Horserace is incumbent Stintz’s to lose
But candidate Terry Mills makes big push
Kris Scheuer
(Written for Town Crier Oct. 7)
Councillor Karen Stintz seeks re-election in Ward 16. Francis Crescia/Town Crier.
Ward 16 candidate Terry Mills may be giving Councillor Karen Stintz a political run for her money, but the incumbent still has the advantage in this race for Eglinton-Lawrence.
Mills, a professional planner with an architectural background is tapping into the key issue in this ward: development. Mills has the backing of Patrick Smyth, a member of the Avenue Road Eglinton Community Association. Smyth said he’s unimpressed with Stintz despite having supported her in 2003.
He’s specifically unhappy with Stintz’s decision to support two Riocan developments: A retirement residence at Avenue Road and Willowbank Boulevard, and Riocan’s plan to cover the open square at Yonge and Eglinton.
While Smyth claims Stintz hasn’t met a development she doesn’t like, her voting record shows otherwise.
Stintz has opposed a number of developments in the ward, including a plan for a 25-storey condo plus rezoning of land on Montgomery Avenue. With help from the city and residents, the plan was quashed.
Candidate Terry Mills campaigning in Ward 16. Photo by Francis Crescia/Town Crier.
Smyth and Stintz have a history that dates back to 2003. Smyth was one of handful of residents who paid for an ad in the Town Crier in 2003 seeking a new councillor. The residents were looking to oust then-veteran councillor Anne Johnston over her support of the controversial Minto towers at Yonge and Eglinton.
Stintz responded to the ad and the residents, calling themselves the Coalition for Municipal Change, endorsed her.
While some say Stintz faces the same danger in the 2010 race because of development support, indications are she will be re-elected.
Michael Visser, who was a Coalition for Municipal Change member, said Stintz will face some problems but not enough to lose.
“She has dropped the ball on a couple of initiatives,” said Visser. “I think they are significant in their neigbourhoods but they aren’t huge blockbuster failures that will galvanize the whole ward.”
Visser does think she mishandled the open space issue at Yonge and Eglinton.
“To me, the purpose of the councillor is the ability to mediate in a way that allows a win-win, creative solution,” Visser said.
But Stintz said there’s been a balanced approach to development under her watch.
“People understand that (Yonge and Eglinton) wasn’t publicly-owned space but they may have differing opinions on how to develop it,” she said.
Ryerson political professor Mitch Kosny said while there may be several small developments piquing residents’ interest in this race, there’s not a singular project that will unite opposition.
“A lot of little fires don’t add up to a forest fire,” Kosny said. “You need one big issue to unseat someone. I’m gonna guess she’ll ride this one through and be re-elected,” he said, adding at the municipal level, name recognition still helps during elections.
Besides Mills and Stintz, two other candidates are running. Teacher and coach Roy Macdonald is running on a platform focused on crime, traffic and better city services. Firefighter Michael Coll’s priorities are parking issues and crime reduction.
All four candidates have been featured in the Town Crier’s print editions and on the paper’s website.
Kris Scheuer 
Kris, here’s a suggestion – “Ward 16 why Stintz will lose.” Once you get going you could fill a couple of pages. That might interfere with your advertising space but it would be informative reporting that the electorate would appreciate. That way the TC could build credibility.
Peter, you have been insulting the Town Crier for a few days now and I have printed all you comments unedited. I am not sure you have actually read the paper or just the one article you are commenting on? The Town Crier has been around for 31 years and has a lot of credibility in the community, while you may disagree. I did talk to someone who lives in the community and doesn’t support Stintz, your friend Patrick Smyth who is working for her oppenent Terry Mills. If you have any more issues with the Town Crier or my coverage I invite you to email or call the Town Crier editors as you seem to be repeating the same criticisms over and over which I have tried to address as best as I can. Thank you.
