Rob Ford's Toronto

[adma]

If I had suggested another member be butchered and mutilated, even as a joke, the chorus of outrage would be deafening. If someone had said this in the paper, on TV or in some interview, people would have rightly so, called for that person's head on a platter. If Ford had made a comment like this, you guys would be calling for his immediate resignation and I would actually agree...

And, big freaking deal. Think of it like a big family dinner-table gathering where the energy gets so sucked into a cesspool of interfamilial bickering, that it's up to one family member to say "enough already" by screaming, going berzerk, tipping the dinner table over, etc. And you know something? Maybe it's best that it should have happened in order to drive a point into your thick bickering skulls. Okay? Much better than to just "grin and bear it".

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

Oh, come on now....

Ford can't respond to every message he gets while now being the mayor and having a ton of more responsibilities that comes along with this. I've sent several messages to radio and show hosts myself and only gotten a handful of responses. I don't jump to the conclusion that they're intentionally trying to ignore and dismiss me.

I know they're busy people....

I'd like a response knowing that the Mayor has read, or been briefed on my email. He has time to take phone calls from city residents, no?

 

[cdr108]

he was there to honor his gay son..if his son wasnt gay he wouldnt be there.

who knows, but it was the fact that Brendan Burke is gay and came out in what is typically considered a homophobic machismo heterosexual realm.

Brian B was supportive of Brendan B when he came out and wanted to continue that support in his memory.

it's no different than someone who does the Run for Cancer Research/heart disease, etc in support/memory of family/friend/etc .

 

[tkip]

I'd like a response knowing that the Mayor has read, or been briefed on my email. He has time to take phone calls from city residents, no?

Be realistic.

The man has his hands full and has a host of new responsibilitie now as mayor. You can't possibly expect him to respond to your one email and then conclude that if he didn't read or respond, that he couldn't be bothered. My supervisor once showed me all the emails they had gotten from various departments and they were overwhelmed by the sheer numbers.

They simply couldn't respond to them all.

 

[nfitz]

Frankly, I was always impressed with the number of tweets that both Miller and Giambrone, not to mention many local councillors, manage to respond to. Stintz doesn't do badly. Ford? Nada ...

One advantage of a tweet, is the response is custom written ... as you just can't squeeze boilerplate into 160 characters!

 

[BobBob]

Only Nixon could go to China.

Only Ford could show no respect for taxpayers?

 

[Silence&Motion]

Well, the results of Mayor Ford's consultation process are starting to come in and just look at all of the gravy they found! Bicycles, green bins, collection of toxic household chemicals, fluoridation of the water system? Those communists who used to run the city were wasting our hard earned on what? The environment?!!? Don't make me laugh! The environment is NOT a taxpayer, so why bother showing it respect?? Budget crisis: SOLVED.

 

[Torontovibe]

Multiple arrests for drunk driving isn't evidence he has a drinking problem? And what about the time he was at the ACC with his wife and got tossed out drunk after he verbally assaulted several people - perhaps the worst part of that is that afterward he had the tenacity to say he wasn't even there and accused the media of slandering him.

I'm amazed you have the gall to say that there is no evidence he has a drinking problem!

How do you know that Ford has been arrested multiple times for drunk driving? That's a pretty serious offence and I've never read anything about that.

 

[Tulse]

How do you know that Ford has been arrested multiple times for drunk driving? That's a pretty serious offence and I've never read anything about that.

I don't think it was multiple times, but Ford was charged with driving under the influence and possession of marijuana in Miami-Dade in 1999. He pled no contest to the DUI charge and was fined, and the possession charge was dropped.

As the link shows, this was covered extensively in the media in the lead up to the election.

 

[Torontovibe]

I don't think it was multiple times, but Ford was charged with driving under the influence and possession of marijuana in Miami-Dade in 1999. He pled no contest to the DUI charge and was fined, and the possession charge was dropped.

As the link shows, this was covered extensively in the media in the lead up to the election.

Oh, ok. So it's just one time as far as we know. I'm not saying "just one time" is Ok, I just wanted to know if there was any proof of more. You don't want to mislead people. Let's hope it was only that one time.

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

Well, the results of Mayor Ford's consultation process are starting to come in and just look at all of the gravy they found! Bicycles, green bins, collection of toxic household chemicals, fluoridation of the water system? Those communists who used to run the city were wasting our hard earned on what? The environment?!!? Don't make me laugh! The environment is NOT a taxpayer, so why bother showing it respect?? Budget crisis: SOLVED.

I'm stunned, simply stunned at what the first round of city cuts could be. What century is this? Where's the gravy Ford ran on?

 

[nfitz]

Oh, ok. So it's just one time as far as we know. I'm not saying "just one time" is Ok, I just wanted to know if there was any proof of more. You don't want to mislead people. Let's hope it was only that one time.

I've been digging through his arrest record. It seems that his arrests in the 1980s and 2000s didn't involve driving. I stand corrected - yet I remain unaware of any current politician who has had alcohol problems over 2-decades; or has been arrested in 3 consecutive decades.

 

[BobBob]

It's amazing how powerful the image of the gravy train was to those who see society mainly as a threat to their hard-earned pennies. Nothing else seemed to matter anymore. Unfortunately, it was political genius, at least in the short run.

Hopefully this term will at least be an education of sorts, so the city can move on to less stupid things.

 

[Marcanadian]

I'm stunned, simply stunned at what the first round of city cuts could be. What century is this? Where's the gravy Ford ran on?

As your signature says, “Toronto has a spending problem, not a revenue problemâ€. The environment, cycling, and snow removal are all 'gravy' according to him. In reality, there's no 'gravy' left. All that was there to begin with was the council expenses, which have pretty much been wiped out and amounted to a drop in the bucket. Does he really think a city service that costs $30 million a year is going to be unnecessary? The shortfall is huge, so I can't imagine what state the city will be in next year. Ford has really shot himself in the foot. He almost has no choice but to raise property taxes, or re-install the vehicle registration fee.

 

[Ak2809]

I don't want to sound like I'm supporting these cuts, but can anyone here justify the existence of street sweepers? I'm curious.