Rob Ford - Why the Supervillian?

[kettal]

Informal poll by me at a large jobsite--note most folks are educated, multicultural backgrounds, most live in suburban Toronto--19/20 so far would vote for Rob Ford; only one said "undecided."

I'm not up to date on drug dealer lingo... what exactly do you mean by jobsite?

 

[js97]

It's interesting to see Toronto go through this 'Rennesaince' period of privileged middle class suburbian/out of town kids move into the city and pretend to be 'urban' and have 'socially concious' values while they are riding the coattails of capitalism babyboomers.

ROssi is still by far the most intelligent and leading Candidate for the job.

Those like Adam vaughn who say 'you don't understand how city hall works' need to get off their Ivory Tower.
-Broadcast and radio station producers can tell you this:
The average intelligence/attention span of the viewer is at a grae 7 level. That's a fact of life for all you city savy folks.

Yes, most people don't know how city hall works, and Ford simplyfies it for them. That's why he's getting the vote.

At the end of the day, in a lastman-esque 'voice' 'Who else do you trust with your tax dollars... NOOOOO BODY'...

lol

 

[gristle]

An odd post.

You appear to tar people who opt to live downtown and characterize them negatively on the basis of vague categories. You then go on to denigrate a good segment of the population on the basis of what radio producers supposedly say, proclaiming this to be a fact of life.

Ford may claim to simplify, but public life does not always come in simplistic packages. That is a big problem with Ford - and a big problem with politicians like him who make simplistic claims. When they fail to fulfill their facile promises, they inevitably blame others and fail to examine whether their "ideas" were ever reasonable in the first place.

 

[js97]

An odd post.

You appear to tar people who opt to live downtown and characterize them negatively on the basis of vague categories. You then go on to denigrate a good segment of the population on the basis of what radio producers supposedly say, proclaiming this to be a fact of life.

Ford may claim to simplify, but public life does not always come in simplistic packages. That is a big problem with Ford - and a big problem with politicians like him who make simplistic claims. When they fail to fulfill their facile promises, they inevitably blame others and fail to examine whether their "ideas" were ever reasonable in the first place.

How did I Tar people that opt to live downtown? By saying the truth? Ask around, see how many actually grew up in the core, ask them where they come from, I only speak the truth my friend. My friend who's from ottawa, complained about too many 905'ers... which is pretty funny considering the irony. Go through all those condo buildings, ask around...


And regarding the general radio/tv broadcasts...that's industry knowledge. It's not that they're actually grade 7, but the way they process information coming through is at a grade 7 level. That's why politics is all about headliners and soundbytes. Any longwithstanding analysis about a topic would be lost among the average viewer.
How am I denigrating anyone by relaying the message? Not everything comes out sugar coated and spun.
Yes, slightly abrasive, not political appropriate, but candid.
Just calling it like it is.

 

[JasonParis]

Or calling it like your Ottawa-based TV producer friend told you to?

 

[kettal]

I have a hard time finding somebody born and raised in Canada, never mind downtown Toronto.

 

[js97]

I have a hard time finding somebody born and raised in Canada, never mind downtown Toronto.

many of my friends and I are (not neccessary born, but grrade school and highschool), that's my point and we all have a much more centrist, pragmatic view.

 

[SP!RE]

Yes, in this day and age, we need to be economically smart and conservative.

But this city needs more creative thinking than Rob Ford's ridiculous shtick about getting rid of the city hall plant-waterer and cutting our number of city councilors in half. Yes, that saves a bit of money, but he hasn't told us where all the rest is going to come from.

His constant money-saving "shtick" is far outweighed by negatives in his campaign, not to mention his petulant and abrasive personality. Overall, he is a very unfortunate man. Expect ot see him get crushed in the fall by his competing mayor hopefuls.

 

[adma]

His constant money-saving "shtick" is far outweighed by negatives in his campaign, not to mention his petulant and abrasive personality. Overall, he is a very unfortunate man. Expect ot see him get crushed in the fall by his competing mayor hopefuls.

I don't know about "crushed". I feel he's already earned his so-called "moral victory". And he "wins" even if he settles down to some high-teens 3rd place or whatever...

 

[adma]

It's interesting to see Toronto go through this 'Rennesaince' period of privileged middle class suburbian/out of town kids move into the city and pretend to be 'urban' and have 'socially concious' values while they are riding the coattails of capitalism babyboomers.

ROssi is still by far the most intelligent and leading Candidate for the job.

Those like Adam vaughn who say 'you don't understand how city hall works' need to get off their Ivory Tower.
-Broadcast and radio station producers can tell you this:
The average intelligence/attention span of the viewer is at a grae 7 level. That's a fact of life for all you city savy folks.