Kris, if you had talked to people who live in the Ward and who have been subjected to Stintz’s style of “support for community” you might not have declared her the winner. I think you need to widen your network of contacts. Maybe even consider talking to a few less “experts”, get out to meet the people and report on a few of these disasters based on your own observations as a reporter. You know, the Press has that responsibility.
Who cares what Visser thinks? Who knows him? He doesn’t live in the Ward and isn’t involved. It isn’t balanced reporting if you have to go far afield and outside the electorate to find somebody who thinks Stintz will get re-elected.
Ask Tim Hudak if Stintz will try her hand at MPP and he’ll deny it too. What would you expect from either of them? Do you really think Stintz will tip her hand and let people know she will bail on Ward 16 at the first chance of bettering her own lot in life?
I’m not so naive.
Kris, the evidence is there in video form, supplied by City Hall. You can see how little support Karen Stintz gave her constituents. She refused to present the community’s petitions, she refused to have the item heard when residents were in the Chamber and she tried to pull a fast one at 9.01pm. Then, she waited until the very last minute to stab Ward 16 in the back.
Read your article on the Ward 16 race and tell me again you’re not biased. You said Stintz would win. You interviewed a man who was one of those who brought her to Council in 2003. A man who does not even live in the Ward! You then gave the opinions of a Ryerson prof. I don’t know where he lives?
You really need to get out among the people more if you want to call the TC a “community paper”. You need to hone your own skills. There is much evidence of Stintz’s actions and you should have reported on it. Like her penchant for reversing her positions just before a vote is taken, as happened on the Riocan open space issue. PS – it is your job to report on these facts.
There is so much you should have reported on to inform your readers. Not the least of which was Stintz’s treachery on Orchard View and Duplex. She claims that the Working Group did not reach consensus and that is simply not true. If you had done a better job of reporting you would have learned that. The Working Group came to consensus and presented it to Stintz, but she ignored it. She presented what she concocted with the developer’s lawyer. That’s how a monster building on a postage stamp site got approve.
Stintz will not be running for the PCs in 2007. That will happen in 2011 when the residents of Ward 16 will realize they have been duped again by a blindly ambitious and devious person.
Peter,
I am not going to argue with you over whether or not Karen Stintz will win or her record as it is the councillor’s job to defend her record not me as I don’t work for her or represent her. When I asked you for evidence, I was referring to your claim Karen Stintz will run provincially. I was asking if you knew there was an agreement by the PCs and her that she would run as a candidate rather than your opinion she will run for them in 2011.
Peter,
The article I did write on the Ward 16 race included the voice of your friend Patrick Smyth who opposes Karen Stintz and supports and is working for her opponent Terry Mills. I also included the voice of a political prof who gave his opinion on the race, Michael Visser who along with Patrick Smyth took out an ad in 2003 in the Town Crier looking for a new councillor which lead to Karen Stintz applying and seeking support of Patrick Smyth, Michael Visser and other residents. Patrick Smyth no longer supports Karen Stintz and Michael Visser doesn’t seem to either although he said she will likely win. And I spoke to Karen Stintz herself. It offered different views on the race. You are free to disagree. That’s is your right and is democracy.
Peter, the Town Crier has covered the OrcahrdView and Duplex development you mention, several times and interviewed your friend and Stintz opponent Terry Mills as well as other residents, city hall planners and Councillor Stintz. You may want to read all the articles the Town Crier has written on the development first before you decide if you are unhappy with the coverage we have done since March on that redevelopment. Residential association ARECA, which your friend Patrick Smyth is a member of, has also written multiple columns for the Town Crier with the opportunity to bring up all of the same points you mention. So that was an additional opportunity for residents to express their views in print.
If you are unhappy with something specific after reading the multiple articles on this Orchardview redevelopment, please write a letter to the editor at the Town Crier. You can email the city editor kcoorsh@mytowncrier.ca or Gord Cameron at gcameron@mytowncrier.ca. That’s the best forum for taking up any concerns you have with the newspaper’s coverage of developments and Karen Stintz. Thanks, Kris.
Kris, what does it matter if I am supporting Terry Mills? The TC is supporting Karen Stintz. I’m astounded that a reporter would believe a 7 year old politician with a habit of being loose with the truth.
You don’t of course, you simply want to suppress criticism of her. That is obvious from your unwillingness to comment on any of the evidence shown on its2big.ca. That’s where Karen Stintz can be seen in her true colours. It’s not informed rumour – just have a look at the video content in http://www.its2big.blogspot.com.
Karen Stintz has not corrected her Wiki page where it mentions she is being considered a candidate on the Provincial Conservative’s populist drive. This isn’t the first time Karen Stintz has been a stranger to the truth. Check http://www.its2big.blogspot.com. She is driven by blind ambition and no community will get in her way. Why not report on that and do your readers in Ward 16 a favour? Oh, I forgot, you support Stintz.
I heard Stintz endorsed Jane Pitfield’s opponent. Karen Stintz doesn’t know anybody she wouldn’t dump on if it helped her career. Even old friends like Pitfield!
Hi Peter, I don’t mind if you or other readers support a candidate or are working/volunteering for a candidate. I ask you to disclose it so that when you criticize a candidate repeatedly, as you do with Karen Stintz, people also know that you do so as an active Terry Mills supporter. It’s kind of like a Rob Ford supporter writing why George Smitherman will lose. They are partisan, so I just think people should be aware of that when reading comments on my site.
Peter,
TC is not supporting Karen Stintz the article I wrote on the Ward 16 was based on comments by a Ryerson political prof, your friend Patrick Smyth who supports Stintz opponent Terry Mills and Michael Visser another resident who has supported Stintz in the past but now thinks she has done a so-so job but none the less will win. That’s not the Town Crier’s view that is what the people I interviewed stated.
Peter, I am not suppressing criticism of Karen Stintz as I have allowed all the comments and posts you have sent to my blog site. And every one of your comments criticize Karen Stintz and yet I have posted every one of your comments, so please explain how I am suppressing criticism of Karen Stintz? I am not sure I see the evidence of your claim at all.
P.S. It’s not m job to comment on any of the things you put on your own website. Your website is where you put your own views and if people want to see it for themselves they are free to do if they wish as you have included your link.
Karen Stintz may or may not be being considered for a provincial nomination but one has not been formally offered or accepted, from the last time I asked Karen about this rumour directly. So if your have proof she plans to run in 2007 please let me know.
And it’s so convenient of you to say that I support Stintz even though neither I nor the paper I work for has endorsed her or any candidate.
As well, Stintz has endorsed three candidates in the city election. She is free to do so as she wishes.
What’s your name then “towriter”? Too embarrassed to show it?
Karen Stintz is the best example of what was wrong with Council under David Miller. The problems associated with ‘Ward Politics’ were exacerbated on his watch. Karen Stintz bitched about David Miller and the NDP style of governing but needed as many of them as possible to get her developers’ projects approved.
She was elected on a specific mandate for responsible development, such as is enshrined in Toronto’s Official Plan. Everything that is wrong with oversized developments in Ward 16 can be blamed on her, the incumbent. As for “corruption”, what Councillor Vaughan said about her is accurate, “a corruption of planning principles. I’ve never seen anything more unprincipled.”
The only Ward 16 residents benefiting from Karen Stintz’s about face on responsible development and “strong support for community” are the transient wealthy who provide much of the financing (mortgage syndicates and neighbourhood investment clubs) for these excessively large buildings, and the developers. Karen Stintz hasn’t met a developer she couldn’t trust.
I would also characterize her speech lessons as behaviour unbecoming somebody who represents the Ward. Voters in Ward 16 do not like that kind of selfishness. They are questioning the value they have received.
On October 25th, voters have a very credible alternative to the power-hungry and politically ambitious Stintz. They don’t want a councillor who will jump ship next year for a run against Mike Colle MPP.
