#TOCouncil Twitterverse

Engaged Democracy for the Select Few
... on Twitter

                        
Anyone with a computer can link to http://video.rogerstelevision.com/Toronto_City_Council to watch Toronto City Council live when it is in session.

To find out when council and the various committees and community councils meet, just click on http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/meetingCalendarView.do?function=meetingCalendarView#current which is the city's snazzy new official website.

In the 'olden days' (pre-internet) pretty much all of what happened at city council was only available through interpretative mainstream media reports, usually by pretty politically biased viewpoints (Toronto Star or Toronto Sun or Globe and Mail or National Post). No doubt, many of the professional journalists were limited by their editors and paper's political ideology in what they could print - and what the public saw.

(RogersTV did as community programming televise a narrow lens view of council (you don't see the whole room most of the time) but I would guess it was pretty much unfollowed as it only had interest to political geeks and not the general public who found it confusing and mostly boring.)

Now, those same jounalists sit in Council Chamber with their Blackberries twittering moment by moment, publishing pretty much unedited first person viewpoints of what is happening (and often ignoring their colleagues speaking. The free press is even more free and it is entertaining, informative and you get the feel of being in the room seeing all the little unconnected bits that allow you as a follower to see like an insider.

The politicians themselves pay close attention to the 'Twitterverse' in real tiume, moment by moment, even as debates and council business goes on. They pay serious attention to Twitter, probably more than any other inputs they get. In fact you can see in council debates they refer to twitter... example: Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti made an audible heckle about how "Twitter is laughing" as the bizarre antics of Feb23 meeting went on (see this). Also, you can see on twitter people like Shelley Carroll, Paul Ainslie and others actively holding a dialogue with ordinary citizens and journalists on the fly.

Some might say THIS IS GREAT! because it seems to be increasing civic engagement.

However, it is misleading. Only the elite few who have computer savvy, have the resources (funds, training support, etc) and the time to be part of this great increase in access. What of the great majority of the population who do not have these benefits? What of those many, many Torontonians who do not have English as a first or second language skill?

(There are still very, very few seniors who are 'computer savvy')

Democracy is supposed to be the will of the majority.
The internet/Twitterverse right now is the minority. (although that is changing - with slow generational speed)

I would suggest that this wonderful technological development, like others in the past, tends to enable the few and disable the many in terms of democratic power. In addition, like those with technological power have the ability to manipulate and direct the debate.

I really, really hope our politicians realize this and engage with those who are NOT technologically savvy and balance the inputs they receive to truly reflect the will of the majority - DEMOCRACY.

Ana Bailao Having a Ruprecht Moment ?

Please - We Don't Need Another Liberal Photo-Op Queen/King

Ward18AnaBailao Ana Bailao Privileged to have the opportunity to participate in the 2011 Heart & Stroke Ontario Fundraiser event yesterday. http://bit.ly/gz5MH0%20#fb

First questions" Why was Ana there at Yonge-Dundas, shouldn't it have been that area's Councillor?

Second questions: Is she being taught to have her face out there as much as possible to duplicate do-nothing MPP Liberal Tony Ruprecht's astonishing ability to get re-elected - while doing nothing?

sigh...

* Update: Met with Ana today (Sat Feb 5) at her slightly hard to find, but excellent disabled access location at the Abrigo Centre ground floor of Dufferin Mall. She said she was at the photo op because she was in her office and Heart and Stroke organizers could not find anyone else. So, she did it as a favoursince any councillor has to be seen as a representative of the city.

By the way, Ana's assistants are very personable and accessible, particularly Michael Vieira.  I pointed out that I heard from more than a few sources that people are a little surprised their councillor is so reachable - a good sign.

Picking Out the Real Issues in the Daily News

How Do You Decide What's  Important to Notice in the News
Being Aware is Tougher than it Used to Be

Every day the blast of information from mainstream media (newspapers, TC, radio) and social media (eg Spacing, Torontoist, Twitter, weblogs, etc) is intense, gigantic and shouting for our attention.

Mainstream news cycles used to be predictable. There were time slots when those with something to say had to be aware of. Want to get your message seen on TV? Better plan ahead for release so the journalists can get their act together for broadcast/deadline times.Press releases and announcements were controlled and the message was well thought out before release.

Now, with our microchip-speeded-up-world, even mainstream media is publishing news on the fly. Some newspapers have multiple editions a day, particularly if you look at them online. I regulary and somewhat obsessively check The Star, The Globe and Mail, The Sun, The National Post, CP24, CBC, CTV, and CityNews to keep up with the daily deluge of disasters that are offered up.

Add in the on the spot, citizen average person anywhere with a cell phone and internet connection, and the flood of things going on in our local world is not just a torrent of data but a flood of biblical proportions.

