Toronto Council meets today!
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One of the late additions to the agenda: Councillor Parthi Kandavel would like the city to write the word "SCHOOL" on the road pavement so drivers better understand that they are driving near a school. https://secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda-item.do?item=2026.MM39.73
@GraphicMatt sounds so simple and sensible!
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The executive director of Corporate Real Estate Management has submitted a pretty detailed report on what exactly went wrong with the shelter the city planned for a leased site on Carlton Street. It's late and overbudget. Council receives the report for information. https://secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda-item.do?item=2026.IA39.1
Councillor Mike Colle declares an interest in an item about using Section 37 funds to buy benches for TTC stations because his son Josh works for the TTC. I continue to feel like this REALLY stretches the reasonable definition of a conflict of interest.
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Councillor Mike Colle declares an interest in an item about using Section 37 funds to buy benches for TTC stations because his son Josh works for the TTC. I continue to feel like this REALLY stretches the reasonable definition of a conflict of interest.
Council needs to vote to formally add the island airport item to the agenda before the debate can be scheduled. Motion to add it to the agenda CARRIES 24-2. They'll probably get to it this afternoon.
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Council needs to vote to formally add the island airport item to the agenda before the debate can be scheduled. Motion to add it to the agenda CARRIES 24-2. They'll probably get to it this afternoon.
Council votes via a show of hands to APPROVE the redevelopment plan for the Swansea Mews TCHC complex. https://secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda-item.do?item=2026.PH28.2
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Council votes via a show of hands to APPROVE the redevelopment plan for the Swansea Mews TCHC complex. https://secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda-item.do?item=2026.PH28.2
Via another show of hands, Council APPROVES the phase 2 plan for the Lawrence Heights revitalization. https://secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda-item.do?item=2026.PH28.4
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"He was not afraid to rip off his shirt in public to make a point," Councillor Anthony Perruzza says as he wraps up his tribute to the late Giorgio Mammoliti. "I understand that many of us would not have the courage to do that."
@GraphicMatt what's the point of having impressive mammoliti if you're not gonna use them rhetorically
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Councillor Mike Colle rises to ask to have a moment of silence for the pilots killed in the LaGuardia crash.
"We did, at the beginning of the meeting," Nunziata says.
"I didn't hear it. I'm sorry," says Colle, re: the moment of silence.
@GraphicMatt if you can hear a moment of silence, something may have gone wrong
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Via another show of hands, Council APPROVES the phase 2 plan for the Lawrence Heights revitalization. https://secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda-item.do?item=2026.PH28.4
On the integrity commissioner's report on Chris Moise, Councillor Paula Fletcher moves to delete the finding that Moise violated the code of conduct and instead ask for guidance on how councillors should respond to "discriminatory, hateful or harassing speech."
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On the integrity commissioner's report on Chris Moise, Councillor Paula Fletcher moves to delete the finding that Moise violated the code of conduct and instead ask for guidance on how councillors should respond to "discriminatory, hateful or harassing speech."
Council votes 23-0 to ADOPT Fletcher's amendment, which means they do NOT endorse the Integrity Commissioner's finding that Councillor Chris Moise breached the code of conduct.
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@GraphicMatt if you can hear a moment of silence, something may have gone wrong
@WizardOfDocs @GraphicMatt
Maybe they have tinnitus -
Council votes 23-0 to ADOPT Fletcher's amendment, which means they do NOT endorse the Integrity Commissioner's finding that Councillor Chris Moise breached the code of conduct.
Up now: Bad Landlords! "I will not tolerate slumlords in the City of Toronto," writes Mayor Olivia Chow in her motion. She wants a better database to track violations by landlords and identify the worst of the worst. https://secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda-item.do?item=2026.EX29.14
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Up now: Bad Landlords! "I will not tolerate slumlords in the City of Toronto," writes Mayor Olivia Chow in her motion. She wants a better database to track violations by landlords and identify the worst of the worst. https://secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda-item.do?item=2026.EX29.14
Speaking of databases, I heard from a local civic tech dev, Amrit Sharma, who put together this useful database that collects a variety of datapoints to flag potentially unsafe buildings. https://toronteau.com/housing
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Speaking of databases, I heard from a local civic tech dev, Amrit Sharma, who put together this useful database that collects a variety of datapoints to flag potentially unsafe buildings. https://toronteau.com/housing
Asked how many apartment buildings with bad landlords there are in the city, staff say about 115 buildings are in the "red category" of about 3,600 total buildings.
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@WizardOfDocs @GraphicMatt
Maybe they have tinnitus@RnDanger @GraphicMatt that counts as something going wrong, but not necessarily with the moment itself
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Asked how many apartment buildings with bad landlords there are in the city, staff say about 115 buildings are in the "red category" of about 3,600 total buildings.
After staff questions, Councillor Brad Bradford is the first speaker on the bad landlord item. His ward contains 500 Dawes Road, which has become the poster child for this issue. "We're dealing with a scumbag of a landlord. This is not a good-faith actor," Bradford says.
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After staff questions, Councillor Brad Bradford is the first speaker on the bad landlord item. His ward contains 500 Dawes Road, which has become the poster child for this issue. "We're dealing with a scumbag of a landlord. This is not a good-faith actor," Bradford says.
"This file has a history that goes all the way back to former councillor Janet Davis," says Bradford of 500 Dawes. "And her and I have had lots of conversations about this."
He says tenants "have been let down by a city that moves far too slow on this."
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"This file has a history that goes all the way back to former councillor Janet Davis," says Bradford of 500 Dawes. "And her and I have had lots of conversations about this."
He says tenants "have been let down by a city that moves far too slow on this."
Councillor Josh Matlow says the city's message to bad landlords should be, "If you're not willing to be a real human being, and care about the other human beings who you have the responsibility to care for, we're gonna damn well go in there and fix things — and bill you afterwards."
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Councillor Josh Matlow says the city's message to bad landlords should be, "If you're not willing to be a real human being, and care about the other human beings who you have the responsibility to care for, we're gonna damn well go in there and fix things — and bill you afterwards."
Councillor Dianne Saxe says she's been hearing that the city has an enforcement problem. "We don't have an enforcement approach that is of a measure for the threat — and we need to. We need to take seriously what our bylaws say," she says.
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Councillor Dianne Saxe says she's been hearing that the city has an enforcement problem. "We don't have an enforcement approach that is of a measure for the threat — and we need to. We need to take seriously what our bylaws say," she says.
Councillor Holyday moves to strike "CUPE 416" from one of the mayor's motions. He says he doesn't understand why it's there.
He then urges council to "be careful in taking an aggressive stance" re: bad landlords, saying there could be "unintended consequences."
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Councillor Holyday moves to strike "CUPE 416" from one of the mayor's motions. He says he doesn't understand why it's there.
He then urges council to "be careful in taking an aggressive stance" re: bad landlords, saying there could be "unintended consequences."
Councillor Alejandra Bravo thanks Mayor Chow for "after so many years, sending a message to every landlord in the city who exploits people, who doesn't obey the law, who puts people in precarious conditions, who makes their life a living hell — you're now on notice."
