There are still many unanswered questions about the management of funds at the Dovercourt Boys and Girls Club but these conditions will go a long way to sorting out what was an unaccountable and unprofessional organization and making sure it does not happen again. And that especially that no citizen will ever be maligned again as the likable and honourable Peter Ross was. What a disgrace.
A new ED will bring accountability and good governance which will be good for children. Councillor Bailao and her staff plus residents who put their names forward in concern deserve credit for doing the right thing when it would have been so easy to let it go. We will never recover the $300,000 dollars wasted but at least there will be new leadership and more eyeballs watching from this day forward.
Possibly when a new ED is hired might be a better time for a community meeting as then we will be moving forward with credible leadership.
Today, at a Government Management Committee meeting, the City of Toronto imposed conditions on the Dovercourt Boys and Girls before they can take occupancy of the 2600 sq. ft. below-market-rent space at 1379 Bloor Street West in the fall. As a direct result of the abandoned clubhouse at 45 Ernest Avenue, the Club will be required hire a new Executive Director before September 1st, ensure that the Junction Triangle community is properly represented on the Board of Directors in the future, and commit to building a new clubhouse that meets or exceeds the orginal club location on Randolph. The Club lease on the new space on Bloor was also cut from five years to three years.
A fourth stipulation that the Club hold an immediate community meeting in the Junction Triangle chaired by the local Councillor had to be dropped because Ana was not there to give her consent. Her office indicated afterwards that they would be willing to hold the meeting.
Let's hope all this fuss can soon be put to the rest. With today's intervention by the City, hopefully the Club has turned a corner and can begin reaching their potential in the Junction Triangle with new management and stronger representation from the JT community on the Board.
I want to thank Councillor Bailao and her office for all of their help. Holding the Dovercourt Boys and Girls Club accountable for their gross mismangement of the Junction Triangle Clubhouse would not have been possible without her unfailing support.
We have been experiencing a flower thief as well. Plants keep going missing one or two at a time out of our front planter box. The plants are clearly dug out with shovels, so it's not the neighbourhood raccoons or other animals digging. Conveniently, all the nice flowers have been the ones to go missing, and the cheaper filler flowers have remained. Clearly the thief is a discerning gardener. I am curious if this is the same thief, or if we have many flower felons in the neighbourhood.
If you are looking for a clear sign that the Department's investigation was just window dressing, look at what they call us. Sue Kaiser didn't even get the name right and continually refers to the neighbourhood as the Junction.
The Dovercourt Boys and Girls Club continues to play the victim and tell conflicting stories about the abandonment of the 45 Ernest Avenue clubhouse to this day. In April the Club was forced to settle out of court with the landlord for $90,000. They have made no announcement about that in the weeks since it happened. The Club has held no public meetings with the Junction Triangle community as promised or made any public statements since the late night ramblings of their Board Chair ended suddenly during the winter.
The granting of the below-market-space in the final phase of the BeBloor (a 2600 sq.ft. community room split over two floors), the Club is getting a lifeline from the City that will keep it operating in a temporary arrangement for five years. It is barely a third of the size of their original location on Randolph Avenue and the abandoned location on Ernest. They will have to continue operating from multiple locations and children will now be crossing Bloor to enter the Club.
The price per square foot in this new location is the same as the Ernest Avenue location where they portrayed the landlord as greedy and the rent was called “sky high.” Since the generosity of the landlord was revealed (he provided the Club with a large enough space at cost and was just charging enough to cover the taxes and utilities) the Dovercourt Club has never acknowledged they were wrong or apologized to this local business person.
The City needs to impose conditions with the granting of the below-market-rent space on Bloor Street to the Club. To do anything less would be an implicit endorsement by the City of an operating style that willfully maligns the character of generous patrons and discards the contributions of hundreds of people without notice, explanation or apology. Their actions at 45 Ernest went against the advice of the City lawyer, the planning department and the Councillor. Those willful actions ultimately ended in the waste of at least $300,000 of charitable and taxpayer money intended for children’s services in this neighbourhood. Those actions were not taken by the previous Executive Director. This gross mismanagement happened with the current administration who were all employed in the same positions when the decision to rent 45 Ernest was made.
Until this point, the Club has not been accountable. I get the sense that there are other arrangements between this City department and these supporting agencies that get a higher priority than the kids of the Junction Triangle. They don’t want to pull the plug or rock the boat to hard for fear of jeopardizing arrangements in other areas. So that’s why we have a report from the department that says little more than the Club has governance issues and should hire a new Executive Director. And knowing this, the Club is attempting to sneak one by because they think no one will push hard enough to get the truth out.
