Toronto cultural agencies fight proposal to streamline boards

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The heads of several high-profile institutions in the city have decided to fight an array of committee recommendations that would drastically overhaul the boards of municipal agencies, setting up what could be a contentious debate when council votes on the issue Tuesday.

The executive committee is proposing that the boards of the Sony Centre, St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, Toronto Centre for the Arts, Yonge-Dundas Square, Toronto Public Library and the Toronto Zoo shrink in size and modify their composition so that members are hired through an open and advertised process run by the city.

The motion would essentially place more power over cultural boards into the city's hands.

At present, many board members are selected by a hodge-podge of interest groups. The board of Yonge-Dundas Square, for instance, is made up of members appointed by a local residents' association, Ryerson University, the Yonge Street Mission and others.

Under the committee recommendations, fully half of the Yonge-Dundas board would be appointed through the city's civic appointments committee.

But a city manager's report released Monday suggests the cultural agencies are refusing to roll over. It provides letters from several board chairs insisting that board compositions should remain virtually untouched.

"While we understand the desire of city management to streamline public boards and agencies, we do not feel that the city's objectives for the centre would best be met by quite as dramatic an overhaul as proposed," wrote Peter Gillin, chair of the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, which stands to lose nine of its 18 voting members under the committee proposal. He added that reducing the board's size "would negatively impact its effectiveness" – including its ability to attract top-notch talent.

Four other letters echo that sentiment.

In his report, city manager Joe Pennachetti recommends that the executive committee cede some of its hard-line demands and allow the six cultural bodies to maintain boards of 11 members, rather than the nine it recommends in most cases.

Several councillors will be lining up to voice concerns about portions of the motion on Tuesday.

"I can see making some minor changes to board composition, but this is drastic," said Councillor Shelley Carroll. "When you start reducing membership it makes people very nervous."