nfitz
Superstar
Yet he signed the petition.
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- Thread starter allabootmatt
- Start date
voxpopulicosmicum
Senior Member
^Still has room to back out depending on how the political winds seem to be blowing at meeting time. That will be make or break time for all of those guys.
TheTigerMaster
Superstar
Rob Ford now terrifies me. The man is in charge of a municipality larger then many countries and yet he has the maturity of a 12 year old. Before hearing this I disliked Mr. Ford, but now I feel true hatred towards him. I'm determined to make sure that the man is no longer our mayor in 2013.
MetroMan
Senior Member
I'm surprised MW signed the petition. Maybe he's buying his time. It just takes one councillor to change his mind and I think Minnan-Wong is that one. The others have already showed their willingness to go down with the Ford ship -- specially Cristanti who voted against putting rapid transit in his Finch ward. How's he going to explain that to his constituents at election time?
Nonetheless, this is all just a game. City Council can take all these Ford loyalists off the board by the time a new GM is selected. It's might even be possible to do this before the GM's job is officially terminated.
Nonetheless, this is all just a game. City Council can take all these Ford loyalists off the board by the time a new GM is selected. It's might even be possible to do this before the GM's job is officially terminated.
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W. K. Lis
Superstar
To the other civil servants at city hall, you either lie or make up things to go his way for Rob Ford or you're fired.
Toronto's going downhill if we don't stop the Ford brothers from ruining the city. What other facts and figures has he had his fingers in?
Toronto's going downhill if we don't stop the Ford brothers from ruining the city. What other facts and figures has he had his fingers in?
nfitz
Superstar
Lots of media coverage:
What sniveling toadies we have masquerading as transit commissioners.
Denzil Minnan-Wong. Cesar Palacio. Norm Kelly. Frank DiGiorgio. Vincent Crisanti. Remember their names for induction in the transit hall of shame.
Councillor Joe Mihevc, former vice-chair of the TTC, labelled it as a vindictive move.
The Sun is surprisingly quiet ... I'm not sure they really know what to do with Ford anymore.
What sniveling toadies we have masquerading as transit commissioners.
Denzil Minnan-Wong. Cesar Palacio. Norm Kelly. Frank DiGiorgio. Vincent Crisanti. Remember their names for induction in the transit hall of shame.
Councillor Joe Mihevc, former vice-chair of the TTC, labelled it as a vindictive move.
The Sun is surprisingly quiet ... I'm not sure they really know what to do with Ford anymore.
TheTigerMaster
Superstar
Quick question. City Council has already lost most of its respect for the mayor, and it looks like if Rob Ford keeps this behaviour up he'll soon be nothing more then just a figurehead. Additionally the amount of Torontonians who STRONGLY disapprove of the mayor is quickly approaching 40%. At this rate we could very well see some serious talk of removing the mayor from his position. Does anyone else think that the mayor will soon be at risk of loosing his job through impeachment or another method?
MetroMan
Senior Member
You must have missed this incredibly biased and agenda drive article in The Sun: http://www.torontosun.com/2012/02/17/websters-ouster-is-planned-for-ttc-meeting
EDIT: Oh... I just saw who wrote this. Why is she still writing in the "News" section?? This is an opinion piece.
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MetroMan
Senior Member
There is no impeachment for Mayors in Ontario. There is no other method other than the Mayor being convicted of a major felony that puts him in prison. Given his pigheadedness, he'll be Mayor even if he has zero support on council. We're stuck with him.
TheTigerMaster
Superstar
I'm well aware of the fact that there is no official impeachment process. But that doesn't mean that the mayor can't be impeached. If his approval rating drops so low I could imagine the province creating a process of removing him from office. But impeachment isn't necessarily needed to remove the mayor's power. At the end of the day council has complete control and if they wanted to they could just completely ignore the mayor.
MetroMan
Senior Member
Most people aren't aware of the technicalities of running a city. His popularity won't drop much further unless people were being affected very directly (a transit or garbage strike, services cut, etc).
What might happen is that City Council will shuffle the commission and those voting for Webster's removal will be excluded. Council can work around him but Ford can and will find ways to throw wrenches in the cogs for as long as he's Mayor.
What might happen is that City Council will shuffle the commission and those voting for Webster's removal will be excluded. Council can work around him but Ford can and will find ways to throw wrenches in the cogs for as long as he's Mayor.
quicksilver
Active Member
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.
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.
dunkalunk
Senior Member
Shut yo mouth!
ShonTron
Moderator
Electrify
Senior Member
I have a friend who is a total Fordnut, and believes anything that is left of centre is automatically socialism/communism (let's ignore the fact she receives unemployment cheques from the government...). About a week ago I asked her what she thought about Ford getting railroaded in council about his transit plan, and she said she could care less because the TTC sucks and that all they do is raise their fares and cut service (once again, let's ignore some facts...).
The point I'm making is that many Ford supporters could care less about transit. Sure there are the lemmings that read the Sun and will do whatever they tell them to do, but more than you think probably would get lost navigating our two subway lines. Making this his hill to die on is a very bad political decision, and likely to hurt him much more than help him.
The point I'm making is that many Ford supporters could care less about transit. Sure there are the lemmings that read the Sun and will do whatever they tell them to do, but more than you think probably would get lost navigating our two subway lines. Making this his hill to die on is a very bad political decision, and likely to hurt him much more than help him.