Chris Oullette, one of the members of our CCTV group int he TPSC wrote a letter to the editor as an op-ed piece and it got published. It's some really great writing and it hits on all the important points. Very nice work Chris.
Just a quick note. CCTV was big in The Toronto Star today and an interview with me made it into one of them.
The first article refers to CCTV as nothing more than a "social placebo", and the second is an in-depth look at Toronto's program specifically, closing with a suggestion that we make an official Charter challenge against these cameras.
Now I don't think the TPSC has the kind of resources available to launch a Charter challenge. Hell, I'm not even sure what kind of resources would be required. Maybe we can petition the privacy commissioner to do it for us though? Does that sort of thing happen? Would a legal clinic help? I honestly don't know, but I'm going to find out.
I attended Toronto's Executive Committee meeting today to depute on the new Street Furniture Harmonisation Program. Unlike the the last time deputed at City Hall however, my deputation was much clearer. Sadly though, despite the stronger opposition this time, we lost everything.
This whole Strong Mayor system is quite interesting really. Basically, you have a group of councillors who's sole function is to vote as the Mayor wishes -- regardless of what their constituents want or what they personally feel. This was most evident in Councillor Moscoe's statement that he was going to vote for this project, but he'd be "holding his nose" in doing so. I was appalled really at the lack of interest in Democracy.
We had city staff, who despite the high praise hefted upon them by Miller, really did a shit job on this project. They used financial and quantifying numbers not from their own research, but from numbers supplied by the ad companies bidding on the contract. In one case, they even re-wrote the system of measurement, claiming that even though the amount of ad-space (and eye-level ads) was increasing, the "units" of advertising were smaller.
So lets be clear here. Six square feet of ads on a garbage can on the ground, vs roughly twenty-four square feet of illuminated, eye-level ads are comparable in the eyes of city staff. ...I don't know what to say here.
It was right about at this point where David Meslin referred to this whole process as legalising bribery... and he was right. Astral Outdoor is paying Toronto a lot of money to violate our bylaws.
From our position, we deputed on a variety of different subjects. From the lack of allowed public input, to style comparisons with other cities, to the environmental concerns surrounding energy for illuminated ads, to the fact that Astral Media has a well-documented history of non-compliance with city bylaws. Only one of us mentioned the overabundance of ad-space in this contract, but that was the only thing Miller's council focused on at the end... that is, he focused on it and promptly dismissed it.
I don't know what it is that causes me to think that this sort of thing would work. Clearly, when this project came about two years ago, there was no need for consultation or debate. In a sharply divided council favouring the Mayor, Miller gets what Miller wants. Logic be damned.
Street furniture isn't exactly the kind of thing that you might consider a "hot topic", but it is, nonetheless quite exciting in Toronto these days. With City Hall ready to sign the rights to furniture building & maintenance over to a single ad firm for 20 years and only 3 companies on the bidding list worth roughly $150 million, little things like lawsuits against activist groups are a really big deal.
For starters, Clear Channel, one of the 3 bidders has threatened to sue The Toronto Public Space Committee of which I'm a member, for economic loss last month. The media has finally picked up on this and has gotten a number of high-ranking councillors to condemn the move, claiming that Clear Channel should be disqualified from receiving the street furniture contract.
Then there's the conflict of interest claim by illegalsigns.ca, alledging that the director of this coordinated street furniture program was also working for Astral Outdoor, another one of the bidders as a side contract. John Barber from the Globe also covered this today with his usual flair.
And now Astral is threatening to sue illegalsigns.ca for slander. Who said that street furniture was boring?
It took quite a while, but it's up. Please take a look and let me know what you think. Be kind, this was a lot of work:
Toronto is planning on signing a 20year contract with an advertising company for the supply of our street furniture and they're letting you see the models... but just for today. Then they're gone.
The models will be at City Hall for the balance of the day ('till 8pm). Torontoist has photographs as well. Public input on the furniture that will shape the face of the city however is another story. From an email from the TPSC's street furniture campaign:
According to staff, the models will again go on display for one or two additional days here and there in the coming weeks, depending on public "demand." How will they determine public demand? By 1) the number of people who show up to the exhibit they haven't told the public about. And 2) the "feedback" they receive to the email address they haven't told the public about.
If you have a problem with this, we encourage you to send emails to those people in a position to open up this process: David Nagler, the Public Consultation Coordinator; Andy Koropeski, the Director of Transportation Services; Elyse Parker, the Clean and Beautiful City Secretariat; and Mayor Miller, whose determination to privatize Toronto's civic infrastructure has been the driving force behind this project. Their addresses, respectively, are: streetfurniture@toronto.ca, akoropes@toronto.ca, eparker@toronto.ca, mayor_miller@toronto.ca.
I encourage anyone reading this to stop in on the models today if you can, or at the very least check them out on Torontoist and then send your input to the people making these decisions. Personally, I'm not much of a fan of any of the models -- mostly because these companies have all shown that they can't be trusted.
Below is the official press release from the TPSC's street furniture campaign:
11.5 HOURS FOR 20 YEARS
Street furniture models on display Wednesday for one day onlyIn yet another show of contempt for residents of this City, Transportation Services and Clean and Beautiful City staff have opted to put the models of the City's proposed "street furniture" on display to the public for one day only; they are visible in the City Hall rotunda from 8:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. today, Wednesday, April 4. "This is a contract into which the City would be locked for twenty years," said Jonathan Goldsbie, a campaigner with the Toronto Public Space Committee. "It is unconscionable that City staff could express such disdain towards the people in whose interests they are ostensibly working."