Yes, most people don't know how city hall works, and Ford simplyfies it for them. That's why he's getting the vote.

At the end of the day, in a lastman-esque 'voice' 'Who else do you trust with your tax dollars... NOOOOO BODY'...

lol

I know it's cliche to pick on spelling errors: but those in the post above almost seem deliberate, somehow...

 

[SP!RE]

Moral victory? Expand on that if you will. I find Ford to be a man, in typical right-wing fashion, lacking in the very morals he most likely claims are important.

What is "moral" about his attitude towards the gay community or those living with AIDS?

 

[adma]

I'm not using my own personal moral judgment; I'm just using a "we lost, but we showed 'em" euphemism traditionally identified with the NDP...

 

[GraphicMatt]

I thought this blog post was pretty terrific, showing how ridiculous Ford's claims of 'waste' are:

http://simon-mcneil.blogspot.com/2010/07/profiles-in-profanity-councillor-rob.html

It takes a special sort of person to make me swear on Twitter.

Rob Ford is that special sort of person. At the suggestion of @ivanvector I recently reviewed Ford's low-on-content attack site at everybody who isn't Rob Ford. I approached it with low expectations for accuracy and content. Even so I was surprised.

See Ford has made a career of trying to cut everything from senior's services to TTC improvements off City Hall budgets. There is no penny too small for Ford to pinch. There is no cause just enough for Ford to believe in spending a dime on it.

I will now go over his complaints one at a time.

I will also be considering the amount of money he is claiming as wasted compared to the operating budget for the year mentioned.

He presents his list of six complaints as a countdown. I will go in order.

#6: 2009 operating budget - 8.7 billion.
Complaint about "wasting" $505000 on a weather study.

First of all it's hardly wasteful to study weather trends in Toronto in depth in order to be better prepared for extreme weather events in the future. A city the size of ours doesn't just run itself and it takes little snow / hail / rain / heatwaves to snarl things up. Being able to identify and assess these patterns in order to more effectively deal with them as they arise is, in my opinion, money well spent.

Thing is that Ford seems to have pulled the $505000 figure out of thin air. His source for the figure are minutes of a city council meeting - recording a motion HE PROPOSED! That's right, Rob Ford's source is himself.

Meanwhile I looked into how much the weather study really cost. It had an operating budget of $249725, not $505000 and, by May of this year it had spent only $208856.

So we have Ford creating a figure without reference other than himself and then claiming that as an amount "wasted" on a program that has real worth.

Percentage of budget devoted to program: 0.003% Equivalent to a family with a $50000 annual income "wasting" $15 on weather preparedness.

#5: 2007 Operating budget 7.8 billion.
Complaint about "wasting" $59000 for "giving three free wine bottles a day to homeless people."

What Ford is actually referring to is the Harm Reduction program at Seaton House wherein alcoholic homeless were provided with a restricted amount of wine under supervision in order to stop them from doing dangerous things like chugging mouthwash.

Here's the kicker with this one: According to the National Post, the paper of record for the extreme right wing in Canada, managed drinking programs helped alcoholics reduce drink consumption from 46 servings a day to 8 servings a day, reduced emergency room visits for alcohol related illness by 5.5% and reduced homeless alcoholic encounters with police by almost 10%!

In other words this "wasted" $59000 saved lives.

Percentage of budget devoted to the program: 0.0008% The equivalent of that family with a $50000 yearly income wasting 40 cents! Now I don't know about you but I'd give up one cup of coffee to save a life.

I guess such magnanimity is beyond Rob Ford's stunted moral capabilities.

#4 2007 Operating budget 7.8 billion.
Complaint: city spends $17000 giving cigarettes to the homeless.

Again this is referring to the harm reduction program so it really doesn't deserve a separate line from #5. I will say that the research is less conclusive of the benefits of harm reduction strategies for tobacco than it is for alcohol. But for 0.0002% of the operating budget I'm willing to give it a chance.

Remember that hypothetical family with $50000 a year? Well they just wasted a whopping 10 cents!

#3 2006 Operating budget $7.6 billion.
Complaint: Nearly 200 million "wasted" on "sole sourcing subway car purchase".

Again Ford is playing fast and loose with the numbers. Although Spacing originally reported that the Bombardier bid was $180 million higher than the bid tendered by Siemens in March of 2006, by June 2006 that number changed to an offer of savings of "almost $100 million" according to a source that Ford quotes!

Now although $100 million is not small change for most of us it is HALF of the figure Ford quotes. I fear such an exaggeration may be indicative of dishonesty. Certainly it demonstrates a lack of skill at math.

