HELLO! IT IS ME.
+taps mic+
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BUT NOT THIS TIME. All 300 of us can take this jaunt to 300 Dufferin, virtually and in person, to hear about the 15 elected reps who manage our billions for us.
So here’s your City Hall Notes update for this week. We have a range of committees, including an extra Full Council meeting happening this very morning (Wednesday) - that’s City Hall coverage fresher than your local asparagus.
Why do this? Because it’s good for us all. This is my part-time1 side gig, in the public interest, producing regular non-scary briefings on local government issues, to help our city’s top people2 (that’s you) make good decisions. And, we are asking for some small resourcing to help us get well-established.
Thanks for considering it!
Time for some news. Let’s go.
‘Downtown Reimagined’ - the 10-year plan
Undeniably this week’s biggest local government issue, the new downtown plan also generated some serious emissions from City Hall on Tuesday as a big ole chat took place. This is huge: the next 10-year masterplan for the city’s core, and here it is, landing on desks less than four months before an election.
And, it’s impossible to talk about the economic health of downtown without immediately pointing out its public order and homelessness issues, which are significant barriers to large parts of our population participating in anything downtown. That’s what happened at the committee on Tuesday - the economic discussion turned into “Yeah, but look…”
This problem is not going away.
The gist: it’s a vision for downtown London and the riverfront, containing 58 actions with an estimated cost of $48 million. Developed by the Canadian Urban Institute, it focuses on four priorities: creating a river district, improving public spaces, building on London’s music and cultural identity, and establishing a dedicated downtown governance body. The plan aims to increase the number of people living downtown, attract investment, support mixed-use development, and strengthen the core as a vibrant neighbourhood rather than primarily a business district.
And it has generated discussion, oh yes. There are views.
Reporting - downtown masterplan
The London Free Press very much specializes in this kind of reporting, as the newspaper of record for London, practised in representing conflict in a genteel manner. In his article, City Hall reporter Jack Moulton quotes no fewer than nine people: downtown makeover plan: support and skepticism.
Our pal Daryl Newcombe from CTV London was also on the story, with this excellent preview focused on BIAs feeling left out. Daryl’s reporting from the committee, which notes councillors did endorse this 10-year plan, can be found here, and includes a neat two-minute summary from the nightly news.
Further, Andrew Lupton’s perspective on the plan, which was published pre-meeting, is good stuff and worth a look. I have a lot of time for Andrew, who works for CBC London, of course.
Discussion
This was a lot to follow. However, we now live in a dystopian future where I can speed up the process with an A.I. assistant. Here’s how Uncle Philip sums up who said what3:
Mayor Josh Morgan: Supports the plan as a rare opportunity to transform downtown into a thriving mixed-use neighbourhood and attract long-term investment.
Mary Rowe, President and CEO, Canadian Urban Institute: Argued London should build on its existing strengths through more housing, amenities and focused downtown investment.
Vicki Smith, Interim Executive Director, Downtown London BIA: Supports the proposed downtown office as a way to reduce red tape and improve investment attraction.
Mike Wallace, Executive Director, London Development Institute: Endorsed the plan and advocated for more mixed-use development and private-sector investment downtown.
Kevin Morrison, Executive Director, Old East Village BIA: Supports the plan but stressed that lessons from downtown revitalization should benefit other business districts as well.
David Ferreira, Ward 13 councillor: Praised the plan as a practical roadmap and argues that improving downtown will benefit the entire city while helping change public perceptions.
Sam Trosow, Ward 6 councillor: Supports efforts to strengthen downtown but wants the city to explore stronger measures to reduce persistent commercial vacancies.
Paul Van Meerbergen, Ward 10 councillor: Believes homelessness, addiction, crime and street disorder must be addressed before downtown revitalization efforts can succeed.
Susan Stevenson, Ward 4 councillor and mayoral candidate: Said the plan puts revitalization ahead of resolving visible homelessness and addiction issues downtown.
And the money
It’s also worth noting that it’s described in media as a “$48m plan”, which is really just news shorthand for “pots of cash”. As always, public spending forms the core of any discussion at City Hall, and on doorsteps this summer and fall. This time, people will ask: why make downtown all fancy when it’s also a showcase of social ills?
It’s a bloody good question. Do you feel the City of London spends your money well? That’s on a lot of minds and will influence every vote.
Let’s move on to other issues now.
BREAKING: controversy on development charges.
A discussion has been taking place at Full Council this morning, at a special meeting with just this one main issue: to reduce development charges, to encourage homebuilders. This follows Mayor Josh Morgan’s discussions with other Big City Mayors and is on a tight deadline - an application needs to be with the Province of Ontario by this Friday, apparently. And it’s competitive with other municipalities, and involves all kinds of details.
