By Steve Kupferman, Torontoist

SPOTTED BY: HiMY SYeD, from the Torontoist Flickr Pool.
WHERE: Stapled to a fence at the High Park Zoo.
WHEN: Saturday, April 14
WHAT: City council cut the High Park Zoo’s budget earlier this year, but thanks to a generous private donation it will probably be fine for the time being. Even so, it seems at least one member of the public is still inclined to hold Mayor Rob Ford to account. We’re pretty sure those numbers aren’t accurate, and the penmanship and spelling could use some …

By Samina Esha, National Post
The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 79 representing cities part-time recreation workers are set to vote on Tuesday. The voting comes after union reached a tentative deal following a five-hour negotiation with the city on Friday morning.
“I wouldn’t say we are happy because that is a pretty strong term. In terms of the agreement, it is a development from what the city had originally offered,” said Cim Nunn, a spokesman for the CUPE 79.
The two main issues for the …

Posted by Emily Burke on Tuesday, March 20, 2012 | OpenFile Toronto
With only today and tomorrow remaining before city council’s big transit meeting, the mayor could be using these final hours to show council his funding strategy for underground transit along Sheppard. Instead, he’s handing out flyers with images of light-rail crashes that have caused fatalities.
Rather than sorting out his own numbers and committing to a concrete plan, he’s trying to sway the centrist councillors by scaring them out of voting for LRT. But the …

Posted by John Michael McGrath, OpenFile Toronto
Here’s an item from the weekend that shouldn’t be missed: the Toronto Star/Angus Reid survey on Rob Ford’s approval rating, subways, and who Torontonians trust on these issues. But before we dive in to the numbers, why does a poll like this matter three years before an election? Because the Mayor and his brother Doug Ford (Ward 2, Etoicoke North) think they’ve got re-election in the bag. From Marcus Gee’s Saturday column in the Globe and Mail:
Councillor Ford said …

Posted by John Michael McGrath, OpenFile Toronto
A live-blog of the Toronto City Council meeting for October 24th, 2011.

Blog photo by Himy Syed via Flickr

View the story “After I went to bed, #StarWarsCouncil started trending” on Storify]

Posted by John Michael McGrath, OpenFile Toronto
Apparently following on the success of #councildrinks, some of the tricksters who keep an eye on city council meetings started a new hashtag game on Twitter last night: Star Wars-themed jokes about city council. Some of the best ones from earlier this morning.
View the story “#starwarscouncil” on Storify]
 
Blog photo by phil g via Flickr.

By Derek Flack, blogTO
Shortly after Toronto City Council passed the 2011 budget by a vote of 31-14, Rob Ford proclaimed that it was a “great day for Toronto residents.” Although major questions loom on account of the $774-million hole facing the City in 2012 — a subject bizarrely decried off-limits by Speaker Frances Nunziata — as promised, there will be no property tax increase this year. And while Ford and his supporters claim that there were no major service cuts associated with the …

By Katie Daubs, Toronto Star
Ken Wood can’t afford glitzy t-shirts. His campaign office is his basement apartment and his best asset is his colour printer.
“I’m the poor people’s candidate,” Wood told a group of would-be councillors, adding that he lives off a disability allowance.
Mayoral candidate HiMY SYeD, (who spells his name with lower-case vowels in homage to a former teacher) held a gathering for “unincumbent” candidates like Wood at the Dovercourt Baptist Church on Monday. Since nine councillors are retiring or running for mayor this year, …

By Kelly Grant, The Globe and Mail
Update: A white knight has emerged! It’s Weizhen Tang, the alleged ponzi schemer who calls himself the “Chinese Warren Buffett.” He just registered for mayor.
It’s 2 p.m. on Sept. 9, 2010. If you’re one of those white knights Torontonians have been begging to jump into the mayor’s race, you have exactly 24 hours to make up your mind. Registrations close tomorrow at 2 p.m. David Miller? Adam Vaughan? Bueller? In the likely event that a hero doesn’t emerge, the field is set. Thirty-eight people …

From Mondovile
Who will have the best social media strategy for the November 2010 Toronto municipal election?
Mayoral candidate George Smitherman is laying low until spring; Rocco Rossi can’t decide whether to tweet under his partisan @liberalrocco handle or go for @roccothevoteTO; Giorgio Mammoliti promises a “no-nonsense campaign” that probably has no role for a Twitter consultant.
Back when nobody was heeding much attention to these details, though, compulsively chronicling the 2006 vote via Web 2.0 was Himy Syed — who planted himself on the ballot of central-west downtown Ward 19 to watch …

By Adam Chaleff-Freudenthaler, Spacing Toronto
Last updated: 12:25AM, Tuesday, October 23.
Today Toronto City Council will be debating and voting on a land transfer tax and vehicle registration fee. The debate promises to be a spirited one and given what’s on the line, it’s safe to say that there will be plenty of fireworks to see.
I encourage people to go down to City Hall in person to see Council at work but for those who have daytime obligations, you can also follow along online.
I’ll also provide …

By The Mississauga Muse
This week in the Blog entry, “Who Runs this Town?” Announcement –City Idol documentary World Premiere” I shared a press release from the good folks at Who Runs this Town?
It began:
“For anyone who is interested in city politics, civic engagement, social exclusion and creative activism, this film is for you!
“City Idol” will have its world premiere at Toronto’s Hot Docs Festival…
and later stated:
“World Premiere: Thursday April 26th, 9:30pm. Royal Cinema”
Well, my husband and I decided to go see it. I went because some of the …

Why Vote?
Video Produced by Who Runs This Town
Headshot photos by HiMY SYeD.

By Dale Duncan, Eye Weekly
The Music Hall is almost packed when the lights dim and David Meslin walks onto the stage to kick off City Idol, the first in a series of events during which audience members will choose four candidates to run in November’s municipal election. The show is starting a bit behind schedule, and the crowd of nearly 600 people is getting anxious; after all, they have decided to spend their Friday night listening to a marathon of 82 back-to-back speeches by wannabe politicians.
It’s pure coincidence auditions for …