Parks was alerted this morning and our West Bend friends have been circulating the photo. There needs to be some education on this. When the garden shed comes it may be the time to post a sign explaining what the natural growth plan is for Railpath.
Been a victim of thieft many time in the JT, 2 of my son's bikes and other metal objects. I decided to forward this to police 11 division. I realize police have bigger fish to fry, but a thieft is thieft.
My opinion, I don't recommended you approaching anyone like you did, specially when you have your little one with you and the person you are approaching has a shovel. Good thing you took a photo JF
This is sad to hear but then again, thank you for this article. Clearly this man was not informed about the "wild" flowers he was "harvesting" and thanks to your post, more people will hopefully realize the efforts it took to get the Railpath to look the way it looks today.
This makes so much sense too: it's been two summers I've been marvelling at the beauty of the wild flowers on the railpath, their diversity in shape and colours... I didn't realize that railpath volunteers actually helped make the railpath look the beautiful way it looks today!
The festival will go on, as planned, if we get the rain they have been calling for. We'll just move everything inside! Hope to see alot of you there - it's a great way to support the school, meet the teachers and principal, and have some fun!
I have just heard that the Boys and Girls Club has settled out of court with the owner of Ontario Hardwood for $90,000.00! Add that to the missing and misspent monies and we are up to about $300,000.00. I wonder if they also apologized to the man for maligning him and trying to make him the scapegoat in this fiasco. It is safe to assume they settled out of court because they have no case, and as the truth leaked out it put a lie to Justin Hanna's claims that the rent was too high and they didn't have city approvals etc. etc.
Here we are near July of 2011 and there still has been no answers (as promised) or accountability nor a proper plan for the JT youth who need the services. Unfortunately the City of Toronto and the other agencies who fund DBGC don't feel it necessary to hold anyone responsible for wasting their money. No accountability means this sort of weaseling and waste will happen again. But of course they looked after their Westmoreland location (the one they really care about) in spades.
I'm assuming you are a resident of either BOB, BOW or BOD. Yes, it appears that we all have the same issue and it seems to be for those living in the lower units. Right now we live by just increasing the volume of the TV whenever the system kicks in. Eventually, I'd like to explore replacing the entire system with something quiet which I believe will be the pricier ones.
This east part of this intersection merges two car lanes into one in about 25 feet which is not a great idea. Its dangerous for everybody. At the first rail corridor lands meeting this issue came up a lot and people (cyclists and drivers) drew on the map commenting about it.In a perfect world the City would take back a few feet of sidewalk to create a dedicated left turn lane and the bike lane would stay put.
I have been walking by with my wife almost every night. I have peaked through the windows many times and it looks nothing short of amazing inside! Exactly what the neighbourhood needs! Can't wait to get my morning coffee there, and maybe an early evening pint!
Welcome to the neighbourhood. I look forward to finally meeting you.
However, there's discussion of shortening the Dupont bike lane:
Approve modifications to the bicycle lanes on Dupont Street at the approach to the
intersection with Lansdowne Avenue, to move the beginning of bicycle lanes from a
point 30 metres east of Lansdowne Avenue to a point 70 metres west of Lansdowne
Avenue.
4.5 Modifications to the Dupont Street Bicycle Lanes at Lansdowne Avenue
(Ward 18)
Dupont Street, from Dundas Street West to Lansdowne Avenue, is a two-way arterial
roadway, which operates with one traffic lane and a bicycle lane in each direction. East of
Lansdowne Avenue, Dupont Street operates with two traffic lanes per direction. The T.T.C.
operates the 26-Dupont bus route on the street. The transition from four lanes to two lanes
occurs approximately 30 metres east of Lansdowne Avenue and has resulted in significant
delay to motor vehicle traffic on Dupont Street. Transportation staff have worked with the
Ward Councillor to review options for improving eastbound and westbound traffic flow at
the Dupont Street/Lansdowne Avenue intersection. Based on a review of the intersection
operation, Transportation staff have concluded the traffic flow could be improved by
maintaining two westbound and two eastbound traffic lanes approaching Lansdowne
Avenue and making the transition to a single lane plus bicycle lane west of the intersection.
