Rob Ford's Toronto

[Greg Banks]

Pud99.. you're looking at the wrong act see Chapter 27 of the Toronto Muncipal Code..this is where Council rescinded the Mayors delegated powers and only until November 30, 2014.....The Mayor by "Right of Office" has the ability to sit in and vote on any Committee that is not a Muncipal delegated power...

 

[casita]

I was just curious if you extended POTS beyond the old 2-wire system, to include a 4-wire system.

Hmmm, yes, just like a certain company's new "Hybrid Cable", we use a cordless (dual actually) on a dedicated VIOP line over coaxial. It's still crap when the power goes out but we rely on mobile if that happens.

I don't know. But, the computer modem says "2 wire".

 

[pud99]

No. What I describe is exactly the decision already made by city council in November 2013 - that is, the decision that gave us the situtation that prevails today. That decision, by its own terms, will expire at the end of this term but there is nothing in the law to stop city council making exactly the same decision again post-October 27th. In the event that Foird were to be re-elected with the same, or a lesser, plurality, and the composition of city council post-October 27th is more or less as it is now (there will be a few changes, I am sure, but probably not a massive swing in favour of brand new councillors who are pro-Ford), why would council not continue to distrust Ford to the same degree and for the same reasons that they distrust him today?

It occurs to me that perhaps you are mixing up what council did using the powers that it 'undelgated' in November 2013 with what it could do. Counsel took back from the mayor all of the powers previously delegated to him from council to appoint, remove and replace the deputy major, the members of the executive committee and the chairs of committees. Council decided, at that time, not to replace the existing deputy mayor, the existing members of the executive committee or the existing chairs of committees. They decided that, at the time, it was enough that they had retracted from the mayor the ability to make those appointments (and thus to threaten the existing appointees that he would remove and replace them). However, council could have decided to remove and replace some or all of the existing appointees, and indeed council could decide now to do precisely that. Thus, if city council extended exactly the same 'undelegation' decision so as to apply to a second term by Ford then (1) if it did so immediately Ford would not be able to make the appointments you imagine in the first place and (2) if there was a delay in doing so then council could change any appointments that Ford might have rushed through during that delay.

 

[kbdid]

Another land-line holder here, and another RoFo robocall a few minutes ago....

 

[Greg Banks]

It occurs to me that perhaps you are mixing up what council did using the powers that it 'undelgated' in November 2013 with what it could do. Counsel took back from the mayor all of the powers previously delegated to him from council to appoint, remove and replace the deputy major, the members of the executive committee and the chairs of committees. Council decided, at that time, not to replace the existing deputy mayor, the existing members of the executive committee or the existing chairs of committees. They decided that, at the time, it was enough that they had retracted from the mayor the ability to make those appointments (and thus to threaten the existing appointees that he would remove and replace them). However, council could have decided to remove and replace some or all of the existing appointees, and indeed council could decide now to do precisely that. Thus, if city council extended exactly the same 'undelegation' decision so as to apply to a second term by Ford then (1) if it did so immediately Ford would not be able to make the appointments you imagine in the first place and (2) if there was a delay in doing so then council could change any appointments that Ford might have rushed through during that delay.

Again a rouge Council the last City Council meeting before the election is in August...it would be untoward to saddle a new council with the previous one's bias....and the new Council does not meet until early Decemeber thus allowing te Mayor elect to form his Executive prior to the "first meeting"

 

[euler]

I was just curious if you extended POTS beyond the old 2-wire system, to include a 4-wire system.

Hmmm, yes, just like a certain company's new "Hybrid Cable", we use a cordless (dual actually) on a dedicated VIOP line over coaxial. It's still crap when the power goes out but we rely on mobile if that happens.

"Hybrid Fiber" you mean, marketing nonsense if I've ever heard any. As if people thought there wasn't fiber to the DSLAM/CMTS. Not fooling us, Robelus. Screw those guys.

 

[pud99]

Pud99.. you're looking at the wrong act see Chapter 27 of the Toronto Muncipal Code..this is where Council rescinded the Mayors delegated powers and only until November 30, 2014.....The Mayor by "Right of Office" has the ability to sit in and vote on any Committee that is not a Municipal delegated power...

No, I am not looking at the wrong Act.

The Toronto Municipal Code (which is not an Act) is a means by which city council memorializes decisions it makes in the exercise of the general governance powers given to it by the City of Toronto Act.

I agree that the November 2013 council decision expires, by its terms, just after the end of the existing term. I have not said otherwise. The point is that city council could make exacly the same decision again, to cover the period following the expiry of the current one.

