Rob Ford's Toronto

[Red October]

The story just keeps changing...

Streetcar driver 'accosted' me, Ford says of run-in with TTC

Sure he did, Rob.

My God, he's pathological.

 

[CanadianNational]

Now this is hilarious:

Ford's office goes on Twitter attack over Vaughan's comments

By Don Peat,City Hall Bureau Chief
First posted: Wednesday, July 04, 2012 05:27 PM EDT | Updated: Wednesday, July 04, 2012 05:34 PM EDT

TORONTO - Mayor Rob Ford’s office took to Twitter Wednesday in a bid to prove the mayor was “hard at work” at City Hall.

Mark Towhey, Ford’s director of policy, tweeted a picture of Ford in a meeting in his City Hall office with Budget Chief Mike Del Grande and Councillor Jaye Robinson. Towhey described the trio in his tweet as “hard at work for the taxpayers.”

The Twitter post came two hours after the Toronto Sun posted a quote from Councillor Adam Vaughan on its City Hall blog.

Vaughan was responding to Ford’s run-in with a TTC streetcar operator and went on to slam the mayor for “barely” showing up for work.

“If it’s not which streetcar door the mayor drove by it is whether or not the mayor has been partying in the Entertainment District. When it’s not whether he’s been partying in the Entertainment District, it’s whether he’s been picking up liquor on Dundas St. When it’s not that, it’s whether or not he’s gone off to the cottage instead of attending Pride,” Vaughan told the Sun Tuesday at City Hall.

“Very little of what you talk about when you’re talking about this mayor has anything to do with work at City Hall and as a result his approval ratings are dropping. He’s not doing anything here, in fact he’s doing very little, he barely even shows up for work.”

Deputy mayor Doug Holyday called Vaughan’s claims “typical Vaughan”.

“That’s the only way he can get in the news is to be critical of somebody,” Holyday said.

Holyday said Ford is showing up for work.

“He was there (at City Hall) today,” he said.

Holyday — who called Vaughan “David Miller, Jr.” — chastised the councillor for trying to make things appear in a way they’re not.

“(Vaughan) should get on the positive side of something,” he said.

The Sun’s blog post led to some heated discussion on Toronto talk radio Wednesday afternoon. Newstalk 1010 host John Tory called Vaughan’s quotes a “drive-by smear.”

Towhey’s photo of Ford “hard at work” prompted a few cheeky replies on Twitter from some Toronto residents and at least one city councillor.

Shortly after Towhey’s tweet was posted, Councillor Josh Matlow tweeted a picture of him and two staffers giving the thumb’s up in his City Hall office.

The photo caption noted Matlow and his staff were also “hard at work for the taxpayers.”

 

[CanadianNational]

Dear Mr. Mayor:

Please publicly release your itinerary regularly, as every mayor within living memory has done. This will help you avoid these dreadful misunderstandings.

Sincerely,
The Citizens Of Toronto.

p.s. - What's with the tabasco?

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

I say we hold a competition to caption this photo:

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

“That’s the only way he can get in the news is to be critical of somebody,” Holyday said.

Funny, his worship can only get in the news when he is a loser at something.

AoD

 

[MetroMan]

A bit of insider news: I'm told that several of Ford's big election funders are trying to draft Karen Stintz to take his place in 2014. This group is embarrassed by Ford's antics and how quickly he's become irrelevant and unable to move Conservative policy forward.

I believe Karen Stintz genuinely never thought of running or even wanted to run for Mayor but at this stage she only won't become Mayor if she doesn't run. She knows that and OneCity is a heck of a campaign kick starter. Even if the left puts in a candidate, I -- a centre/leftist -- would vote and campaign for Stintz only because I know that she would have the best shot at defeating Ford. We can have a leftist Mayor in 2018.

 

[Peepers]

A bottle of Tabasco sauce on his desk and a TV in the background, looks like a typical office alright! LOL!

 

[Riverdale Rink Rat]

A bit of insider news: I'm told that several of Ford's big election funders are trying to draft Karen Stintz to take his place in 2014. This group is embarrassed by Ford's antics and how quickly he's become irrelevant and unable to move Conservative policy forward.

I believe Karen Stintz genuinely never thought of running or even wanted to run for Mayor but at this stage she only won't become Mayor if she doesn't run. She knows that and OneCity is a heck of a campaign kick starter. Even if the left puts in a candidate, I -- a centre/leftist -- would vote and campaign for Stintz only because I know that she would have the best shot at defeating Ford. We can have a leftist Mayor in 2018.

Assuming she can flesh out her policies on matters other than transit in a centre-right manner that's consistent with her transit thoughts, I'd vote for her.

 

[CanadianNational]

None of Ford's supporters can say the obvious thing that needs to be said:

"Yes, he's at his office for a full working day, for a full work week. Here's the proof in the itneraries, meetings, minutes and appearances, as is common knowledge".

A bit of insider news: I'm told that several of Ford's big election funders are trying to draft Karen Stintz to take his place in 2014. This group is embarrassed by Ford's antics and how quickly he's become irrelevant and unable to move Conservative policy forward.

