The Battle for St.Clair is Lost

City Hall Clears the TTC Plan with 36 Votes to 7. Gillan: "They didn't listen to us."

The TTC plan for St. Clair has been approved. With 36 votes for it and 7 against, City Hall voted the plan on Wednesday night.
"The plan will also include additional improvements that will be implemented during the works that will start in late 2005 and last 18 months, two years at most," explained Deputy Mayor Joe Pantalone.
"Parking spaces will stay the same or possibly even increase, and the cityscape will be improved. Of course, change often raises fears, but I'm sure that a lot of people will come and see the beauty of the new St. Clair Avenue."
Some residents are unhappy with the result of the vote. "We'll lose, we'll lose on every point," said Jeff Gillan at 5pm on Thursday, while the discussion was going on.
The City Council debate on the TTC plan for St. Clair, which had begun in the morning, brought out many contradictions and many aspects of the issue. For about two hours, the councillors asked various questions to the technicians of the joint TTC-City Hall Task Force to discern the truth of the matter.
Mitch Stambler, Joanna Musters, Rod McPhail, and several other municipal employees were called upon for their expertise.
Each councillor had five minutes to ask questions and many used them, ranging from TTC-opponents Cesar Palacio and Frances Nunziata, to Giorgio Mammoliti, Peter Li Preti, Mike Del Grande, to Joe Pantalone, and many more. The final efforts to stop the plan, however, were not very successful, judging from the discussion and from what Mayor David Miller had privately told Gillan.
By 5pm, Jeff Gillan, chair of the Corso Italia BIA, had lost heart. He confirmed, "We'll lose. We're not being listened to. None of our requests are being considered. Joe Pantalone even proposed that instead of reducing the sidewalks they reduce parking space. They rejected his proposal, at least for the moment."
"Mike del Grande," continued Gillan, "asked for $2 million for the five BIAs in compensation for the troubles of local businesses during the works, and that, too, was rejected."
Up to the last moment, technicians remarked that St. Clair residents, in the various meetings and debates, had expressed in favour of Option 6 (the one with barriers protecting the right of way). Councillors Nunziata, Mammoliti, Del Grande, Li Preti and Palacio questioned that. Mitch Stambler admitted that the five BIAs of St. Clair were all against the plan, as well as four of the five City Councillors in the area, with the exception of Joe Mihevc, who favours it.
Rod McPhail, answering a question from Giorgio Mammoliti, could not identify which groups of citizens supported the TTC plan, while the opponents of the plan were very visible, with the group called SOS - Save Our St. Clair. McPhail, and the other components of the Task Force, however, confirmed receiving favourable opinions.
The debate at City Hall did not exhibit these favourable opinions, while 11,000 signatures against the barriers were presented by Cesar Palacio to Mayor Miller.
Another fact that emerged during the discussion is that for the moment only the money for rebuilding the tracks and the shelters have been budgeted, i.e. $25 million for the tracks and $7 million more for the shelters. The money for decoration, replanting trees and replacing lost parking spaces, estimated at $33 million, haven't been budgeted yet.
The councillors also inquired about the environmental and socio-economic assessment of the plan. "The studies have been completed and all alternatives have been verified," replied Mitch Stambler. His answer was greeted with accusation of lying shouted by members of the public.
Councillor Joe Mihevc was also accused of lying because he answered a question from Del Grande about the reactions of the residents saying, "The residents of St. Clair agreed to implement Option 6, provided that parking spaces did not decrease." Members of the public asserted that everybody was against it, not just because of the parking spaces but in general, as they opposed the barriers.
When the debate touched the issue of the additional funds required for beautifying St. Clair - $33 million more - Mayor Miller informed the Council that the City was negotiating with the Federal and Provincial Governments to secure those funds for St. Clair, to be earmarked in the next Municipal budget.
Margaret Smith commented, "Is this evidence that the TTC plan had to pass at any cost? That it really was a done deal, and that the rest was just a smokescreen, a wastage of $600,000 in taxpayer money to hold false consultations?"
The allegation that this was a done deal all along, with the agreement of the mayor, was also voiced by Jeff Gillan, who spoke with Miller in private for half an hour trying to obtain at least a partial stop. Gillan said, "I asked the mayor to block the reduction of the sidewalks and the cutting of trees. I asked him to carry out a traffic test in the first stretch of the street, up to Bathurst. He considered it for less than one minute, then told me that the plan had to be carried out as a whole." This private exchange took place in the morning, around 11am, before the Council debate and the official decision. The deal was done. At 1pm, a desolate Gillan declared, "They didn't listen to us on anything."
So, the battle has been lost, the deal has been done, "despite Miller's electoral promises to listen to and consider the needs and opinions of the communities," was his final remark.

Publication Date: 2004-10-03
Story Location: http://tandemnews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=4472