Being the organic and not silicon-based creatures that we are, we can only notice so much and our attention spans are organically controlled  (We can be hyper-vigilant and alert for only so long). Yet the speed of life and the computer age is driving us to react ever faster.

Take for instance just the latest news in The Star. Which of these did you really take note of?

* A New Budget Day: Fare Hike Off, Police Force to Shrink
* Officer Killed, Driver Shot in Stolen Snowplow Rampage
* SIU Clears Toronto Officer in Man's Fatal Fall
* Man Arrested in Yonge St. Standoff Has Merdical Issues, Mother Says
* Woman Hit By Car Near Bay and Dundas
* Ambulances Slower to Respond to Emergencies
* Loblaw Ready to Tear Down Historic Warehouse
* Pedestrian Killed By Streetcar
* Councillors Compare Leaked Memo to 'Wikileaks'
* Man Charged in Toronto's Second Homicide of 2011
* An End to the War on Pets?

Remember, this is just ONE news source. If you were a Toronto City Councillor, which stories would you take note of, or even be aware of?

SPACING Toronto launched in 2003 makes a valiant effort daily to list all the headline stories by their own criteria, but because of political bias, they may often miss some key stories.

Finally, here is an example of an important story that has not gotten much traction in the news:
CRTC Propose to Change Standard for Reporting False or Misleading News ... How did I find that? By noticing ONE tweet our of hundreds

Being Aware Is Tougher Than It Used to Be

WHO FUNDS WHO in Ward 18

DONOR LISTS PROMISED BY WARD18 CITY COUNCILLOR CANDIDATES - TIME'S UP !

Back on September 29, 2010 during a live TV debate broadcast by Rogers Cable 10, "The Local Campaign", a caller asked for candidates to reveal their donor lists one week before election day.

Although this was prompted by caller Scott Dobson's complaint that Liberal Ana Bailao's past donors raised questions (published on Junction Triangle residents' website: http://www.junctiontriangle.ca/node/441#comment-2202 ) that Ms Bailao was indebted to the powerful construction industry lobby, primarily from outside the ward, the debate host, Dale Goldhawk extended the question to all the candidates. Unanimously, we all agreed to reveal our donor lists one week prior to election day.

Well... voting day is a week away now, so here is the information promised by your candidates:
Note: Final reports will show individual candidate filing fee of $100 each, not included below.
The Maximum Expense Limit for any candidate is
$ 28,747.30 for running in ward 18 (city bases on number of eligible voters x x cents)
-----------------

* KEN WOOD, residing at 355 Lansdowne Avenue in ward18: Dan McAran (Toronto); Sam Galati (Toronto); George Lee (Toronto); Linda Lamb (Ottawa - my sister) and Ken Wood (Toronto). As I said on in the debates, I am running a "Poor Person's Campaign" and do not have big party machine backing - or favours to repay. I am as independent as I can be. My money raised amounts to less than $1,000.
In addition, I promised to say who has my support for the mayoral race: I voted in the Advance Poll yesterday for: HIMY SYED - the why is explained in a previous post

* NHA LE, residing at 23 Sullivan Street in ward 20: Said at the last Oct 14 debate that he has accepted no monies from anyone else and is completely financing his campaign himself. No amounts divulged.

* ANA BAILAO, residing? at 9 Southview Avenue in ward 18 (parents' home?): posted on her website at 9pm Mon Oct 18: http://www.anabailao.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=97&Itemid=83 Home page has a clear button saying "Donor Disclosure" on main website. List shows name (no location) and amounts given. 35 people gave the maximum allowable $750 donation, 1= $650; 1 = $550; 32 = $500; 2= $350; 20= $300; 8= $250; 5 = $150; 18 = $100; 1 = $80; 1 = $75; 7 = $50; 1 = $40; 1 = $30; 4 = $25; 1 = $20.
TOTAL = $ 56,395 (feel free to check my figures on Ana's website)

* KEVIN BEAULIEU, residing at 593 Gladstone Avenue in ward18: Posted on his website at 9:40pm: http://kevinbeaulieu.ca/donate Click to see list of those who contributed $100 or more. No amounts divulged, but Kevin says the list of 98 people (no locations given) represents 92% of those who donated to the campaign. Message is that he also has another 8% who gave less than $100.

* DOUG CARROLL, residing at 46 Boustead Avenue in ward14 (very close): Sent email at 11:32am Oct 19 (one day late): " Hi folks. I have no campaign donors. My few expenses were paid out-of-pocket - about $250. I'll post details on my site later today" http://www.dougcarroll.ca/

? FRANK de JONG, residing at 23 St. Helen's Avenue in ward 18: Broken promise, no list of donors released.

