About 100 ratepayers attended the South Eglinton Ratepayers and Residents Association Annual General Meeting Monday at Greenwood College on Mt. Pleasant Rd. Among the speakers was Jennifer Pagliaro of the Toronto Star City Hall Bureau. She received engaged interest and several questions The meeting coincided with another decision Monday by Executive Committee to flee yet again from a value-for-money comparison between a seven-stop LRT into Scarborough and the current one-stop wonder whose value is currently set at $3.35 billion. A delegation led by Josh Matlow (Ward 22) was present at Committee to ask for such a study but the motion was deferred indefinitely on a motion by Councillor Michael Thompson (Ward 37) of Scarborough. Pagliaro recalled plans that would have finished a seven-stop LRT as early as 2015. She spoke about the comparative value, as have many people, of a multi-stop LRT for less money than the one-stop plan now on track. “There has never been, and Council has never requested, a value-for-money comparison of the two options,” she said. A study by Metrolinx in 2013 found a subway could not be justified but the report was sent to the minister at Queen’s Park and it disappeared. It has never been published. “If you’re looking for an answer about (Mayor) Tory’s motives, I would just encourage you to look at the facts. Sorry to be a little bit vague but that’s part of my job too,” said Pagliaro. Many believe the Mayor and others are committed to the subway as a function of Liberal voter strategy in the former borough beyond Victoria Park Ave.
