City ombudsman’s term extended 2 years, rather than full 5

Calling it a “compromise,” Mayor Rob Ford’s motion to extend city ombudsman Fiona Crean’s term for two years, rather than a full five years, passed in council by a vote of 41-3 on Tuesday night.

Crean’s term was set to end on Nov. 16, 2013.

Crean made headlines when she released a scathing report that accused Mayor Ford’s office of tampering with the process that appoints civilians to city boards and agencies.

Council earlier voted 38-5 in favour of a Toronto Community Housing report which approves the sale of 55 homes to help finance repair backlogs.

The approved report also includes a plan to retain 564 of 614 single-family homes as part of an affordable rental and home ownership plan.

The three-day council meeting started Tuesday morning with several other big items on the agenda, including a proposed deal between the city and the provincial transit agency Metrolinx for control over four light-rail transit (LRT) lines.  Citizen appointments to the TTC board were made shortly before council called it a night, but no names have been released yet.

City council could also decide this week whether Mayor Rob Ford should be reprimanded for “denigrating the professional reputation” of Toronto’s medical officer of health on his talk radio show.

Integrity commissioner Janet Leiper says the mayor and his brother, Coun. Doug Ford, breached the city’s code of conduct for councillors when they criticized Dr. David McKeown’s report called Road to Health: Improving Walking and Cycling in Toronto that called for lower speed limits on city streets last spring on their show.

Leiper began investigating after Coun. Joe Filion filed a complaint on May 9 about the Ford brothers’ comments. On his show, Mayor Ford called McKeown’s $294,302 annual salary an “embarrassment” and said he would “look into that and try and straighten things out.” The mayor also called McKeown’s study “nonsense.”

On the same show Coun. Doug Ford referred to McKeown as “this guy” and asked “why does he still have a job?”

The mayor admitted he hadn’t read McKeown’s report in full, and he and his brother hadn’t read the Ontario Public Health Standards, which governs McKeown’s mandate.

In a letter, the mayor later retracted his statements but didn’t apologize.

Leiper is recommending council reprimand the Fords or impose sanctions, including suspension of remuneration for 90 days. She also wants another request for an apology.

She said in a report “… a reprimand will underline Council’s expectations for all of its members that the public service are entitled to expect that members of Council will meet the ‘highest standards of conduct’ from members of Council.”

When it comes to transit, council will mull a proposed deal to have Metrolinx take control of the LRT lines.

The province has provided $8.4 billion to build new lines on Eglinton Avenue, Finch Avenue West, Sheppard Avenue East and to convert the Scarborough RT.

Coun. Gord Perks, and other councillors have warned the deal would give Metrolinx too much say as to how many stations would be built on each line and how far apart they’d be placed.

Councillors will also debate whether the executive director of the municipal licensing and standards committee should develop a “regulatory regime” and report back to council with recommendations on how to address the use of medical marijuana at so-called vapour lounges.

Proposed amendments to city rules for strip clubs will be discussed, including nailing down the definition of a “designated entertainment area” in clubs and how they should be built.

And council is also set to discuss a proposed water rate increase of three per cent, beyond the existing plan, starting in 2015.

Tuesday’s meeting started with Coun. Shelley Carroll delivering a petition, endorsed by former Price is Right host and animal activist Bob Barker, to council to have three elephants at the Toronto Zoo transported to a sanctuary in California.

The animals, Iringa, Toka and Thika, were supposed to be transported last month but the trip was postponed due to issues with permits, flight arrangements, crate training and the risk of infectious disease at the Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) facility, according to Toronto Zoo CEO John Tracogna.

The ZooCheck Canada petition contained approximately 30,000 signatures.

CityNews.ca is live streaming Tuesday’s council meeting here.

Click here to see the full agenda.