As we have mentioned, the moratorium and other restrictions on Ossington have proven too much for Salt Wine Bar. We heard from an employee there that they were shut down during service last weekend. They have also tweeted they are closed, and blogTO has an in-depth post about it today. BlogTO’s story mentions that Salt hopes to reopen by November. We hope so too. As you know from our previous posts, we were big fans.
This sort of bureaucracy in our ward is not only affecting Salt Wine Bar and Ossington. Joe Warmington’s editorial in yesterday’s Toronto Sun points out the crazy levels of harrassment our city is pulling on business owners on Queen Street as well, instead of focusing on important matters. On a related note, next month we have the opportunity to elect a new city council representative for this ward. Each of us deserves someone we believe will work in our interests. How do we determine that? Listen to what the candidates say and ask them questions. Your chance to do that is next Tuesday night at the Garrison, where we are hosting a Ward 19 Candidates debate which is open to the public. Hope to see you there!
Ossington, between Dundas and Queen is the heart of Ward 19. And like the entire ward, it has changed dramatically in the last few years.
For this year’s city election in Ward 19 there is no incumbent. We have a great group of young and enthusiastic candidates looking to make a mark on Toronto. We’ve been profiling them in the past couple months, but now’s the time to bring them all together.
On October 5th we will host a debate at The Garrison, 1197 Dundas St West, west of Ossington, where we’ll discuss and debate the issues in Ward 19, and specifically in the Ossington area.
- The recent patio restrictions south of Bloor St,
- Salt Wine Bar being held closed due to moratorium restrictions,
- Balancing neighbourhood growth with local resident’s concerns,
- How to enforce current local bylaws. (or should they be enforced) and
- Ensuring local resident and business feedback into local issues.
- Building better transit for the neighbourhood
However, we don’t know what issues are of primary concern to you. So we’d like to invite our readers to comment below and tell us what you care about, and what you would like us to ask the candidates for City Council. You are all welcome to attend the debate (or let us know you’re coming on Facebook). Admission is free and it is open to the public.
We’ll be trying to live-blog the event and we may even get it up on UStream so if you miss it, or can’t be there, you’ll be kept up to date.
Last night I went for a walk along Ossington and ran into William Tavares, one of the owners behind Salt Wine Bar. The beautifully decorated restaurant was sitting empty, wine shelves cleared out, and no customers. All because Joe Pantalone imposed a moratorium on new restaurants on Ossington, and Salt didn’t file before the deadline.
We probably don’t need to remind you that we didn’t agree with the moratorium then, as there was no local consultation (a period where Salt owners could have decided whether they wanted to go forward or not) and the resulting legislation was poor and misguided. We cannot support anything to do with his mayorship now – as we fear less community involvement, as Joe likes to do things solo.
We like the vitality that the neighbourhood has with new cuisine entering the area. We’ve eaten at Salt while they opened semi-legally using a catering licence, and it’s excellent. It’s just what the neighbourhood needs – modern Portuguese tapas, combining the cuisines of many of our neighbours with the modern styles of places like Union and Foxley Bistro.
The reason that Salt can’t open is that the city will not issue them a restaurant license, and thus, without that license they can’t get the liquor license. It has nothing to do with the AGCO – it’s purely a city decision, and one that was made law by our mayoral candidate. Interestingly, a few other places have been granted food licenses, including Crafted and Crepes and More. Although neither has a need for liquor licenses at this point, the city granted licenses despite the moratorium.
Joe will not be getting our vote for mayor, but he might be wanting yours. And we want Salt Wine Bar to open. We’re already craving some of the nice cured hams we had!
Call him and let him know that politicians should let entrepreneurs build their businesses, and let local enforcement do their job. And that Salt Wine Bar should open! He can make that happen.
A few weeks ago we were contacted by Michael Sims, who had seen our profiles of other Ward 19 candidates, and said he was running for the Toronto District School Board in Ward 10, which, in the school boards regions, is a combination of Wards 19 and 20. Would we like to meet him?
