This may warrant a letter to your councilor and/or the transit commission board. Here's mine.
Dear Councilor Cho,
There have been local news reports suggesting the TTC Commission Board has called a special meeting in order to terminate General Manager Gary Webster's contract. I wanted to let you know that I completely disagree with this direction if it is in fact true, for a number of reasons,
1. Last week's council's meeting to consider and approve LRT lines in Toronto was the first time I'd had a chance to listen to Mr. Webster's discussion of Toronto transit issues at any length. I believe he did more than a commendable job. In the face of rude treatment from many on council for presenting evidence-based facts and data, Mr. Webster was calm, polite and thorough. He is clearly capable of the position he now holds.
2. Given that Webster is competent, the $400,000 to $500,000 Toronto would have to spend to buy out his contract is wasteful. Although the cost is no where near the millions of dollars that promise to be wasted by the Ford administration and aligned councilors, if the Bombardier LRT and connected construction contracts do not proceed, the severance has to be viewed as similarly unnecessary.
3. Councilors are not transit experts. The transit experts, Mr. Webster, others at the TTC and across the city, and in fact Mr. Webster's predecessor David Gunn, have all given the city advice it needs to hear on using LRT in its transit network. Although certain councilors may not like the advice, similar ideas are being implemented all over the world. It is time Mayor Ford and so aligned councilors begin to listen.
4. If Mr. Webster's contract is terminated what kind of individual do you believe will be willing to step into such a dysfunctional operating environment. My guess is that Toronto could only end up with a person who would put allegiances before sound transit planning.
This is a serious issue. As bad as transit planning in Toronto has been for some time, mostly due to a lack of funding that is now available, this proposal has a good chance of making the environment worse. I believe it is quite possible the Province of Ontario, if it suspects Toronto is wasting the proposed funds on schemes that are not industry-recommended may choose to withdraw its support. Were the Commission to fire Mr. Webster, I believe that is the signal they will be sending. Councilor Cho, it is for these reasons that I ask you to work with other councilors in order to establish a TTC Commission Board that is more representative of council. I have lived in Toronto for approximately 15 years and never has there been so much transit funding promised to the City. I don't want to see it wasted or withdrawn.