Still one might say, why is Toronto paying an extra $100 million for the cars?

Well there is an answer:

Bombardier builds their cars in Canada.
Siemens builds theirs in China.

There are two reasons why I would prefer spending more on Canadian products:

1) They create Canadian jobs and stimulate the Canadian economy. I'd prefer the city to spend a bit more to avoid flight of capital any day of the week.

2) The energy cost of transporting subway cars across the pacific is higher than the energy cost of transporting them from Thunder Bay. That means it's better for the environment to buy from Bombardier regardless of how they are carried.

Percentage of operating budget: 1.32%

Returning to our comparison to a family with a $50000 income this is like "wasting" $660 to buy a local car with better fuel economy.

#2 2007 Operating Budget $7.8 billion.
Complaint: City "wasted" $77000 on watering plants.

What Ford fails to mention is that this was money spent on watering INDOOR plants.

Perhaps he thinks plants water themselves.
Perhaps Ford thinks we shouldn't pay custodians.
I don't know but I would hardly call routine maintenance a wasted expenditure.

Percentage of operating budget: 0.001%

Remember that family with a $50000 income? They just "wasted" fifty cents on a watering can! Guess they went to the dollar store.

#1 2009 Operating budget (I think) $8.7 Billion

Complaint: Kyle Rae expensing trip to aids conference in Vienna and funding retirement party out of his office budget. The two items together add up to a total of $20400 though Ford decides to itemize them.

Now first off this is nothing more than yet another jab at an opponent that Ford has been vocal in hating for years.

What he forgets to mention: With regard to the trip it is Rae, the outgoing councilor for the Church / Wellesley neighborhood, attending a conference on a health issue that has always been of considerable concern to his constituents! It's not like he is expensing a relaxing vacation in the sun.

As for the retirement party, we are talking about a man who has given 20 years of his life in service to the city! Furthermore he drew the $12000 for the party from his own office budget of $50000. It may not be the best use of public funds but it is certainly not outside the bounds of the allowable.

In the end it's an attempt to create a tempest in a teapot over Ford's least favorite councilor on his way out. Total percentage of operating budget: 0.0002%

Total cost to each Torontonian: less than one cent.

If it were our hypothetical family with an income of $50000 they would have just wasted ten cents sending an employee on a business trip and throwing him a retirement party.

Throughout this article I've demonstrated the small amounts that Ford's complaints of "waste" truly represent. His complaints stem from the operating budgets for 2006, 2007 and 2009. I use three years as my benchmark then in the final tally.

If Toronto were a family just a hair below the median income mark they would have earned $150000 over three years. In that time this family "wasted" $676.10. That's hardly an unreasonable level of "waste."

When you consider that this "waste" saved lives, funded weather preparedness, protected the environment, improved the Ontario economy and went to maintaining existing property it can hardly be called waste at all.

The only item on Ford's list that could fairly be called "waste" was the $12000 spent by Rae for his retirement party. Considering the small amount of money this represents though I have to ask: Are we really so petty?

Rae's little party cost the average Torontonian less than a penny.

Is it so important?

Respectfortaxpayers.com shows no respect to taxpayers. It disrespects us with inaccurate statistics, misleading links, and incomplete pictures of the uses the funds went to.

It also disrespects Ford's mayoral race opponents who are portrayed in a very negative light in the jibjab style video displayed prominently on his page.

In the end, what Ford's website really shows is not the extent of waste in the city of Toronto but rather the smallness of his own spirit. This webpage paints a picture of a petty, small minded man. Penny wise and pound foolish he cries of waste when the city spends minuscule amounts to prepare for future disasters, to maintain city property, to save lives.

Rob Ford never had my vote.

I sincerely hope, after reading this deconstruction of his lies and his pettiness that he has lost yours.

 

[Fresh Start]

Informal poll by me: Ford is incompetent for the job. If elected, will inevitably fail to keep any of his promises and will blame everyone else.

Why would anyone vote for Rob Ford? Why would Toronto want someone who can actually manage their finances? Torontonians love politicians who lie and waste money (see McGunity, Dalton). Torontonians also love politicians who bend over for the public sector unions (see Miller, David and Moscoe, Howard) while shafting the citizens. Isn't it every Torontonian's dream to pay higher property taxes and user fees while having services reduced? That Rob Ford guy would just make Toronto better and the citizens will have none of it.

 

[King of Kensington]

It would be kind of amusing to see the crackpot Ford elected just to see how quickly people viewing him as some sort of savior that will reduce the number of city councillors in half and stop watering plants at City Hall, etc. will be disappointed. He will not be able to live up to his rightwing rhetoric.