To be honest, I had no idea what the school board does. So I figured I’d go and learn about him, and about what the school board does.
For those like me to whom this is all news, the school board is responsible for assigning the budget of the public schools in Toronto. They are also responsible for broader policies within the school system. In the past, the board had actual taxing authority, but the Mike Harris government removed all that, so their job now is to help allocate the money they receive.
The school board doesn’t sound like a job one would really vie for unless either you care deeply about the board, or you’re a retired teacher looking for something to do. It pays only $26k per year, and you get to endure the harsh criticism of parents who are trying to ensure the best education for their kids. You don’t have a whole lot of control, as you have to deal with union issues, and it can involve some long nights at meetings. Even campaigning for the position is a struggle. With little budget and an audience of over 100,000 it’s almost impossible to get even minimal name recognition.
In a municipal election, it’s the mayoral candidates who get all the mainstream press. Even the local council candidates have a hard time getting things written about them or get a chance to get their policies viewed by a third party (although sites like ours have started to change that). The school board is well below the radar, so most voters go to the polls not knowing a thing about their school board candidates.
Michael Sims seems to be taking the job because he cares. He’s got three kids in the school system and is a recent immigrant to Canada from the United States. While he doesn’t have a lot of political experience, he did work on one project with Joe Pantalone which encouraged local artists to paint ugly gray telephone boxes to try to reduce the graffiti. His background is probably quite different from most school boarders. He’s an ex computer programmer and journalist and has worked for the famous site Slashdot (a geek news site). One of his platforms is to encourage more open source technology in the school system in order to reduce costs.
Another platform he talked a lot about was reducing or eliminating the need to sell off school board assets for underused spaces. In New York, where he emigrated from, when populations came back in certain areas, or the demographics changed in a region, they’d have to rent space in commercial buildings, with no play spaces or other features important to a school.
He also voiced strong opposition to having any corporate involvement in the school system – keeping public school public.
Michael is blogging about running in the area through his site here. (gotta like his WordPress theme!)
Michael is running against incumbent retired teacher and principal Chris Bolton. More on him if we catch up to him in the weeks coming up to the election.
I met Sean a week or so ago to talk about issues in Ward 19, and why he decided to run for office in this area. If you are a sports fan you’ve probably heard his name as he was a broadcaster for Rogers Sportsnet for 15 years and host of a program called Connected.
While in that career Sean got connected to a bunch of charities including Right to Play, as well as the St. Joseph’s Health Centre, which is the benefactor of the fundraising from Queen Street Music Festival, so giving back to the community is part of Sean’s life in Toronto.
After recently leaving leaving Rogers Sportsnet, Sean told me he was looking for something new to do which would make an impact on his neighbourhood, where he’s lived since moving from Vancouver about 8 years ago. Sean lives on Queen St and has seen the great change that has happened to the area and wanted to keep that change moving in the right direction as well as impact larger issues such as improving the TTC and cleaning up parks in the city.
His background also contains a number of entrepreneurial ventures when he was younger, which seemed to be much of the basis for his platform – which is focused less on environmental and transit issues, and more on ensuring accountability in spending and reducing taxes for homeowners. His discussion on issues revolved a lot on making sure money is spent correctly in the city so that local homeowners can have their taxes reduced. His approach to most issues is very practical and business oriented, and the lack of his connection to the more political approach to issues may prove a great advantage in getting things done, but also will be a challenge.
Like the other candidates in the race, Sean is obviously well connected. The Queen West Music festival, which he organized, had a number of high profile sponsors including Rogers, TD and Molson, and it takes some influence to get them involved in a local music show. It shows a determination to make things happen and change the community, which the music festival does.
The Ward 19 race involves a lot of young candidates, and some names we know. Sean is a welcome addition and is going to provide more visibility to the issues of the neighbourhood. Let us know what you think of how the Ward’s election is shaping up.