Accordingly, Transportation Services recommends that the bicycle lane design be modified
so that the bicycle lane begins approximately 70 metres west of the intersection as illustrated
in Appendix 7. With this change both the eastbound and westbound approaches to
Lansdowne will operate with two traffic lanes in each direction, and the intersection will
return to the configuration that predated the installation of the bicycle lanes. Following
implementation of this change staff will continue to monitor the operation of Dupont Street
and the Lansdowne-Dupont intersection, in consultation with the Ward Councillor and the
community."
Summary: Ignore approved bike lane, shorten crossing bike lane so that it doesn't connect even if Lansdowne gets installed.
It was the first time I met ECE so devoted to their job. Brenda et Maria prepared every event (Christmas, birthday…) on her personal time .
Theyhave a strong ability to connect with children. For a first time mother, I feel secure and delight to see my son so happy . Brenda gave me so many good advices on how to deal with sleep issues, tantrums and Maria help me with potty trainnning…
Overall, I would definitely recommend this daycare
Tuesday June 21, 7 to 9 pm, with Councillor Ana Bailao. At the park
clubhouse. Bake-oven supper available from 6 p.m. Everyone welcome!
On Tuesday June 14, more than 100 people came to Campbell Park for a
community dinner and campfire. During the evening, many people asked
park staff if dinners like this could become a regular event. Campbell
staff would like to see that happen, but a lot will depend on
decisions made at City Hall.
The idea for a community dinner in the park comes from Dufferin Grove
where Friday Night Suppers are a weekly program run by city recreation
staff. The future of Dufferin Grove and the kind of programming it has
innovated may be in doubt as the city makes cuts to overcome
a budget deficit of between $500 and $700 million. While the budget
problem is real, there may be better ways to cut costs than scaling
back popular community-supported local programming.
Next Tuesday's meeting at Dufferin will be a chance for the public to
discuss "how to protect the park as the budget storm approaches."
What happens at Dufferin has implications for Campbell and all of
Toronto's other city parks. If you like the idea of community dinners
and other events that make our parks lively family-friendly places,
come out next week to Dufferin.
More information about the meeting can be found on the Friends of
Dufferin Grove website.
I have worked with the Owners of Serendipity Home Child Care. Both Brenda and Maria work with the utmost integrity. They are genuinely focussed and dedicated to the care of your child. I highly endorse the Child Care Services this team provides.
Doris Bradley
thank you for continuing to keep tabs on this important neighbourhood issue!
There are still many unanswered questions about the management of funds at the Dovercourt Boys and Girls Club but these conditions will go a long way to sorting out what was an unaccountable and unprofessional organization and making sure it does not happen again. And that especially that no citizen will ever be maligned again as the likable and honourable Peter Ross was. What a disgrace.
A new ED will bring accountability and good governance which will be good for children. Councillor Bailao and her staff plus residents who put their names forward in concern deserve credit for doing the right thing when it would have been so easy to let it go. We will never recover the $300,000 dollars wasted but at least there will be new leadership and more eyeballs watching from this day forward.
Possibly when a new ED is hired might be a better time for a community meeting as then we will be moving forward with credible leadership.
Today, at a Government Management Committee meeting, the City of Toronto imposed conditions on the Dovercourt Boys and Girls before they can take occupancy of the 2600 sq. ft. below-market-rent space at 1379 Bloor Street West in the fall. As a direct result of the abandoned clubhouse at 45 Ernest Avenue, the Club will be required hire a new Executive Director before September 1st, ensure that the Junction Triangle community is properly represented on the Board of Directors in the future, and commit to building a new clubhouse that meets or exceeds the orginal club location on Randolph. The Club lease on the new space on Bloor was also cut from five years to three years.
A fourth stipulation that the Club hold an immediate community meeting in the Junction Triangle chaired by the local Councillor had to be dropped because Ana was not there to give her consent. Her office indicated afterwards that they would be willing to hold the meeting.
Let's hope all this fuss can soon be put to the rest. With today's intervention by the City, hopefully the Club has turned a corner and can begin reaching their potential in the Junction Triangle with new management and stronger representation from the JT community on the Board.
I want to thank Councillor Bailao and her office for all of their help. Holding the Dovercourt Boys and Girls Club accountable for their gross mismangement of the Junction Triangle Clubhouse would not have been possible without her unfailing support.
Kevin
which site are you from? you should post on that site's forum, you'll get a answer pertinent to you.
