Testifying before a committee of the US Senate, David Simon, creator of HBO's The Wire, observed: "The day I run into a Huffington Post reporter at a Baltimore zoning board hearing, is the day that I will be confident that we have actually reached some sort of balance" between online and print journalism. While OpenFile cannot provide exactly that, we do hope that the following is sufficient.

DAY ONE
Wednesday, February 23
Morning session

9:52 a.m.: Councillor Joe Mihevc (Ward 21, St. Paul's) asks mayor Rob Ford about the situation that the current budget will put the City in next year. The mayor says he is not yet discussing 2012. Mihevc rephrases the question. The mayor lists the various cuts he's made since taking office. The meeting's twin motifs of obfuscation and denial are introduced.

10:07 a.m.: Gord Perks (Ward 14, Parkdale–High Park) moves an extremely modest property tax increase of 0.155%, which he argues would be sufficient to save the Urban Affairs Library, stave off the cuts to TTC routes and the Tenant Defence Fund, adequately fund the Ombudsman, and maintain free programming at recreation centres in lower-income, "priority" neighbourhoods. This, he says, would be the smallest tax increase in the city's history, yet would adequately address the concerns that were most frequently expressed by the public during the budget consultations. Perks observes that his motion is an antidote to the empty symbolism of Ford's 0% tax increase.

10:38 a.m.: Josh Matlow (Ward 22, St. Paul's), speaking in favour of Perks's motion, observes, "It's sad that supporting the smallest property tax increase in our history would be considered negative by some."

11:36 a.m.: Raymond Cho (Ward 42, Scarborough–Rouge River) jokes about selling half the city's parks. He then riffs on Ford's garbage privatization plan, suggesting that the half of the city east of Yonge be taken care of by police and the half west of Yonge be entrusted to private security. Perks and Pam McConnell (Ward 28, Toronto Centre–Rosedale) separately tell him it's the best speech he's ever given. It really is, and the Toronto Star takes notice.

11:45 a.m.: Doug Holyday (Ward 3, Etobicoke Centre) argues that Perks's motion is a symbolic attempt to get the mayor to break his promise. Other councillors shout out a reminder that Ford never promised a tax freeze during his campaign.

12:00 p.m.: Councillor Michael Thompson (Ward 37, Scarborough Centre) speaks in favour of the mayor's plan for fiscal responsibility: "If not now, when? If not us, who?" Another councillor mutters under his breath, "For God's sakes, Michael, you're not invading Normandy."

12:11 p.m.: Perks's motion fails 18–27. The property tax item is adopted 36–9. You can see the vote breakdown here.

Lunchtime

Afternoon session

2:00 p.m.: Denzil Minnan-Wong (Ward 34, Don Valley East) brings his puppy Strider into the first-floor press gallery, making it that much more difficult for reporters to pay attention to the unfolding budget debate. The adorable chocolate lab (named after the Lord of the Rings character otherwise known as Aragorn) urinates on the carpet of the Global TV/National Post office and then in the plant immediately outside the Toronto Sun office. He loves chasing after the squishy Rocco Rossi–branded mini soccer ball that we throw for him.

2:42 p.m.: Councillor Glenn De Baeremaeker (Ward 38, Scarborough Centre) emerges from the Council Chambers' back area carrying a full-size toilet. He takes it to his seat and places it down beside him.

2:45 p.m.: De Baeremaeker puts the toilet on his desk. Shelley Carroll (Ward 33, Don Valley East) exclaims "It's Carrot Top time! Speak into the bowl!" Speaker Frances Nunziata (Ward 11, York South–Weston) clarifies, "Please speak to the mic, not to the toilet." De Baeremaeker talks of the importance of the City maintaining its rebate for the purchasers of low-flow latrines.

4:54 p.m.: Rob Ford briefly speaks on the item, indicating which motions he will and will not support. His handlers are evidently unaware that by virtue of him being the mayor, other councillors are now allowed to question him. This will never happen again. Janet Davis (Ward 31, Beaches–East York) requests that Ford explain the rationale for how he intends to vote. He declines: "You got your opinions, I got mine." He goes on to say that you'd need fifteen degrees in psychology to understand why every councillor votes the way they do. Over the next hour, the fabric of the meeting will gradually unravel.

5:09 p.m.: Ford is getting very annoyed that he is being asked to offer reasons for his decisions. "I don't have to give an explanation why I'm wearing this suit today," he testily tells Matlow, "just as you don't have to explain your suit....If we all explained our reasons for our votes, we'd be here all week." Ford, an advocate of gut-based policy, doesn't grasp that that is precisely what a council meeting is.

5:17 p.m.: As an exchange between Ford and Adam Vaughan (Ward 20, Trinity-Spadina) reaches peak farce, I find myself unable (or unwilling) to contain my laughter. Giorgio Mammoliti (Ward 7, York West) disdainfully remarks, "The Twitter is laughing."

