Toronto City Councillors spending your money

Top 10 spenders

#1 Howard Moscoe  $53,097
#2 Adam Giambrone  $52,696
#3 Michael Thompson $52,509
#4 Joe Mihevc  $52,336
#5 Giorgio Mammoliti $52,127
#6 Maria Augimeri  $51,973
#7 Paula Fletcher  $51,270
#8 Peter Li Preti  $50,247
#9 Joe Pantalone  $49,393
#10 Pam McConnell  $49,211

Toronto City councillors seem to think the money they spend with abandon is their own and forget they have a responsibility to spend it wisely because it is taxpayers money.

Eight of the top 10 spenders when it comes to their office budgets are NDP’ers. The maximum permitted councillor office budget is $53,100 which is in addition to their $180,000 staff budget.

Top spending rookie councillors in their first term of office include: Adam Giambrone, Michael Thompson, Paula Fletcher, Glenn De Baeremaeker, Sylvia Watson and Shelley Carroll.

These councillors have no problems in raising property taxes 3%, 1.5% on businesses and apartments, adding a new tax on high-rise tenant and condo garbage that you know will rise in future years, cutting the road pothole repair budget by 1/2 million to 2-1/2 million and freezing library funding. They even had the gall to cut TTC operating funding by $15 million and then raise transit fares to make up the difference while councillor Shelley Carroll said the new fare structure would benefit the poor.

Yet, over this term, Mayor Miller and his NDP dominated council have expanded the grants to their lobbyist friends by millions.

Then there is the $195 million "profit" that Toronto Hydro now generates from increased electricity charges, that is really a hidden tax on Toronto residents.

The NDP’ers record on travel expenses some call taxpayer-paid vacations would turn any head including:

• The $2,771 spent by new councillor Shelley Carroll during 4 cold days of November to visit sunny New Orleans for the 5th National Harm Reduction Conference plus one other trip to total $4,348.
• Pam McConnell spent $14,381 -- $1,494 for three days in Hamilton $1,364 out of the Toronto Police Services Board to attend the Ontario Association of Police Services Board.
• Howard Moscoe spend $15,966 in his travels
• Joe Pantalone spent $8,829 with $3,340 to attend the International Council for Local Environment Issues in Seoul Korea, adding to air pollution by his overseas trip. He also attended the European Business Mission for 15 days but had most of the costs covered by the Italian Canadian Chamber of Commerce, which I hope they informed their members about.
• Kyle Rae’s total travel costs exceeded even the Mayor’s at $18,819, with $8,189 for Frankfurt and Berlin, Germany and Milan, Italy over 12 days for the European Business Development Mission, $4,998 over 8 days in London England, for the Making Cities Livable Conference, $3,077 over 10 days in Bangkok, Thailand for the International AIDS Conference, $1,582 over 3 days in New Orleans for the International Network Gay Lesbian Officials, and $973 over 4 days in Philadelphia for an "Equity Forum".

When will these people get into the 21st century by teleconferencing or internet conferencing, rather than spending so much taxpayer money on these trips?

Though the financial picture is generally foreboding at City Hall, there are some bright new faces, who were near the bottom of the spending list, headed by Cliff Jenkins, followed by newcomers Gay Cowbourne, Karen Stintz, and Mike Del Grande. Too bad they are in the minority.

Office spending by the remaining councillors

#11 David Socknacki  $48,753
#12 Raymond Cho  $48,670
#13 Frank Di Giorgio $48,590
#14 Glenn De Baeremaeker $48,425
#15 Bill Saundercook $48,350
#16 Sylvia Watson  $47,555
#17 Mark Grimes  $47,256
#18 Norm Kelly  $46,407
#19 Kyle Rae   $46,195
#20 Shelley Carroll  $45,776
#21 Janet Davis $45,585
#22 Sandra Bussin  $45,025
#23 Michael Walker  $44,458
#24 Olivia Chow  $42,938
#25 John Filion   $42,682
#26 Cesar Palacio  $42,368
#27 Suzan Hall   $40,006
#28 Case Ootes  $38,681
#29 Mike Del Grand  $38,630
#30 Denzil Minnan-Wong $38,056
#31 Karen Stintz  $37,423
#32 Jane Pitfield  $35,615
#33 David Shiner  $35,278
#34 Peter Milczyn  $34,741
#35 Bas Balkissoon  $33,543
#36 Gay Cowbourne $32,923
#37 Brian Ashton  $32,774
#38 Gerry Altobello  $30,700
#39 Cliff Jenkins  $29,643
#40 Gloria Lindsay Luby $18,550
#41 Mike Feldman  $15,366
#42 Frances Nunziata $2,744
#43 Doug Holyday   $1,549
#44 Rob Ford   $8