There were some incidents of flower theft discussed on this site last year too:
https://www.junctiontriangle.ca/node/808
Also related: The signs encouraging people to steal topsoil from Erwin Krickhahn Park two years ago:
https://www.junctiontriangle.ca/node/495
We have been experiencing a flower thief as well. Plants keep going missing one or two at a time out of our front planter box. The plants are clearly dug out with shovels, so it's not the neighbourhood raccoons or other animals digging. Conveniently, all the nice flowers have been the ones to go missing, and the cheaper filler flowers have remained. Clearly the thief is a discerning gardener. I am curious if this is the same thief, or if we have many flower felons in the neighbourhood.
Jeff (not verified) is welcome to meet me for discussion in person. He just has to schedule it. I am available through much of July.
If you are looking for a clear sign that the Department's investigation was just window dressing, look at what they call us. Sue Kaiser didn't even get the name right and continually refers to the neighbourhood as the Junction.
The Dovercourt Boys and Girls Club continues to play the victim and tell conflicting stories about the abandonment of the 45 Ernest Avenue clubhouse to this day. In April the Club was forced to settle out of court with the landlord for $90,000. They have made no announcement about that in the weeks since it happened. The Club has held no public meetings with the Junction Triangle community as promised or made any public statements since the late night ramblings of their Board Chair ended suddenly during the winter.
The granting of the below-market-space in the final phase of the BeBloor (a 2600 sq.ft. community room split over two floors), the Club is getting a lifeline from the City that will keep it operating in a temporary arrangement for five years. It is barely a third of the size of their original location on Randolph Avenue and the abandoned location on Ernest. They will have to continue operating from multiple locations and children will now be crossing Bloor to enter the Club.
The price per square foot in this new location is the same as the Ernest Avenue location where they portrayed the landlord as greedy and the rent was called “sky high.” Since the generosity of the landlord was revealed (he provided the Club with a large enough space at cost and was just charging enough to cover the taxes and utilities) the Dovercourt Club has never acknowledged they were wrong or apologized to this local business person.
The City needs to impose conditions with the granting of the below-market-rent space on Bloor Street to the Club. To do anything less would be an implicit endorsement by the City of an operating style that willfully maligns the character of generous patrons and discards the contributions of hundreds of people without notice, explanation or apology. Their actions at 45 Ernest went against the advice of the City lawyer, the planning department and the Councillor. Those willful actions ultimately ended in the waste of at least $300,000 of charitable and taxpayer money intended for children’s services in this neighbourhood. Those actions were not taken by the previous Executive Director. This gross mismanagement happened with the current administration who were all employed in the same positions when the decision to rent 45 Ernest was made.
Until this point, the Club has not been accountable. I get the sense that there are other arrangements between this City department and these supporting agencies that get a higher priority than the kids of the Junction Triangle. They don’t want to pull the plug or rock the boat to hard for fear of jeopardizing arrangements in other areas. So that’s why we have a report from the department that says little more than the Club has governance issues and should hire a new Executive Director. And knowing this, the Club is attempting to sneak one by because they think no one will push hard enough to get the truth out.
Sorry for the lengthy post.
Kevin
Parks was alerted this morning and our West Bend friends have been circulating the photo. There needs to be some education on this. When the garden shed comes it may be the time to post a sign explaining what the natural growth plan is for Railpath.
Thanks kindly, Jack.
I'm forwarding this to my acting detective sergeant for review. Pete
Peter Lennox, Staff Inspector 73No. 11 Division, Toronto Police Service-(416) 808-1102 (fax)
Been a victim of thieft many time in the JT, 2 of my son's bikes and other metal objects. I decided to forward this to police 11 division. I realize police have bigger fish to fry, but a thieft is thieft.
My opinion, I don't recommended you approaching anyone like you did, specially when you have your little one with you and the person you are approaching has a shovel. Good thing you took a photo JF
Hi there,
This is sad to hear but then again, thank you for this article. Clearly this man was not informed about the "wild" flowers he was "harvesting" and thanks to your post, more people will hopefully realize the efforts it took to get the Railpath to look the way it looks today.
This makes so much sense too: it's been two summers I've been marvelling at the beauty of the wild flowers on the railpath, their diversity in shape and colours... I didn't realize that railpath volunteers actually helped make the railpath look the beautiful way it looks today!
Hey Everyone,
The festival will go on, as planned, if we get the rain they have been calling for. We'll just move everything inside! Hope to see alot of you there - it's a great way to support the school, meet the teachers and principal, and have some fun!
