Joe Pantalone’s mayoral campaign

Veteran councillor says he’s lone leading progressive candidate
Pantalone would continue Miller legacy but with less taxes
Kris Scheuer
(Written for Town Crier Sept.1)

Mayoral hopeful Joe Pantalone during a Sept. 1 Town Crier editorial board meeting. Photo by Francis Crescia/Town Crier.

Joe Pantalone says he’s running against four right wing candidates in the mayoral contest, which will bode well for him on Oct. 25.
Pantalone told a Town Crier editorial board he offers a clear choice for voters whereas Rob Ford, George Smitherman, Sarah Thomson and Rocco Rossi offer varying degrees of the same.
“I’m the only progressive candidate for mayor,” Pantalone said.
“I’m running against a bunch of mini-Mike Harrises. All of them want to sell something. All of them want to contract out something. All of them want to shrink the city in terms of what we spend while the population is growing.”
Pantalone railed on several of his opponents’ ideas, including Smitherman’s idea to privatize some TTC bus routes, Rossi’s pledge to sell Toronto Hydro and what he says is Ford’s unrealistic notion of spending.

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Mayoral debate on development, transit

Top candidates talk transportation and city’s financial health
Forum at Board of Trade moderated by John Tory
By Kris Scheuer
(Written June 21 for Town Crier.)

Mayoral candidate Sarah Thomson wants to build subways not LRTs, if elected. Photo by Josh Freeman/Town Crier file.

Six top mayoral candidates faced off on development, transit and city-building at the Toronto Board of Trade this morning.
John Tory moderated the debate that was hosted by the Urban Land Institute and attracted over 150 property owners, investors, developers, lawyers, architects, planners and engineers.
Less than 10 minutes into the debate came one of the first heated exchanges between mayoral candidates Rob Ford and George Smitherman seen as the frontrunners in recent polls.
“I can’t believe George Smitherman would have the nerve to come here and run for mayor of the city when he blew and squandered $1 billion when he was the health minister?” Ford said.
Smitheman retorted, “The allegations of $1 billion expediture on E-health counts the time when your father’s (Douglas) colleague Elizabeth Witmer was the minister of health in the province.”
Ford, “My dad passed away three year’s ago. Thanks.”

Hogg’s Hollow disaster remembered

Five immigrant Italian men died digging York Mills tunnel
A memorial quilt unveiled marking 50th anniversary of tragedy
By Kris Scheuer
(Written March 18 for Town Crier.)

Doria and Christina Fusillo were on hand for unveiling of memorial quilt honouring five men including Giovanni Fusillo who died in 1960 tragedy. Photo by Francis Crescia/Town Crier.

A flood of emotions rolled through the York Mills subway station as a quilt depicting the last moments of five immigrant workers who died in the Hoggs Hollow tragedy was unveiled.
Pasquale Allegrezza, Giovanni Carriglio, Giovanni Fusillo, brothers Alessandro and Guido Mantella were building an underground sewer tunnel near Yonge and York Mills when a fire broke out and took their lives on March 17, 1960.

Joe Pantalone for mayor

Pantalone takes a run for Toronto’s top political post
Has been on city council for almost 30 years
By Kris Scheuer
(Written Feb. 25 for Town Crier.)

 

Coun. Pantalone is running to be Toronto's next mayor. Photo by Francis Crescia/Town Crier.

 

Trinity-Spadina Councillor Joe Pantalone has worked with five mayors and three Metro chairmen since he was first elected in 1980.
He served with mayors Art Eggleton, June Rowlands, Barbara Hall, Mel Lastman and David Miller plus Metro chairman Paul Godfrey, Dennis Flynn and Alan Tonks.
Now after 29 years as a councillor, Pantalone is running to be the next mayor of Toronto.
“I’ve shown I can work with anyone,” he says in an interview from city council chambers. “You either work logically or there will be a mess here.”
Pantalone said with the city responsible for some much from police, roads, transit, forestry, libraries, child care, public housing, water, sewage and so on, it’s important for council to function well.
“If city hall is working, it means the city is working,” he says.

Toronto councillors 2010 election

The election campaign already heating up
Who is retiring, running, playing coy in TO election
By Kris Scheuer
(Updated Oct.25- Election Day.)

 

Joe Mihevc is one of the incumbent councillors seeking re-election.

 

One thing is certain in life – that’s change. And we can count on that in this city’s election. The vote is Oct. 25.
Of the 44 incumbent city councillors so far 35 current Toronto politicians have signed up for re-election in their own ward. Of the remaining 9 incumbents: 2 are running for mayor instead and 7 aren’t running at all. Want to see for yourself?
Check the city’s election website that shows all 477 candidates running for mayor, councillor and school trustee positions.
Here’s the scope on where all the candidates stand as of Sept. 10 the final nomination day.
Mayor David Miller is not running for re-election. There are 40 candidates registered to run for mayor.
Council races – there are 279 candidates running for 44 council seats
Ron Moeser (Scarborough East Ward 44) has registered and so have three others: Diana Hall, Heath Thomas and Mohammed Mirza.
Paul Ainslie (Scarborough East Ward 43) is running again and has four challengers: John Laforet, Benjamin Mbaegbu, Bhaskar Sharma and Samuel Getachew.

Toronto’s next mayor

Who will you vote for when there may be over 40 candidates?
Major players, fringe candidates, unknown names, up-and comers
By Kris Scheuer
(Updated Feb. 5. Frequent updates here.)

Mayor David Miller not seeking re-election in 2010. Who should be the next to run the city?

Who will be the city’s next mayor? As of Feb. 5, two dozen candidates have signed up.
I have started the ball rolling with some who have expressed interest.
Let me know if there are others who you see running or think should run for the city’s top political job.
As well in my eight years writing about politics, I’d say there are two categories of candidates, well maybe four. I will let you decide where you think the mayoralty candidates belong in these categories…
But first  the contenders.
The serious and well known so called “front runners”. These are higher profile candidates.
So far MPP George Smitherman, Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti, and Liberal strategist and fundraiser Rocco Rossi, Councillor Joe Pantalone, Councillor Adam Giambrone have announced they will all run for mayor.
Others who were considering and would have been frontrunner but decided against it are Conservative leader John Tory, current city councillors Adam Vaughan and Shelley Carroll.

Here are a couple of the lesser known people planning to run for mayor…
JP Pampena is running. So what does he stand for? Well check out his site for the full scoop. But here are two of his ideas: set up a Public Expense Registry so we can keep track of how city hall spends our money and try to reduce Toronto’s land transfer tax for first time buyers. It’s my recollection first time buyers are exempt already from this tax.
John Letonja wrote me at the end of September to say he’s running for mayor and he is registered.

Now my perspective on the different categories of candidates. This is an observation having interviewed dozens and dozens of candidates in elections at all levels of government in the past seven years.

Strike saved city 33 million

How should city use the savings?
What’s your wish list: rebates or spend on services?
(Written Oct. 6 for Town Crier. Oct. 26 UPDATE.)

You remember the 39-day strike this summer? At the time I wrote this, city figures stated the government saved $33.1 million during the labour unrest.
So what should be done with this money?
The main three options for the city are to issue rebate cheques to residents, use it for specific programs or fold the windfall into general revenues. My preference is to use some of the money to bring down a planned garbage rate hike and if that’s not possible then instead put the millions towards balancing the 2010 budget. But I’d want to know how the money was specifically spent.