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Category: politics
The Cheat Sheet: August 25 City Council
Well, here we are at the last City Council meeting this term. I feel…sad? Sure, it’s been a fucked-up, dysfunctional four years, but it was never boring.
After the jump: the Ombudsman is mad as hell and isn’t going to take it anymore; mid-rise invasion; transit recommendations of varying utility; and more. You can find the full agenda here. Let me know in the comments if there’s anything I missed! Continue reading The Cheat Sheet: August 25 City Council
Mean Councillors
Context:
This is going to be your guide to City Council. Where you sit at Council is crucial, because you’ve got everybody there. Continue reading Mean Councillors
The Cheat Sheet: July 7 & 8 City Council
Monday’s City Council is actually a Special Meeting, and for once it’s not a transit debate that we’ll all walk out of hating everyone and everything. This time, Council will appoint fill-in councillors for Wards 5 and 20, vacant after councillors Milczyn and Vaughan levelled up to MPP and MP, respectively. You might see some familiar names on the list of candidates for Ward 5 and Ward 20. They include former Ford staffer Nico Fidani, cinephile urban legend Reg Hartt, and, uh, me. Yep. After saying on Keenan’s show that you couldn’t pay me to be Ward 20 councillor, I went and signed up, mostly as a joke…but upon consideration, I guess I know this beat pretty well.
The July City Council meeting proper starts Tuesday. (You’ll have gotten a preview of several of these items if you followed my Executive Committee livetweeting.) Here’s the full agenda and the livestream. My picks for items to watch are after the jump!
I Go To Meetings So You Don’t Have To: July 2 Executive Committee
In which Denzil Minnan-Wong denies illicit arboreal relations and a familiar deputant calls on half the committee to resign.
Continue reading I Go To Meetings So You Don’t Have To: July 2 Executive Committee
2015: Threat or Menace?
Warning, serious wonkery ahead.
So I was a tad alarmed to see, in last month’s council agenda, this operating budget variance report projecting a year-end deficit of $1.783 million. And I’ve also been going back to David Hains’s look at the formidable 2015 budget gap and wondering if there’s anything to it. Basically, I’m wondering 1) how much of a mess will the next mayor inherit?, and 2) do they even know?
The Cheat Sheet: May 6 City Council
Guess what just happened? My birthday! And, in hobbit fashion, I have a gift for you: the Good Bits version of the upcoming City Council meeting agenda.
A few highlights: restricting campaign donation rebates; bringing EDM back to Exhibition Place; a new housing allowance program for seniors; and a proposal to appoint a Photo Laureate.
Edit: As usual, if I’ve made any mistakes or missed something important, let me know!
The Cheat Sheet: April 1 City Council
April’s agenda is one of the busiest yet: the Billy Bishop airport expansion, the Gardiner Expressway, Neighbourhood Improvement Areas, and food trucks, as well as annual audits and grants. Plus, you’ll never guess which councillor wants to look into recall legislation…
The Cheat Sheet: Co-ops
It seems there has been some recent confusion about what exactly a housing co-operative is and how it works. This is understandable; co-ops are kind of an obscure subject. So here is my quick primer on what they are and how they work. I have greatly simplified things, and am working from my own experience living in and serving on the board of a small federal co-op. Continue reading The Cheat Sheet: Co-ops
The Cheat Sheet: February 19 City Council
This Wednesday is the first council meeting since the annual epic budget s̶h̶i̶t̶f̶e̶s̶t̶ showdown. On the agenda: hockey beer, campaign Twitter, the taxi review, and more.