Rob Ford's Toronto

[Dilla]

How come none of the lurid details reported by the Star were captured on cell phone cameras?

Pics or it didn't happen!

 

[adma]

Ford has just changed his Facebook cover photo to one with him and Chuvalo

And again: the Ford/Chuvalo subtext strikes me as *very* pregnant--and in a rather tragic way.

I wouldn't be surprised if the Chuvalo boys and the Ford boys (both products of blue-collar aspirationalism) were in some kind of bad-apple cahoots--except that the Fords were largely survivors (thanks in large part to the cushioning of "daddy's business", to which they were heirs), and the Chuvalos were largely casualties (largely because, unless they took up boxing, there really *wasn't* a "daddy's business"--in effect, they were directionless celebrity children). Now, Chuvalo himself is fundamentally innocent--in the good sense in that he's fundamentally a gentle giant; but also in the bad sense that he hadn't a clue as to the tragedy that was in his midst, or how to handle it. He's so prone and hard-wired to see "the good in everyone" that when bad and tragic things happen, he's blind, or at the mercy of forces beyond his control--a kind of familial Dutch Elm or Emerald Ash Borer. And in the Fords' case, his love and encouragement is real--and perhaps, in some ways, they're like the kids he never had, but wished he did. But unfortunately the evidence speaks for itself; Chuvalo may have been a loving husband and father, but when it came to a critical bigger picture, he was hopeless--and even he himself would probably be first to admit "he could have done better", which is why he comes across as genuinely sympathetic in the end, i.e. it's hard to find people of *any* stripe with a bad word to say about him.

And to understand how the voting public genuinely warmed to Rob Ford, one must understand how they warm to Chuvalo--something which all too many left-of-centre municipal wonks fail to do.

But at the same time, his family tragedy can be seen as the familial version of blindly, naively, over-earnestly placing overwrought bets upon Woodbine Live!, ferris wheels, monorails, and subways, subways, subways as an urban be-all and end-all...

(And it's also telling that aside from the present Rob Ford perhaps-circumstance, the one genuine Chuvalo-esque casualty in the Ford family is the older sister--given the "family business" angle, a victim of patriarchy? And even Rob Ford, as an heir to Dad-the-politician rather than Dad-the-businessman, might be seen as more of a "celebrity child" kind of casualty, if one views elected politics as a type of built-in celeb-hood...)

 

[Riverdale Rink Rat]

Was just looking back at the beginning of this thread at all the predictions and assumptions we made. Not to worry, most of us were flat out wrong. Of course this doesn't stop us (and me) from making predictions on what's going to happen next with Ford.

OK, Beez, but other than you getting the opportunity to make a smart-ass two word crack, all the things that AoD said would happen, happened: He lost complete control of the transit file, his loss of control was due to Metro (i.e. the province) stepping in and then a council coup-d'etat due to the cockamammie way he handled the file. The fact that it wasn't the Premier on the front pages with a speech doesn't mean that it didn't happen.

Hopefully, in a back-hand way you're correct. Given that FINALLY council is rebelling against his other idiocies and his general standing is dropping like a stone, other predictions of his demise due to his incompetence will come true in a more circuitous route than originally envisioned.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

RRR:

To be honest though, I think my prognostics were off - the province didn't step in per se, given it's a process issue and it's his worship's failure to follow through that ultimately produced the outcome we have today. Quite a damning indictment on his competency, and in agreement with what others have long predicted but doesn't change that my prediction is off.

AoD

 

[nfitz]

To be honest though, I think my prognostics were off - the province didn't step in per se, given it's a process issue and it's his worship's failure to follow through that ultimately produced the outcome we have today. Quite a damning indictment on his competency, and in agreement with what others have long predicted but doesn't change that my prediction is off.

The province didn't fail to step in either.

Rob's proposal was to take ALL the money from Eglinton, Sheppard East, Finch West, the Scarborough RT upgrade and extension and even VIVA, and use on the Sheppard Subway and Danforth extension to Scarborough Centre. It's quite clear the province didn't accept this, and surely they privately strong-armed him into a position where they kept the Eglinton Crosstown project and kept the Scarborough RT as LRT, and that the province would have no financial contribution to the Sheppard subway.

It was only after this that the province then started pushing the City and TTC on the lack of a signed agreement.

