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Josh in the Community
My Staff and I are here to assist you with any questions or concerns you may have about your neighbourhood and/or your home. We’re working every day to make our community safer while improving Midtown’s parks, main streets, and the many valued services we rely on including recreation, childcare, and waste collection. I hope to see you out in our community soon!
Josh at City Hall
On your behalf, I am advocating for a more thoughtful, creative, and responsible approach to policy issues at City Hall. I take very seriously the responsibility to make informed decisions that are based on evidence, community consultation, and the merits of arguments – rather than partisanship. I will continue representing our community at Council meetings on transit, tenant concerns, childcare, green space, and other issues that matter most to Midtown residents. Or, you can reach us by phone at 416 392-7906.
Current News Updates
Globe and Mail: A Scarborough subway: Do the numbers add up?
July 4th, 2014
Oliver Moore
Globe and Mail
When Toronto dug its first subway, the long lines of streetcars on Yonge were proof of a ready-made ridership.
More recently, though, subway boosters have needed to weigh potential demand when making the case for the expensive form of transit. Which is why the city planning department’s new and higher Scarborough ridership projection last year was so pivotal, and so controversial.
An old ridership projection pegged peak one-direction usage at 9,500 passengers per hour, barely enough to justify a subway extension. The new one – which appeared as the transit debates rose to their crescendo – boosted peak ridership to 14,000, almost beyond the capacity of light rail.
In a stroke, the case for a subway was much stronger.
Amid political squabbles, good projections can help cut through the debate and offer the closest thing to an impartial assessment of a subway line’s worth. But if they’re wrong, they can help lumber a city with an expensive white elephant such as the under-used Sheppard subway.
Toronto Star: Rob Ford press conference policy blasted by councillors
July 3rd, 2014
Paul Moloney
Toronto Star
Toronto city council is being asked to prevent Mayor Rob Ford or any other elected official from barring some media outlets from city hall news conferences.
A motion from Councillor Paula Fletcher urges her colleagues to take a stand at next week’s council meeting against adopting exclusionary tactics while using taxpayer-funded facilities.
The city supplies both the venue and support staff, Fletcher said Thursday.
“This has got to do with the fact that this is public property,” she said. “City facilities and city staff should not be used to aid and abet somebody who says not everybody is welcome.”
“If you wish to go to your own property, you can invite whoever you like.”
Inside Toronto: Councillor Matlow, residents looking for answers to possible Glebe Manor sale
June 26th, 2014
Justin Skinner
Inside Toronto
The Glebe Manor Lawn Bowling Club’s sale – or near-sale – of its Davisville lands to a developer has led to consternation from councillor Josh Matlow and residents in the area.
The owner of the green space on Manor Road East has been negotiating a deal with developer Michael Volpentesta, who aims to build five townhomes on the site.
That would put an end to the 90-plus-year-old patch of greenery in the Davisville neighbourhood, where green space is at a premium.
“We’ve been trying to sit down and meet with the president of the (lawn bowling) club since last March, but he hasn’t sat down with us,” Matlow said. “There’s already a possible deal between the club and the developer, but nobody in the community wants that.”
Matlow has secured council’s support to dip into the city’s parks acquisition fund in hopes of buying the property, either from the club or from Volpentesta. It’s believed the developer currently owns the land, though Matlow could not confirm the property’s sale had been finalized and, if it had, how much Volpentesta paid for the land.
Toronto Star City asked to designate public spaces on private property
June 25th, 2014
Jennifer Pagliaro
Toronto Star
Everyone should get to smell the roses in a Yorkville Ave. garden next to the Four Seasons hotel as the city looks to define and advertise open spaces on private property.
That goes for the misting fountain too.
In July, city council will decide whether new condo and commercial developments that incorporate green space, courtyards and other open spaces into their plans should be required to post signs stating the public is welcome.
On Wednesday, the planning committee unanimously approved recommendations for city council to adopt a new set of design guidelines for what are called privately owned publicly accessible spaces (POPS), including mandatory signage.
“Many members of the public have POPS in their neighbourhood yet they’re completely unaware that those spaces are welcome to them,” said Councillor Josh Matlow, who first raised the issue of signage at council in 2012. “I think residents will be very excited once they see the signs literally popping up in their neighbourhoods.”
Community Update for June 28, 2014
Dear Residents, June has been a very busy month [...]
Now Magazine: Sam’s sign headed to Yonge-Dundas Square
June 12th, 2014
Ben Spurr
Now Magazine