This wouldn't be surprising. She's still learning, but she's a procedural thinker who's not adverse to big ideas. Depending on the strength of the candidate on the left and how OneCity and related issues fare, she could very well have my vote.

 

[MetroMan]

Assuming she can flesh out her policies on matters other than transit in a centre-right manner that's consistent with her transit thoughts, I'd vote for her.

Really, if Stintz's policies were identical to those Ford campaigned on, many would vote for her only because she lives in reality and can actually accomplish those goals. Ford has been an utter failure for the Right as well. What's the use of a Conservative in office that can't get anything done? While Ford has sat in office, Toronto's biggest transit expansion ever has been approved in the form of LRT, a downtown relief line has become a priority, new taxes have become a very real possibility, plastic bags have been banned and Ford has wasted tens of millions of dollars on his meddling. I can't think of a less Conservative term.

It's becoming clear that Ford is going to have a hard time fundraising for his next campaign. I have a feeling that reality is going to slap him in the face and he's going to come out and announce that "I've accomplished everything I wanted to do in my first term, so I won't be running again". With insufficient campaign funding, he may have no choice.

EDIT: Something else to consider is that with Ford's numbers at an all time low and diving, he's set to go to trial in 2 months for his conflict of interest charge which may see him booted from office. Were this to happen, there will have to be a by-election and again Stintz would be a shoe-in for the Right. Without the threat of Ford being Mayor, I'd consider Shelly Carroll or Adam Vaughan but I do want the next Mayor to be one that unites the city. Stintz has been doing that all throughout the Transit City debate and now with the appropriately named OneCity plan.

At its root, Ford's campaign to control spending at City Hall was a good one, though the extent of which overspending was occurring in his mind was delusional. If Stintz campaigns on playing hardball with the Province to upload clearly provincial responsibilities like daycare, affordable housing, healthcare issues (homelessness due to mental health, addiction), she could save the city significant money, making room for spending on progressive initiatives like transit expansion and city repairs and maintenance. A citywide review of services is needed, not a random 10% mandatory decrease in spending. Some departments could save more than 10% while others in fact need bigger budgets. I would vote for Stintz on these principles.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Dear Mr. Mayor:

Please publicly release your itinerary regularly, as every mayor within living memory has done. This will help you avoid these dreadful misunderstandings.

Sincerely,
The Citizens Of Toronto.

p.s. - What's with the tabasco?

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

I say we hold a competition to caption this photo:

The tissue box is not for the Tabasco, its because my tie is on too tight.

 

[Red October]

Holyday said Ford is showing up for work.

“He was there (at City Hall) today,” he said.

No way! That definitely means he is there from 9-5 every day... He should get a round of applause for being at City Hall at some point today.

Holyday — who called Vaughan “David Miller, Jr.”...

Progressive Mayor who led the city through a huge boom and brought many things to push the city forward vs. an incompetent buffoon who is single handedly trying to put the city back a decade, and this is supposed to be an insult? Lol.

 

[bobbob911]

I do sometimes pass rear closed doors. But *very* defensively and cautiously, rather than a blithe "okay, doors closed, now move forward".

This. Sometimes you need to pass the streetcar when its starting up, and there's never enough room (because of parked cars ahead) if you are starting from behind the streetcar. The sane way to handle this is to stop fully behind the streetcar, then if the rear doors remain closed you creep by them at a speed that would not cause you to hit someone coming off the streetcar.

Now, since I have done this literally hundreds of times and not once has a streetcar driver said one word to me, I can only assume Rob Ford was probably blowing right by the rear doors without a care in the world except for the cellphone in his left hand and the chicken sandwich in his right

 

[Ice_Burn]

What's the use of a Conservative in office that can't get anything done?

I firmly believe that the new right-wing M.O is to push their small/no-government agenda forward by getting into power and demonstrating how badly government can be run. This is accomplished in equally abysmal, but opposite ways by both Ford and Harper. Ford shows how government is ineffective by doing nothing, Harper demonstrates this by doing horrible things. Both throw accountability of any sort to the wind.

 

[voxpopulicosmicum]

^They've been doing it since Moses was in short pants (or, at least since the 1980s when I became aware of politics). Ronald Reagan's administration was a textbook study of the phenomenon.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Now this is hilarious:

Ford's office goes on Twitter attack over Vaughan's comments

By Don Peat,City Hall Bureau Chief
First posted: Wednesday, July 04, 2012 05:27 PM EDT | Updated: Wednesday, July 04, 2012 05:34 PM EDT

...

Towhey’s photo of Ford “hard at work” prompted a few cheeky replies on Twitter from some Toronto residents and at least one city councillor.

Shortly after Towhey’s tweet was posted, Councillor Josh Matlow tweeted a picture of him and two staffers giving the thumb’s up in his City Hall office.

The photo caption noted Matlow and his staff were also “hard at work for the taxpayers.”

Tabasco sauce. That’s what Toronto taxpayer’s want, Tabasco sauce. Tabasco sauce. Tabasco sauce. Not Ketchup. Not HP sauce. Not Hollandaise sauce. Not sauce gribiche. Tabasco sauce