Ward 19 is definitely going to get a young and enthusiastic councilor, based on those running for the job. Mike Layton is no exception.
I finally got to meet with Mike Layton, both over a coffee at I Deal and drink at Reposado. We talked about many of the issues of the neighbourhood, which, from his canvassing, he is learning quickly.
He’s a resident of the area, and obviously, through his father, he’s well connected. His clear passion is the environment, and he knows a lot about the politics of it, which is obviously a good skill and passion to have in this city. He currently works for an environmental organization doing research and communications work on issues related to renewable energy.
One of the great characteristics I thought he brought to the table was the ability to listen. He is very personable and friendly, and will lend an ear to all the local residents. People talk about the characteristic of “a politician you’d want to have a drink with” – and Mike fits right in that category.
His endorsement by Joe Pantalone, who we’re not a fan of on this blog, may help him, and may hinder him. In our conversations he was careful not to criticize his potential predecessor but stressed the importance of good communication within the community, something that didn’t happen with the restaurant moratorium.
We are happy that there will be a new and eager councilor for our ward, whoever is chosen. We encourage you to stay informed about who is running, we have been interviewing the candidates, and plan to do more in the next few weeks.
Karen comes from a ‘green’ background, having a Bachelors degree in environmental science, and then a Masters in urban planning – both quite useful skills in a city councillor. She worked, earlier in her career, for the City of Toronto’s forestry department and then moved on to working on other issues.
It was hard to find some part of municipal life she hadn’t worked in as she mentioned topic after topic that she’s had some interest or been a part of including Heritage Toronto, Good Jobs for All Coalition, the Toronto Open Budget Initiative and many others. Most recently she’s been the Executive Director of the Toronto branch of a non-profit human rights organization, Chinese Canadian National Council which helps build links between the Chinese community and others within the City of Toronto.
Her interest definitely was in parks as the topic came up numerous times, including discussions about Trinity Bellwoods, and some ideas on revitalizing the stretch of Bloor Street around Christie Pits. Outside of this particular Ward, she discussed working on a city-wide parks plan.
We talked quite a bit about last year’s restaurant moratorium, pushed through without debate by our current councilman and Mayoral candidate, Joe Pantalone. In her walks through the community and door-knocking, she says the topic comes up regularly, and many didn’t know what had happened, but knew that something had. She expressed to me that there were many ways to have solved the problem, and the outright ban, without community consultation, wasn’t the right approach. It also didn’t address the specific issue – which was the noise being created on the side streets to Ossington by people leaving bars at closing time and she presented some excellent ideas, some more challenging to implement than others, to address this. It was clear she had been talking to the residents in the neighbourhood, and had a pretty good grasp of this particular challenge.
I also learned a good deal about how the local election process works, and the party politics which are inevitably involved in these type of races.
As the campaign progresses I’m certain Karen will keep us updated on her positions on local issues, and we’ll pass along key information as it comes. If you want to follow what she’s doing, keep an eye on her FaceBook page and her Twitter account, or if you’re old school just sign up for her email newsletter.
It’s exciting that Ward 19 has some young and energetic candidates looking to change the community. Keep an eye here for more candidate profiles to come.
This weekend two articles appeared in our local media highlighting the changes in Ossington since the restrictions were put into place on restaurant growth on Ossington. Sarah Barmak has a well researched and well presented article published in the Toronto Star on the growth of the galleries due to the restrictions placed on new restaurants. Another article in Toronto Life, based on the Toronto Star article, points out the new art spaces that have opened or are set to open in the next few months including Angell Gallery, Artscape, and in the old Rolly’s space, Meta Gallery.
A couple of comments made in the Toronto Star article caught my eye:
Jody Polishchuk, owner of Meta Gallery, says he’s happy Ossington didn’t become a club district. “People were worried it was going to turn into a kind of Richmond Street,” he says. “It’s such a gem and it would be a shame for it to go that way.”
