[Riverdale Rink Rat]

Of course you're interested in other people's thoughts and ideas....when you don't have any of your own. And that's Tory to a tee.

Oh, stop. You're running off the rails.

So, with few answers to my question about who Tory should have appointed from Old Toronto, I tried to figure out who I thought he should have brought in. Fletcher? Perks? Doucette? More than one poster here has suggested KWT, but really? What post would you give her?

I'll hold judgement until I see whether two things happen: 1. If the Speaker tones down her rhetoric, and 2. The first time DMW tries some nasty, cheap trick. If those don't happen -- or, better yet, they do happen and Tory tells them to back off -- we'll have better governance. If not, I'll be very disappointed in Tory.

 

[Videodrome]

Don Peat ‏@reporterdonpeat 5m5 minutes ago
"This is much like a coach putting together a hockey team" Giorgio Mammoliti on Mayor John Tory's executive picks #TOpoli

Don Peat ‏@reporterdonpeat 4m4 minutes ago
"Right now, it seems that the fact that I've supported Ford in the election put me in the penalty box" Mammoliti on not being on executive

Whine away, Mammo. You are under police investigation.

 

[Greg Banks]

Oh, stop. Your running off the rails.

So, with few answers to my question about who Tory should have appointed from Old Toronto, I tried to figure out who I thought he should have brought in. Fletcher? Perks? Doucette? More than one poster here has suggested KWT, but really? What post would you give her?

I'll hold judgement until I see whether two things happen: 1. If the Speaker tones down her rhetoric, and 2. The first time DMW tries some nasty, cheap trick. If those don't happen -- or, better yet, they do happen and Tory tells them to back off -- we'll have better governance. If not, I'll be very disappointed in Tory.

Fragedakis and Matlow to start with....much, much better choices than say Shiner and Palacio

 

[picard102]

Environmental and green initiatives are huge popular issues to the city,

Hardly popular enough to factor into the last election. Not sure how that translates into being hugely popular.

while avoiding the backlash from giving the finger to a huge part of the city.

A bit hyperbolic.

Pink - Deputy Mayors
Green - Other Appointments

 

[SJD_Toronto]

A: Actually, progressive, liberal minded politicians (the "left") are more apt to be sincere about being more inclusive. Look at Miller's appointments. Liberals are for things....conservatives are against things.

B: Progressive/liberals make for better city building than conservatives, so appointing more of them is a wise choice anyway. Conservatism is just plain bad for the greater good of society.

Seems the majority of Toronto residents feel a left-leaning leader was not needed in the city. If residents felt the city needed a left-leaning mayor, then Olivia Chow would have been elected. Instead, Chow lost in a landslide and residents elected a centre-right politician. Why? Most residents agree with a more Conservative agenda for the city. The last city council term had the wrong leader in Rob Ford but now the much better, much stronger leader in John Tory is running the show. Heck, when former Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly was basically running the city for the past year, things at city hall seemed to go much smoother, most of the councillors were getting along just fine and things were getting done. Just remember that Kelly's political views are centre-right. Conservatism isn't a bad thing. You are just telling yourself it's bad.

 

[JWBF]

how about we practice nonpartisanship at the municipal level? Now that's a thought!

Here! Here!

 

[pw20]

I'm more interested in who Tory involves when he has a winder pool to choose from. How come no one here as mentioned his staffing picks which are filled with such people as:
Chris Phibbs, who a senior adviser to former mayor David Miller & As council liaison, Tory has picked Meagan Trush, who was a special assistant to Liberal Minister of Children and Youth Services Tracy MacCharles in her former role as consumer services minister.

That bait and switch Tory I tells ya. When it comes to council tory has a pretty poor lot to choose from. He also needs votes and political suasion to pass his agenda. The agenda he feels he was elected on.

The Globe has been much more measured than the Star in their reporting on the Executive. Edward Keenan's piece yesterday was pure and unnecessary vitriol.

 

[JWBF]

I Hate The War on Mayor Rob Ford

1 hr

PREDICTION: Who will be Mayor John Liberal's special guest to introduce him and hand him the chains of office?

1) Kathleen Wynnebag
2) His wife Barb Hackett
3) Himself
4) Clayton Ruby
5) John Moore In The Morning
6) David Miller
7) Kathleen Wynnebag's Husband
8) Margaret Atwood
9) That pedophile-defending lawyer who got 0.3%
10) Ben Levin

https://www.facebook.com/LetFordBe/posts/635099709932934

However, Louise Russo and Bill Davis will be there.

