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Rob Ford's Toronto

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Now that Ford is back in the driver's seat, Mammoliti is willing to re-join his executive committee.

Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti says his probe into a possible city hall conspiracy has confirmed his phone was “tampered with” and “former city hall employees” are involved.

Mammoliti, speaking to reporters waiting to hear from Mayor Rob Ford about the appeal victory that keeps him in office, also suggested he’ll speak to Ford about possibly rejoining the executive committee he quit in November after a judge found Ford had breached conflict of interest rules.

“I’m definitely going to have a conversation with the mayor — if the mayor feels that there is a fit (on executive) and I can squeeze in a little bit of more time to do that and still continue with my community and this investigation, then who knows,” he said.

* * *

On Friday, Mammoliti said, without offering proof, that he is excited about what he has since confirmed.

“Somebody’s tampered with my phones — that’s illegal in this country,” he said, adding that he also knows that he has been followed.

“I’m doing what I need to do to prove there’s a conspiracy,” by people from “the left,” said Mammoliti, who plans to take his findings to police.
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I wouldn't be surprised to learn that Mammoliti has mental health issues. But it may just be that he's attempting to create a scenario where he's being victimized/targeted . Hoping that they won't come down hard on him re with regard to his s audit.
 
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Tee said:
I wouldn't be surprised to learn that Mammoliti has mental health issues. But it may just be that he's attempting to create a scenario where he's being victimized/targeted . Hoping that they won't come down hard on him re with regard to his s audit.
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His overexpenditure was not minor (he overspent by over $12,000) so I see no reason why this would not be pursued - the Compliance Audit Committee meets on 4 February and can apparently ask for a special prosecutor. Spending limits on political campaigns are there to try to create a level playing field and as Georgio was sitting Councillor he already had an advantage. (Though, to be frank, if he were my Councillor I would be out there trying to get him voted out!)
 
Rob Ford still does not play well with others. Check out this article from The Star, at this link:

Rob Ford slams TTC chair Karen Stintz over newsstand deal

Mayor Rob Ford and his brother, Councillor Doug Ford, took turns bashing TTC chair Karen Stintz on their radio show for supporting a lease extension for the company that runs newsstands in the subway.

The Toronto Transit Commission should have sought competitive bids for the right to operate 65 subway newsstands, eight lottery booths, two bakeries and two cafes, Ford said Sunday on CFRB Newstalk 1010.

The mayor devoted a major segment of the two-hour talk show to the deal, heaping blame on Stintz, a veteran city councillor who’s considered likely to run against him in the October, 2014 municipal election.

He started off the program by congratulating Kathleen Wynne for winning the provincial Liberal leadership, before fielding calls from citizens about transit overcrowding, a power outage downtown and broken street lights in North Toronto.

Ford also took calls from supporters congratulating him on wining his court appeal Friday on a conflict of interest case that could have ended his mayoralty.

He repeatedly referred to the TTC deal, which saw the commission last week approve a $48-million, 15-year lease extension to Tobmar Investments, which franchises the Gateway newsstands.

“What happened last week was absolutely appalling if you ask me,†Ford said. “It’s absolutely an embarrassment.â€

The mayor told his radio audience that he called Stintz for an explanation but didn’t hear back. The Star reached Stintz, meanwhile, who said Sunday she called the mayor last week, upon hearing that Councillor Ford was criticizing the deal.

After failing to connect, Stintz said she “she called him back the next day, left a detailed message explaining the deal, and I never heard from him since.â€

On the radio, the Fords interviewed a competitor, International News president Sam Davis, who reiterated that he could have offered more if the TTC has sought bids, and suggested up to four companies may have bid.

“We’re saying at minimum we can increase that,†Davis said. “Let’s assume 10 per cent. That’s $5 million more. That’s a lot of subway tokens.â€

Stintz said Tobmar’s unsolicited proposal was considered attractive because it included a 67-per-cent rent boost, a $1.5-million signing bonus and $1.5 million in store renovations.

She added that the deal has been under consideration since last October, and nothing prevented International News, from filing its own unsolicited offer. “We had talked to International . . . They indicated they would submit an unsolicited proposal but they never did.â€

Doug Ford scoffed at the notion that Tobmar’s offer was attractive.

“How do you know it’s a good deal when you don’t go out and get a competitive bid?†he said. “You don’t have a clue. This is what happens from a person that has never run a business in their entire lives.â€
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Except that it was Karen Stintz who re-opened the lease issue, for transparency and competition.

Check out her blog, at this link:

The TTC Gateway Lease Contract – Facts

Below are facts on the Gateway proposal, created independently by my office and without outside help, based on the original staff report ( http://www3.ttc.ca/About_the_TTC/Co...2/October_24/Reports/Gateway_-_Lease_(For.pdf)

These facts were prepared for my use in deliberating the deal’s merits, without any lobbyist correspondence. The facts were also provided to the Mayor’s office in October and again last week, with no objection from the Mayor presented, publicly or privately, until after the January 21, 2013 TTC meeting:

- The TTC currently has assorted leases with Gateway Newsstands, with staggered lease-end dates. None of the leases the TTC currently has with Gateway are due to expire prior to mid-2014. Some do not expire until mid-2022, nine years from now;

