[URBAN NOTE] "Stintz to chair new 11-member TTC board"

[rfmcdonald]

After a debate liveblogged in detail by Torontoist's Hamutal Dotan, CP24 reports the bare bones of the defeat of Mayor Ford's initiative to create a TTC board without city councillors. Instead, Stintz' plan to have an eleven-member board with seven city councillors--Stintz herself as head--won out.

Karen Stintz will head a newly-elected seven-councillor Toronto Transit Commission board following a vote Monday evening.

The vote comes just hours after a motion to dissolve the board passed Monday afternoon after a day of heated debate at city hall.

The motion, which was put forward by Stintz, passed 29-15 just before 5 p.m.

The board will now be composed of seven councillors and four civilians.

[. . .]

The debate to dissolve the board came weeks after Stintz first went public with her disapproval of the mayor's plan to scrap light-rail transit for subways. Stintz said the plan was unaffordable under Toronto's current budget.

Stintz, backed by her council allies, and Coun. Michael Thompson, one of the mayor's allies, presented competing motions at council Monday over the composition of the TTC board.

Stintz pushed to change the commission from a group of nine councillors to a mix of seven councillors and four civilians, in what is believed to be an attempt to boot Mayor Rob Ford's supporters from the TTC board.

Thompson's motion sought to remove all councillors from the board and replace them with private citizens.

In a blog post on her website, Stintz cited stability and renewal as the reasons for the move to overhaul the board.

After speaking to fellow councillors, Stintz said the overriding belief was that the chair of a new 11-member TTC board must be a city councillor, and the board must be comprised of seven councillors and four citizens.

She said the TTC board members wouldn't be pre-determined.

Stintz presented her motion after Ford's allies on the TTC board, who represent a majority, outvoted fellow board members, including Stintz, to fire TTC chief general manager Gary Webster.