While the Mayoral winner, Rob Ford, was quite a surprise to most people living downtown, it wasn’t such a surprise to us that Mike Layton, with the powerhouse of the NDP behind him, took the council seat in Ward 19.
There was, however, some great debate and discussion during the race, in our debate at the Garrison, as well as the other debates in the ward. Karen Sun, who didn’t come with the family support, and Sean McCormick, who challenged from the right, as well as Jim Likourezos, Karlene Nation, Ted Footman, Ross Bruto, George Sawision all challenged for the seat on council. And some great arguments were heard, and hopefully Mike will take some of those to city council to keep a progressive movement alive in the city and to keep the Ossington area alive and growing.
We congratulate Mike on the victory, and wish him the best of success in the new position. As we’ve posted before, it’s important that he keep the local issues close at hand, and communicate with his constituents in a way that his predecessor failed in his waning years. In numerous discussions tonight with his supporters at his event, as well as in the other events, locals we talked to liked him but felt that it was important he become his own candidate at city council and move from campaign mode to community mode. We agree.
When we met Mike in person he was genuine, and very caring about the community. He wanted to listen and open channels with both people and businesses, so problems, especially those along Ossington, could be solved. He brings with him some experience in the foodservice industry, as well as an understanding of cultivating an entertainment and lively culture – something his father brought to the downtown core many years ago. These are the traits we hope he brings with him to council.
It was a good night in the ward despite many disagreeing with what happened in the mayoral race. We wandered along College visiting Ted Footman’s event at Bar Italia; Revival, where Joe Pantalone passed the family torch to Mike; and then to meet Karen Sun at Brass Taps, where her supporters congratulated her on a hard fought battle against a competitor with far greater resources. (then for some food at Lakeview!) We hoped to make it to Sean and Karlene’s events, but ran out of steam, but look forward to catching up.
We had coffee with Karlene at I Deal coffee on Ossington this Sunday morning and she clearly shows a passion for getting in and playing some kind of spoiler in this race. She knows she’s not a front-runner but she’s getting her issues heard, and learning and experiencing the process of running a campaign as she goes along. Without the campaign machines of some of the other people running, she does everything herself.
She’s got a strong, focused message which supports business owners. They are a ward constituency that doesn’t get to vote, but provide the backbone of the community. She tells us that they don’t get heard at city hall, and it’s generally an un-inviting place with no interest in welcoming small businesses. This sentiment was expressed by Shaun, a partner of the Garrison, in his question to the candidates (see 1:27:25 in) about the tangle of red-tape he has to run through to get anything done to run his little business on Dundas. Businesses, clearly, are not consulted on issues, and Karlene talked about the need to have a “Business Welcome” sign at city hall, with a reception that lets people know how they can get things done, rather than having them sent to the back corner.
She is very comfortable speaking her mind – especially about issues of media coverage. She pointed out that CHIN radio, a very popular local station among the diverse neighbourhood, outright supported Mike Layton, and is not interested in playing any role in the election apart from advocate. She also said that one of the unused avenues for local Ossington businesses was to use the media better, and hold the politicians to account. You can be sure she’d bring this media savvy to city hall.
What struck us and many of the other people we chatted to after last Tuesday’s debate was Karlene’s passion. She obviously cares deeply about the ward and it comes out in her speeches and discussion one-on-one.
One of the people at the debate last Tuesday was local Toronto Sun reporter and freelancer Rachel Sa, who is a neighbourhood resident. She found out about the debate and came along to cover it and wrote an excellent piece asking where the voters were in the elections in Toronto. She makes a good point and notes that most of the people that came to the debate knew more about the issues than many of the candidates on the stage. It was a decent sized crowd, but most were well educated on the issues, and probably the people who should have come are the people who need to know more.
One of the reasons people don’t get involved in local politics is they don’t know what’s going on. Karen Sun pointed out in our meeting and discussion, and on stage at the debate, that many of the people that she talked to in the neighbourhood knew that there was something going on with the moratorium on Ossington, but didn’t exactly know what. And, I’d have to admit that I’m still not sure I fully understand how the laws work, because it was my understanding – which was obviously wrong – that the moratorium ended but the new laws they passed back in the spring are now in effect. However, this doesn’t seem to be the case, as Salt Wine Bar fights to find a way to open their already complete and fully ready restaurant.
In the Toronto Sun, Rachel writes for the broader audience, not specifically about the particular issues in the riding, because in the end, most Sun readers don’t care what goes on in Ward 19 – and rightly so on both her and the paper’s part. She writes about the lack of turnout, which is prevalent no matter which ward you live in in Toronto. Most areas in the city have incumbent councilors which make it even harder to get voters out, because it’s very difficult in City of Toronto voting rules to unseat an incumbent, so most residents just don’t bother to try.
In January of this year I got an email from a local business owner who had received an email from Joe Pantalone telling him about his great work “that will greatly enhance the neighbourhood. At the Toronto East York Community Council on January 12, 2010, a recommendation was presented to remove the pedestrian crossing at Ossington Ave & Argyle St in order to install traffic control signals at this intersection and I fully expect it to be passed at City Council on January 26, 2010.” This was clearly Joe targeting his marketing for his own purposes. In this case it didn’t work because in fact this business owner didn’t agree with Joe on this, and sent him a strong note back pointing this out. We didn’t get a copy of this note, and Joe’s office definitely knows we write about the neighbourhood. He didn’t want local commentary.
But where was the local involvement? Where was the consultation? And where was the news that this was going on? All these get no press because there is no press to cover it, or at least that’s what we’re led to believe. How do locals find out what’s going on in their community? There are a few scattered old-media print publications we do receive now and then at our doorstep, including the Gleaner, although most things that come on newsprint on our doorstep are full of ads and they end up where the Yellow Pages goes – in the blue bin.
That’s where we come in, and people like us – and there are otherfolkslike us. Maybe not many, and maybe some don’t do quite the job we do, but they are out there. And with very little work and almost no money (this blog costs us ~$50 a year in hosting costs, and we enjoy walking the area and writing) democracy can take hold. We leave our comments open and let people put in their 2¢, as long as it’s inclusive and respectful. We also have a Facebook page where people can place their comments, and let us and other people in the neighbourhood know what’s going on.
The new candidate for Ward 19 should make it a priority to set up and importantly to promote an online place, whether it be a Facebook page, or some other platform where people can find out what’s going on in their area – whether as local as the street, or the Ward. We can’t leave it up to the Toronto Star or the Sun (and face it, local flyers don’t work any more), because those papers aren’t going to cover the issues in this area the same way a local blogger or platform can get people involved.
If people in the neighbourhood know what’s going on, whether it’s a new stoplight, a new zoning restriction, speedbumps, or even are aware that there are complaints about local businesses, maybe they will get involved and take more action locally. Perhaps the local businesses will react quicker to meet the demands of their neighbours (and potential customers) rather than receiving a citation from city hall. But most importantly, citizens will get involved and vote.
So get involved locally. Know your candidates and the issues – we’ve posted all the links of the sites on the sidebar of the blog until elections day. Vote on election day! and if there’s something going on in the Ossington area that you like or don’t like, comment on the blog, write to us and let us know, or start your own blog and start making changes in the area. This is what democracy is, and it’s enabled by technology.
We posted our Tuesday night’s debate on UStream here, but we also took some good pictures of the event, and there was some good coverage.
A few good people were following the debate on twitter and provided up-to-the-minute commentary on what was going on:
There was also an article today in Parent Central on Michael Sims’ discussion of Maria Pantalone, sister of Joe Pantalone, and a current local school principal who recently was charged with assault and in the past found guilty of throwing feces at a student, and her distribution of Chris Bolton’s campaign literature through her school. Michael Sims made quite a stir. (Quite shocking stuff, and amazing that it only makes Parent Central in the Star)
We’ll keep an eye out for more coverage, but in the meantime check out the pictures from the night. If you want to check them out on Facebook, we’ve posted them there also.
If you missed tonight’s debate with the Ward 19 candidates, we recorded it on UStream. The video isn’t great, but the audio came out quite well, so you can hear the full debate.
There’s some great pieces in there – definitely tune into the 9 minutes mark for Michael Sims talk about the school board which offered some pretty shocking and interesting information. On that same topic, it’s also worth checking out another question on the same topic of the school board at 1:14:45 where the same topic rattled Mike Layton.
Each of candidates presented well and there were fire and passion in all of them. There are some great other snippets. What was your favourite part?
We’ll post more on the highlights of the debate tomorrow.
I attended the Friends of Trinity Bellwoods debate to learn how these things are done, and decided that we would allow the candidates longer to talk on various issues, hopefully getting more detailed answers.
We are going to start the evening off with a few words from the two Toronto District School Board candidates, Michael Sims and Chris Bolton, so everyone can learn a bit about the position, and each of the candidate’s platform.
Then we’re going to move to the main event where each candidate will have a two minute intro. We’ll be doing these in a random order. We’ll start with a question about the Ossington moratorium, and then move on to questions from the audience. We’ll be limiting the answers to 45 seconds.
Then we’ll have two minutes each for closing remarks, and hopefully enjoy a drink with the candidates after, where you can talk to them about the issues one on one.
We’re excited about this group of young and enthusiastic candidates who are going to change the ward for the better. Come out and hear what they have to say!
If there’s someone in Ward 19 that knows about bars and restaurants and issues with local council it’s Ted (David) Footman. Ted started and ran a number of restaurants including College Street Bar, Ted’s Collision and Ted’s Wrecking Yard on College Street, and had to endure Joe Pantalone’s neighbourhood manipulation up there, as city regulations froze the development of the strip where it remains like a mid-nineties memory of small struggling bistros and bars.
But his experience is much broader than that. Ted is also an architect, and with that brings a much broader understanding of city issues. Being an architect gives a candidate a solid understanding of city aesthetics and heritage as well as, importantly, regulations.
Ted grew up in Brampton, after being born in Scotland, and moved downtown to study history and architecture at the University of Toronto.
Frustrated with the direction of the neighbourhood, and always having an itch to run, Ted joined the race later than most of the other candidates, but he has made up for his late start with his quirky approach, as well as his large network of supporters in the neighbourhood from his restaurant background.
One of the main planks in his platform in running for council is to encourage the small businesses in the neighbourhood to grow, as well as to connect with local residents, and be the caretakers of the neighbourhood. As a small businessman himself he was subject to many of the regulations he is looking to change – including expensive fees on sandwich boards. Read more of his platform here.
Ted’s got a very open and direct style which may ruffle some feathers, but Ward 19 needs some change, and Ted’s in it to push for change.
Come to the Ossington Village debate at the Garrison Tuesday night and see Ted in action, as well as all the other local candidates. It should be a good night.
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.
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.
While the Mayoral winner, Rob Ford, was quite a surprise to most people living downtown, it wasn’t such a surprise to us that Mike Layton, with the powerhouse of the NDP behind him, took the council seat in Ward 19.
Just a reminder that the 
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.
