More than 50 people attended Mayor Dave Ryan's Ward 2 Town Hall meeting last week. Linda Cook praised the City for its recent win on sustainable planning from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.

"Winning an award on that level shows the commitment on the City's part," she said.

But she sees too much vandalism in the Bay Ridges area and asked the mayor how to manage it. She's seen a lot of graffiti recently and even saw Balsdon Park get burned to the ground last year.

A good way to keep kids from vandalizing, Mayor Ryan said, is to clean up graffiti right away, since that way they can't show it to their friends and brag about it. Ward 2 Regional Councillor Bill McLean confirmed Veridian has hired a contractor to clean the graffiti immediately on boxes, where much of it takes place. Although some gang activity does exist, Mayor Ryan said many youth partaking in graffiti are "just a bunch of kids who want to be cool."

Ken Devine fears for the traffic that will result from the development of San Francisco By the Bay, saying already traffic was crazy when hydro wires fell on Bayly Street recently, making side streets Radom Street and St. Martins Drive thoroughfares.

"The traffic is horrendous now and we've got town houses...nearing completion," Mr. Devine said.

As for the development itself, he said there seems to be no rhyme or reason for it other than the "almighty dollar."

Staff will monitor traffic problems, but as for the project going up simply for development dollars, Mayor Ryan said that's false. Downtown core densities are being increased in municipalities along the Lakeshore and when it's finished it's going to be an example of sustainability, he said.

Jacqueline Smart is concerned about the amount of growth in the City and fears for the future of Pickering's Grade-A farmland due to development.

Mayor Ryan explained 50 per cent of Pickering's land continues to be green, something it committed to long before the Greenbelt Plan and similar initiatives came forward. A growth management study is currently underway, which acknowledges the fact that people will be moving to Durham. It's important to balance the jobs available with the amount of people coming in, he said. For example, with Seaton, the City negotiated with the Province that for 70,000 people coming in, there must be 35,000 jobs available.

Ms. Smart also felt "quite honestly, your website is the pits."

The website is being improved, Mayor Ryan said.

Ms. Smart was not impressed by 11 Regional Councillors going to Halifax to view a stabilized landfill. Mayor Ryan did not attend, but said he can see why others did, specifically to "see and feel and touch."