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Rob Ford's Toronto

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LordWanker said:
wtf?!
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Here's the article, from this link:

As vice-chair, Doug Ford in charge of budget committee



Councillor Doug Ford, Mayor Rob Ford’s brother, is now chair of the budget committee in the wake of the resignation of Councillor Mike Del Grande.

Just don’t call him the chair, the interim chair, or even the acting chair.

Moments after the budget committee met Friday, the mayor’s office circulated a ‘clarification’ that while Councillor Ford is taking over, his title remains vice-chair.

“He simply chairs the meetings in the absence of the chair,” said Mayor Ford’s communications director, George Christopoulos.

In government circles, someone in that role until a permanent chair is picked is referred to as the interim or acting chair.

Not so in this case, said George Christopoulos, Mayor Ford’s communications director.

“He’s just the vice-chair,” Christopoulos said.

Whether acting, interim or vice, one thing is certain. Councillor Ford doesn’t want the job permanently and hopes council’s executive committee, chaired by his brother, picks a replacement for Del Grande as soon as possible.

Del Grande stepped down shortly after the $9.4 billion 2013 operating budget was passed Wednesday, saying he was upset by a council motion calling for a more transparent budget process.

Del Grande has been called thin-skinned for quitting abruptly.

“I think he should have waited a few days and thought about it a little bit before making that decision,” said Councillor Paula Fletcher. “I think politicians can’t be thin skinned.

“If anybody shows us that, it’s the mayor,” Fletcher added. “He’s very thick-skinned. He rolls with all the punches. It’s unfortunate the budget chief couldn’t have done that.”

Councillor Ford agreed Del Grande should have taken more time to think about it before quitting, but wouldn’t call him thin-skinned.

“I don’t know. I’m not going to say that. Mike’s a great guy. He’s a buddy of mine,” Ford said.

He added he hopes the mayor-led executive committee selects a permanent budget chair soon.

He thinks the committee should look at candidates who are on budget committee now as well as councillors who aren’t on the committee.

“Let’s give everyone an opportunity,” he said.

He wouldn’t say if he’d like to see the job go to Councillor Paul Ainslie, a Ford loyalist who’s one of the names being touted to replace Del Grande.

“I’m not too sure,” Ford said. “Paul’s a great guy.”
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CanadianNational said:
WT...? Shouldn't at least perfunctory show of electing councillors be made, even for a temporary position?
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At this point, I'll consider it to be a "one thing at a time, kid, one thing at a time" situation--however much Doug fancies himself to be the Bobby to Rob's JFK...
 
nfitz said:
I thought Doug Ford was made vice-chair ages ago. There is no temporary appointment yet as far as I know. Seems like a non-story to me.
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You are right. Doug Ford has been Vice-Chair since the Fords arrived (he was just re-elected - by the Committee - for the 2nd half of the Council term) and it would be normal for him to take over until a successor is appointed. (Just as it will be normal if Doug Holyday who is the Deputy Mayor, becomes Acting Mayor when Ford Jr. is expelled.) Under the City of Toronto Act the Chair of the Budget Committee is elected by the Executive Committee (from its members) and I do not think Council votes on it.
 
Toronto Star: Mayor Rob Ford says he knows what Toronto wants: a casino

Toronto residents still have five days to speak out on the controversial prospect of casino development in their city, but Mayor Rob Ford says he already knows what most people think.

“I have a pretty good feeling of what they want out there,†Ford said during his weekly two-hour radio program on Sunday. “How can people say no to this?â€
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Sue-Ann Levy in The Sun: If Mayor Rob Ford Goes, appoint Holyday
 
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He has a good feeling? Did he miss all the press and presentations that were not in support?
 
Come on, PinkLucy. Ford literally gets hundreds of calls from taxpayers everyday telling him that they back a casino 110% and tell him to keep up the good work.

The people of the city have spoken loud and clear. They want casinos folks. People want casinos, casinos, casinos. Woodbine's not a casino? Show me an casino in Toronto. We don’t have one. People want casinos folks. They want casinos, casinos. Support the people of this city that want casinos. Casinos they want.
 
Yeah, I keep forgetting how his phone rings off the hook with taxpayers telling him how much they support him on bike lanes, casinos, conflict of interest and so on. Which I guess explains why my emails have always gone unanswered even though my tax payments are up to date.
 
I'll tell you this much, supposing that Ford runs for by/re-election: if he runs on a "casino platform", he's blown it faster than Linus can say "Great Pumpkin". Even a lot of bitter-end diehard "taxpayers" will laugh right in his face.
 
I hope so. I hope even more that he's removed from office. We need a mayor with a sharp intellect and emotional maturity. No city should have to endure what this individual has put us through.
 
Tee said:
I hope so. I hope even more that he's removed from office. We need a mayor with a sharp intellect and emotional maturity. No city should have to endure what this individual has put us through.
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Ford is an idiot, but you make him sound like he was causing you emotional trauma. What is it about anonymous chatrooms that makes everyone into a drama queen? Is it not enough to say that we need a new mayor because the current one's a buffoon and populist with an anti-urban agenda?

Highly anticipating Thursday's smackdown of Ford. I can't see how the appeal could possibly overturn the original ruling.
 
MetroMan said:
Rob Ford's fate will be known on Thursday. I'll try to confirm.
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As much I want to know the outcome, you had a insider tip that Ford's fate from the original trial would be known in mid-October. This never happened and I believe your information regarding the tip was to do with lawyers preparing for the libel case.

Could it be his lawyers are preparing for the campaign spending announcement? We were supposed to hear the results of that before the end of this month.

If not, Ford's relatively quiet January could be getting pretty crazy.
 
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