? ABDIRAZAK ELMI, residing at 275 Shuter Street in ward28 (east of Yonge): Broken promise, no list of donors released.

* JOE MacDONALD, residing at 34 Pauline Avenue in ward18: Released list at 12:19pm Oct 19 (one day late): Link here http://joemacw18.ca/site/ Lists 46 people on main home page, including Howard Hampton. (no locations given) No amounts divulged.

* MOHAMMED MUHIT, residing at 667 Brock in ward 18: (note - was not at any debates and made no promise to reveal list of donors)

* KIRK RUSSELL, residing at 34 Edna in ward 14? (just other side of CN tracks): Posted on his website at 9:49pm: http://www.voteforkirk.ca/donors-kirk-russell-movement No amounts divulged, but shows a list of 28 donors (no locations given).

* JOANNA TELIATNIK, residing at 11 Michael Power Place in ward 5 (near Kipling and 401) - (note: was not at any debates and made no promise to reveal list of donors)

* HEMA VYAS, residing at 54 Alhambra in ward 14 (other side of Roncesvalles): Advised at 10:31pm she had posted on website since this afternoon: http://hemavyas.ca/donate.html Can click to see who has donated $100 or more to her campaign = 33 people (no locations given) and No Amounts Divulged.

--------------------

Wondering when, where and IF candidates will publish donor lists and keep their public promises..... It's good for Davenport voters to know who backs the candidates, because...

DAVENPORT DESERVES BETTER

How to Fix An Election

How To Fix Our Elections

TEN IDEAS for next time we try the democratic thing, so that the choice of the majority actually gets elected and we have a level field for all:

1. Ban newspapers from deciding on who they call the front-runners: require that they report on all the candidates at the start of the campaign when registrations close. Short profiles.
2. Use a Ranked Ballot system where voters prioritize who they'd like to see elected... 1,2,3, etc. This might avoid 20% deciding who gets elected - the way it is now.
3. Ban public polling being released from January 1 to Election Day: candidates may have their own polls, but would be severely financially penalized if they released information.
4. Make voting day a statuatory holiday, but make voting mandatory with financial penalties, only exceptions require valid medical waivers. Advance polls would still be available. Would require a 'None of the Above' option for voters to express dissatisfaction.
5. Ban political parties from endorsing candidates and close the loophole whereby paid party staffers can work on campaigns as 'free volunteers' and inflate election war chests.
6. City should erect 'Election Kiosks' at intersections and in public spaces like parks, libraries and community centres. Require candidates to post 8x10 sign outlining their platform, same size for all. No more waste production than necessary.
7. Ban anyone from doing outside work (erecting signs, dispensing litereature, etc.) unless they are over 18 years of age. No more oops! mistakes about flouting election laws.
8. City of Toronto Election Website should devote a web page to each of the candidates to upload their platforms and information. Allow 311 or a voicemail service to connect callers to 60 second audio pitch of candidates running in their wards.
9. Limit mayoral debates to one a week in each of the city's 44 wards.
10. Prohibit a sitting Mayor from publicly endorsing any candidates.

Yes, I know there are a lot of reasons to say no to these ideas, but I ask how well served we have been with the way things go now? Who really sets the stage for an election? Sound-byte scandal mongering media or the candidates and voters? Which do you prefer?

*Update: More voices being heard in the major disappointment the media has been in this election: http://oct25.ca/mediamessup

INCLUSION A PROBLEM IN WARD 18

PERCEPTION OF BIAS EXISTS IN THE MEDIA AND ...

HERE IN WARD 18 TOO ?

As many who read this blog site know, I've been very concerned with the lack of inclusion of all candidates by mainstream media - and also by self-proclaimed online social media (eg Spacing, Torontoist), but there has also been serious bias expressed by organizations one would normally expect to be diligently un-biased.

I refer to the Friends of Dufferin Grove Park website: http://www.dufferinpark.ca/home/wiki/wiki.php which for the past two months has had on its main page a photo of only 8 of the registered 12 candidates for City Councillor for ward 18.



(The photo is from the Active18 so-called "All Candidates Debate" which in fact the organizers only invited and allowed into the debate 9 of the 12 candidates - another exclusionary exercise by a seemingly public community group)

In addition, there were only 6 in depth interviews done (Ana Bailao, Kevin Beaulieu, Doug Carroll, Frank de Jong, Joe MacDonald and Hema Vyas).

Missing is any mention of: Abdirazak Elmi, Nha Le, Joanna Teliatnik, Mohammed Muhit, Kirk Russell and myself Ken Wood).

*Update: As of Monday, Oct 18 the Friends of Dufferin Grove website indicates 7 not 6 interviews and rediirects to the CELOS site where my additional written response interview is posted. Still missing is any mention of the 5 other candidates.