5:38 p.m.: For reasons that I couldn't quite follow, Anthony Perruzza (Ward 8, York West) demands that Mammoliti apologize both to himself and to me. Mammoliti obliges, addressing his apology to "Comrade Perruzza and Comrade Twitter."

5:41 p.m.: Nunziata keeps asking for a ten-minute break. A smoker, she likely would appreciate a cigarette about now.

5:45 p.m.: Carroll, as she steps into the gallery, comments on the meeting's persistent absurdity: "I thought I was gonna have trouble quitting smoking—this is better than smoking!"

5:57 p.m.: The last of the questioners finishes, the voting bells ring, and exasperated councillors who had left return to their seats.

6:06 p.m.: "Doesn't anyone want a coffee?" Nunziata asks in the middle of a vote. Councillors, all yelling in unison, inform her that what she really wants is a cigarette.

6:10 p.m.: Mike Layton's (Ward 19, Trinity-Spadina) motion to save the Drain Grant Program and Water Efficiency rebates, and to establish a grant to reimburse people on the Downspout Disconnection waiting list, fails on a vote of 19–26. Following a plethora of other failed and successful amendments, the Water and Solid Waste Budgets pass 33–12.

7:04 p.m.: Councillor Mary-Margaret McMahon (Ward 32, Beaches–East York) speaks against the inclusion of the new Ashbridges streetcar yard in the Capital Budget: "I don't know how that horse got out of the barn, but I am going to..." She struggles to complete the metaphor before finally settling on "...beat him." She then apologizes to animal rights activists.

7:20 p.m.: Fletcher, addressing the same matter, declares, "I just want to say that east-enders never say die!"

8:12 p.m.: Matlow accidentally votes using Davis's button. She raps his knuckles when she returns to her seat.

8:25 p.m.: The Capital Budget is adopted 39–5.

DAY TWO
Thursday, February 24
Morning session

11:22 a.m.: Matlow has moved to both reverse the cut to the Ombudsman's office and give her the additional money she is requesting. Doug Ford (Ward 2, Etobicoke North) demands to know of Matlow, "Do you think it's appropriate for the Ombudsman to be lobbying every councillor to increase her budget?" Ford attacks the integrity of the Ombudsman in several different regards; he claims, for instance, that the number of phone calls she says her office receives is misleading because many could actually be wrong numbers. Speaking to the National Post later, she denies all charges.

11:28 a.m.: While questioning staff earlier, Gord Perks learned that $3 million to hire outside consultants has been buried in the budget's innocuous-sounding "Non-Program Expenditures" line. Perks moves that those funds be reallocated toward the same services he had attempted to salvage the previous day. "Why would we pay a private consultant to tell us things we already know?"

11:34 a.m.: Mayor Ford comes in to the gallery to greet grade 5 students from Mississauga's Champlain Trail Public School. As he shakes their hands, an assistant hands out the mayor's business cards to the children. They have the City of Toronto logo in shiny gold foil.

Lunchtime

Afternoon session

2:15 p.m.: Nunziata rules that Davis is not allowed to talk about the 2012 budget. Davis challenges the ruling, and Nunziata is upheld 18–13. Davis points out that the "2012 Outlook" is discussed throughout the report that's being debated. Nunziata, even though she likely realizes she has erred, refuses to budge.

4:21 p.m.: Budget Chief Mike Del Grande (Ward 39, Scarborough-Agincourt) thanks staff, and council applauds. "This was a rushed budget, and for the most part they took the leadership."

4:38 p.m.: Voting on the Operating Budget commences. Eighteen amendments have been put forward by councillors over the course of the day's debate, many of which are attempts to save various programs and services that find themselves on the chopping block. Few of these motions are successful, but most of the votes are close. They include: 21–23 against saving the Priority Centre program; 19–25 against giving the Toronto Public Library an extra $100,000 to keep the Urban Affairs branch open; 18–27 against reversing the cut to the Ombudsman and against giving her the money she requested to do her job; 17–28 against Perks's motion to reallocate the consultant money; and 22–23 against restoring $75,000 to the Tenant Defence Fund.

4:43 p.m.: Voting on the Operating Budget is briefly halted so that council can welcome Pinball Clemons to the chamber. But if he's so famous, what is he doing here?

4:51 p.m.: Council votes 44–1 to accept free money from the province to fight HIV and syphilis (background PDF). The lone dissenter? Rob Ford. Just like the old times.

5:01 p.m.: Council adopts the Operating Budget on a vote of 32–13.

5:04 p.m.: Gord Perks realizes that he mistakenly voted in favour of the budget and rises to ask for a revote.

5:10 p.m.: The budget passes 30–15 on the revote. Frank Di Giorgio (Ward 12, York South–Weston) rises to indicate that he voted the wrong way on the revote and could they please take it again.

5:14 p.m.: Nunziata insists the third time will be the last. She instructs councillors to "Please put two hands on the desk so you're not doing anything else." The City of Toronto's 2011 Operating Budget is adopted 31–14.

Photos, from the second day of council's budget debate, by Andrew Louis/OpenFile.