Welcome to the Loon’s City Hall coverage
Hello, fellow citizens of Canada’s London, and welcome to life here, together, where adulting is tough but we have no alternative but to kick butt every day, metaphorically speaking. It’s time for another City Hall Notes column, coming to you from London Ontario Online News every Wednesday lunchtime.
Today we’re being asked to wonder: do the posh parts of London get special treatment? That’s the extremely controversial idea behind this week’s heated debate about infill development. Mayoral candidate Councillor Susan Stevenson may have sparked a wildfire as she tried to say the unsayable in the council chamber, to dismay around the horseshoe. More below.
Despite the heat of all that, City Hall had the air of a workplace switching into summer mode this week, with the start of a new, less-cluttered meeting calendar1 and barely three months until people are putting little Xs in boxes for the season finale of this London City Council2. And, of course, my Loon colleagues have been with you every day, dishing out great stuff in their own areas of speciality.
Did you catch Matt and Steve on the Buckle Up Podcast on Monday? Lots of chat about community and downtown, following Steve’s Reflection video blog on Friday. Meanwhile, Diana was all about books on the Arts and Culture Roundup, and Cedric’s City project gets a separate heading with bullet points below because it’s a whole meal on its own. We’re so pleased to be able to do this.
Phew, so, thank you for subscribing. Every dollar you send makes us stronger as we figure out next steps and just how to make sure Paid Subscribers feel great about supporting local independent journalism. We see you and value you.
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For now, we’re continuing to create and share content widely, while finalizing an agreed approach for how we strengthen this newborn media outlet, and find time to do the bloody admin. We appreciate everyone who has helped us and will keep encouraging you to share widely, and to subscribe and donate.
The 14 Wards of London Ontario
Our Tuesday project is a great example of the work local independent journalists can do, given some basic resources and a bit of an audience. Thanks for following our travels! So, far, Cedric has guided me through:
Ward 1, with Hamilton Road, Glen Cairn, Old East Village and more - Where The Wooden Things Are
Ward 7, featuring Hyde Park, Fox Hollow, Sherwood Forest Mall, plus surroundings - With The Mayors
Ward 11, including Old South, Wortley and environs - With The Village
Next up, on Tuesday, it’s east London’s Ward 43. And there are 14 wards to cover, a long summer ahead - and a municipal election on October 26. Stick with us for 10 more ward visits, and shout my way if you want to get involved. (Listen to the audio for Ward 11 for more on that.)
In this article
Here’s what I’m serving up today. All consumable, or skippable if you want. Let’s make scrolling wholesome again.
Susan Stevenson sparks controversy at council
With mention of two significant planning issues in that ^
Then, something about giant cheques
Planning - coverage of that 38-storey tower
A bit of Education news
A Municipal Lightning Round
And we’re off to watch the World Cup4 and celebrate my awesome kid completing his exams
This is the point we might fade out in future. Because I’m finally getting to the actual news, phew.
Is City Hall fair? Yes, she really said that
We begin with the big moment of the week, Councillor Susan Stevenson’s incendiary comments at the Full Council meeting on Tuesday.
Now, let’s be clear: this is not sensationalism. We avoid that round here, where you’ll rarely experience the type of language that’s become so tired and over-used as people are slammed or an important thing has to be called iconic, and around we go without communicating much in the way of important information.
No, I’m using the moment carefully, and regulating my language: this was huge.
First, the basics
Here’s the reporting, if you’re inclined:
Daryl Newcombe at CTV London reports: Stevenson claims council plays favourites when wealthier neighbourhoods oppose infill development
A partial quote from Daryl’s story:
Stevenson argued that there’s inequity about which neighbourhood groups seem to be successful in their opposition…. She suggested that there’s a growing perception that the concerns expressed by lower income neighbourhoods receive less consideration from Council.
Over at the London Free Press, Jack Moulton also reports on this story: Councillor questions fairness of development decisions across London
There was, of course, a lot of pushback from other councillors, some of them taking exception to the comments, and so on.
It’s about infill developments, apparently
And, tied up in this reporting are the outcomes of several important local planning issues:
Council approved housing at 929 Cheapside Street, which the community united to fight5.
Council declined housing at Fanshawe Park Road and Geary Avenue, which the community united to fight.
As Councillor Jerry Pribil pointed out, these are different developments, taking place in differing circumstances. He’s right, and people have opinions. I really hope that good information wins out over unsubstantiated opinions when people vote this fall, but I have my concerns.
Why this is so difficult
It’s crucial to understand that this story focused on what’s acceptable conduct by a councillor; this is closely regulated in general and most-regulated in the council chamber, with its own procedures. The driver behind that is a need for proper behaviour by elected officials when they make a statement: basically, you have to be able to back up anything you say.
In this case, we’re talking about the type of messaging that’s common on socials, where public figures seem to have more latitude without falling foul of a code of conduct. But to bring something like this up in the chamber… boom. Stevenson, accurately, expressed this in terms of a public perception that should not be ignored, and didn’t seek to make any substantive claims, at least to my ear. But recognizing the very idea in this way has caused consternation. Arguably, it elevates the issue without actually presenting evidence that it’s true.
It’s on the agenda now - do you feel fairly treated? Councillor Stevenson wants to talk about that, and she’s running for mayor.
And, suddenly, we’re in election mode. What a week.
The big cheque - scourge of local journalism
Let’s take a break for an irrelevant rant, which is a feature of this now, apparently.
Back in the Before Times, when people got their news from dead trees with ink smooshed on top, I used to make broadsheet pages for a newspaper in the UK. Most nights I’d do at least two, usually for a local edition and featuring community news and happenings prominently.
I quickly discovered that people really liked big cheques.
Those… things… would show up in flocks. Often our community news operation would generate six separate photos of them and little else, and I grew to detest this increasingly-outdated visual language for “we donated to charity”. Sometimes I would think of an irradiated future hellscape, where our mutated descendants live in homes built from discarded giant cheques, and despair. Happily, we now see these wipe-clean replicas less and less, although of course let’s continue supporting the non-profit sector whether there’s a big cheque or not.
Anyway. Breathe. No harm done. Back to work.
Planning - 38-storey tower proposal stays alive
There was controversy at the Planning and Environment Committee on Monday, which isn’t unusual tbh. Here are two stories, reporting how councillors voted to keep one application alive; this is for a 38-storey downtown building on York Street, near the Men’s Mission and a number of other key local spots.
The gist: Councillors Susan Stevenson and Shawn Lewis supported giving the developer more time to complete required studies and advance the project, David Ferreira supported redevelopment but only if concerns about height and emissions are addressed, while Sam Trosow argued the application should be rejected and resubmitted once those issues are resolved.
The reporting: London Free Press and CTV News.
Education Corner
I’m still hoping an education expert will pop up and offer to do a guest column on this. For now, you get me, a local dad who didn’t go to school here and continues to be amazed by the whole thing, working on general principles of journalism to share some stories.
Anyway, it’s all kicking off at the Catholic Board, where trustees are pushing back on plans to cut nearly 20 librarians and other support staff. Reporting from LFP and CTV.
Note this involves trustees running again, notably Board Chair Gabe Pizzuti, who spoke to the Free Press’s Heather Rivers Davey back in March about the role of trustees. He’s staying the course. LINK
More from education:
Here’s great CBC London story about a school project that’ll warm your heart.
And an interesting reflective piece, also from CBC, about the end of the school year and how teachers feel about challenges in their sector.
And our public broadcaster also reports on coming changes to education here.
Good work from CBC. Most of their resources focus on provincial stories but of course London is affected.
The Municipal Lightning Round
Nearly done. Remember there is no exam - skim it, and take what you can from it. Let’s finish off by rounding up some other local government storytelling.
Here’s an unusual story. A local teen, running against Elizabeth Peloza in Ward 12 (and her only current opponent- see the MEGAPOST here) has designed a micro-home to help the housing crisis. Apparently he’s going to live in one, too.
In housing, the Doorways to Dreams project in Old East Village had a milestone as it works on much-needed affordable housing. That’s Gerry Dewan from CTV London covering the groundbreaking ceremony for the 24-storey apartment tower at 763–773 Dundas Street, which totals 247 units.
And Mayor Josh Morgan spoke at City Hall on Tuesday to praise the actions of off-duty paramedic Mia L’Heureux, who stepped up to help people during the Sherwood Forest Mall crash. The latest on that is here.
Enough
Every week, eh? This is enjoyable, and something I can do in a fixed number of hours while I continue to find the right partners in my main job, communications.
As always, I send massive, sincere thanks to everybody joining in, especially the four amazing Londoners who are creating content with me. Thanks for being part of the Loon, everybody, and watch this space as we develop!
I’m off to watch Scotland play Brazil in the World Cup6 so if you don’t hear from me for a few days, don’t worry - it’s only a shattering of the human spirit and we’re all used to it. We’ll bounce back.
Cheers, big ears
- Mike
The London Ontario Online News lineup
New content every day
We’re teaming up to send you a new feature every weekday:
Monday - Buckle Up - podcast with Matt Brown
Tuesday - Tour with Cedric Richards
Wednesday - City Hall Notes by Mike Donachie
Thursday - the Forest City Arts and Culture Roundup by Diana Tamblyn
Friday - Reflecting - with Steve Cordes
And free on Fridays: the ROUNDUP, briefing you on the stories you need to know, gathered in one place. Regular analysis of the issues affecting London and the region.
City Hall’s summer includes various gaps of up to three weeks at a time. This is customary, and I plan to switch to some issues-based columns, and more election coverage as that heats up. Open to some guest columnists, too…
I feel like this oversells it. I’m worried it’ll be like the end of Game of Thrones or, worse, The Sopranos, which I’m still trying to figure out tbh. Annoying. Still, we’re watching all the way to the end. We’re invested in it now.
Where I live.
HOPE IS ALIVE (just)
DISCLOSURE: I am a local resident and agree this was too much infill for the site, due to the lack of parking and potential effect on nearby streets.
I know that Canada also play today. Please do not deport me.
Well geez, Stephenson is hardly the first councillor to have said that in chambers. Is it true? Well just look at who contributes to whose campaign for one clue.
Old east village, the heart of a community, gutted for parking at the behest of Business. Now there’s really nothing but old building and gaps for people who can’t afford to go anywhere else. And all the cars bringing customers have gone to do business cheaper farther away. We weren’t the only city to bow to this commerce and the consequences have been roosting for decades.
No people, no business.
I’m going to end this rant. I’m starting to sound like Walter Gretzkyks evil reflection.