|
ADJUSTING TO A 25-WARD COUNCIL |
62 Toronto Residents' Associations band together to tell Mayor and Council:
Keep increases to city councillors' staff budgets
to compensate for Bill 5 cuts by province
22 November 2018
by Susan Dexter Democracy Toronto When you call your city councillor, who will answer? How long will they take to get back to you? How quickly will your issues be addressed? Will there be enough staff to handle the workload now that each city councillor has twice the constituents they had before the recent city elections? The members of fifty-five Residents' Associations (RAs) and similar community organizations from across the city are asking those questions in the wake of cuts to city council positions, as the newly-elected City Council prepares for its first meeting in less than two weeks. First Concerted Political Action by Residents' Associations In what's believed to be a first, the RAs have banded together in numbers to help make sure Toronto citizens are not short-changed in their ability to receive the attention and assistance of city councillors they have come to expect. Drastic cuts to city council were imposed by the Ford government at Queen's Park over the summer. The province reduced the number of city wards from 47 that had been approved to 25 and slashed the number of city councillors by the same numbers. Toronto will soon get its first glimpse of how the city will deal with the massive restructuring of city governance that will be necessary in the wake of those cuts--work that could at least have been done in advance had the province consulted the city before acting. The City Clerk and Manager will shortly reveal recommendations to city council on all of the changes that need to be made to compensate for the loss of elected leaders. How Much Staff is Needed? Determining how many assistants each councillor needs will be a major focus of that work. The cuts have left incoming councillors with an average of up to 110,000 constituents each. Twice the number of constituents to serve as before. Twice the constituent calls, twice the number of development proposals per councillor, twice the number of seniors needing assistance, twice the number of people needing housing and other social services. Prior to the council cuts, the city budgeted for 47 councillors with three ward assistants each--141 employees to assist the councillors in dealing directly with the public. Busier offices were allocated additional staff budgets. Workload is the Same The workload is the same, the RAs say, regardless of how many councillors there are. Each office will deal with double the work, so double the staff will be needed in each councillor’s office to simply maintain the present level of service. They're calling on the Mayor and City Council to keep the funding for those 141 employees and split them among the 25 remaining councillors. Three employees each--75 staffers in all--simply can't do the work of 141 on top of the reduction in councillors, the RAs say. To make their views known ahead of the first meeting of the new council on Dec. 5, the Residents’ Associations and Community Organizations have taken the unusual step of writing a joint letter urging the Mayor and council to ensure adequate councillor staffing. City Staff Ready to Report
A City Staff Task Force has been working since Bill 5 came down to determine how to govern under the changed regime. They've received input from politicians and from the community. A group of former city consultants and activists sent councillors and city staff a discussion paper on the subject ("The New Reality - An Approach to Governing Toronto in a 25-Councillor World"), hoping to contribute to the thinking on how to maintain democracy while cutting the number of elected representatives. The paper proposed changes to the structure of City Council, councillor participation on Boards, changes to Community Council boundaries and pressed for adequate staffing levels to look after the myriad of responsibilities that are of direct interest to residents—from potholes, to TCHC housing problems, to shelters, to street traffic regulations.
City staff have prepared their own recommendations. City Council will make decisions on all of this very soon. The first two weeks of December will be critical to the future form of our city government.
|
Here's the complete list of Residents' Associations that have signed the request to distribute the staff budgets created for 47 city council positions among the 25 councillors who remain:
What Are Residents' Associations?
RAs are volunteer groups formed within communities to assist residents in a multitude of ways. Many RAs prominently feature social gatherings: bake sales, yard sales, pumpkin festivals, park events and local fairs build community spirit. They also help residents and communities deal with city bureaucracy, ensuring the community voice is heard. In many cases, they take an active part in planning processes for developments and on issues that may be distinct to their neighbourhood—greening initiatives, assistance to young people, advocacy for seniors, housing issues, heritage. Many have published bylaws and websites and organized structures. Others are more informal. CITY COUNCIL CALENDAR
Here are the key dates for city council's discussions on how to govern the 25-ward city. All City Council sessions are available on YouTube at www.youtube.com/TorontoCityCouncilLive Tuesday, December 4 / 2 pm Ceremonial Session of City Council Election of Speaker and Deputy Speaker Wednesday, December 5 / 930 am First business meeting of new City Council Agenda City Manager and City Clerk report on how the reduction of City Council from 47 to 25 members will affect the governance structure of the city They will make recommendations on adjustments to: • Council Committee Structure • Council Procedures • Council Committee Membership • Community Council Boundaries Monday, December 10 Agenda for Dec 12 council meeting is made public Tuesday December 11 / 930 am Community Councils meet to elect chairs and vice chairs Wednesday December 12 / 930 am Committee Room 1 Striking Committee meets to: • Consult Councillors as to which Council Committees they want to serve on • Consider appointments to local boards and other bodies • Propose 2019 schedule of meetings Thursday December 13 / 930 am First Meeting of Council Continues • Approve Councillor appointments to Council Committees • Approve appointments to local boards and other bodies • Approve 2019 schedule of meetings • Urgent Business • Member Motions All City Council sessions are available on YouTube at www.youtube.com/TorontoCityCouncilLive |