Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Thursday, July 21, 2011

City streetscapes latest target for Toronto’s cuts

Programs to improve the appearance of city streets should be considered for cuts, says consulting firm KPMG.

In its latest report on city services, released Wednesday, KPMG says city council should consider eliminating public art programs.

The program uses art to beautify public spaces. Recent city commissions include Watertable at the entrance to Fort York and the Moth Gardens in the Downsview Memorial Parkette at Keele and Wilson.

The parkette features sculptures commemorating Gypsy Moth and Tiger Moth aircraft built in Downsview, although The Star’s Fixer reported recently that the five windsocks are in tatters and bleached out.

The program also requires developers to set aside 1 per cent of the cost of their project to install art – the big red canoe in the park at the City Place condos being an example.

KPMG suggests scrapping the program would save $95,000 a year, but it doesn’t make the suggestion with a lot of enthusiasm.

“Program appears to generate substantial investments in public art at modest costs to the city,” the consultant says.

Council could also get rid of its public realm improvement program, which fixes up forgotten or neglected corners of the city such as traffic islands, boulevards and subway entrances.

And a program that provides grants and tax breaks to preserve heritage buildings could also be dropped, the consultant says.

In both cases, KPMG says there are downsides. Getting rid of public realm improvements “will impact the look and dynamism of the city,” while axing heritage protection “may make it more difficult to convince owners to retain heritage buildings.”

A recent initiative by the city to clean up sign litter could be turned back if council accepts KPMG’s advice to stop inspecting illegal signs and investigating complaints.

Turning to the city’s urban planning efforts, the consultant suggests council look at streamlining the review of development applications; and harmonize site planning.

Site plan approval looks to improve the look of a building, and controls such issues as garbage storage, parking, loading and landscaping.

In some cases, the site plan rules don’t appear to be worth the effort — in particular when it comes to single family homes, KPMG suggests.

“The value added by city planning does not appear to be commensurate with the amount of effort required to process certain site plan applications,” the report said.

The report focused on programs overseen by council’s planning and growth management committee. Reports on programs under other committees have already been filed.

Next week, KPMG’s look at the operations of city agencies and boards, such as the TTC, goes to council’s executive committee.

Origin
Source: Toronto Star 

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