Council chooses new city manager, defers taxi reform decision & reduces food truck regulations
Posted May 5, 2015 7:07 am.
Last Updated May 5, 2015 11:07 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Toronto city council voted unanimously in favour of making Peter Wallace the new city manager on Tuesday night at city hall.
Ontario’s former top bureaucrat will replace outgoing city manager Joe Pennachetti, who will retire from the position on May 8.
Deputy city manager John Livey will take over the role between May 9 and July 12.
Wallace retired from his role as head of the province’s bureaucracy last year and had been the Ontario Public Service Visiting Fellow at the School of Public Policy and Governance at the University of Toronto.
“Peter Wallace is a highly respected individual with extensive experience in public policy and governance,” Mayor John Tory said in a release. “As city manager, Peter will play a significant role in maintaining public confidence in the City of Toronto and ensuring that the city continues to provide excellent programs and services.”
Earlier in the day, council has voted to defer a decision on taxi reforms until a court case involving ride-sharing company Uber is complete.
Mayor John Tory’s motion to hold off on the decision was approved 31-13.
On Tuesday Uber applied for a brokerage licence for one of its services — UberTAXI.
The city has filed for a court injunction to shut Uber down, citing safety reasons. Council voted to defer a vote on industry regulations until that battle plays out in court.
“One of the things Uber needs to do is follow the law and follow the rules,” said deputy mayor Denzil Minnan-Wong.
Mayor Tory hopes to find a compromise.
“The people want choice, the people want the latest technology, the people want lower prices if they can get them…”
Taxi drivers were present at the council meeting, wearing yellow T-shirts, which read, “I’ve been a taxi driver for ____ years.”
They say Uber is unfairly encroaching on their territory and proposed changes would put them out of business.
Last year, council voted to overhaul the system and create one license, Toronto Taxi Licence, by 2024, replacing the existing standard and Ambassador licences. However, the Superior Court quashed that decision saying there wasn’t enough public consultation.
In April, Toronto’s licensing committee voted to bring back the the standard plate model, which was last reformed in 1998.
The TTL was favoured by shift workers who said the new licence would cut out absentee owners and put drivers back in charge.
Taxi owners object.
“There is no excuse for taking away someone’s livelihood. We’re here for what we deserve. We are here for what we worked for, and it’s the right thing to do. Grandfathering the standard plate is the right thing to do,” Gail Beck-Souter, president of Beck Taxi, said on Tuesday.
Souter’s father started Beck Taxi in 1967.
Food trucks regulations relaxed
Food trucks were first on the agenda.
The licensing committee recommended amendments that would reduce the required proximity of a food truck to any restaurant from 50 metres to 30 metres.
Council agreed, voting 43-1 to reduce the distance.
“I think what you have here is there was a rational open-minded non-strong arm kind of discussion that took place in such a way that everybody ended up content,” Tory said.
Food trucks will also be able to operate on a street for five hours instead of three. More licenses will also be issued by mid-May for 6, 9 or 12 month periods.
Development charge for Scarborough subway extension
Councillors will debate whether to implement a 10 per cent and 11 per cent increase on residential development charges and non-residential development charges, to help fund the Scarborough subway extension.
The hike in development charges is expected to bring in $165 million in revenue for the project.
On Monday, Coun. Glenn De Baeremaeker (Ward 43, Scarborough Centre) hopes discussion on hiking development fees to pay for the Scarborough subway goes smoothly.
“There will be some people who will try to sabatoge it, who are not happy with it, but most of us mature adults we voted to build the subway. This is the part where we actually have to write the cheque and pay for it,” De Baeremaeker said.
Coun. Layton (Ward 19, Trinity-Spadina) said he plans to support a hike in development charges to pay for the Scarborough subway.
“I’m not going to let my distaste for the project have me make a mistake that we actually have to pay for this thing,” Layton said.
Raccoon-proof green bins
Councillors will discuss whether to approve a $31-million, 10-year contract with U.S.-based Rehrig Pacific Co. to produce the next generation of green bins, featuring a rodent-resistant locking lid, which will also keep out other animals like raccoons.
The new bins are said to be more user-friendly, and twice as large as the old ones with a capacity of around 100 litres.
The two-day monthly meeting, which started on Tuesday, will also review formal approval of the new raccoon-proof green bins, and selecting a new city manager to replace retiring Joe Pennachetti.
Councillors Mike Layton and Gord Perks were also pushing to name Toronto the “craft beer capital of the world.”
Toronto police Chief Designate Mark Saunders, who is expected to be sworn sometime in May, was also introduced to city council.
“This is the best city in the world,” Saunders told councillors at the meeting.
At the start of the meeting, Mayor John Tory offered his well-wishes to a teary-eyed Coun. Rob Ford, who is scheduled to undergo surgery on May 11.
“I just want to say, and I’m sure I speak on behalf of us all, we know you’re a fighter, we know that you’re in the hands of a caring family and an excellent health care system, and that you have the best wishes of this mayor and of this council, and everybody who works in this building and everybody who lives in this city, for a speedy recovery and a rapid return,” Tory said.
With files from Kris McCusker and Melissa Duggan