Terry Mills has dedicated his time pro-bono for many years on development applications. His work has not gone unnoticed. He has the right professional training for his future role as Ward Councillor.
Such a pity your preference for a councillor who is a stranger to the truth is blinding you to it. You should spend a little time at http://www.its2big.ca and http://www.its2big.blogspot.com.
Peter, since you did not ask my question the first two times, I won’t ask a third time if you are working/volunteering for Karen Stintz’s opponent Terry Mills since I see now by the link you provide that you or Patrick Smyth (another Terry Mills supporter) have sent me anonymous emails at work (the Town Crier) attacking Stintz. These emails use the same website you are promoting http://www.its2big.ca and these emails attack Stintz but there is not name of who sent the emails.
And it’s funny you ask who Towriter is and that I am afraid to show it, it’s all over my site. It’s in the about Kris Scheuer section. It’s in the header of the blog entitled Kris Scheuer. When you click on the Towriter name on any comments I make it links to my blog called Kris Scheuer. And my name is on everything post I write, so I am hardly afraid to say who I am. I also put contact info on my blog with my name, email and work number. So it’s pretty clear my name is Kris Scheuer – it’s hardly a secret.
Peter, p.s you are speculating Karen Stintz is jumping ship from city hall to run provincially in 2007. Yes it could happen, but as a reporter I asked her straight up a few months ago and she said she has not been asked/or asked to run. As I said that could change. But you are putting it out there is an unfounded rumour to scare of voters from choosing Karen Stintz.
SUCH A PARCEL OF ROGUES T’WAS THAT ORGANIZATION!
Farewell to Ward 16 fame
Farewell our old glory
Farewell even to the name
So famed in municipal story
Now Stintz runs over the Official Plan
And Tall Buildings tower over the horizion
To mark where Miller’s province stands-
Such a parcel of rogues in an organization!
What force or guile could not subdue
Through many troubled stages
Is wrought now by an elected few
For parties, suits and speeches.
A councillor’s arrogance we disdained
Secure in honest condemnation;
But developer’s funds have been our bane-
Such a parcel of rogues in one organization!
If only we had seen the day
That blind ambition could sell us,
My cool head would remain
With Sewell and loyal Jacobs!
But with Mills in Ward 16, till the last hour
I will make this declaration :-
‘We were bought and sold for developer’s gold’-
T’WAS SUCH A PARCEL OF ROGUES IN THAT ORGANIZATION!
What was Karen Stintz thinking?
The TTC subway doesn’t work. Our sewers are bursting. The water supply is leaking. We’re out of open space. Our roads are gridlocked. Summer smog, winter choke. Yet, willy-nilly we stuff more condos into our neighbourhoods. Where’s that plan taking us?
There should be no plan but the Official Plan.
Some readers may see parallels in this poem to the Council of the past 7 years with it’s ‘Political Elites’ handing Toronto over to the greed of developers. Through a sense of entitlement, a corruption of planning principles, we’ve become a ‘condo-nation’. All at the expense of the ideals in Toronto’s Official Plan.
Development is good, over-sized development is not!
Terry Mills has the seasoned experience that will protect neighbourhoods, not destabilise them.
Peter,
Thanks for your comment. Three points.
I don’t think you can blame everything you deem wrong with Toronto on Karen Stintz, but as the incumbent I guess that’s the cross you carry.
Second. the poem you sent is almost identical to one emailed to me at work by a Terry Mills candidate volunteer. So I ask again, as you clearly support Mills are you also working/volunteering for his team. This way people can read your comments with a grain of salt knowing you may/are working for a rival candidate’s team,
Lastly, I removed your comment about the city being corrupt. You threw the term around loosely without a single issue supporting why you used the word.
Mayoral candidate Rob Ford called a certain city contract “corrupt” and is now being sued for $6 million by the business owner George Foulidis of that deal.
So I took out your sentence on corruption.