Toronto’s Next Mayor Will Put Service First

Torontonians need – and deserve – the best service when they deal with City Hall -- the best policing, emergency response, street cleaning, garbage collection and recycling, water and public facilities, health and attention from civic workers.  As Toronto Mayor, George Smitherman will bring a new approach to make sure this happens – Service First.

Service First is George Smitherman’s vision for improvement –focusing on the city’s core responsibilities, being more careful about spending and making sure City Hall gets it right.

Service First means putting your needs ahead of the needs of the people who provide our city services.  Just because we have done something one way at City Hall does not mean we have to keep doing it the same way.

Service First means looking at the way we do things and keeping an open mind. Toronto will provide top-quality services, and if that does not happen, we will look at how to do it better.

Service First also means making it easier for you to deal with City Hall, and to grade how well your civic services are doing.  As Mayor, George Smitherman will establish two awards for outstanding civic service, one chosen by peers and one by the public. George will set up instant electronic feedback portals at service kiosks around the city, so you can immediately indicate whether you are getting Service First.

Thinking Differently

George Smitherman thinks Service First starts with the Mayor seeing his role differently. For example, to enhance our parks and sports facilities, the Mayor should be ready to work directly with non-profit organizations, Business Improvement Associations and the private sector. We can learn from other cities about how to deliver these kinds of services, and we can measure Toronto against them. If Toronto is not at the top, we will work together to get there.

Fiscal Responsibility

Despite what some aspiring candidates say, Toronto does not have a funding problem. It has a spending problem. Since 2003, more than 50 departments have grown faster than inflation – that is not service, it is wasteful.  George Smitherman’s plan to put Service First will be more careful with your money, and accountable in how City Hall spends it.

George Smitherman will insist that every city service undergo a mandatory review to see how to improve service delivery quality and save money. Right off the bat, this review will include a $2 million reduction in the budgets for councillors and the Mayor’s office.

Highlights of George Smitherman’s Service First Program

• Review of city service delivery and spending.
• $2 million reduction in councillors’ and Mayor’s office budgets (current $22 million).
• Review of all management positions in core services with an eye to reductions by merging and sharing back-office support for different departments.
• Replace the existing merit pay system with incentives designed to drive excellence and innovation; for example, linking executive pay to reduction in “Days of Disruption”.
• Mayor’s Awards for Civic Employee Excellence—an annual recognition program with two awards-by nomination of peers and by the public.
• Citizen feedback portals at service counters across the city, similar to those used at the immigration desk at Shanghai's Pudong Airport. Citizens and visitors can instantly grade the quality of service received.
• More citizen involvement in park design, maintenance, improvements, and programming.