Sharon
I have just heard that the Boys and Girls Club has settled out of court with the owner of Ontario Hardwood for $90,000.00! Add that to the missing and misspent monies and we are up to about $300,000.00. I wonder if they also apologized to the man for maligning him and trying to make him the scapegoat in this fiasco. It is safe to assume they settled out of court because they have no case, and as the truth leaked out it put a lie to Justin Hanna's claims that the rent was too high and they didn't have city approvals etc. etc.
Here we are near July of 2011 and there still has been no answers (as promised) or accountability nor a proper plan for the JT youth who need the services. Unfortunately the City of Toronto and the other agencies who fund DBGC don't feel it necessary to hold anyone responsible for wasting their money. No accountability means this sort of weaseling and waste will happen again. But of course they looked after their Westmoreland location (the one they really care about) in spades.
I'm assuming you are a resident of either BOB, BOW or BOD. Yes, it appears that we all have the same issue and it seems to be for those living in the lower units. Right now we live by just increasing the volume of the TV whenever the system kicks in. Eventually, I'd like to explore replacing the entire system with something quiet which I believe will be the pricier ones.
This east part of this intersection merges two car lanes into one in about 25 feet which is not a great idea. Its dangerous for everybody. At the first rail corridor lands meeting this issue came up a lot and people (cyclists and drivers) drew on the map commenting about it.In a perfect world the City would take back a few feet of sidewalk to create a dedicated left turn lane and the bike lane would stay put.
That is SO nice to hear!
Look forward to meeting everyone too. And we will always welcome suggestions, so don't be scared to give em!
(unless it's a harsh critique - We (really I) are sensitive!)
We will post updates as promptly as we can....
Niki
I have been walking by with my wife almost every night. I have peaked through the windows many times and it looks nothing short of amazing inside! Exactly what the neighbourhood needs! Can't wait to get my morning coffee there, and maybe an early evening pint!
Welcome to the neighbourhood. I look forward to finally meeting you.
The new Bike Lane Staff Report on page 20 lists Railpath Stage 2 as a construction Priority.
http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2011/pw/bgrd/backgroundfile-38906.pdf
The Revue is a worthy cause and has supported some of our artists and our causes. Sounds like a fun night.
cool! I'll be there!
In the "Bikeway Network - 2011 Update" that was published by The City today, there's no mention of the already-approved Lansdowne Ave. bike lane (Bloor to Dupont).
http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2011/pw/bgrd/backgroundfile-38906.pdf
However, there's discussion of shortening the Dupont bike lane:
Summary: Ignore approved bike lane, shorten crossing bike lane so that it doesn't connect even if Lansdowne gets installed.
It was the first time I met ECE so devoted to their job. Brenda et Maria prepared every event (Christmas, birthday…) on her personal time .
Theyhave a strong ability to connect with children. For a first time mother, I feel secure and delight to see my son so happy . Brenda gave me so many good advices on how to deal with sleep issues, tantrums and Maria help me with potty trainnning…
Overall, I would definitely recommend this daycare
Public Meeting: the Future of Dufferin Grove Park
Tuesday June 21, 7 to 9 pm, with Councillor Ana Bailao. At the park
clubhouse. Bake-oven supper available from 6 p.m. Everyone welcome!
On Tuesday June 14, more than 100 people came to Campbell Park for a
community dinner and campfire. During the evening, many people asked
park staff if dinners like this could become a regular event. Campbell
staff would like to see that happen, but a lot will depend on
decisions made at City Hall.
The idea for a community dinner in the park comes from Dufferin Grove
where Friday Night Suppers are a weekly program run by city recreation
staff. The future of Dufferin Grove and the kind of programming it has
innovated may be in doubt as the city makes cuts to overcome
a budget deficit of between $500 and $700 million. While the budget
problem is real, there may be better ways to cut costs than scaling
back popular community-supported local programming.
Next Tuesday's meeting at Dufferin will be a chance for the public to
discuss "how to protect the park as the budget storm approaches."
What happens at Dufferin has implications for Campbell and all of
Toronto's other city parks. If you like the idea of community dinners
and other events that make our parks lively family-friendly places,
come out next week to Dufferin.
More information about the meeting can be found on the Friends of
Dufferin Grove website.
I have worked with the Owners of Serendipity Home Child Care. Both Brenda and Maria work with the utmost integrity. They are genuinely focussed and dedicated to the care of your child. I highly endorse the Child Care Services this team provides.
Doris Bradley