Primarily, I would like to see the vacant Hillard building demolished or sold at auction. I consider it a blight, and it brings down the overall look of an otherwise beautiful downtown area.
I also am dissatisfied with the way the portion of the city income tax earmarked for seniors is being distributed. Presently, it is gifted in total to two senior citizen clubs, the Toronto Seniors and the Sunrise Seniors. I can personally think of two other and (in my opinion) better ways to distribute these funds to better benefit all Toronto seniors.
• Maintainance on the Roosevelt Senior Center
• Establish a heating grant program to help those over 65 and living under the poverty level to offset their winter fuel bills
Another issue I would have liked to see council address is the commons area park. Plans were submitted which would have created a park linking the gazebo area with the WWI sailors and soldiers monument. This would have potentially increased tourist traffic to Toronto and would have increased property values for those living in the neighborhood.
Also, I feel council could be more involved in local community action groups. I'll delve more in depth on this issue in my next post.
Finally, I have attended several city council meetings, and while they are well organized and nobody is ever rebuffed, I feel that there is a tendency to too often conduct the actual business of governance behind closed doors. As a former journalist, transparency of government is very important to me. I would make it a point to air the issues in the open, and not to hide behind conveniently written "rules" of order to railroad through controversial legislation before it has been given a fair public hearing.
Let me know what you think. You can reach me by email, or leave a note in comments. Thank you.
