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Torontonians are quite properly concerned about the collapsing global economy and what it might mean right here at home.

The last few months have brought nothing but negative economic news from around the world. Canadians, perhaps too smugly, believed our strict banking regulations and prudent money management would shield us from the worst of it.

Tell that to the automotive sector, or new home buyers who have seen the value of their homes fall below the purchase price in just over a year. Tell it to the families still waiting for a spot in an affordable housing unit.

In rapid succession, we've seen Prime Minister Stephen Harper, provincial leaders and now city hall clamour to confront the issue and discuss some sort of stimulus package to breathe more life into the local, regional and national economies.

But we caution the mayor, who has already spent a fair amount of political capital with new tax measures introduced in the last year, not to see use this crisis as a means to spend even more dollars unnecessarily.

Though we can see the merit in robust government intervention to bolster a sagging economy, the measures taken here at home must combine judicious project selection with tight financial oversight.

For example, the positive impact of upgrading some of the city's housing stock would serve a two-fold purpose. It would create the economic activity and jobs that the mayor says are important in these difficult economic times. But the result would be new space for a needy family. Spending $40-million on revitalizing Nathan Phillips Square won't serve those citizens of Toronto beyond creating a pretty picture.

As well, spending $400,000 on a feel-good propaganda magazine that serves primarily to boost the mayor's image four times a year is money that could be spent elsewhere to provide a tangible benefit to residents. Take that $400,000 and use it to build public washrooms that some city councillors claim the city lacks. Again, it would inject some economic activity and provide some tangible benefit to taxpayers.

We're willing to give the mayor and city council some wiggle room given the historic economic turmoil. But we also remain leery of a mayoral administration that has been too quick to raise taxes, too vocal in its pleas of poverty and too loose on the expenditure side.

Constituents across the city, as always, have a say in this matter too. State your case with your councillor. Write a letter, pay a visit to city hall and get involved in how your tax dollars are allotted to these projects. It's true that we must all row together, but we need to see the city leading by example.