Donway post office redevelopment site

Cadillac Fairview purchased Don Mills and Lawrence site
No public plan revealed yet for redevelopment
Kris Scheuer
(Written Jan. 26 for Town Crier)

Cadillac Fairview has purchased this Donway W post office site, but has yet to announce plans for the land. Town Crier file photo.

Cadillac Fairview is expanding its real estate empire in Don Mills.
The developer recently acquired a soon-to-be shut Canada Post outlet on The Donway West. This is their newest acquisition at Lawrence and Don Mills, where the developer has built Shops on Don Mills. There is also a massive $225 million development of retail, office space and residential towers waiting in the wings.
Cadillac Fairview is leasing the property to Canada Post until the end of February when the post office at 169 The Donway West will close and move operations to Wynford Drive.

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Councillors’ office budgets slashed

Kris Scheuer
(Written for Town Crier Dec. 17)

Councillor John Parker voted to cut offices expenses.

Another stop on the gravy train has been eliminated as Mayor Rob Ford and council voted on Dec. 16 to cut councillor office budgets by over $20,000.
The vote was 40–5 in favour of reducing the expense accounts from $50,445 to $30,000, which will save a total of $899,580 a year.
“This reduction is highly symbolic of the will of Toronto city council to listen to the voice of the public and demonstrate leadership in fiscal restraint and respect for the taxpayer,” said Ford in a statement.
In 2009, when the office budget maximum was $53,100, Councillor John Parker was near the top that year, but voted to reduce the amount to $30,000.
One thing he’ll no longer be able to afford is his constituency office on Laird Drive, which cost over $7,000 in 2009 but he’s not mourning that loss.
“I live in the ward, so my front door is my constituency office,” he told theTown Crier. “It was more productive and satisfactory for me to meet with them in their homes, offices, factories.”

Chris Sellors office, fair market value?

Questions arisen over whether he’s paying enough for campaign office
Some say yes, others say no
Kris Scheuer
(Written for Town Crier Sept. 9)

Chris Sellors at his campaign office at 1973 Yonge St. Photo by Kris Scheuer/Town Crier.

Questions are being raised about the price and location of Ward 22 council candidate Chris Sellors’campaign headquarters.
Sellors opened his office Sept. 1 at 1973 Yonge St., signing what the Town Crier has learned is a two-month lease agreement totaling $3,616 ($1,500 in rent plus $100 in utilities each month, plus HST) for the 1,100 square feet of space.
The 102-square metre vacant storefront, formerly Vittorio’s Restaurant, is now part of a recently approved residential redevelopment by property owners Kilbarry Holding Corp. Sellors worked on this development file as Councillor Michael Walker’s executive assistant but said he’s had nothing to do with the project since March.
A source close to Sellors campaign raised questions about the lease to theTown Crier and spoke to the paper on the condition of anonymity.
“It seems like an unusual agreement you wouldn’t see in the industry, which makes me question how it came to be,” the source said in a Sept. 5 interview.

Sellors, Matlow, Molls campaign

Ward 22 candidates campaign spending priorities
Kris Scheuer
(Written Aug. 23 for Town Crier)

Ward 22 candidate Chris Sellors.

In the competitive St. Paul’s Ward 22 race, candidates seek any advantage they can gain over their opponents.
As of Aug. 23, candidate Chris Sellors was the only hopeful planning to open a campaign office. His storefront office opened Sept. 1 in a prime spot on Yonge Street at Belsize Drive.
Sellors said he started scanning empty stores in late March, but the first call he made was for a space at 1973 Yonge Street. The spot needed fixing up and was empty because it’s part of an eight-storey redevelopment project.
It’s here where Sellors plans to hold team meetings, and provide campaign literature, he said. It’s also a place where voters can access him.
“I was swift enough to look for a campaign office when everyone else was sleeping,” Sellors said Aug. 20.

Chris Sellors’ campaign office

Ward 22 candidate plans to open site Sept 1
Office located in land owned by developer with proposal before council
Kris Scheuer
(Written for Town Crier Aug. 20)

Chris Sellors getting ready to open his campaign office at 1973 Yonge St on site that's part of a current redevelopment application. Photo by Kris Scheuer/Town Crier.

Ward 22 council candidate Chris Sellors plans to open a campaign office Sept. 1 in space owned by a developer with an application currently making the rounds at city hall.
The office is located in an empty storefront at 1973 Yonge Street and is owned by Kilbarry Holdings Ltd, which has applied to build an eight-storey condo tower at Yonge Street and Belsize Drive.
The application’s in the final stages and could be approved at the last council meeting before Oct. 25 election. Should council fail to make a decision on the redevelopment next week, it would be up to the next elected council to rule on it.
Initially, Sellors told the Town Crier he wouldn’t move into the space unless the redevelopment was approved at the Aug. 25-26 council meeting. But two days later he had changed his mind citing lack of major residential opposition to the project.

Reducing waste in office work place

Health centre cuts almost all garbage
Strict recycling program a model for all businesses
By Kris Scheuer
(Originally written March 15/07 for Town Crier.)

Janitor Nihal Munaweera looks over the community centre’s garbage room, which was filled with waste but is now dominated by recycling.

The amount of garbage being thrown out at the South Riverdale Community Health Centre has plummeted from 50 bags a week to five.
This considerable shift did not happen on its own, but at the same time is a feat that any other business could achieve with some planning, says the centre’s health promoter, Paul Young.