world19News #133
October 30, 2003

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The last (for now) in our "catch up" newsletters....
 
In this issue
1. Email woes
2. world19 Photo gallery on the web
3. Election notes:
  - Ward 13 ACM's
  - Ward 14 candidate changes
  - Trustee race
 - Dirty deeds in Ward 14?
  - Mayoralty Race
  - Follow the money
4. Bloor West Village notes
5. Swansea Town Hall Residence issue
6. BWV Residents' Association?


1. EMAIL WOES
Apologies for any problems with our newsletter deliveries of late. Sympatico is having some serious email delivery problems. Some of our newsletters have been delivered multiple times.  Our last newsletter, sent Oct 20 was re-delivered to some people on Oct. 25.


2. WORLD19 PHOTO GALLERY
We have recently begun posting some pictures on our website that may be of interest.   Our home page will provide the links (www.world19.com). Among our pictures are:
 - world19's July 11 Garden Party / reception for David Miler
 - The May dedication of the Jamie Bell High Park Adventure Playground
 - Farewell from the Runnymede & Humber movie theatres
 - 2003 Municipal Election
 - Garbage & litter


3. ELECTION NOTES
a) Ward 13 ACM Nov. 3:
A reminder about the last of three All-Candidate Meetings for Council:

Monday, Nov. 3, 6:30pm
West Toronto Baptist Church
3049 Dundas St. W. (just west of High Park Ave)
Sponsored by the Junction Residents' Association
For more info:  416 767-6680 or
www.westtorontojunction.com


b) Ward 14:
In our previous issue we reported all the registered candidates. At the time we sent it out we had heard that David Smaller had withdrawn from the campaign, but since we hadn't seen official notice, we didn't want to report that. It is now official, as reported on his website, www.davidsmaller.ca

We also neglected to note that one of the Ward 14 candidates, Walt Jarsky, is a long-time subscriber to our newsletter, and wish him good luck.

c) School Trustee
When we reported the list of council candidates in our last newsletter, we neglected to list candidates for School Trustee. Originally, it appeard that both Public and Separate trustees were headed for acclamation. However, long-time Separate School Trustee Barbara Poplowski is facing a challenge from Caira Bracken-Roche, a recent high school graduate. Caira has been active in a number of areas locally, bothin within and outside the education area. (See http://www3.sympatico.ca/maireb).

With trustees' roles so diminished, it's not surprising there are few candidates running -- so we're glad to see some competion for an importante position, and we're also happy to see a new face in the local political scene.


c) Dirty deeds (local version)
The mayoralty campagin has been full of scandals, accusations, and . Lying about flights, suspicious pre-election campaigning, and now bribery or non-bribery.  Ward 14 is now the scene of anonymous mud-slinging. One of our subscribers, active in the community is one of a number of people who have received anonymous letters (addressed with pre-printed address labels), containing some politically-irrelevant mud-slinging directed at one of the leading candidates, Sylvia Watson. The articles were reprinted from old issues of Frank.

d) Mayoralty election
The race has taken a major turn over the last couple of months: surprising to some, but not to us. At the beginning of July, we sent out and posted our endorsement of David Miller, in preparation for our Garden Party/Miller reception. We have avoided commenting or editorializing further since then, and at this point only want to re-affirm our support for him in this now tight race. As before, we encourage other supporters to keep spreading the word. On our home page (www.world19.com), you'll find a link to our original endorsement, and also the text of an email we received recently supporting David Miller. Please feel free to copy that and email it to your friends...

f) VoteToronto -- follow the money
Some interesting information at a brand-new website, www.votetoronto.ca. Election news, endorsements, and most important some very interesting analysis of election donations and voting records of the past council. If you follow the "follow the money link", you can find information about the big money donors (given recent political news, it's fun to see where and how often notorious lobbyist Jeffrey Lyons pops up, as well as Universal Workers' Union Local 183, one of the biggest backers of the Island Airport bridge & expansion.

See today's City Pulse news story: http://www.pulse24.com/cityVoteTO/index.asp?id=1231&mth=10&yr=2003&dy=29

4. BLOOR WEST VILLAGE NOTES
a) Wilkie's
In reporting recently the closing of Wilkie's Cameras, we should have mentioned the closign was due to retirement.

b) Dining in the Village
BWV's top-end restaurant, Lemon Miringue will be having some competition before long. Foccaccia, located near Bloor & Yonge has been recognized for years as one of the better restaurants in Toronto. They will be opening a new restaurant, "Bloom" early next year in BWV, in the former Humber Sports location. Foccaccia's long-time chef, Sam Gassira will be cooking.

c) No Frills
We've reported before the long-time rumours about Rennie's No Frills in the Village. A reader has reported that Rennie & Liz are moving to a new store at Dundas & Lansdowne, but current staff are staying on at the Bloor location.

5. SWANSEA TOWN HALL RESIDENCES
We recently received the following note from someone involved with the Swansea Town Hall Residences:
"You may not be aware that responsibility for non-profits was downloaded on the municipalities by the province last year. While under the Ministry of Housing we maintained our own waiting lists for both market value units and subsidized units.

The province changed the rules when they shifted responsibility to the City of Toronto. We are now required to use a central registry whenever a subsidized unit becomes available. In theory this makes sense but there is provision for an exception to the rule. We are very much a community organization. Our Board is made up of four residents plus representatives of SARA, SASA, the Historical society, the Horticultural Society and the Town Hall Board of Management.

In order to comply with a promise made to the community we will be asking Council to make an exception. There is a precedent which is the Actors non-profit. "

From world19:
For anyone interested in any issues to do with the residences, or to apply for residence, contact the property manager, Les Aykler at 416-413-1300.

We would be interested to hear from anyone concerned in any way with the issue: should the community get priority for both types of residences, or should anyone in the City get equal consideration in any such subsidized accommodation?



6. BLOOR WEST VILLAGE RESIDENTS' ASSOCIATION
We've been contacted by a new subscriber who is interested in exploring the idea of a residents' association for the BWV area, north of Bloor. We would be very interested in encouraging this -- and would be interested in hearing from others who might also be interested.

For world19,
John Leeson

world19:
Supporting citizen involvement in our community and its future.
Phone: 416 766-8605
email: world19@world19.com
web:   www.world19.com