I had communicated via emails with Jutta Mason, the central force behind much of what is great about Dufferin Grove Park, who has a website that receives support from celos.ca through the Trillium Foundation (public tax dollars at work). My concern was that the heavily accessed website was passing on a perception of limited choice of candidates and that was neither fair nor possibly legal.

The CELOS ( Centre for Local Research into Public Space) website http://celos.ca/wiki/wiki.php shows 9 of the 12 local ward 18 city councillor candidates and if you follow the cues to Read More, you will come across a detailed survey response from 7 of the 12 candidates running. The response is regarding the MacGregor Park field house and the situation it finds itself in with federal stimulus funding not really helping where the community needs it most.

-----
To her credit, Jutta had intended to include all of us in the interviews, which are a LOT of work to be transcribed and posted, but volunteer time is at a premium with so many wonderful things going on at Dufferin Grove Park. I offered an alternative suggestion: that questions be posed and response from the six who were not able to be interviewed be posted on the website.

Although I sent in my response October 6, it seems the best we can do is to have it posted on the wall at the park clubhouse. An uneven playing field. Unfair.

*Update: Informed via email from one of Jutta's volunteers that my interview and photo is on the wall at Dufferin Grove (Oct 17). On the website by Oct 18.

It seems this election, exclusion has become the norm in much of the visibility that candidates might get. At the mayoral level, there were 40 people running, but we still see the media focussing on their arbitrary 6..5...4...3 peoiple without including any other choices. When voter apathy has been so low (35% in ward18 last election), shouldn't we be encouraging MORE choice rather than less?

I went back to 2003 and was intrigued to see what happened with Friends of Dufferin Grove Park and came across this:



The line which stands out and needs to be featured prominently on any discussion of Who To Vote For or anything dealing with discussing or presenting candidates during an election is:

"...It's quite true that it's not in the interests of the Friends of Dufferin Grove Park (including me) to endorse any of the local candidates..."

---

Yet, mistakenly or not, with good reasons or not, that seems to be precisely what has been done: limiting the choice presented to voters down to half.

We need to all be fair and even when presenting voters their options.... because..

DAVENPORT DESERVES BETTER

ANA BAILAO IN TROUBLE - AGAIN

THIS IS ONE VERY TRICKY AND CONNECTED WOMAN

There are a LOT of questions being asked about Liberal-connected Ana Bailao and the company she keeps. It's not just the questionable financing from outside the ward which may be mostly the construction-developer industry that Scott Dobson has uncovered ( see his comments on the Junction Triangle website: http://www.junctiontriangle.ca/node/441?page=1#comment-1931 ).


It's also whether she has subverted any supposed journalistic integrity amongst Portugese- only newspapers. AND perhaps is skirting Toronto Elections campaign limit laws?



NOW Magazine has uncovered another questionable tactic by Ms Bailao alleging that she herself is writing 'news stories' that appear in supposedly separate, hopefully neutral publications. http://www.nowtoronto.com/news/story.cfm?content=177246
---
"SENSO was founded by its current editor-in-chief Jack Prazeres, a co-owner of Trican Masonry and a director of the Masonry Contractors' Association of Toronto. Although he's donated to multiple campaigns, including Bailao's, he also declines to speak saying "I don't get involved in politics"
---
Troubling as well is that many members of SENSO seem to also be key volunteers on Ana's campaign - and - were also part of a company Ana used to design her signs, flyers and website: a company called Creative7 (C7).

Toronto City Council had passed motions that prohibited corporations and unions from directly funding election campaigns to level the field for candidates and make the process more transparent. Ms. Bailao it seems has found a lot of ways to do an end run around those laws.

Some questions it raises in my mind about Ana:

1. Can we trust her? If she is so willing to use at the very least questionable tactics and at the worst, possibly illegal tactics, now during a campaign - what kind of councillor will she be?
2. Is she saying one thing to Portugese-speaking only residents and another to the rest of the ward? (This has always been a Liberal trick when dealing with French in Quebec)
3. The big construction and developer ties she obviously seems to have must mean that she is heavily indebted to them. In 2003 she raised about $70,000 to run a campaign. Limits this year are supposed to be $28,747.30 per candidate, and she has raised twice the limit. If she gets in power will ward18 be ignored as she votes to pay back her big development buddies?
4. Just how much might Ana be hiding from Toronto Elections in regard to what is spent on her campaign? She is indeed supposed to diligently track the 'goods and services' that might be donated to her campaign, giving them a reasonable market fair value as part of that campaign limit. When she deals in a language most of the ward cannot understand, what other 'free help' might she be getting?

If this kind of behaviour were to happen with Ana as Councillor, she'd no doubt be investigated by the Integrity Commissioner. In an election campaign, does she just get away with it?

