What your council has done

Here’s a rundown of some of the things city council has done in the first six months of the year:

JANUARY

Budget 2012: Council approved the 2012 budget. Although councillors balked at around $19 million in cuts, the property tax increase was held at 2.5%.

FEBRUARY

The Big Deal: Despite bargaining right to the brink of a labour disruption, Mayor Rob Ford’s City Hall inks a four-year deal with CUPE Local 416. The union and council later approved the deal.

Transit Talk: TTC Chair Karen Stintz led city council in burying Mayor Rob Ford’s transit plan and reviving most of the Transit City plan he once pronounced as “dead.”

The vote that launched a lawsuit: Councillors and Mayor Rob Ford voted in February to rescind an earlier council decision on an integrity commissioner complaint against then-councillor Rob Ford. That vote determined Ford no longer had to repay $3,150 in donations to his children’s football foundation which came from lobbyists and clients of lobbyists. Allegations that Ford violated the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act are now part of a court application.

MARCH

The Commission gets dumped: Council votes to dump Mayor Rob Ford’s loyalists from the TTC commission and replace it with a slate supported by TTC chair Karen Stintz. The vote also ensures Stintz will serve as TTC chairman for the rest of this council term.

House for Sale: Council approved the sale of 56 vacant Toronto Community Housing homes. Councillors also voted to put Councillor Ana Bailao in charge of a task force looking at the fate of TCHC’s remaining 619 single-family homes.

Sheppard subway derailed: Council votes to build the Sheppard LRT rather than Mayor Rob Ford’s promised Sheppard subway extension.

APRIL

Deal or no deal: City council approves a deal with CUPE Local 79 hammered out in March.

Play Ball: Toronto city councillors vote unanimously to waive $1.5 million in new field fees for child and youth sports leagues. The vote is a rare compromise between Mayor Rob Ford and left-leaning councillors.

Score: Councillor James Pasternak scored a political win at the April council meeting when he got city councillors to agree to look for ways to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Summit Series.

MAY

Loaded debate: In a debate that delved into gun control and included one councillor telling another to “f--- off,” council voted to allow the Toronto Sportsmen’s Show to return to city-owned Exhibition Place.

Gunning for data: Councillors voted 39-5 to urge the province to ask Ottawa for the data in the federal gun registry before it’s scrapped.

Guilty: Council voted in favour of Councillor Adam Vaughan’s motion to ask the province to exempt councillors from jury duty.

JUNE

Bagged: Toronto city council voted to ban plastic bags effective, Jan. 1, 2013, and to scrap the city’s five-cent bag fee, starting July 1.

Scratched: City council voted unanimously to spend $250,000 to revive Toronto Public Health’s bed bug control program.

Playing games: Council voted to have staff look at the pros and cons of a 2024 Summer Olympics bid and a bid on the World Expo 2025.