Staff say that they may add additional viewing days in the near future, if there is sufficient demand. How will demand be determined? Through attendance at the exhibition that is not being promoted to the public and through feedback received at an email address that is not being promoted to the public.
Members of the Toronto Public Space Committee will be on hand in the City Hall rotunda today to talk about the "street furniture," to provide the public with information on how to submit their comments, and to explain why this is just the latest fait accompli in a process marked by staff's and the Mayor's indifference towards the wishes and desires of the people of Toronto.
Edit: 2007.04.04 13:15:00
This just in: Jonathan (the TPSC street furniture coordinator) just got this email from the street furniture staff people:
Efforts have been ongoing with Facilities and Real Estate at Toronto City Hall to extend the viewing period of the street furniture models.
Confirmation has been received that street furniture models will be on display at City Hall (west side of rotunda) for a total of five days.
- 8:30am to 8:00pm (April 4, 2007)
- 8:30am to 4:30pm (April 5, 2007)
- 8:30am to 4:30pm (April 10, 2007)
- 8:30am to 4:30pm (April 11, 2007)
- 8:30am to 4:30pm (April 12, 2007)
Thank you for expressing interest. More information is available at toronto.ca/streetfurniture.
This time, I had way more than 2seconds of play too :-)
The CCTV cameras are going up whether we like it or not, and CityTV wanted to do a story on it and interview me. Unfortunately the TPSC position isn't mentioned at all in the text-copy, but my interview is in the video.
CityTV has the story here.
Note that some of these links lead to private posts.
2006 was a big year for the planet. Americans woke up and realised that their leader was insane (well enough of them to kill the Republican dominance in the House and Senate), Europe and China gained momentum on the world stage and the "War on Terrorism" did little more than make more terrorists.
Canada ousted one leading party and invited in a new one that promised to be much the same and our reputation as an environmental leader is now in the toilet. The air is dirtier, the water murkier and we're all trapped in this handbasket of our own weaving.
But contrary to what some might think upon first reading this blog, this site is not about the world, it's just about me and what I'm doing in it. ...and on my own front, a lot of good things happened this year.
On the personal front, some wonderful ladies made their way into my life. Most notably of course would be Melanie who I've been with for over 6months now. We've had our ups and downs, but I'm quite happy with her and I'm glad she's here for the New Year.
I also made a good many new friends through my activist work, not the least of which is Stephen, who I've come to hang out with outside of my responsibilities to the TPSC.
On the professional level, I hopped around a lot this year. February saw me start my career in network administration at Rydium. I loved working there, but couldn't stay for my own moral reasons so I moved onto Primus who treated me so poorly that I chose to leave after only 3months, where after a couple months of job hunting, I found Bodog, a place in which I'm currently quite content with my working arrangements.
I'm proud to say though that the biggest changes for me this year rest in the Why I'm Here section. I joined the Toronto Public Space Committee, a "within the lines of legality" political action group devoted to making this city a place for people not cars or corporations. It's been a great place to get into politics from the bottom up. I've come to learn how City Hall works, talked with councillors directly, given deputations (albeit badly) and most importantly come to understand what needs to be done, and where the power to make those changes rests.
I've worked on campaigns opposing the selling off of street furniture to companies like CBS, helped write the philosophy document for the group, wrote the code for the TPSC website that made headlines during the municipal election and now I'm heading up a very high-profile campaign to fight police cameras on the streets of the city. It's exciting work and its exactly why I came here.
So while we're all still trapped in this handbasket heading straight to hell, I suppose I can still be an optimist. I'm doing what I can to get us out of there, and I suppose that's all I can really hope for. I'm looking forward to 2007.
I had a really busy night tonight but since I've not had much sleep in the past few days (not that I don't enjoy spending time with so many friends, I just don't think my system can support such a social life for extended intervals) I won't be going into great detail as to what my night included.
Basically tonight was very much in the column of Why I'm Here. It started with a presentation from FoodShare where I got to pick their brains about why they aren't pushing for green houses on green roofs. My attendance for the presentation was cut short however by the fact that The Toronto Public Space Committee was holding a general meeting in the same building one floor down.
So, just as the FoodShare presentation was finishing, I took off down the stairs and into the council chambers in Metro Hall. There were about 40 people there tonight, section heads from almost every faction of the committee attended and shared information with the lot of us in an effort to try to get everyone who was interested in doing something talking to the right people.
Subjects covered included things like billboards, the Ontario provincial energy plan, the upcoming municipal election, the city's Street Furniture Harmonisation bid, Art Attack and Ad Trucks. There was even a request from the couple behind newmindspace for volunteers to help with a secret project this Valentines day... (I signed up)
Unlike previous group meetings I'd attended, those who spoke actually had intelligent things to say. People appeared organised and dedicated, spoke with thought and purpose. It was clear that this group wants to get shit done.
After the general meeting we retreated to a little pub for fooding and conversation. I mingled with a few tables, giving out my email address to people who asked. One of the more memorable moments was when we had an interesting conversation about a culture-jamming idea for educating the public regarding where their food comes from. In the space of 5 minutes and 3 brains, we developed a whole action plan for marketing, dissemination, and projected costs. It was awesome.
The TPSC is free to join and they always need new people. They're the ones who actually do the legwork to prevent crap like those super-sized garbage cans from being erected everwhere. If you're interested in taking part, the website is full of information -- or just get a hold of me and I'll hook you up.
I'll be getting involved with Art Attack, the upcoming municipal election and possibly more urban design issues as they become available. Exciting times ;-)