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Rob Ford's Toronto

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Mayor Rob Ford says his administration has done a “fantastic job†in 2011.

From the Toronto Sun:

Mayor Rob Ford says his administration has done a “fantastic job†in 2011.

“Personally, I think I’ve done very, very well,†Ford told the Sun Thursday in a year-end interview. “I’ve campaigned on a lot of issues and I’ve done, I’d say, approximately 70% of what we campaigned on.â€

“I think we’ve done a fantastic job in the first year, when everyone said you aren’t going to win a vote, you aren’t going to get anything done, well I proved them wrong,†he added.

While Ford calls it a good year, he’s been under fire countless times in 2011 and is facing a looming showdown with labour in 2012.

The mayor’s rivals on council have decried his agenda as one that makes the city worse, dismantles services residents treasure and Councillor Adam Vaughan has even called Ford’s 2012 draft budget a “war on children.â€

Just a year into his administration, Ford has been the subject of countless protests and he’s already had to stomach pushback from some councillors on his executive committee.

Toronto residents saw Ford repeatedly step into controversy ranging from when he and his brother Councillor Doug Ford raised and then sank a controversial bid to strip the Port Lands from Waterfront Toronto’s control to his refusal to march in the Pride parade or take part in any event from the week-long festival.

Even while driving Ford courted controversy.

He was repeatedly caught using his cellphone while driving, including one incident where another driver claimed Ford gave her and her daughter the middle finger when she honked at him to stop dialing while driving.

After the cellphone incidents, Ford changed his personalized licence plates. His cancelled ROB FORD vanity licence plate now hangs outside his office door.

But sitting in his office this Thursday morning in December, Ford trumpets his accomplishments in year one.

He points to killing the $60 car tax, a 0% property tax increase in 2011, cutting councillors’ office budget expenses, contracting out more of Toronto’s trash collection and removing the board of directors of the Toronto Community Housing Corporation after a scathing report from the city’s auditor general.

“The car tax was huge, it effected a lot of people, the first council meeting (we) got rid of it,†Ford said.

During public consultation on Ford’s proposed 2012 budget, the two almost 24-hour long executive committee meetings debating cuts and at Wednesday’s TTC meeting, hundreds of people have lambasted Ford and the rest of council for cutting the car tax and eliminating a revenue source for the city. Several urged councillors to reinstate the tax they voted to scrap a year ago this week.

“Maybe you hear that, when I go out here, there and everywhere, I don’t hear that,†Ford said. “People come up to me and say, ‘Thank you very much and stay the course,’ and I hear it over and over and over.â€

“You’re always going to have your naysayers, the people that probably are saying that don’t own a car, never had to pay the tax in the first place,†he added.

As for the protesters - the hundreds that have come and the hundreds more likely to come in 2012 - Ford shrugs them off.

“It’s the same group of 400 or 500 … you’ve got these professional protesters, I call them, or paid protesters that come down here and try to stir it up,†he said.

“It’s the same group so I have 500 people against me in a cityof 2.5 million, I’m happy with those numbers. It’s a small minority making a lot of noise.â€

The Emperor wears no clothes, sees what he wants to see.
 
He's his own worst PR machine, and truly delusional.
 
^There's no doubt Toronto voters were angry about the strike, so they elected someone to slap the unions around. Makes perfect sense. Whether Ford can deliver lower labour costs or not, he is certainly going to slap the unions around..

In spite of his size, Frod does not have the clout or capacity for tough negotiations with the unions.
 
Rob Ford is as delusional as the man who just recently passed away..

And in my lifetime it would by far go:

Best: Miller
Worst: Ford

Funny thing is I'm not even a "lefty", I'm just going by how much good and bad each did for the city.
 
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