There certainly is evidence that the province has been strongarming Ford on transit issues.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

nfitz:

That's only half accurate and revisionist - at the very least Metrolinx/the province caved and reopened the process even after the initial contracts are already in progress. Obviously they drew the line at Eglinton, but one wouldn't call that a position of strength in spite of the fact that they are ones holding the purse strings.

AoD

 

[nfitz]

That's only half accurate and revisionist - at the very least Metrolinx/the province caved and reopened the process even after the initial contracts are already in progress. Obviously they drew the line at Eglinton, but one wouldn't call that a position of strength in spite of the fact that they are ones holding the purse strings.

Still I think some are underplaying the province's influence, that has clearly been wielded, though not blatantly until recently (with the quick rejections anytime someone starts suggesting changes). Ford didn't get one penny of funding for his subway plan from the province.

 

[canmark]

Is Ford trying to buy his way into coaching at another high school?

Toronto Star: Rob Ford aide’s unsolicited offer to school: $10,000 to start new football team

Is the purpose of the Rob Ford Foundation to help young people through athletics or to buy Rob Ford a job as a high school football coach? It's sad, really, that no one will give him this unpaid job that he so clearly wants--he actually has to bribe schools to take him on.

 

[ChesterCopperpot]

This is getting pathetic from the Star now - from the article

The use of taxpayer-paid city employees for non-city purposes is a likely violation of council’s code of conduct. In fact, Ford was found by the integrity commissioner to have violated the code in 2010 for what appears to be an identical issue: using his staff to assist with his foundation’s work.

later on

The email was sent from a Gmail account, not Fickel’s city account. The Star could not determine late Wednesday whether the listed number belongs to the city or to Fickel personally.

 

[ShonTron]

There's two things wrong with this latest story.

First, he's having city staffers work on not only his football team, but also do work for his football foundation, making it more difficult to separate the mayor's office from his foundation, which keeps getting him in trouble.

Secondly, he's using money from his foundation for what seems to be an attempt to parachute himself to coach a new school as Don Bosco has tired of him - another way he's using staffers to support a personal hobby.

Of course it's easy to say that this isn't a big deal, it's not in the grand scheme of things. But it is using city resources for personal interests and complicating the what should be arms-length relationship between the foundation and the mayor's office.

 

[Riverdale Rink Rat]

He sent it on behalf of the foundation at 4:30pm in the afternoon on a Thursday. Ford's looking for another place to coach football just in case the parents at Don Bosco succeed in getting the pressure on the principal to a high-enough level.

Ford has made an enemy out of the Star, and vice versa. Until Ford leaves office or stops bad-mouthing the Star, they're going to print every verifiable bad thing they can find on him. So, he stops the war with the Star (highly unlikely) or he stops doing stupid things (highly, highly unlikely). You might as well sit back and enjoy the ride...

 

[Ramako]

There's two things wrong with this latest story.

First, he's having city staffers work on not only his football team, but also do work for his football foundation, making it more difficult to separate the mayor's office from his foundation, which keeps getting him in trouble.

Secondly, he's using money from his foundation for what seems to be an attempt to parachute himself to coach a new school as Don Bosco has tired of him - another way he's using staffers to support a personal hobby.

Of course it's easy to say that this isn't a big deal, it's not in the grand scheme of things. But it is using city resources for personal interests and complicating the what should be arms-length relationship between the foundation and the mayor's office.

In the grand scheme of things, this isn't a big deal in and of itself, but this behaviour, and similar behaviour from Ford, deserves special scrutiny given how fervently Ford, as a councillor, went after others for very minor transgressions that he deemed to be waste and "gravy". Councillor Ford would have been all over Mayor Ford for using city resources in such a way.

I think what the Star is pointing out isn't so much the waste or even the conflict of interest, but the hypocrisy.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Environment Days starting up April 6, 2013, see link.

Guess who's doing an Environment Day for his ward, on Thursday, May 2nd? Mammoliti. Maybe?

 

[DSC]

Environment Days starting up April 6, 2013, see link.

Guess who's doing an Environment Day for his ward, on Thursday, May 2nd? Mammoliti. Maybe?

Giorgio Mammoliti to have surgery after getting rushed to hospital

York West Councillor Georgio Mammoliti was rushed to hospital Thursday night with an unknown condition. He will undergo surgery Friday.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Lobotomy, hopefully.

AoD