Rob Ford's Toronto

[Jonny5]

Ford has put a 10 cent fare increase as of February 1 on the table. Likely just a strong-arm tactic but still.

I was listening to the Q&A at the end and I swore I heard him say "If Karen Stinz can't find enough to cut, I'll do it for her."

If that is what he actually said, it would be the second time he has publically undermined her. The first being the meeting with Gary Webster to which she wasn't invited.

 

[W. K. Lis]

I think Vaughan's unwillingness to compromise (or even consider compromise) will disqualify him from the mayor's chair. Plus he's too 'downtown.'

I'd predict Shelley Carroll in 2014 and (if the worst happens and Ford's a two-termer) Josh Matlow in 2018. Both come from more suburban ridings and can play both sides of the fence.

Carroll also has good political connections which I think Vaughan kind of lacks. I know people accuse him of being NDP but I think the NDP still holds a grudge against him.

I think you got the names wrong. Rob Ford is the one who is unwilling to compromise.

 

[nfitz]

If that is what he actually said, it would be the second time he has publically undermined her. The first being the meeting with Gary Webster to which she wasn't invited.

To be fair, she wasn't the TTC Chair when that meeting took place. She hadn't even been nominated yet. I'm not sure it would have been appropriate.

 

[doady]

Unless your travelling on a freeway between 10PM and 6AM, You're seldom doing 100km/hr. I agree, we need transit that services communties, not that bypasses them.

So you are saying that subways bypass communities, even though the stop spacing of LRTs and subways are usually the same? Okay...

 

[Jonny5]

To be fair, she wasn't the TTC Chair when that meeting took place. She hadn't even been nominated yet. I'm not sure it would have been appropriate.

Completely true. My mistake.

 

[GraphicMatt]

I can sort of get what you're saying in general, though. It still bothers me that she didn't even stand to speak in council when they were debating the Essential Service designation. She seems to be taking a back seat to the mayor as far as big decisions at the TTC are concerned. (Almost the reverse of Miller-Giambrone, where the mayor probably should have reined the TTC chair in a bit.)

 

[typezed]

Given the manner of his delivery, in the clip now running on CP24 Ford sounds like he's telling managers they need to come in with a 5% budget decrease or every one of them will stay in at recess with their heads down on their desks.

 

[allabootmatt]

I can sort of get what you're saying in general, though. It still bothers me that she didn't even stand to speak in council when they were debating the Essential Service designation. She seems to be taking a back seat to the mayor as far as big decisions at the TTC are concerned. (Almost the reverse of Miller-Giambrone, where the mayor probably should have reined the TTC chair in a bit.)

...and Mike del Grande was cut out of the budget process (and is on the record saying so), and Denzil Minnan-Wong was, if not thrown, at least rolled under the proverbial bus after he talked about his separated bike lane proposal. Funny way to treat your allies.

 

[PinkLucy]

^^^ It's how you show who's boss. Team-building? Who needs it.

 

[nfitz]

...and Mike del Grande was cut out of the budget process (and is on the record saying so), and Denzil Minnan-Wong was, if not thrown, at least rolled under the proverbial bus after he talked about his separated bike lane proposal. Funny way to treat your allies.

It all does make me wonder just how long council will support Ford ...

 

[CN Tower]

Which is good if the goal is to increase density and reduce sprawl. Queen Street is not a freeway, but it is far better at servicing the community than a freeway would. The faster transportation moves the less it promotes compact land use. If speed is the be all and end all then freeways are better than anything else and we should focus on widening them and forget about transit. With freeways you don't stop until you get to your destination and travel at 100km/h... transit can't match that at all.

No city in NA exemplifies urban living better than New York. No city in NA exemplifies the benefits of a fully serviced subway system better than New York. Get my drift?

Subways build and enhance urban neighborhoods. That's why people like them. That's a big reason many people voted for Rob Ford.

 

[taal]

wow so much for pro business ... from what I can tell Ford is not freezing the commercial rate - so there were likely be some increase to this

From Shelley Carroll (clearly she would have a basis the following is simply a fact):

Also says Ford will drive away business by not lowering the business tax rate more than the residential one - says current ratio is too high and she and others helped narrow the gap in recent years. So she's hitting the anti-spend, pro-business Ford where it hurts.

 

[EnviroTO]

No city in NA exemplifies urban living better than New York. No city in NA exemplifies the benefits of a fully serviced subway system better than New York. Get my drift?

Subway stops are about every 400-700m in New York. That would mean a Sheppard line with stops at Yonge, Dudley, Wildfred, Bayview, Bessarion, Leslie, Bloorview Site, Shaughnessy, Don Mills, and pretty much where the SELRT project planned on putting them. You can't have the urbanity of New York without the urban stop spacing.

 

[toto]

Ford was having such difficulty reading the words on the page in front him, I wonder if he actually wrote them? I am convinced that he is just a puppet for someone behind the scene. Any guesses?

 

[EnviroTO]

I am convinced that he is just a puppet for someone behind the scene. Any guesses?

Someone with a really big hand.