Mayor sees the light — finally
The last time someone at Toronto city council slipped through a tiny amendment, under cover of darkness, with no one apparently watching or reading or understanding what it meant, we ended up with Toronto’s biggest municipal corruption scandal in memory.
It’s ironic, then, that the very day last September that councillors discussed the computer scandal, they tripped up themselves again with another obscure amendment, hidden in volumes of paper.
This time the stakes are much lower, but the “ trickery” is back. And the beneficiaries are 44 councillors and the mayor, who will get a 12.25 per cent pay increase over four years.
Six weeks after the vote — a vote so surreptitiously designed and delivered that some councillors swear they were duped into voting themselves the increase, the councillors are turning on each other. Naturally.
Budget chief David Soknacki says he sniffed it out at the time, voted against it, but for some reason, failed to alert his colleagues of the offending clause.
Councillor Brian Ashton said he had fully expected someone to rise up in righteous indignation, but when no objection was raised, he voted for the raise.
Maverick Councillor Michael Walker said he “missed” the clause. In fact, he is seen on the tape of the meeting urging councillors to vote because it was simply the approval of a pay hike for non- unionized staff.
Councillor Jane Pitfield opposed it, but without knowing the amendment contained a raise for politicians as well. What’s clear is that many councillors, led by the snout, went headlong into another spending decision, not knowing what they were voting on.
“They’re admitting their incompetence, their lack of diligence,” said Councillor Howard Moscoe, countering criticism he should not have slipped through the amendment. “ They say they didn’t know it was happening. That’s a horrible condemnation of yourself, to not know what was happening, to not understand what’s going on in council. Who would elect anyone who doesn’t understand what’s going on in council?”
Apparently we do. The real damage here is not the money paid to Toronto councillors. They are underpaid. Yes, underpaid, especially compared to Mississauga, Vaughan and almost the entire GTA. Their $ 85,497 salary this year compares to well over $ 112,000 for their Mississauga counterparts. But the way to fix the discrepancy is to deal with it in the open, with a fulsome debate. By contrast, the Moscoe amendment was introduced in hurry-up fashion. It lasted a mere two minutes, from introduction to approval. Now, it’s a procedural mess because the amendment violates the previous policy tying councillors’ salary to the consumer price index. Some councillors have started a petition to have the matter reopened Nov. 24. That’s good. You would think Mayor David Miller would be leading that fight. After all, he promised open and transparent government. But he had to be dragged, protesting all the way, to the side of the angels yesterday. On Wednesday, the official po-
was: “ Council is supreme. He stands by the decision.”
Despite the ensuing furor yesterday, the position at 4 p. m. remained unchanged. Only after heavy prodding from the Star’s city hall bureau chief, Vanessa Lu, did the light bulb go off. By 5 p. m.: “ The mayor will vote to reopen the debate.” Finally. Moscoe is a politician of consummate skills who can slip in and out of the roles of court jester and serious policy wonk. He’s consistently argued for higher pay for city councillors. He’s always at or near the top of the list of top spenders on council. And he’s so good at what he does that his constituents overlook his profligacy.
Journalists love him. But his antics can debase his colleagues, depreciate democracy, and discredit city council. This escapade is a good example. The perception becomes: city councillors are incompetent boobs who don’t know what they are doing; or they are sleazes who try to slip themsition selves a pay hike without public discussion; or they are arrogant bastards who fight the police and civic staff over increases and then grab the same hike. None of these is commendable. And the mayor doesn’t know enough to rein them in, limit the damage, and restore order.
In the end, after much media coaxing, he does. But it’s painful getting there. Royson James usually appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Email: rjames@thestar.