Toronto budget fight over new city staff positions

Mayor John Tory's executive committee is expected to debate Monday a proposal to reject requests for 16 new city staff positions.


Thestar.com
March 3, 2015
By David Rider

Efforts to present a united budget front at Mayor John Tory’s executive committee Monday appear to have faltered, setting up a rare fight among allies over new staff positions.

On Friday, sources close to Tory said they expected over the weekend to find a compromise or rollback of a controversial last-minute Feb. 20 budget committee motion by Councillor Michelle Berardinetti. But late Sunday afternoon, those same sources said efforts to get unanimous support on a position at executive - the last stop for Tory’s debut budget before final debate at city council - had, at that point, failed.

Berardinetti’s colleagues agreed with her, in a 4-2 vote, to reject requests for 16 new staff positions - eight in planning and heritage, six in the office of the city ombudsman and two in the office of the integrity commissioner.

The surprise move sparked pushback from budget committee member Councillor Shelley Carroll and colleagues who said all those offices are important, overworked and understaffed.

In a guest column in Saturday’s Star, two prominent developers called reducing the ability of heritage staff to conduct important and time-sensitive development and building reviews “penny-wise and pound-foolish.”

Late Sunday afternoon, Councillor David Shiner, the fiscally conservative chair of the planning and growth committee, told the Star he will urge executive committee colleagues, including Berardinetti, to reinstate the eight planning and heritage positions.

He noted the positions are funded from the capital budget and won’t affect residents’ property taxes.

“It’s important to level the playing field between the people who want to preserve our heritage buildings and those who want to develop,” them, Shiner said. “You never know what will happen but I truly believe at the end of the day (city) council will save the heritage positions, and I think a majority of my colleagues at executive committee will as well.”

Berardinetti, chair of the parks and environment committee, said Sunday afternoon she had no plans to backtrack.

“I stand by those measures,” she said, adding planning and heritage got new positions last year. “Really, for me as a budget committee member, everything else was a rubber stamp.
“It’s up to everyone on executive (committee) - if they want to put more (positions) back in the budget they can do that.”

Carroll, who was budget chief under former mayor David Miller, said mayors usually want to present a united front at executive.

“If you leave that (staff reduction) at executive, get ready for a messy fight at council,” she warned.

Shiner said he also intends to fight a city staff initiative that appears as if it could dramatically increase the fee homeowners pay for garbage pickup.