Toronto Council meets today!
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"Do you find that odd, that 20 years later after amalgamation, that we're still using paper and we still have no idea what's going on out there with the 311 system?" asks Councillor Paula Fletcher of parks maintenance.
"We agree that there is room for improvement," says staffer.
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Here's the old-school paper-based worklog system the parks division uses. AG found many were not properly filled out or signed-off on by a supervisor.
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Councillor Lily Cheng moves for a look at a system where parks workers would be required to take photos to document their work, with those photos made available to 311.
She compares it to Amazon, where workers are required to take photos confirming package delivery.
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Cheng is facing pushback from councillors McKelvie and Fletcher, who are pointing out not all park workers have city-issued smartphones and the cost of providing devices so they can take photos would be very high.
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Fletcher says the issue with the sheets and parks maintenance workers is a management issue, not a worker issue — if the daily activity sheets aren't being reviewed by supervisors, that's on the supervisor.
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"I don't shop at Amazon. I really don't care what Amazon does," says Nunziata.
"The system is not working," she adds, noting many parks in her ward that aren't maintained. "This should have been caught years ago."
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Mayor Olivia Chow says she has "heard it over and over again" from residents about issues with garbage in parks.
"And the washrooms — the washrooms are what I heard A LOT — to the extent that I went to some of the parks and started taking photos."
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Councillor Lily Cheng's motion to look at having parks workers take photos of their maintenance work to verify the work is getting done FAILS 10-14.
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The rest of the Audit item on park maintenance CARRIES via show of hands.
Council is now moving on to another Audit item. This one's about the controversial deal City Hall struck with PayIt for online payments. Things don't go great.
Fletcher wants to go into private session.
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And indeed, Council opts to go "in camera" — where there are no cameras allowed — to discuss the PayIt audit. No media allowed while they're in private session. I'll let you know when they're back in public.
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The supplementary report on Doug Ford's bike lane ban bill is now available. City staff say it could cost $48 million in provincial tax money to remove bike lanes. And city would lose out on $27 million invested to install the infrastructure. https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2024/cc/bgrd/backgroundfile-250545.pdf (PDF)
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The report also says travel times would get WORSE for drivers during the construction work necessary to remove the bike lanes. Long-term, staff project "likely minimal improvements in travel time" for drivers once lanes are removed.
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Report says removing bike lanes on Bloor would mean 4 months with only one open vehicle lane in each direction, 4 months with only one vehicle lane in one direction, and a month-long intersection closure at St. George.
Southbound University Ave would be one lane for 9 months.
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On the idea of putting bike lanes on "side streets", report found "no feasible parallel alternatives" and says alternatives would likely require new bridge structures or property acquisition. City would ask province to cover those costs.
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And here are new and updated ridership numbers for Bloor, University and Yonge bike lanes. Increases as high as 656%.
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In summary, Ford's bike lane removals will, according to a new City Hall report:
- Cost $75 million in direct costs and sunk costs.
- Make traffic much, much worse for at least nine months during construction to remove lanes
- Have minimal long-term impact on car travel times. -
Meanwhile, back in the Council chamber, councillors have returned from closed session.
Councillor McKelvie moves for council to stay a bit beyond 6 p.m. to finish their PayIt item. That CARRIES via show of hands.
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A twist! Councillor Gord Perks says this motion by Councillor Pasternak about using lands at 1220 Wilson Ave as a park originally contained confidential info about another use for the site. He's asking speaker to rule on whether the motion is in order. https://secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda-item.do?item=2024.MM23.15
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Nunziata says she'll issue a ruling in writing later.
While we wait, Councillor Fletcher moves for a further Auditor General investigation into the PayIt deal, including looking deeper into cell phone and email data.
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Perks moves a motion with confidential instructions re: the PayIt deal.
He says members of the public who expressed "deep concerns" about the deal were "browbeaten by Mayor Tory's Executive Committee."
He says those concerns and questions have now proven to be correct.
