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::tuesday, november the fourth, two thousand and three
DAVID JANES OF RANTING AND ROARING on the OMB, as inspired by one of Andrew Spicer's posts:
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Zoning in Toronto is, depending on how you care to look at it, a trial by fire or a nasty little tax on developments. My street is currently being redeveloped into infills (I live in one) and it's fair to say that zoning rules no longer apply. We blocked one set of proposed changes at city hall (my issue was with violating the "box" rules about where the house can sit with respect to the property lines and the overall height of the project) only to have that ruling completely overturned at the OMB. What a f*cking joke, what a waste of my time.
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- Rick McGinnis - 01:07pm - link
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ADINA GOLDMAN POSTED THIS ENTRY, ON THE MILLER LOVE-IN at Trampoline Hall last night, on her Pony blog. (Link courtesy Marc Weisblott.) Unlike Adam Sobolak, she was able to get in, and begins with this summation of what I can only characterize as the zeitgiest image most Torontonians hold of their city, at this point in time:
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For you non-Torontonians, our city is a bit fragile these days, after SARS and West Nile. We are also feeling a bit defeated and stunned after being amalgamated into a megacity and then having funding stripped away and costs simultaneously downloaded. We also watched our twice-elected mayor spiral into insanity to the point where the press seemed to be reporting more on sketch comedy troupe than City Hall.
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It's mostly accurate, but it has an undertone of unearned self-pity that we've become addicted to, and which is, frankly, less than appreciated in the rest of the country. She goes on to describe her candidate of choice, in language that I'm sure will serve as a red flag for bloggers on the opposite political pole (attention Kathy!):
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David Miller, holding his pint of beer, standing tall and swaying, with the persona of the enraged populist was compelling. For some reason, he brought to mind a Kennedy. He was surrounded with a room of adoring fans. He spoke our language.
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Hey, I support Miller, spent a day following him around for eye weekly a couple of years ago, and even I think this is a bit rich for my blood, especially in the quotidian forum of a mayoral race.
- Rick McGinnis - 12:58pm - link
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ON THE FRINGE, PART TWO
GERALD DEROME: "The news has not said anything about me yet and my radical writtings." Perhaps a campaign photo taken after 1972 wouldn't hurt, either. Derome is the leader of something called DefinitionCircle and also goes by the handles "Epqanna"
and "not_neo" with a fairly indecipherable blog of sorts while using this MSN Group to rant about what's wrong with the campaign process. But I'm guessing it can all be summed up in Derome's recent quote in The Town Crier fishwrap: "Put a happy face, that would please me. Dew what you have 2 doo dat is write (sic)." OK, then.
ALEKSANDAR GLISIC: An even more garbled web presence - Howard Dean, these mayoral candidates are not - whose links to scanned letters informs us that Glisic came to Canada from Yugoslavia in 1967, got hired by Ontario Hydro in 1970, and was terminated in 1981 because he "blew the whistle" (quotes his) on inadequate engineering management and/or pollution control and/or acid rain control. Uh-oh. But he also comes with his own salacious coat of arms:
MITCH GOLD: This chartered accountant wants to move the United Nations to Toronto which, face it, isn't an entirely irrational idea. Maybe we oughta have a turn. Gold's site has a
Vision for Toronto 2015, which doesn't even mention the word "Olympics". Nice as it is to imagine saving the world, it's really too overbearing to consider in this context - Gold is voting for David Miller anyway, will Miller reciprocate?
- Marc Weisblott - 12:31am - link
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ADAM SOBOLAK OF THE OMNITECTURAL FORUM contributes a free-standing entry, on getting locked out of the Trampoline Hall Miller love-in (w/Jane Jacobs et. al. in attendance) last night at the Gladstone Hotel:
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Darn, count me with those without the foresight to arrive at the Gladstone an hour or however much in advance - I came at 7:45, and the line of futility was already around the block, and it took 15 minutes for anyone to tell us to buzz off, it's a hopeless cause. And the pouring rain didn't help the overall misery - even if I was to get in, I'd have refused to pay for a Great White/West Warwick situation. (And didn't help that I came, and left, alone - rain doesn't do much for social initiative.)
As for me, I've long been into elections the way sports geeks are into sports--my record on www.electionprediction.com speaks for itself. And as such, my own election-euphoria is at a more elevated level than mere "issues" and insufferable partisanship; while I have my "views", they're secondary to my being the fly on the wall beholding the dance of raw stats, election literature and signage and spin. Electoral existentialism...
So, basically, even if I'm inclined t/w Miller, I'm still allowing for and heeding Tory, Hall, the rest, the individual council races - the total, comprehensive picture--and not overdooing the "boo" or "yay"; just being realistic. A good, sophisticated, non-parochial political sensibility allows for all kinds of polyglot contingencies, and seldom "hates" "enemies"; it's all in the game.
That may be why, from all reports, there's been an odd chemistry between Miller and Tory; from their opposite ends, they comprehend "the game". And remember that Miller could become mayor at the same time the city council shifts to the right...
That said, I'm a little tuckered out observationally relative to many past elections. (Or it's just at the rained-out moment I'm writing.) But I look forward to the stats come election day. And don't say I didn't warn past anti-megacity critics that lemonade could ultimately be made out of the megacity lemon - especially given that younger Torontonians have never known a Toronto that was neither Metro nor Mega. On paper, at least, they were prepared to embrace it all.
Okay, I'm less than coherent tonite. (No wonder I can't commit to a personal blog per se--it's a matter of knowing one's limits...)
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- Adam Sobolak - 12:20am - link
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KATE GUAY OF THROWN ASKEW signs on to the band of bloggers, sending me a rather nice e-mail on her recent enfranchisement:
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If it's any consolation to your plea to vote - I'm one of the few people my age who is completely interested in the process of democracy. The first time I was actually able to vote was last month, and even though my vote in the provincial election didn't "make a difference," it's still important to be part of the process. Also, www.fairvotecanada.org - an interesting petition I've put my name on.
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Also on board, with a brief shout-out to this site, is Nicholas Packwood of Ghost of a Flea.
- Rick McGinnis - 12:11am - link
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YESTERDAY
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