In a major challenge to Mayor Rob Ford, a centrist councillor asked council on Tuesday to reject many of Ford’s proposed service cuts — raising the possibility that the mayor will suffer a highly unusual budget defeat.
With Ford’s staunch allies vehemently opposed and council’s left-leaning and centrist factions in favour, the vote is sure to be extremely close. It may take place on Tuesday night.
The debate hinges on the question of what to do with the city’s estimated $154 million surplus from 2011.
Ford argued at length Tuesday morning that the surplus should be entirely devoted to paying for the city’s $700 million share of TTC streetcar purchase approved by the previous council. That would reduce the city’s debt burden, Ford argued, and end the irresponsible practice of using one-time windfalls to fund ongoing programs and services.
But shortly after council approved Ford’s preferred 2.5 per cent tax increase, Councillor Josh Colle, who is unaligned with either Ford’s right-leaning allies or his left-leaning opponents, tabled a motion that would use $15 million of the $154 million to prevent:
• $5 million worth of cuts to TTC bus service.
• The closure of three daycares and three shelters.
• The introduction of fees for currently free youth programs at “priority centres” in low-income neighbourhoods.
• The closure of 10 arenas during daytime hours between Monday and Friday.
• The elimination of city programs from five school pools.
• $2.3 million worth of cuts to community grants.
• The elimination of mechanical leaf collection in Etobicoke and Scarborough.
• The elimination of a rent subsidy for the 373 daycare centres located in schools.
Colle said he was suggesting mere “tweaks” to the $9.4 billion budget. His motion, he argued, struck a balance between Ford’s desire for fiscal prudence and residents’ need for the services Ford wants to cut.
“It’s a motion that’s, I think, reflective of what we’ve heard at rounds and rounds of consultation, emails and letters. A lot of residents said, ‘You know what, we’re heading in the right track, we realize you’ve got a big financial issue to deal with, but at the same time, these are some really important services for us that we need protected and preserved,” Colle told reporters.
The motion was crafted with the help of other centrists and members of council’s left. Council will vote on it by Thursday, possibly as soon as Tuesday night.
If it passes, Ford would still be able to claim two key victories: achieving his desired property tax increase and reducing overall city spending for the first time since amalgamation. But it would be exceptionally rare for a Toronto mayor to see many of his major budget proposals summarily cast aside. Ford’s loss, moreover, would come after a year in which he risked his popularity to advocate deep cuts.
He and the city’s top bureaucrat, City Manager Joe Pennachetti, said again on Tuesday that council must stop using one-time windfalls, such as surpluses, to balance the operating budget. While council has repeatedly done so in recent years, Ford and Pennachetti say the practice is unwise and unsustainable.
“We have to put every single cent of the $154 million toward paying for our new streetcars. This presents a reasonable, responsible plan to reset our spending at a level that we can sustain,” Ford said in his speech.
He also said: “Residents know we face difficult decisions. But they elected us — they expect us — to be tough enough to make them.”
Colle’s motion would not reverse several other proposed cuts, including the closure of the outdoor swimming pools at Fairhaven and Stanley Park, five wading pools, and the High Park Zoo and Toronto Island’s Far Enough Farm. Also left in the budget would be $4 million in unspecified cuts to the library system. These cuts, however, will likely be challenged by additional motions.
Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti, a right-leaning Ford ally, spoke to reporters as if Ford had already lost the vote on Colle’s motion. He said, “I think every mayor from time to time has lost support from council. Why are you picking on Ford?”
If Colle’s motion passes, Mammoliti argued, Ford would “become even stronger.” Average residents, he said, will punish politicians who thwart Ford’s drive for budget sustainability.
Councillor John Parker, another right-leaning Ford ally, told council that Colle’s motion would keep the city on “exactly the path we were trying to get off from.”
“We’re trying to get onto a path that is sustainable, where we keep our spending in line with our income, and address our capital needs over the fullness of time. This is taking us away from addressing our capital needs.”
Colle received a key endorsement from swing voter Councillor Gloria Lindsay Luby, an Etobicoke conservative who has broken with Ford over cuts in recent months.
“I have heard loud and clear that the residents from my ward want services. They are very concerned about the cuts; they need to be protected,” Lindsay Luby said.
“I appreciate that what we are trying to do here by tweaking things is to make the city work. Minor adjustments. No one out there is going to lose sleep tonight if we tweak this surplus.”
Original Article Source: Star
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