Elinor Ostrom

Governance Research

Ostrom workbook -- starting December 2011

posted August 01, 2010

In 2009, Elinor Ostrom received the Nobel Prize in Economics for her work on the governance of "common pool resources" -- water, grazing lands, trees, fish, cyberspace. Her book Governing the Commons has prompted us to try applying her list of principles to eight specific park issues in Toronto. This application is being documented in an Ostrom Workbook, now in preparation. The question to be addressed in our workbook is: if park users (including on-site staff) collaborate day-to-day with municipal management in shaping local parks, can park governance in Toronto improve?

Governance Notebooks

Click to enlarge city government ad

The 2010 municipal election:

What did the candidates say about parks and public spaces?''', read more >>

City of Toronto Strike, 2009.

On June 22 2009 shortly after midnight, the approximately 24,000 members of Cupe Local 416 and Local 79 went on strike, read more >>

Governance References

Toronto Mayor's Office

Mayor's Office: Main portal | Contact

posted March 10, 2009

Governance References

Understanding City Governance

Here's an overview of the general structure of the City of Toronto as a Municipality: The Place of the Public Commons in Urban Society on publiccommons.ca. The overview organizes the Toronto Budget into 6 main areas as shown below. See the blog entry for details.

Divisions

• http://www.toronto.ca/divisions/
• http://www.toronto.ca/divisions/divisions_info.htm
• http://www.toronto.ca/divisions/pdf/org_chart.pdf

Committees

• http://www.toronto.ca/committees/index.htm
• http://www.toronto.ca/committees/committee-structure.htm
• http://www.toronto.ca/committees/directory.htm

Programs

• http://www.toronto.ca/budget2007/profiles_toc.htm
• http://www.toronto.ca/abcc/index.htm
• http://www.toronto.ca/abcc/directory-alphabetical.htm

Staffing

• http://www.toronto.ca/city_directory/corporate-directory.htm
• Staffing.Staffing2008 (provides structured view of programs as included in budget process)
• City Staffing by Job Classification and Union Affiliation

Other

• http://www.toronto.ca/city_initiatives/index.htm

create an orange marker for broken links until they get fixed

Governance References

City Of Toronto Contacts

Detailed contacts:
City Council | Offices | Services | e-Transactions | Information | City Management | Regulations

posted January 30, 2005. Updated March 18, 2009

City Website Portals: Living in Toronto, Doing Business, Visiting Toronto, Accessing City Hall

City Website Search Engine:Search | Search Help.

City of Toronto corporate phone directory

Governance References

Toronto Standing Committees

On toronto.ca see City Council and Committee Weekly Meeting Schedules.

Links to Source Documents presented to various City of Toronto Standing Committees

Parks and environment

• 2006 Committee Meetings
• 2007 Committee meetings
• 2008 Committee meetings
• Farmers' Market

Public Works

Community Program for Stormwater Management Grant Approvals

Community Development and Recreation Committee

• 2006 Committee meetings
• 2007 Committee meetings
• 2008 committee meetings

Budget Committee

See

• 2008 Budget Notes
• Feb11-2008 Decision Document
• City Briefing Notes budget 2008
• City Analyst Notes budget 2008

Aquatics: http://www.toronto.ca/budget2008/pdf/op08_bn_aslc_2.pdf To achieve the 2008 Operating Budget target, it is recommended that 2 outdoor pools be closed, for savings of $123,100 and a reduction of 2.6 approved positions in 2008.

User fees: Feb.11 2008 http://www.toronto.ca/budget2008/pdf/op08_bn_recfee.pdf

Staff increases http://www.toronto.ca/budget2008/pdf/op08_bn_staff_positions.pdf

An increase of 64.1 new positions, consisting of 20 permanent and 44.1 temporary is required almost entirely to operate new parkland and facilities coming into service. Included are new Waterfront Parks and others secured through funding arising from development agreements. Also, 7 of these new permanent positions represent improved service levels in Forestry.

Audit Committee