- The proposal was for 10 years plus a 5 year option, retroactive to December 2012. The deal is to go until November 2022. Again, this is only six months later than the expiry of the latest current Gateway lease, when some of the original leases were due to expire;

- The option to exercise the 5 year option in 2022 is TTC’s, meaning this is a 10 year deal total, NOT a 15 year deal. This deal would, in fact, extend several leases by only a few months in some instances, as they were locked in until 2022, anyway. This hasn’t been noted. Again, it is NOT a 15-year deal but “up to 15 yearsâ€;

- This deal offers consistency during the Pan Am games, which was very important to me;

- There are franchisees (small business owners) involved. Yes, that is a personal, not business, consideration but it definitely influenced my vote;

- TTC will get a 67% increase in its revenues from Gateway (not including a signing bonus of $1,500,000);

– They are also doing capital improvements as part of the deal, $1,450,000;

- To RFP (Request For Proposal) the entirety of these leases would have required us to wait until 2022 anyway, because that is the earliest all would have been expired because of their varied terms. They needed to be consolidated to be RFPed as a package.

There was no recorded vote on the item on October 24, when it was approved in the first place, but I know there was no opposition.

My asking to reintroduce this matter was only to address a concern from the newspaper industry, not from a Gateway competitor. I found out from Staff the day after the recent Commission meeting that International News indicated that they were going to submit a proposal but they still have not submitted a proposal to the Commission.

A Toronto Star story on the issue can be found here: http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/tra...xtension-has-newsstand-competitor-crying-foul

“What people seem to be forgetting or not commenting on is that she re-opened (the lease issue) precisely because she wanted there to be transparency and competition in the
newspaper distribution element,†said TTC CEO Andy Byford.

I voted for it because the financials were solid and it gave the TTC the opportunity to consolidate all the leases in 2022 for an RFP of the whole lot, rather than the Balkanized situation we have now in our leases.

Thank you for your understanding.

Karen Stintz
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W. K. Lis said:
Rob Ford still does play well with others. Check out this article from The Star, at this link:



Except that it was Karen Stintz who re-opened the lease issue, for transparency and competition.

Check out her blog, at this link:
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The problem is not that Rob Ford "doesn't play well with others". The problem is Karen Stintz entered into a $50 Million - 15 year sole source contract. This is the Boardwalk Cafe debacle all over again! There is absolutely no good reason why the TTC could not have gone out and got competing bids for these 77 locations. Karen Stintz is either incredibly stupid or she is getting a kick-back (this is just my opinion - I have no proof that anyone is getting a kickback or anything illegal has transpired).

If Stintz had any aspirations of running against Ford in the next election she can forget about it now because this scandal is about to blow-up in her face! She is the next Sandra Bussin.
 
“What people seem to be forgetting or not commenting on is that she re-opened (the lease issue) precisely because she wanted there to be transparency and competition in the
newspaper distribution element,” said TTC CEO Andy Byford.
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If Stintz wanted "transparency and competition" why didn't she insist the TTC issue an RFP for these leases? Why did she conclude a sole-source 15 year contract for $50 Million.

This is just doublespeak. Some people may be fooled by it by I am not.
 
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Peepers said:
The problem is not that Rob Ford "doesn't play well with others". The problem is Karen Stintz entered into a $50 Million - 15 year sole source contract. This is the Boardwalk Cafe debacle all over again! There is absolutely no good reason why the TTC could not have gone out and got competing bids for these 77 locations. Karen Stintz is either incredibly stupid or she is getting a kick-back (this is just my opinion - I have no proof that anyone is getting a kickback or anything illegal has transpired).

If Stintz had any aspirations of running against Ford in the next election she can forget about it now because this scandal is about to blow-up in her face! She is the next Sandra Bussin.
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'Nuff said:

http://www.torontolife.com/daily/in.../2011/12/08/doug-ford-sole-source-waterfront/

I think this is the worst of the Fordian slips out there.
 
Peepers said:
This isn't comparable. A false equivalency. You don't have to issue RFP's for every government purchase. These contracts were so small that they did not warrant the cost involved of issuing and evaluating RFP's.
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hahahaha.... Peeps, you're awesome! You keep fighting the good fight. If you repeat that 15-year number enough times, it might even become true!
 
Peepers said:
If Stintz had any aspirations of running against Ford in the next election she can forget about it now because this scandal is about to blow-up in her face! She is the next Sandra Bussin.
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And this is what it's about. Ford knows Stintz is running against him in the next election, so he's starting the attack against her now, even though she's another Tory and was part of his inner circle.

And not a surprise given the most recent polls show that even Stintz would beat Ford if there was an election today, after Ford's recent disgrace.
 
BurlOak said:
No. There are others out there too. I heard Ford bought some paper and pens without getting 3 quotes. another $15 to add to the list.
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OK, so we're narrowing it down. $50k for a sole source power grab foolishness is not something to worry about. Amalgamating all the newstand contracts into one 10-year contract is corruption of a huge degree. Might I suggest that the line for Ford supporters between BAU and corruption runs along the same line as Ford/non-Ford?

BurlOak - I could care less whether Ford sole sourced his naked power grab. The fact he spent $50k on that cockamamie scheme should have every fiscal conservative screaming bloody murder! Where are you? Why are you not calling for the head of the Port Lands goofball who did this?
 
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