*Update: Other blogs writing about this: http://marcio9.wordpress.com/

----

*Update: Letter by local resident and well know activist:

" As a resident of Ward 18, I am very distressed that Ana Bailao has been allowed to publish an article in the Potugese magazine, Senso, and distribute it, just before the election. It is not a secret that the Liberal Party supports heavy real estate development, and that Ana has a potential conflict of interest between construction firms, developers and the best interests of a priority Ward, which is truggling with a massive diesel rail expension by Metrolinx, and the closing of Ward 18 schools. There are two conflict of interests in Ana Bailao's campaign - the first between party and municipal politics, and the second, between the best interests of citizens and business lobbyists. Both are significant and legitimate problems and her campaign costs are much higher than permissible levels as well.

As a citizen who has been trying to protect the health and welfare of Ward 18, and its parks and schools, I believe this must be investigated legally. "

----

We need attentive minds and investigative approaches with Ana Bailao it seems... Can we really trust her? Questions need answers because...

DAVENPORT DESERVES BETTER

MAYORAL RACE BIG MOMENT

ROCCO ROSSI - DID - DROP OUT OF THE RACE !

Twitter is all a-twitter with speculation that Rocco Rossi is going to announce at his 9pm news conference that he is going to drop out of the race.... It is 8:57pm as I type this... You okay, Toronto? Breathe, just breathe...

New poll out today says Smitherman at 31%, Ford at 30% , Pantalone at 11% and Rossi at 4% and going down. They also say 25% of Torontonians are undecided (I think the undecideds were higher, based on all the people I talked to).

So, TO?

Do you like Liberal George Smitherman who will bring his big party political machine to City Hall.... or Rob Ford who will (try) to bring a big Conservative party political machine to City Hall.... or Joe Pantalone, who will continue on as is with the NDP-leftist party machine at City Hall?

Or maybe now the media could realize there are other mayoral candidates in waiting like Himy Syed? Nah, that would be expecting a media that does real journalism.
----------

Of course, both Sarah Thomson and Rocco Rossi names will still be on the ballot..... Toronto could still vote for one of the two as a 'None of the Above-I am not happy with my choices' vote.... hmmmm ?

----------

Seriously. We have NO CHOICE of not having big partisan party politics at City Hall now?

I can just see candidates across the 44 wards drooling at the thought they might suddenly be CONNECTED because of their big party machine ties.

In Ward 18:

Ana Bailao must be dancing thinking her man Smitherman will give her some juicy plum job...
or maybe she's waiting to inherit Ruprecht's old job (plan B)?

Kevin Beaulieu must be praying that Joey Pants suddenly wakes up and campaigns for real so he can get a plum insiders job - again.

If ever there was a time we needed an INDEPENDENT CITY COUNCILLOR in ward 18 it is NOW ! We need someone with the guts to stand up for all groups in our community, not someone who might toe the party line and hide in the shadows.

DAVENPORT DESERVES BETTER !

WARD 18 CANDIDATE ATTENTION GETTING BETTER

SEEMS BIG MEDIA IS WIDENING ITS SCOPE ON LOCAL RACE?

The Star today did a surprisingly fair and (almost) inclusive article on the happenings in our Ward 18 Davenport: " Good bye Giambrone, Hello Anyone But... ":
http://tinyurl.com/282huqk in which they pretty much tell us the core views of 7 of the 12 candidates who are running. Here's who they did cover with my biased perceptions:

Beaulieu, Kevin - Humble, hard-working city hall insider. NDP party affiliation. Sings the 'everything is fine, be happy song'. Last job? assistant to Adam Giambrone. Not sure where he lives now..? If age is important to you, The Star called around to get them. Beaulieu is 39.

Bailao, Ana - Portugese immigrant flogging her roots and early life in the community. Trying for a comeback after she lost the 2003 election to Giambrone. Lived elsewhere until just before she registered to run again in ward18 where her parents live. Liberal party affiliation: Sings the songs as directed. Last job? Banker I believe. Age = 34.

