Richard Underhill has long been a community activist, especially regarding his home turf in Toronto’s Kensington Market. But, he’s best known as a member of the legendary Shuffle Demons, a jazz fusion group that has been blasting groovy beats such as their iconic hit “Spadina Bus” for the better part of three decades.
The band also claimed a Guinness World Record for having the 900 people play the saxophone simultaneously. The song choice? The Hockey Night in Canada theme song, of course. Now that’s leadership. And Underhill wants to parlay his decades of experience travelling the world as a musician and his work in grassroots organizing into a run at the mayor’s chair in the upcoming municipal election.
What is your elevator pitch for why we should vote for Richard Underhill?
If you want a more sustainable city led by a mayor who is trustworthy and listens thoughtfully to the concerns of residents and the opinions of experts, vote for Richard Underhill for mayor.
How has your background as a sax player with the Shuffle Demons prepared you for running a massive city such as Toronto?
What makes me unique in this mayoral race is that I have had the opportunity to travel the world as a musician. I have toured over 30 countries and have seen firsthand how other cities are modernizing far more quickly than Toronto and reaping the social and economic benefits from better transit, increased green space, complete streets and human scale development. Have any of the other candidates in the race traveled from New York to New Delhi, Amsterdam to Auckland, Helsinki to Havana, Berlin to Budapest, or Goa to Guadalajara?
Have you thought about working in “Out of My House, Roach” or “Spadina Bus” as part of your campaign slogan?
The Shuffle Demons played a fundraiser a week ago and we did a version of “Out of My House, Roach.” “Out of my House, Rob” really worked and was a fan favourite. We plan to record a video version soon. As for “Spadina Bus,” when I sing it now, I make sure to say “The LRT IS for me.”
What is the biggest problem at city hall and how will you address it?
Toronto City Council needs to listen more to residents and respected experts, and less to lobbyists. I would try to limit the scope of professional lobbyists at city hall and organize as much public input as possible. As much as it is important for Toronto to present a good climate for business, council primarily serves the residents of this city. In this regard, we need to keep pressing to free ourselves from the OMB which has allowed far too many oversized developments to proceed irrespective of council concerns.
Are you for or against jets at the Toronto Island airport?
I'm definitely against jets at the Toronto Island Airport. Toronto deserves a beautiful waterfront that can be enjoyed by everyone. The environmental impact of jets and jet fuel, the added congestion, the increased noise and the impact of longer runways on boaters and other waterfront users makes adding jets to the Island airport an untenable proposal. I think it's ludicrous for Porter to expect the city to pay $300 million to alter the airport for the perceived convenience of a few and the definite inconvenience of many residents and tourists. With the Union Pearson Express set to begin serving Pearson Airport in 2015, jets on the island airport are an environmentally dangerous and costly duplication of services.
And where do you stand regarding the proposed Scarborough subway line?
The proposed Scarborough subway is one of the worst decisions that council has ever made. It’s unfathomable to me that the mayor encouraged council to cancel an LRT that serves more people, will be built faster and is fully funded by the province (including maintenance) in favour of a subway that will serve fewer people, promote less economic growth, take at least four more years to build and cost Toronto taxpayers at least $1 billion plus maintenance fees. This is an astoundingly terrible idea promoted by a mayor who doesn’t understand the facts and agreed to by a council eager for votes in Scarborough. If elected mayor, I would immediately order work to begin on the Scarborough LRT and continue with the implementation of the excellent Transit City plan approved by the previous council. Of course I would also continue discussions to look for innovative ways to build a Downtown Relief Line as quickly as possible.
You’re a Kensington guy. Tell me how you plan to preserve that area in the face of impending development such as Wal-Mart?
Councillor Adam Vaughan is working on ways to mitigate the gentrification of Kensington and other neighbourhoods, and I wholeheartedly support his efforts. We can use heritage designation to preserve important architecture and prevent the destruction or gutting of important buildings.
How can you possibly get tough on crime as a groovy jazzmeister?
Getting “tough on crime” is like closing the barn door after the horses have left. In order to be a truly innovative city, we have to look for ways to prevent crime from happening in the first place. Ideas like safer streets, better lighting and community policing are important first steps.
If the election is close and you needed to throw your support to another candidate, who would that be?
Toronto is still using the flawed first-past-the-post voting system and not the infinitely more representative “ranked ballot” system that allows one to choose three candidates in an automatic run-off. Toronto is currently waiting for the province to pass bill 166 that would allow the “ranked ballot” system that was approved by council to be the new voting standard. As we have a flawed voting system, I will definitely throw my support behind another candidate if I am not within striking distance of the mayor’s chair.
My choice will be to support the most progressive candidate with the best chance of winning. At the moment, the polls point to Olivia Chow and I think she would be a great choice for mayor. Of the other media-sanctioned candidates, David Soknaki has also impressed me.
What would you do to bring more jobs to Toronto?
I think it’s disingenuous for the current mayor and mayoral candidates to boast about how many jobs have or can be created by council. Unlike a provincial or federal government with real economic stimulus tools and budgets at their fingertips, the Toronto budget is so tight that there’s not much one can do other than to try and create the right conditions for business to thrive. I would focus on helping small, local businesses by trying to cut some city hall red tape. I would also invest in the arts sector as it has been shown that for every dollar invested in the arts, $7-$14 are returned to the community in economic activity. Of course improving transit and cycling infrastructure will go a long way to attract new businesses and help current businesses thrive.
You don’t consider yourself a fringe candidate, but that’s how you are being painted by mainstream media. How can you overcome this deficit?
At this point, my strategy is to conduct my campaign with the mainstream and alternative media, social media and on YouTube. I will be releasing campaign platform videos soon on my Youtube channel and have also recorded some campaign songs. I don’t have the ground team of Olivia Chow or the money of John Tory, but I think that I have some great ideas that will hopefully strike a chord through social media and interviews such as this (thanks!) and propel me to the next level, allowing me to participate in the debates. I am assembling a team that will help me make a push in the coming months. And hey, I was on Jimmy Kimmel during the CityTV debates, so who knows what could happen?