­ not much higher than the city average. However, the ward is much poorer than the city as a whole — almost half the households had incomes less than $40,000, according to 2005 census data.

Seniors on fixed incomes are “bitter, disenchanted and downright angry,” about the rising cost of government services, admits Steve Tasses, one of six candidates trying to unseat long-time incumbent councillor Frank Di Giorgio.

“They’re not very friendly to politicians at the door,” he says, suggesting many feel they’re being squeezed out of their homes.

In many cases, however, struggling seniors don’t even know they might be eligible for breaks on their property taxes and water rates that have been offered by the city for years, points out candidate Vilma Filici.

Seniors and those with disabilities that have an annual income of less than $50,000 — determined based on the income of the owner and a spouse only — can obtain a rebate on this year’s average increase of water bills, about $50, and a deferral of the property tax increase — about $70 for a home assessed at $407,000. That property tax increase can be cancelled outright if the household has an income of less than $36,000 and the property itself is valued at less than $525,000.

However, it is unclear whether saving $120 (or even an extra $30 a year by not having to pay the city’s vehicle registration fee, which some mayoral candidates have vowed to abolish) would greatly assist seniors, as property taxes are based on property values, which generally haven’t been sinking in booming Toronto. And senior homeowners in Ward 12 are loathe to make what seems an obvious choice to some, getting a reverse mortgage on their home to boost their income, says Jose Medeiros, manager of supportive housing at St. Clair West Services for Seniors, which despite its name is located on Eglinton Avenue just east of Keele Street.

“They came here for the betterment of their kids,” Medeiros says of the area’s homeowners, many of whom are immigrants from Italy and Portugal. Their dream is to leave their children with a fully paid off home, not one that has a mortgage, he explains.

Single-family homes only make up just over a third of the ward’s housing, according to the most recent inventory from Statistics Canada. Apartments of all sizes make up approximately 60 per cent of the housing. More than half of the ward’s residents are renters.

However, in interviews, none of the ward’s council candidates spoke of speeding up or deepening the targeted tax cuts the city has been phasing in since 2006 for apartments and older condominiums. Currently, the commercial, industrial and multi-residential tax classes pay property taxes at a ratio more than three times that of single-family homeowners. The city’s approved plan is to reduce that tax ratio to 2.5, for small businesses by 2013 and the other classes by 2017.

One of the main concerns for local tenants is bedbugs, which are not just media hype or confined to public housing, says Medeiros. The migrating bugs are now a global problem that in Canada will demand the involvement of all three levels of governments to combat the problem, he suggests.

Seniors and small landlords (who control 40 per cent of Toronto’s affordable housing stock) have neither the physical capacity nor resources to rid units completely of the bugs, he explains.

While St. Clair West is contracted by the provincial government to provide services that will help keep seniors in their home, rather than being institutionalized, it’s also important they get outside and socialize, adds Sujata Ganguli, the organization’s executive director. Unfortunately, “seniors are afraid to go out because this area has had its share of problems,” she says, referring to the gang violence that has plagued the area in recent years.

Last year, Toronto police brought its TAVIS (Toronto Anti-Violence Intervention Strategy) unit to Keele/Eglinton, an initiative that by most accounts has helped the area.

“Now it’s a little bit calmed down (but) still it’s a little hot,” says an Eglinton Hill business owner, who wanted to remain anonymous.

The major problem, according to candidates and members of the community, is both a lack of good jobs and recreational programs to keep kids busy.

“Too many youth have nothing else to do but stand in corners and get harassed by cops,” says local resident Alvaro Vidal, who suggests part of the answer is providing more youth-based programming and affordable post-secondary education. His son Joshua agrees, arguing the city’s Centennial Community Centre at York Memorial C.I. closes too soon. Centennial offers drop-in basketball only to teenagers up to the age of 17 on Fridays from 6 to 8 p.m.

After that, “kids are on the street just chilling,” says Joshua. “People would be playing b-ball until 1 a.m. if it was open.”

At the ward’s other community centres, Amesbury offers Sunday afternoon basketball and drop-in badminton to 10:30 p.m. on Friday nights. Falstaff offers no drop in programs and registered programs close at 9:30 p.m.

The city has its own youth workers in the community but they’ve never expressed a need for keeping community centres open later, says John Fulton, head of recreation programs for west Toronto. “But it’s something we could look at for sure.”

Almost all candidates are promising to improve services for seniors and youth in the ward. A third commonality is the support for the Eglinton LRT, a rapid transit line that will run from Scarbrorough’s Kennedy Station to Jane Street, with a portion underground from Leaside to Black Creek Drive. Some candidates say they would have preferred the line continue underground through to Jane, but that option was dismissed by council earlier this year mostly because it would have added an extra $200-300 million to the cost. In June, the province approved an environmental study report outlining the structure of the Eglinton line that was prepared after a two-year public process. Metrolinx recently said the project is a go and it is scheduled to be completed by 2020.