Vyas, Hema - Public servant, proud of being an 'independent ' with no official party allegiance - except to public bureaucracies I guess. Very much a newbie to running for office, frequently reads her resume when responding to any questions. Sings the Diversity Song and hopes ward18 will warm to her even though she lives elsewhere (ward13) and, as Joe Macdonald pointed out, ward18 is her second choice. Last job in non profit sector. Age = 37.

de Jong, Frank -Most experienced political campaigner of the bunch, was recently the President of the GREEN party. Lives in ward18 and is a likeable school teacher. Avid cyclist and environmentalist, proud of being a politician, he has run 13 times for all levels of government - unsuccessfully. Resilient and optimistic. Age = 54

Wood, Ken - The low-income guy on disability trying to give back to his community. Activist type who chained himself to a tree during the Lansdowne Narrowing to fight City Hall. (He won - trees are still there). Completely independent with no party affiliation (partisan parties aren't what they used to be; now they just want power at any cost). Not working now - but not by choice. Age = 61. (so, does that mean I am the senior lobby favourite as well as the low incomers friend? Age is silly - its experience and character that count, at any age)

Russell, Kirk - Despite the liberal-red colours of his campaign, claims to be an independent. Calls his candidacy 'The Kirk Russell Movement' - an arrogant or confident statement? Owns his own construction company and his background claim to fame is working with Dovercourt Boys and Girls Club. Looking for big Dundas West BIA support as he promises the businesses $ for the Giambrone-inspired parking fiasco. Age = 34.

MacDonald, Joe -Decades of political backroom experience helping the NDP party in a variety of roles (like senior advisor to cabinet ministers), also an advanced academic (working on a Ph.D. in political science at York University). Family man living in ward18.Says he is an independent now with no NDP support. Age = 56.

The other 4 NOT MENTIONED were:

Carroll, Doug -Software developer with a great interest in governance issues. Interested in process of city governments. NDP or independent? not sure. Age = 54.
Elmi, Abdirazak -Lives in ward 7 where he was going to run for Mammoliti's empty seat, jumped to ward18 when Mammoliti came back to run. Still not sure why he is running.
Nha, Le -Liberal party member, worked for Tony Ruprecht. Ran several times for city council in ward18 getting about 250 votes each time.
Muhit, Mohammed - no idea who this is. Not campaigning. No response to emails.
Teliatnik, Joanna - Her slogan is Back to Basics and told me although she is not a career politicians, she has trained many of them from working in bureaucracies. Running a quiet door knocking campaign and has not attended any of the debates so far.

For more detail on all the platforms, in their own words, see Inside Toronto community news: http://www.insidetorontovotes.ca/wards/bloor-west-parkdale/ward-18-davenport/

I think The Star could have at least mentioned the names, but I should be happy they've gone beyond the blind choice favourites of the B&B twins ( * ) - Kevin and Ana - who can only seem to spout platitudes and jump on neighbourhood issues after the bandwagon has already pulled out.

( * ) Be like Adam Giambrone, who ignored several sectors of the ward and was too busy fulfilling his own ambitions to pay attention to constituents, or, Be like Mario Silva (former do nothing ward councillor, now do-nothing federal Liberal MP), or Tony Ruprecht (current do-nothing provincial Liberal MPP) who only shows up for photo ops then disappears to Cuba most of the year. In either case, people schooled by buzzword politico-spin speeches with no real action.

Or maybe I should call them:

Kevin the Deflector - for ducking the mistakes made by Giambrone when he was an integral part of his office as Executive Assistant and was his former Campaign Manager, while at the same time trying to take credit for improvements or successes that were pretty much the result of others in the community. Same old, same old - NDP.

Ana the Opportunist - for popping up two elections later when Giambrone self-destructed and left an open incumbent seat and for only now being seen talking aboiutDundas West BIA parking issues and thge Lansdowne Narrowing fiascos. Same old, same old - Liberal.

Please voters, when you vote look behind the easy endorsements, the meaningless words, the party ties and elect someone of substance.... but in any case, please VOTE because

DAVENPORT DESERVES BETTER

GOOD CHOICES HIDDEN FROM VOTERS

BIG MEDIA AT FAULT FOR FRUSTRATING MAYORAL RACE
... and Poor Understanding of Local Ward Races

Eyeweekly.com just did a really interesting story on how the media has overlooked some good contenders for the Mayoral race, and shows how the media played kingmakers in raising fringe candidate Sarah Thomson's star: http://www.eyeweekly.com/city/mayoralrace2010/article/103423

Mayoral candidate HIMY SYED definitely deserves real consideration, not only for his intelligence and awareness of all things Toronto or for his prolific and insightful comments via social media like Twitter ( http://twitter.com/#!/HiMYSYeD ) , but also because he has a real, detailed platform and not just platitudes or attacks on other candidates. He is a serious candidate for what Toronto needs in my view and deserves a seat at the big folks table.

---
With regard to local ward races, I am increasingly frustrated with how the media - even some of the more local community news outlets who should know better - ignore the full field of candidates or the issues raised, and desperately try to boil down complex situations and multiple choices to an arbitrary two person matchup. I speak not just of my own ward 18 - where Now Magazine tries to tell us that only Ana Bailao (Liberal) and Kevin Beaulieu (NDP) matter http://www.nowtoronto.com/guides/voteto/2010/story.cfm?content=176760 , but also of most of Toronto's 44 wards that I am trying to follow.

