On any given day, Councillor Joe Cressy’s office on the second floor of city hall’s west wing is packed with a small army of people answering phones, returning emails, writing motions, planning public meetings and more.Six staff plus the councillor squeeze into a 700-square-foot space, the size of, these days, a generous one-bedroom condo that includes a small meeting area.Cressy and this team are responsible — with the boundaries of Ward 20 (Trinity-Spadina) stretching generally from Bathurst St. to University Ave., from the Dupont rail corridor to the waterfront — for about 100,000 constituents. In an area about eight square kilometres, it’s more people than all of Pickering, which has a mayor, three local councillors and three regional councillors.As Premier Doug Ford surprised the city by announcing a cut to the size of Toronto’s, and no other, city council from 44 wards to 25, he said that doing so would make things more efficient, that council would be less dysfunctional, while suggesting that the residents of Toronto would be better served.Read more:Tory asks Trudeau to end bail for repeat gun offendersToronto voters have public safety, gun crime on their minds, poll saysOpinion | Heather Mallick: I love taxes. They give us bright shining citiesMany of those who have been doing the job for the last four years, and some much longer, say the importance of daily contact with residents, the responsibility of keeping up with policy on the agenda and representing their area and the city’s interest on various committees, boards and commissions will mean worse service and a diminished opportunity for residents to participate in decision-making. “The process of managing change within neighbourhoods so that neighbourhoods have a say in the change in their neighbourhoods is that fundamental role,” said Cressy. “We are the conduit and the outlet for local residents to help shape their neighbourhoods. In the ...
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