The right to be a member of a committee, and to vote as a member, is not in any way a power to appoint the deputy mayor, to appoint the members of the executive committee (except the mayor himself) or to appoint the chairs of committees. (It is merely a right to be one of the members of the executive committee or a standing committee, with no powers different from those of all of the other members of the executive committee or the standing committee.)

 

[pud99]

Again a rouge Council the last City Council meeting before the election is in August...it would be untoward to saddle a new council with the previous one's bias....and the new Council does not meet until early Decemeber thus allowing te Mayor elect to form his Executive prior to the "first meeting"

And, as I have pointed out already, if there is a delay in the post-October 27th city council getting around to making the 'undelgate' decision once again then, once that decision was made, council could remove and replace any persons appointed by Ford in the meantime.

 

[JWBF]

"Hybrid Fiber" you mean, marketing nonsense if I've ever heard any. As if people thought there wasn't fiber to the DSLAM/CMTS. Not fooling us, Robelus. Screw those guys.

Sorry, calling it "Hybrid Fiber" embarrasses me, it sounds too much like "Fibe". The "Red service" has been fiber to the node, and such, for a long time, just a money grab. Problem is all we can do is choose between two monopolies infrastructure.

 

[pud99]

Again a rouge Council the last City Council meeting before the election is in August...it would be untoward to saddle a new council with the previous one's bias....and the new Council does not meet until early Decemeber thus allowing te Mayor elect to form his Executive prior to the "first meeting"

BTW: No sitting council can 'burden' a future council on a matter of goverance such as this. Even if the existng council voted to extend the 'undelegate' decision to 2018, that would not remove the ability of the post-October 27th council to repeal that extension.

My point is the opposite. I am not advocating that the existing council do anything. My point is that, if Ford were to be reelected with the same plurality, or a lesser one, and the composition of city council did not change more than marginally (i.e., some changes but not a wholesale takeover by new councillors who were Ford supporters), then the post-October 27th city council should make an 'undelegate' decision for the 2014-2018 term for the same reasons that the existing 'undelegate' decision was made by the existing council in November 2013.

 

[GavinTheAlmighty]

ARGH!!!! Just got a robo call from rofo about the kick off for his campaign. The first thousand people get a t-shirt and a flag. Just to hear THAT voice on MY phone.... *barf*

I got one too. Superbarf.

Hah, cell towers are surprisingly resilient, they stay up pretty well in power outages. If it's a big enough emergency that the cell network is overloaded, well, who you gonna call anyway?

With people dropping their landlines like crazy, fees have gone up to ridiculous levels, and they're *really* not that reliable. It's true that they're powered from a different source than the main grid, but I'm not going to pay stupid dollars per month just so I could call someone when my power goes out.

I keep one for the power issue, but also because I hate talking to people on cell phones, and I often have long phone conversations. There is not one single cell phone on the market that sounds better than a $10 land line phone. Every single cell phone conversation that has ever taken place in the history of the world sounds hollow and crappy compared to a basic land line.

 

[hper]

Pud99....What you are suggeting is far different than that of November 2013..You are sugesting a total usurping of the Mayors delegated powers....The Council doesn't like the appointed Deputy get rid of him or her...the Council doesn't like the appointed Standing Committee Chairs get rid them...What you are advocating is a rouge Council....4 years of civil war.....

Rogue, right? You meant 'rogue'? If rogue is the intended meaning, why would it be so? Why would council be 'rogue'? The system, ultimately council supremacy, is what it is. And within that, they will do what they will. With all legitimacy. The super-numerant plurality blast that Ford could hold over the heads of council in 2010 is decidedly done. His exposed proclivities have put paid to that.

 

[toonderly]

not a wholesale takeover by new councillors who were Ford supporters

I seem to recall the Fords making a lot of noise about making sure they had a slate of Ford-approved councillors all across the city. Have they given up on that utopian dream yet?

 

[pud99]

I seem to recall the Fords making a lot of noise about making sure they had a slate of Ford-approved councillors all across the city. Have they given up on that utopian dream yet?

The 'undelegate' decision was 40:2 or 39:3 (I forget which). How many people do we figure are going to run in those 39 or 40 wards who would think that being endorsed by the Fords is a ticket to office?

 

[pud99]

The 'undelegate' decision was 40:2 or 39:3 (I forget which). How many people do we figure are going to run in those 39 or 40 wards who would think that being endorsed by the Fords is a ticket to office?

The total number of votes received by the 39 or 40 councillors who voted to 'undelgate' was many, many tens of thousands (at the least) more than the total number of votes received by Ford for his pluraility win; and some of those councillors won with majoriities, not merely pluralities. What a world (to quote the Wicked Witch of the West*) when there can be that much of a disconnection.

*Played by Margaret Hamilton. She received a burn injury during the filming. [Facts inserted to cut resident historian and EMS guy Casita off at the pass!]