People forget that the Richmond club district did not just organically arise from any lack of regulation. It was intentionally put into place by Jack Layton, who was the city councilor for the area at the time, who actively encouraged clubs and bars in to an area that was filled with empty warehouses and sweatshop design/clothing houses. There was, and still is, no way that Ossington could have, or would have, become that way organically. There are too many current bar and restaurants restrictions already in place – outside of the ones put into place by Mr. Pantalone.
Another quote:
Two daytime restaurants and a bakery have closed since Pantalone’s moratorium was put in place – businesses that haven’t been replaced. The councillor says eateries and bars are welcome if they comply with the new rules; what’s wanted, is variety, not just a bar strip.
Mr Pantalone’s comments here demonstrate he obviously hasn’t lived in the neighbourhood or understand how business works. The rules he’s put in place, while somewhat restrictive, offer a chilling effect to restaurants. It’s not that he’s put in the rules, but the point, which Mr Pantalone misses, is that he did it without any warning or notice to the local businesses. And, if you’re a local entrepreneur thinking about starting a business, why go to a place where rules can be changed at a whim of a dim-witted councilor? It’s reason enough to stay away.
We are, however, excited to have the new art galleries in the neighbourhood! I’m looking forward to the new Rolly’s spot, and having those late-night markets going again. Hopefully this summer!
I received a greeting note on the site from another Ward 19 Candidate – Joshua Shang. He attached a link to a website still under construction, but then, upon request redirected me to his facebook page which is now active.
It looks like he’s just getting his campaign going and he doesn’t have much online, but here’s what we know now:
Joshua works as a business analyst for a wealth management software company and grew up on College Street where his parents owned and operated a restaurant. So he’s a local guy.
For high-school he went to Jarvis Collegiate and then took economics at the University of Toronto.
After spending some time in Pennsylvania as a consultant for Vanguard – a U.S investment and pension company – he returned to Canada and now lives close to Ossington on Strachan Ave.
He outlined in an email his first platform planks, clearly focussed on his specialty, economics:
Closing the fiscal gap between spending and revenue.
Raising property taxes annually by approximately 3 % (which essentially has happened over the last 4 years) is not a sustainable model.
Moderate spending. There are expenses that this city has taken on that aren’t immediate or necessary.
Joshua says:
“I believe in bringing people together and helping them understand both sides.”
“In terms of the ossington strip, I’m sure we can come to a better resolution than the status quo (which I’ve read, and experienced first hand) that both sides are not happy with.”
Amen to that!
Joshua promises to continue to expand his platform in the next little while, and we’ll keep you up to date.
A recent Toronto Star article has also mentioned a few other candidates who have thrown their hat in the ring including Jack Layton’s son, Mike Layton, bike shop owner Derek Chadbourne, Karen Sun, executive director of the Chinese Canadian National Council Toronto Chapter, local activist and repeat candidate Himy Syed, and recently profiled Jim Likourezos. We’ll try and have some profiles of the other candidates up soon.
Who’s up for a candidate’s debate in the Ossington Village?
I received a note the other day through this blog from Jim Likourezos, who is running in Ward 19 (ours) now that Joe Pants is running for Mayor (god help us if he wins) as well as a flyer in my mailbox. It’s the first candidate we’ve seen so far.
His webpage says he’s for “responsible government”, which really doesn’t help us out much. (not that we don’t like responsible government, but give us some more!).
So, to help us get to know him he’s holding a couple of meet and greets in the area, although unfortunately none on Ossington… yet.
The first of his meetups is at Victory Cafe on Monday the 22nd at 7pm
The second meeting takes place at one of my faves, the Wheat Sheaf Tavern the next night at 7pm also.
I’m sure he’ll be heading and meeting up with us here on Ossington soon. Reposado, Sweaty Betty’s and The Painted Lady make for good meet-up locales, and the local business owners would love to find out more about him.
Ossington, between Dundas and Queen is the heart of Ward 19. And like the entire ward, it has changed dramatically in the last few years.
