In the News: More wasted money at City Hall

The Golden Globe for the best performance at City Hall last week must go to our do-nothing mayor and his supporting cast of minions for successfully turning a potential political hot potato into the latest soap opera about the poor.
The drama unfolded around a proposal by Coun. Case Ootes -- one he's been pushing since last November -- to sell off some of the long list of single-family homes owned by the Toronto Community Housing Corp. (TCHC) which are either sitting vacant and in disrepair or have jumped in value since they were first purchased in the early '80s.
Ootes had asked that the TCHC submit a report to last Tuesday's executive committee concerning the sale of three specific properties on Ellerbeck St. -- all valued in 2006 at nearly $500,000 each -- as well as a vacant home at 140 Waverley Rd. assessed at $492,000. He'd also wanted the TCHC to provide a complete list of the single-family homes it owns and their assessed value.
The East York councillor had reasoned, quite rightly, that the cash-strapped city has a "responsibility" to sell off millions of dollars of "perfectly good homes" that have been allowed to deteriorate if they can't or don't have the money to maintain them.
But Mayor David Miller -- as has become his habit whenever he prefers not to do what he was elected to do (that is, lead) -- ruled that because the TCHC is an arm's-length agency with its own board, it would "not be in order" for council to even consider directing the agency to sell off the houses.
It was all such nonsense. Not only is the city the TCHC's sole shareholder, but last year the housing company got $310,977,314 in operating funding from the city. Coun. Denzil Minnan-Wong, who seconded Ootes' motion, said if the mayor sent a clear message to the TCHC board, they'd be required to act.
Still the TCHC -- which has become a fiefdom unto itself -- was only too happy to oblige His Blondness, providing only a letter to last week's committee.
In the letter, TCHC chairman Mitchell Kosny noted 50 homes are currently vacant because the company does not have the resources available to fix them.
"Over all there are more than 250 vacant units of housing waiting for major repairs (and a growing backlog of vacant units) ... further evidence of the impact of Toronto Community Housing's $300-million shortfall for repairs," he wrote.
The letter only further supported Ootes contentions, in my view. Nevertheless, Miller's ruling seemed to set socialist comrades Paula Fletcher, Pam McConnell and Janet Davis off on a feverish pitch.
They nodded with mock concern as a group of women living in some of the homes proposed for sale told the committee -- most cheekily I might add -- the city will not be taking back their houses and the whole issue "reeks of discrimination."
One woman renting one of the subsidized homes on Ellerbeck St. even had the nerve to say she was in the middle of redoing her kitchen but had to stop her remodeling job until she knows whether she'll be staying there.
FUEL TO THE FIRE
The comrades leaped at the opportunity to add fuel to the fire. "One of the messages coming through to TCHC tenants is that they are not welcome in neighbourhoods when home prices are going up," said Fletcher.
McConnell insisted the idea to sell off some of the properties was "stigmatizing" people. "It is terrible, terrible discriminatory behaviour," she said. Added Davis: "I find it objectionable that such a motion would come forward."
Ootes, who wasn't surprised with the socialist response, said he's worried the city has allowed TCHC tenants to think the houses are theirs and believes the TCHC and the city have "abrogated" their responsibilities.
Nevertheless, he reiterated that the city should certainly be "alarmed" about the 50 single-family homes and 250 units sitting vacant and in too poor shape to rent out -- especially with the TCHC facing a $300-million-plus repair backlog.
"It's a total disregard for the people who pay the bills -- the taxpayer," he said.
Minnan-Wong added this is yet another example of how Miller and his crew are "incapable of managing" the city.
"Here's an opportunity where we could sell valuable assets and reinvest that money in more housing for families, and fix up the stuff we have now," he said. "We offered a very real alternative to a problem that David Miller can't seem to solve ... his response is to let the housing problem fester even more."

And its no wonder the city is in the sate that it is. The time for finger pointing and playing the blame game has long since past. It is time for this city to become fiscally responsible for its own problems. City Council can't keep taxing us to make up the difference. Its time they get off their collective asses and start looking into areas such as this for alternative solutions to this cash crunch problem.

courtesy of http://www.torontosun.com