This issue involves some similar stakeholders to those mentioned above, including the London Home Builders’ Association and London Development Institute.
As I write, Councillor Susan Stevenson has just attacked the plan for a lack of transparency, commenting about tight deadlines and when council meetings were or were not planned. Councillor Corrine Rahman has also been expressing concerns in the meeting.
And, it’s important to give a full picture of the meeting, so I will report back when I can4. The vote will happen soon, but I will take time to do this well and gather sources. I’m hitting "“publish” as the meeting continues with comments from the mayor.
Education cuts
A note on education coverage: I feel strongly that London needs more education reporting. I’m having a go with what I can round up here and there, and it deserves a particular focus, in my opinion, so I’m giving that some thought. I’m open to guest posts and other contributors, especially when we get into the summer and we’re not covering committees so much.
There are a few areas like this, where I feel the Loon can meet needs by scaling up. Again, thinking. And, of course I have partners now and we are discussing where we take this brand-new business.
Getting to the news, there’s one story still of note right now. The cuts to London Catholic school board facing criticism over proposed cuts to education staff, including librarians, are continuing to generate headlines. In this story, the trade union CUPE expresses dismay.
Latest: municipal election 2026
The candidates have trickled in and it looks like we have pretty much everyone now.
So I updated the MEGAPOST: The London City Hall Steeplechase, which now has more photos, the platforms for more than 40 people, and lots of tidying-up. Please take a look and share it as a public resource. It complements the Tuesday posts that Cedric and I are doing about wards. We have completed two so far: Ward 1 and Ward 7, and on Tuesday it’s Ward 11, including Old South.
Please follow along! And still thinking about those folks affected by the crash on Friday. Latest: woman charged.
Construction alert: people of Byron, be aware
Great googly moogly a CTV London headline includes the phrase “long haul” in relation to construction in Byron. The story is here and the gist is the City has begun a major reconstruction of Boler Road, covering the 2.6-kilometre corridor between Commissioners Road West and Southdale Road West.
It’s a $6.59-million project and expected to continue until summer 2027, including replacement of aging water infrastructure, installation of a separated two-way cycle track, upgraded pedestrian crossings and traffic signals, and improvements to transit stops and sidewalk connections.
This is already under way, and closes Boler Road between Byron Baseline Road and Griffith Street until October. There’s a signed detour via Byron Baseline Road, Colonel Talbot Road, and Southdale Road West.
Oh my.
Wheeeeeeeee! It’s derby time
Marvellous fun at SoHo’s soapbox derby, with local politicians showing they can be good sports, and also ballast5. That involves Terence Kernaghan MPP, Councillor David Ferreira and Councillor Skylar Franke. But the real star was the 13-year-old winner aboard a vehicle called Cobra Chicken. Nice one.
ARGH, EDIT, now with link.
Straight to the source? Noooooo…
On City Hall procedure and agendas: I always like to link to the primary source, in case there’s someone out there who is prepared to jump on that grenade due to a desperate desire to find out if it will explode. And this last week’s seen some unusual scheduling so I’m doing a wee guide here.
Here are the agendas for recent meetings, but skim this FFS no no no:
Community and Protective Services: Special meeting about the Byron legion donating the Byron Springbank Veterans Monument to Springbank Park. This meeting was short, and needed to reword the bylaw. Council members took the opportunity to say thanks and welcome the whole thing; there were comments from Mayor Josh Morgan, Deputy Mayor Shawn Lewis and Councillors Elizabeth Peloza, Corrine Rahman and Anna Hopkins, whose ward includes the park.
Infrastructure and Corporate Services: more contracts re BRT and other major projects. Included an item about landfill odours.
Strategic Priorities and Policy: the big downtown discussion, which followed an item about the economic development strategy. Lots of info to unpack here.
Full Council: an unusual morning meeting, taking place today (Wednesday), to discuss development charges.
Enough
That’s a lot, right? And, I hope I’ve arranged it in a way that some of it sticks, and helps you, and continues to spread strong, accurate information through our community, to the betterment of us all.
As noted above, we have a resource ask. We very much appreciate everyone’s encouragement, and we can tell some of you are waiting to see what happens next. Stick with us! Lots to come.
And please do this:
and this:
Thanks very much! You’re lovely.
- Mike
(Back Friday with a ROUNDUP.)
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The idea was 1 to 2 days per week and remains the goal, argh
“Top men.” And people of all genders.
I checked for errors but it seems ok - lmk if there is any problem and I’ll edit.
This is journalism. I’m treating noon as my deadline every Wednesday, knowing I can add more to the ROUNDUP on Friday.
Sometimes a Simpsons ref is mandatory.