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Rob Ford's Toronto

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expat said:
speaking of, anyone got any ideas what rob and doug's angle of Waterfront TO is? seems like they've been trying to unilaterally take over since day one.

my assumption is that they're realizing they hate elected politics - doug especially. something public-sector but unelected (like waterfront TO) would give them the ability to push big contracts to friends without having to deal with all the fuss and muss of an actual council.

anyone else?
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They tried to wrest control of it under the guise of the Toronto Portlands Company (TPLC) which they control and hope to use it to make a quick buck (malls and all)- and failed miserably when then the public hit back with a vengeance and council ended scuttling their plans. It was their first and very public Battle of Midway failure. Thus the hate-on.

AoD
 
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hawc said:
Dear Friends,

Since 2011, my administration has been highly critical of the dealings at Waterfront Toronto.

I have repeatedly said that there is a complete lack of respect for taxpayers’ money at Waterfront Toronto.

I must stress that Waterfront Toronto does not report directly to me, or to Toronto City Council.

I assure you, that if they did, we wouldn’t be seeing any of this none-sense.

But at the end of the day, all government bodies are responsible to the taxpayers, who pay the bills.

Now, we are learning that Waterfront Toronto wasted $600,000 on a single public washroom facility.

That is roughly the cost of an average home in Toronto.

This included over $175,000 on design of the washroom alone.

This is simply the latest example in a pattern of blatant disregard for taxpayer’s money at Waterfront Toronto.

We recently learned that $1,000,000 was squandered on 2 rocks and 36 umbrellas at Sugar Beach.

Folks, this is not how taxpayers want their hard earned money spent.

The reality is, since 2001, we haven’t seen value for taxpayers’ money at Waterfront Toronto.

Under my predecessors, the City handed Waterfront Toronto $500 million of hard earned taxpayer money.

I have regularly raised my concerns with a lack of oversight over how this money is being spent.

I have repeatedly asked how much of this money was spent on consulting fees at Waterfront Toronto, since 2001?

Unfortunately, I still haven’t received a straight answer to this simple but important question.

However, what I have uncovered is truly shocking.

From 2011 to 2013 alone, over 33 lucrative consulting contracts were awarded by Waterfront Toronto.

Since 2001, Waterfront Toronto executives approved almost $75 million in “Corporate Costs”.

If taxpayers cannot trust the leadership of Waterfront Toronto to build a washroom, how can we trust them with billions of dollars to revitalize one of Toronto’s most important assets?

This latest example is the last straw.

The CEO of Waterfront Toronto must step aside and allow for the corporation to be steered in a new, fiscally responsible and accountable direction.
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:rolleyes:

Besides the obvious typo, how does Ford know how much all of these things cost? Is he an expert in soil remediation and septic tanks? $600,000 sounds like a lot, but it's hard to make a judgment when none of us really have any idea how much it would reasonably cost. Only engineers, plumbers etc. would know that. Besides, if it's such an outrageous cost, why didn't he complain about it before it was built? Are these projects not approved by Council?
 
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Marcanadian said:
:rolleyes:

Besides the obvious typo, how does Ford know how much all of these things cost? Is he an expert in soil remediation and septic tanks? $600,000 sounds like a lot, but it's hard to make a judgment when none of us really have any idea how much it would reasonably cost. Only engineers, plumbers etc. would know that. Besides, if it's such an outrageous cost, why didn't he complain about it before it was built? Are these projects not approved by Council?
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Pure speculation on my part. But given hizzoner's habits. It's possibly ghostwritten, then maybe looked over by brother Thug, then signed by Rofo.

Rofo would complain earlier, but he has a disease. Not his fault. Never his fault.
 
Marcanadian said:
:rolleyes:

Besides the obvious typo, how does Ford know how much all of these things cost? Is he an expert in soil remediation and septic tanks? $600,000 sounds like a lot, but it's hard to make a judgment when none of us really have any idea how much it would reasonably cost. Only engineers, plumbers etc. would know that. Besides, if it's such an outrageous cost, why didn't he complain about it before it was built? Are these projects not approved by Council?
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WT projects are NOT approved by Council but ARE approved by WT's Board. According to City website: "The City of Toronto currently appoints 3 citizens and the Mayor to serve on the board." Has Ford ever attended? - I bet I know the answer to that!
 
DSC said:
WT projects are NOT approved by Council but ARE approved by WT's Board. According to City website: "The City of Toronto currently appoints 3 citizens and the Mayor to serve on the board." Has Ford ever attended? - I bet I know the answer to that!
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In the release Waterfront Toronto issued today:

While all three levels approve projects and budgets in advance, the City of Toronto has a unique relationship with Waterfront Toronto. The City is the regulator for Waterfront Toronto’s capital works and planning. All projects that will be maintained and operated by the City are designed to meet specific city requirements and standards, and the plans are reviewed and approved in advance of construction. No project is constructed in the absence of City sign-off on the design, specifications and budget.
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So I'm assuming the projects are approved by the board and subsequently "signed-off" by the city, but not necessarily Council and the Mayor?
 
Watching the news footage of hizzoner saying he won't fail and his face takes like 8 seconds to go bright red.
Dumbass. I'm so frustrated.
 
There was something else going on there when Rob Ford started talking about Eglinton Connects today in relation to the death of little Georgia Walsh, beyond the glaringly obvious.

It's another trick I've seen him use when he's tilting at the cost of various projects—and he mentioned it several times at that point in the press conference—the fact that they "didn't meet the warrants."

As I understand it, if someone submits to City Hall that we need a new traffic light at a particular intersection, the planning department sets out to determine things such as traffic and pedestrian flow to see if they meet certain arbitrary criteria that essentially quantify the concerns—the warrants. With that in hand, Council can then make a somewhat more informed decision of the true necessity of the traffic light.

Well, shortly before Rob left for his two-month vacation, I watched as council ran through a whole bunch of these things: the local councillor would speak to the concerns of his constituents, and Rob would say "it doesn't meet the warrants," so it's a waste of taxpayers money. (Of course, true to form, in most cases, the projects had already been approved. So he was really just ranting about things he has no control over.)

So, today, when asked about the repeated warnings from Leaside residents to councillors about the traffic in their neighbourhood, he fell back on the same talking point, essentially saying too bad about the little girl, but we still can't justify paying the money to make our streets safe.

Which I think, even though it took me a long time to get here, is arguably more ghoulish than the Eglinton Connects thing.



JWBF said:
For some time now there has been posters that condemn the mere mention of children in relation to this topic... Robbie just broke the cherry on bad taste, being desperate for attention.

I and my wife are livid... taking a tragic event... I don't want to think about any more lest I bust something.

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The fords won't stop until they get their Ferris Wheel and monorail.
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Sun_Lover said:
Wouldn't be surprised if the toe problem were diabetes-related: http://diabeteshealth.com/read/1996/02/01/558/if-only-toes-could-talk---/
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I thought of that myself, a lot of diabetics in my family, however that is thin without further info, but then again since he is a decades old addict... all that sugar and weight can definitely lead down that road.

ToWestern also has those nice neurological facilities he could be availing himself of... all those hits in football, possible prenatal alcohol influence, chemical dependency screwing with brain, it's a laundry list.
 
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