With the 2014-2018 term about to start, I thought I’d provide a brief primer for people who want to start watching City Hall in person. Where to go, what to see, where to eat, and more. Continue reading The Cheat Sheet: Going To City Hall
Tag: cheat sheet
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!
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: 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.
A Very Special Cheat Sheet: #TObudget 2014
- A Note: Operating Vs. Capital
- First, Some Context
- Operating Budget
- Capital Budget
- The Most Disingenuous Game
I don’t usually do Cheat Sheets for special meetings, but this one is for the 2014 budget! I love the budget!!! The entire exciting process, which started all the way back in November, is culminating this upcoming Wednesday in a meeting sure to be full of delightful surprises, dramatic reversals, procedural confusion, and petty, childish infighting. Continue reading A Very Special Cheat Sheet: #TObudget 2014
The Cheat Sheet: December 16 City Council
Disclaimer: For entertainment purposes only. Check out the full agenda.
Last meeting, we saw the Mayor reduced to a figurehead, with most of his responsibilities (and office budget) going to Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly. In a fit of pique, the Mayor insisted on holding and speaking on various petty routine items until the clock ran out, and promised to do the same next time. I hope he’s forgotten, because there’s plenty of actual stuff to get done. Continue reading The Cheat Sheet: December 16 City Council
The Cheat Sheet: November 13 City Council
In case you’ve been living under a rock: since the last City Council meeting, Rob Ford’s friend, occasional driver, and probable drug dealer Sandro Lisi was arrested on extortion charges; the heavily redacted search warrant was released, revealing (among many other things) the highly incriminating details of police surveillance of the Mayor; police chief Bill Blair announced that police had recovered the crack video; Rob Ford admitted to smoking crack but refused to step down; the Star purchased and posted a video of a highly intoxicated Rob Ford uttering angry death threats; and comments by his brother, mother and sister revealed the truly shocking degree to which they enable the mayor’s substance abuse. Continue reading The Cheat Sheet: November 13 City Council
The Cheat Sheet: October 8 City Council
It’s the first council meeting since the summer break, so we’ve got a pretty hefty agenda! Here’s a sampling of items worth watching out for. Did I miss anything? Let me know. Continue reading The Cheat Sheet: October 8 City Council