Shelley Carroll

Finally, the great 2012 Budget debate is behind us! Starting with the Core Service Review last June and culminating with the January 17th Council vote, our City has seen an unprecedented level of civic participation. Thank you to all of you that took the time to contact me at the office or attend a meeting. It was truly inspiring to have residents of Ward 33 at public hearings down at City Hall, throughout the process.

This week, Council worked together to achieve the three things that should go into any good budget; we addressed the debt, we put money away for future years and we protected most of the services that you hold most dear. Councillors from every area of the City and across the political spectrum voted in favour of a more fair budget that will allow City services to continue to address the needs of our most vulnerable. Things like priority recreation centres, child care centres, shelters, TTC service, sidewalk snow clearing and funding for community non-profit organizations were flat-lined but saved. In all, Council protected $19 million worth of services, a mere 0.2% of the Gross operating budget. Important to note, upwards of 1000 jobs will still be lost, adding to Toronto’s rising unemployment rate.

For well over a year there has been a story told about this City and everyone in it. You became one of the characters; in this story, most of you have been cast as the taxpayer victim. The social service organizations that are funded through the City, skating rinks and swimming pools, shelters and even firefighters have been cast in the role of villain, just for needing a small place in the City’s budget. These were the services cast as bad things that you need to be saved from. Stories are powerful tools, but yesterday in Council, we collectively wrote a different ending, a stronger ending. Now, it’s time to stop telling stories. You deserve honest dialogue about the City’s finances and you deserve to play an active role in deciding where you money goes.

Starting today, you and I need to stay connected. We need to talk about the city we want. I’m working hard to come up with new ways to do that so I’m as accessible to you as possible. Traditionally, I’ve done meetings in the community to provide you with information and get your feedback. We’ll still do that, but I recognize that it can be difficult to attend an evening meeting. That’s one of the reasons we tried a telephone town hall for the first time last week. We got great feedback from the call and I’m looking forward to doing more of them in the future. If you didn’t get a call for the telephone townhall, it may have been because we didn’t have your home phone number. If that’s the case, just call the office and my team would be happy to add your information to the list. I’m also going to continue to send out these e-blasts and post information on www.shelleycarroll.ca. You can talk directly to me on twitter @shelleycarroll or send me a message on facebook. If you have creative suggestions about how to keep the conversation going, let me know, I’d love to hear from you.