*Update: Here's an agreeing blogger http://oct25.ca/aobtd Another One Bites The Dust says 5 of 8 big time candidates chosen for us by the media have gone from the races.

EVERYBODY WANTS ENDORSEMENTS

SURVEYS SAY.... VOTE FOR .... ?

At this point in the running for election for City Councillor for Ward 18 Davenport, I have been contacted by the following lobby groups or news groups seeking to rate my worthiness for election for their specific causes:

1. Friends of Dufferin Grove Park, Jutta Mason (Actually on the CELOS website: http://www.celos.ca/wiki/wiki.php?n=MunicipalElection2010.FrontPage )
2. Toronto Community News/InsideToronto asking who I support for mayor, amongst other things: http://www.insidetorontovotes.ca/wards/bloor-west-parkdale/ward-18-davenport/
3. ArtsVote Toronto http://artsvotetoronto.ca/report-card/#18
4. Social Planning Toronto http://socialplanningtoronto.org/ - The Poverty Pledge: http://davenportdemocracy.blogspot.com/2010/09/poverty-election-issue-priority.html
5. McMaster University Political Science Department survey http://socserv.socsci.mcmaster.ca/limesurvey/index.php?lang=en&sid=55267&token=t4h375fmxrkdwtj
6. Toronto Environmental Alliance: http://www.torontoenvironment.org/voteto/candidatesurvey
7. OpenFile: Josh OKane http://www.openfile.ca/toronto-votes (about Brockton Village)
8. CP24 telephone poll person asking who I support for mayor (undecided)
9. Dundas West BIA http://wp.dundaswestbia.ca/ (about parking)
10. Federation of Metro Tenants' Associations: http://www.torontotenants.org/
11. Toronto Open Budget Inititiative: http://sites.google.com/site/torontoopenbudget/
12. Public Transit Coalition: My Response is at: http://davenportdemocracy.blogspot.com/2010/10/transit-ttc-survey-results.html
13. Toronnto Womens Alliance http://www.twca.ca/

There maybe more, but these are the ones I recall. I wonder if this is typical and like elections in the past - or are groups just getting more organized?

I really wonder whether the intent is decide and promote amongst their group who to vote for - or, who to go after once he/she gets elected and they don't follow up.

An interesting exercise in accountability at the very least.

... * Update: saw a tweet Sept 29 saying only Kevin, Hema and Joe completed a Toronto Coalition for Active Transportation survey (TCAT) http://torontocat.ca/main/platform_election_surveys

...* Update: I have now completed that survey I didn't initially receive it and wonder if all 12 candidates in the ward got it?

...* PROBLEM: Most of these groups seem to pick arbitrary times to send out surveys, ignoring the fact that we don't know all the names that will be on the ballots before September 10, 2pm when nominations closed. Thus a lot of candidates get forgotten or left out.

MAYOR RACE OFF THE RAILS ?

WHAT's WRONG WITH THE MAYORAL RACE ?
"... anger is a very bad emotion to build a city on" (David Crombie, former Toronto Mayor)

WANTED: A LEADER WITH VISION WE CAN TRUST

50 Mayoral Debates so Far? 40 to go? So far we have: angry voters plus 'front-runner' candidates jumping on bandwagons to be popular at all costs (It's time to stop bashing the city, look ahead and be positive says a Maytree opinion piece: http://maytree.com/speeches/the-problem-with-campaigning-against-cities.html )

Former mayors discuss quality of debate, in Globe and Mail: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/city-votes/the-campaigns-biggest-loser-so-far-toronto-itself/article1712036/ ) audio and print

I hear from so many people that they are still undecided or wish their were better candidates running for Mayor. I would bet that 90% of voters don't realize there are 41 choices for Mayor, some of them with great ideas (HiMY SYeD is one). However our mainstream media have hammered over and over that we Torontonians have only 5 choices.

As voters, we all really need to seek out information on our own to find the hidden gems of policies and ideas, and question both candidates and our media about them.

WANT TO HEAR FROM SOMEONE NEW?

There is a mayoral debate happening September 29th. You can go to ArtsVote at http://artsvotetoronto.ca/ to vote for a new voice at thise mayoral debates.

