Calls for ‘one simple policy’

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Mayor David Miller has announced he wants to see some changes in the way councillors spend their $53,100 office budgets, in the wake of continuing controversy over expenses such as midnight cab rides, boozy dinners and bunny costumes.
“While councillors are ultimately responsible for the expenses they submit and the vast majority use their budgets appropriately, there is clearly some room for improvement,” said Mayor Miller in a written statement late Tuesday. “The Clerk has advised me she is having difficulty enforcing the intent of the five existing policies and I’ve asked for a report on how we can correct that by having one clear policy.”
Miller made the announcement after more than a week of headlines about councillors’ inappropriate use of their office budgets. The controversy over the $53,100 discretionary office budget has been ongoing since amalgamation a decade ago, but flared up when the city’s Executive Committee dealt with a report on two of Toronto Council’s lowest spenders, Ward 2 (Etobicoke North) Councillor Rob Ford and Ward 3 (Etobicoke Centre) Councillor Doug Holyday.
Ford in particular was taken to task for failing to submit receipts for expenses he’d covered out-of-pocket - a practice that contravenes council’s rules.
But Ford and Holyday pointed out other extraordinary expenses filed by some of their bigger-spending colleagues - such as cab rides between downtown Toronto and Woodbridge at 2:30 a.m., dinners with multiple glasses of wine, limousines, and in one case, a pair of rabbit costumes for an Easter parade.
Miller said that council needs the rules clarified.
“It is appropriate for councillors to have office budgets in order for them to do their jobs and to communicate with their constituents. However, no two wards are alike. They have different needs and challenges, but there needs to be one simple policy to guide everyone,” he said.
Miller is asking for a report comparing Toronto’s rules to other large governments in Canada to be sent to the city’s Executive Committee.