Only council candidate Joe Renda doesn’t want the Eglinton LRT.

“It’s not going to do very much for the Eglinton-Keele area, especially because it’s underground,” explains Renda, suggesting people are more likely to get out and visit the area if they’re in above ground buses.

- Tim Foran

THREE THINGS THE CANDIDATES WANT TO ACHIEVE:

JOE RENDA
Renda is a retired Catholic school board employee and former member of the Toronto Public Library board. By the end of the next term, he wants the city to have, at least, completed plans for building a new theatre/library in the Keele-Eglinton area, preferably in a city-owned property to save costs. He also says it’s feasible for the city to build a year-round indoor soccer pitch with adequate parking on the city-owned green space on Keele north of Ingram Drive. Finally, he’d like to see the city use roving crews to repair potholes instead of fixing them on a request basis (the city says it repaired 275,000 potholes in 2008 at a cost of $6 million, and it promises to fix them within four days of being notified about one).

STEVE TASSES
Tasses is a long-time Keele/Eglinton business owner and founder of the Eglinton Hill BIA. He wants to attract jobs back into the ward by encouraging development on the vacant 70-acre Kodak lands (the most recent proposal by developer Metrus was for a mix of retail and office uses) and demanding the TTC, who want to build a carhouse for the Eglinton LRT on a portion of the lands, hire local people to fill the 600 positions the transit agency has said it will hire for the facility. He also wants to see the completion of the postponed York Community Centre, which he said was supposed to open this year (the city has said construction of the $26.5-million facility is scheduled to begin next fall and the centre will open in spring 2013). To service seniors, Tasses wants to eliminate the vehicle registration fee for them and look into providing them free rides on TTC buses in off-peak hours.

RICK GOSLING
Gosling is a city employee and founder of a number of community programs such as the Toronto Children’s Breakfast Clubs. He wants to expand a youth mentorship program run by Toronto police, which sees the service hire 50 youth to work in local divisions and all city departments such as fire, public health and ambulance services. He also wants to ensure every school in the ward has a breakfast club. Finally, he wants the city to improve its services for seniors like providing windrow snow removal and easing red tape, such as assisting those who don’t speak English as a first language with filling out forms necessary to stay in public housing.

VILMA FILICI
Filici is the senior practitioner of an immigration consultancy. She wants to open a constituency office in the ward and dedicate one of her staff to seniors issues. Incumbent councillor Frank Di Giorgio only keeps an office at city hall, which meant he only paid $2,796 in rent last year and thereby only $23,000 of his $53,000 expense budget, but Filici says residents want better customer service and don’t care if councillors spend their budget on the right things. She wants to see the York Community Centre built and offering not just recreation programs but also training for youth. Finally, she wants to see a reduction in all crime rates, and said that could be achieved through more policing in parks and streets and with schools and the city offering more after-school services,

NICK DOMINELLI
Dominelli is a restauranteur who previously worked in the city’s economic development division and was an assistant for three city councillors. He wants the ward to get more money from the city for infrastructure and investment in the community. For seniors, he wants to remove some permit fees and have property tax deferrals/cancellations applied automatically rather than requiring yearly applications. Finally, he wants to improve the sense of community in the ward by reopening closed parks and creating traffic calming zones in heavily travelled residential streets, not through speed humps which impede residents but rather by turning those areas into community safety zones thereby doubling fines for traffic offences and getting the police to do monthly blitzes to ticket violators.

ANGELO BELLAVIA
Bellavia is an owner of a home-based business in the ward supplying medical products. He wants more city investment in infrastructure in the ward, such as improved park lighting and road construction and a left-turn light at the intersection of Black Creek Drive and Lawrence Avenue (the city said such a signal from eastbound Lawrence to northbound Black Creek is on the books but since it requires construction of an underground vehicle detection monitor, the city’s electrical contractor probably won’t get it done until next year). He also wants to see more job-creating development in the ward, suggesting an entertainment complex on the Kodak lands or renovation of vacant warehouses for other uses such as nightclubs. He also would like inspectors to come in and order owners to fix older, dilapidated apartment buildings within 30 days to make them cleaner and safer.

FRANK DI GIORGIO
Di Giorgio has been a councillor for 22 of the past 25 years. He plans to fight the city’s recently approved zoning bylaw, which he said allows for noxious uses — such as asphalt plants or organic waste processing facilities — to go into any heavy industrial area as-of-right, without being required to meet prescribed setbacks from neighbouring businesses or provide odour control facilities. He wants the city to designate Keele-Lawrence as a community improvement area to help rejuvenate the neighbourhood. And he wants the city to modify its official plan to allow for the conversion of rental properties to condominiums for two reasons: one, he argues there’s no shortage of rental housing in his ward and estimates the vacancy rate at five per cent; and two, unlike booming downtown, such conversions are one of the only ways property owners could secure the financing they need to undertake redevelopment of their properties, which in turn would bring the local community Section 37 developers funds.