Some of MY (Ken Wood's) thoughts on Mayoral leadership and vision issues for our city:

1. Amalgamation hurt our neighbourhoods - but we are stuck with it now. It has NOT saved us money, as promised by Mike Harris. We need to find a way to regain our local neighbourhood identities and control. (I am intrigued by mayoral candidate Himy Syed's idea of having 4 deputy mayors responsible for ensuring we pay more attention to regions). The needs of the suburbs are not the same needs as downtown, for example. There is a constant push-pull on councillors to think city-wide and to think local. One novel suggestion I have made is that the TTC Chair be a separate elected position, requiring the unique transit skills set to pay full attention to this major portfolio.
2. Cutting council size from 44 to 22 is a mistake. Right now each councillor is responsible for about 50,000 people. That is a lot, especially considering the level of detailed issues that is handled at city level. It is often said that the level of government that most directly affects our lives is local government.
3. Diversity Needs Attention! "Diversity is Our Strength" is Toronto's motto. Politicians talk the talk on diversity, but as a city we do not walk the walk. It is not just a matter that there are not more faces of colour/culture on city council, it is that the big city is not reaching our very diverse population. There are about 180 languages spoken in Toronto, yet the city (except for the great 311 initiative) does a poor job of reaching out to its citizens whose first language is not English. We first need to find better ways to communicate TO and hear FROM our neighbours who are new immigrants. Equally important is finding ways to INVOLVE new immigrants and our diverse population - and I am talking about involvement in power structures, not just acknowledging their cultures.
4. Poverty/Homelessness/Hunger: We still see these social ills everywhere, and although there has been some progress, we should not sit on our laurels and assume enough has been done. Where is the leadership (or attention!) on this ! ... Note: I regret having missed a mayoral debate on this "Building a Fairer Toronto for All" at Innis town hall Sept 15, reported in the Toronto Observer: http://www.torontoobserver.ca/2010/09/15/mayoral-debate-addresses-torontos-reputation-for-fairness/ It is clear to me the current crop of 5 media-chosen contenders haven't a clue here. I guess it takes the lived experience of poverty to realize this. I can be the "Poor People's Councillor" but where is the "Poor People's Mayor" ?
5. Turf Wars: There is an enormous disconnect between School Boards and City Council. Lots of PUBLIC resouces available (like schools, land) but due to archaic constitutional issues there is a separation of powers between education and municipal government. It is not good enough for mayoral leaders (or councillors) to duck the issue as "oh that's provincial". Anything can be changed, given political will. There is only one taxpayer - school land, facilities belong to all of us. Let's use them wisely.

One former mayor said (paraphrasing):

Elections are about CHARACTER.

How can we know we can trust that person with the keys to the shop?

We really all do need to do our homework on finding out who has the character to lead... because:

DAVENPORT DESERVES BETTER !

FOCUS ON WARD 18

MEDIA FINALLY NOTICES WARD 18 COUNCIL RACE :

Isn't it sad that the media has only noticed what's happening in our ward 18 Davenport based on the singular, negative personality scandals of our present and soon to be former councillor *, Adam Giambrone and now is just getting attention because Adam's executive assistant and chosen successor to his crown, Kevin Beaulieu, has only announced an intention to run?

* http://network.nationalpost.com/NP/blogs/toronto/archive/2010/04/13/full-text-of-adam-giambrone-s-letter-announcing-he-will-not-seek-re-election.aspx

For far too many years, our ward has been something of an ignored backwater in city politics - NOT because of the excellent quality of residents and their strong desire to be involved in and consulted about local issues - but because there has existed a kind of arrogance of the typical politician who makes sweet sounding promises during an election campaign, wraps themselves in a party colour, gets elected and then proceeds to ignore constituents.

There has been a culture of entitlement about being elected to represent us simply because of political party ties. Strong party machines use the battleground of Davenport to gain political power to advance narrow ideologies, all the while ignoring local voters and their neighbourhood concerns once elected. Where is the democratic concept of representing constituents' concerns?

In an interview with the online news/blog, torontoist, we are introduced to Kevin Beaulieu *, Adam Giambrone's executive assistant, who has acknowledged that there is a history of assistants taking over the reins of power when their boss moves on. Kevin has been quoted as saying his running was "a logical sequence of events" - which to me smacks of "more of the same" entitlement.
*http://torontoist.com/2010/04/kevin_beaulieu_to_run_for_council_in_ward_18.php

There are still only 5 registered candidates running for the ward 18 council seat: Ana Baliao, Le Nha, Jack Triolo, Hema Vyas and Ken Wood - yet Kevin gets all the initial press attention because of his relationship to Adam.

Ana Baliao, for her part, was executive assistant to now Liberal MP Mario Silva and tried unsuccessfully to gain the crown in previous city elections.

In mainstream media we will once again see outsiders trying to decide for the voters of ward 18 who are the frontrunners. in this case LIBERAL Ana Baliao and NDP Kevin Beaulieu.

If the voters in our ward want to avoid 'more of the same', we will all need to learn from our past voting mistakes and make our choices based on the candidates' values, substance and behaviours and not on their spin-charm, name recognition or promises.

We need to make the right choice, because ...

DAVENPORT DESERVES BETTER