Toronto the Good: New Mayor: Ford celebrates 1st 100 days in office, boasts his good deeds

Mayor's email newsletter to constituents:

Mayor's Rob Ford's first 100 days 

mark improvements in 

customer service, 

reduced taxes,  

increased accountability with taxpayer dollars

 

Toronto: Mayor Rob Ford's first 100 days were marked with swift action to respect taxpayers by eliminating the car tax, making services more reliable, and ensuring the staff of the City, its agencies and boards are more accountable for their actions.

"Respect for taxpayers is paramount in everything the city does," said Mayor Ford.  "My administration remains focused on improving customer service, making government more transparent and accountable, reducing the size and cost of government and building transportation city to reduce gridlock."

In the first 100 days, under Mayor Ford's leadership, the City has:

• Eliminated the $60 car tax, saving people across the City $64 million.
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• Passed a City budget with no increase to property taxes and no major services cuts.
• Reduced the Mayor's Office budget by $700,000 and Councillors' expense budget by $900,000.
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• Began the process to declare the TTC an essential service, to prevent strikes and ensure the service is available to riders and to the industries they support.
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• Launched work on a new Transportation City plan that will make subways the backbone of rapid transit in Toronto.
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• Appointed a Special Arts and Culture Advisor to the Mayor.

·         $170,000 saved - eliminated paper news clippings, switched to electronic.

·         $48,000 saved - eliminated snacks at Council meetings.

·         $25,000 saved - Transition Team under budget.

·         $17,000 saved - Mayor turned down recommended pay raise.

·         $70,000 saved - Toronto Hospitality Fund

• Initiated action to contract out the garbage collection to save taxpayers an estimated $8 million and improve customer service.
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• Demanded changes to the leadership at Toronto Community Housing, a City agency, after an Auditor General's Report found wasteful spending cost taxpayers an estimated $4-6 million.
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• Continued to act on residents' concerns and requests: in Summerlea Park the Mayor quickly secured a shelter for skaters in that park - the request from skaters was initially made more than a year ago.
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• Responded to concerns from residents about a new bylaw impacting driveway parking, and had them  amended so they were clear and easy for residents to understand and follow.
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• The Green Roof Bylaw was amended to extend the exemption for industrial buildings to provide green roofs until April 2012 to allow for consultation with industrial operators about alternatives that would achieve similar benefits.  
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• Secured new revenue from the province so that the City and Ontario Government now share the costs of welfare evenly at 50 per cent each.

  

Significant milestones for the City have also been achieved in the last 100 days:

• The City started sending all residential garbage to its Green Lane Landfill on Jan. 1, after the final truck load of garbage left for a Michigan landfill on Dec. 31, 2010.
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• The City's first ice skating park opened in Colonel Samuel Smith Park.
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• The City has established an anti-graffiti team with 10 bylaw officers from Municipal Licensing and Standards committed to this work.
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• Since Dec. 1, 2010 at least 5,000 residents have secured new jobs with assistance from Toronto Employment and Social Services.
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• Toronto secured the filming of a major movie - Total Recall. 

Courtesy calls in first 100 days

In the last 100 days the Mayor has met the Governor General of Canada and the U.S.  Ambassador to Canada, as well as a number of Consulate Generals.

·         December 3, 2010 - Courtesy Call with His Excellency David Johnston, Governor General of Canada

·         December 21, 2010 - Courtesy Call with His Excellency David C. Jacobson, US Ambassador to Canada

·         January 31, 2011 - Courtesy Call with Consul General Chen Ligang, The People's Republic of China Consulate General

·         January 31, 2011 - Courtesy Call with Consul General Mrs. Sabine Sparwasser, German Consulate General

·         January 31, 2011 - Courtesy Call with Consul General Mr. Jonathan Dart, British Consulate General

·         February 1, 2011 - Courtesy Call with the Honourable David C. Onley, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario