Torontonians should get two or three chances to choose their mayor - Election Day and at least one run-off - to give mayors a majority "nobody can question," Mike Feldman says.
The veteran North York councillor retires this fall, but at the last city council meeting of his career Feldman got a motion passed to investigate methods of electing Toronto's mayor with at least 50 per cent of the vote in 2014.This week, he explained he has in mind a run-off between the top two mayoral candidates, and possibly others above a certain level of support."They do this in Europe all the time," Feldman said, adding though a run-off or two is "going to cost you a few more bucks" the result will ensure the mayor has a clear mandate.Toronto's mayor is already elected by more voters than any other post in Canada. The proposal by Feldman and East York Councillor Case Ootes, also retiring this year, would require a change in provincial law.The city's executive committee will hear a report on the matter, likely in January.Feldman also said he supports cutting the number of council seats from 44 to 22 while creating 12 new seats for a city-wide board of control.The upper-tier board would replace the mayor's executive committee and control such city-wide services as police, sewers and child care, much as the former Metro Council did before amalgamation. Feldman said the four areas of Toronto with separate community councils - North York, Etobicoke-York, Scarborough, Toronto and East York - would get three votes each on the board.That would help the city's inner suburbs avoid the "downtown-centric" government - one in which "we pay the bills and they get the goodies" - they've had under Mayor David Miller, he said.- Mike Adler