Norm Kelly has the power to turn the channel on Rob Ford reality show at city hall

After weeks of turmoil and near-daily train wrecks, Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly brought some needed calm back to Toronto’s city government last week.

He shouldn’t stop there. Calm is appreciated, but we need more than just calm. With an opportunity to change the channel on the Mayor Rob Ford reality show, Kelly can show Toronto that city hall is still capable of doing good.

Kelly — now democratically powered-up with many of the responsibilities previously held by Ford — has stepped gracefully into his new role. Last week, he held long, thoughtful press scrums, where he made complicated historical analogies and actually took questions. Seriously: questions! From reporters!

On Ford, he threw down wisdom, saying, “The mayor wants to wage war. I want to wage peace.”

That line stuck with me. Under Ford, sharp ideological divisions have dominated most municipal issues. There’s been an undercurrent of spitefulness, combined with a lack of along-term thinking. Kelly can change that.

He should start by showing the city what fiscal responsibility really looks like. Ford has been preoccupied with a damn-the-torpedoes approach to city finances. He’s been pushing for revenue increases below the rate of inflation, even as the city population grows.

Even now, after voting to approve new debt to pay for a Scarborough subway, Ford is trying to squeeze in a low property tax revenue increase for 2014. There’s no magic here — to make that work, the city would need to cut services. But Ford can’t say which services he’d cut.

Speaking of which, Kelly would do well if he looks at undoing one of Ford’s most damaging legacies. When Ford took office, city hall subsidized TTC service to the tune of 93-cents per rider. That’s since dropped to a dismal 78-cents per rider.

That’s meant more increases to fares — the TTC just agreed to increase the monthly cost of a Metropass by more than five bucks — and a change to service standards that has squeezed more riders into fewer vehicles.

Councillors need to stop putting their heads in the sand. It makes no sense to vote to expand the transit system when there’s no plan for funding day-to-day transit service.

Some leadership from Kelly on this issue could go a long way.

It won’t be easy. Kelly’s got a hard road, and his job will be further complicated by the continuing presence of Ford, who will be taking shots from the sidelines and trying to win his powers back through a legal challenge. But the opportunity is too good to ignore. Councillors are more united than they’ve ever been, and Toronto, I think, is ready to hear some news out of city hall that isn’t all about Ford.

They’re ready for somebody to wage peace.