 

[WislaHD]

Fragedakis and Matlow to start with....much, much better choices than say Shiner and Palacio

Tory is not going to appoint councilors with agendas opposite to his own.

Plus Matlow (my councilor) I hear isn't actually well-liked at city hall, he isn't easy to work with apparently.

 

[r937]

How about we practice nonpartisanship at the municipal level? Now that's a thought!

here! Here!

i completely agree, let's be non-partisan and give the new team a chance

fyi, jwbf, the expression is "Hear! Hear!"

 

[Riverdale Rink Rat]

Plus Matlow (my councilor) I hear isn't actually well-liked at city hall, he isn't easy to work with apparently.

From whom do you hear this? A rookie Councillor who tried to work with Ford then publicly split from him over the idiocy that was ScarSub. I'd say that I'd be hard to work with, too, if I had to work with Ford.

 

[animatronic]

A bit of context from inauguration day four years ago:

*Prediction:

There will be a fomenting of anti Ford unrest in Council as the new year unfolds and the pressures of the fast tracked new budget builds. By February (and maybe sooner) there could even be a strong ant-Ford block consisting of roughly 20-24 councillors headed by Adam Vaughn and some others like Mihevic and Fletcher who will do everything they can to box in the antics, whims and petulant pronouncements of the Mayor-King.

When spring rolls around and the 2011 budget squeeze threatens the running of Toronto's big festivals like Luminato and Pride, as well as basic programs and services like parks, public pools and libraries, the media shit storm will crank into overdrove and there will be major demonstrations at City Hall by all manner of aggrieved groups. The urban/suburban civil war will be in full throttle and things will get very ugly.

Put on your seatbelts--it's going to be a bumpy ride.

Honestly--my hunch is that what you're suggesting is an understatement. I think we're looking at a scenario that'd make the G20 demonstrations wilt; as in, people dying, etc...

^ If Irishmonk's was an understatement, yours is certainly hyperbole. I don't expect major demonstrations but public opinion will certainly turn against Ford once pools and libraries start closing, and events people expect annually like Pride pop up on the news experiencing difficulties because of Ford's cuts. People don't want their taxes raised but they're equally enraged by having their services cut. Ford's honeymoon will melt away before the winter snow.

With the caveat that I have been wrong a lot when it comes to the Fords, I find it hard to believe they aren't setting themselves up for a huge mess in council. Even after the 'strong mayor'changes, I think a disciplined and coherent Council opposition could wreak havoc with their agenda. And in a Council that still has a very large progressive bloc, they are making no effort whatsoever to prevent the emergence of one. In fact, they seem to be going out of their way to make the point that only hardline supporters will have any influence. The situation is ripe inded for Adam Vaughan or Shelley Carroll to organize a de facto 'party of no' whose core members alone would be close to a majority.

And the understatement of the century:

Wow... this is going to be a long 4 years for the Toronto Star

 

[dienw]

View attachment 38477

Pink - Deputy Mayors
Green - Other Appointments

So many appointments in my part of the city, and so little representation for me.

"[G]iving the finger to a huge part of the city" is about more than geography. Even though Chow "lost in a landslide", there are still a lot of people in Toronto who voted for her (and others with similar leanings who did not end up voting for her for whatever reason). It feels like those voices are being left out of the OneToronto that Tory seemed to want when he claimed: "not left, not right, but forward".

I did briefly wonder if he proposed Nunziata as Speaker thinking that she wouldn't be approved based on her performance over the past term, at which point he could just tell her that he tried to give her what she wanted. Given that he's never actually attended a council meeting, it seems more likely that he just doesn't get how awful she was in the position.

 

[Riverdale Rink Rat]

Fragedakis and Matlow to start with....much, much better choices than say Shiner and Palacio

Just to be pedantic -- Fragedakis is not 'old Toronto', as she's East York. I'm surprised Matlow is not involved. I thought he'd raised his profile a fair amount with his quizzing of Ford on LRT... which could be the issue, as Tory has been extremely vigorous in burying that file.

 

[WislaHD]

From whom do you hear this? A rookie Councillor who tried to work with Ford then publicly split from him over the idiocy that was ScarSub. I'd say that I'd be hard to work with, too, if I had to work with Ford.

I have my sources. My understanding though is that Matlow is very much someone that sees things only his way and always has to be right. I've even heard him called the biggest narcissist at council after the Fords themselves. Which doesn't surprise me because that pretty much mirrors my impression of him when he was my school trustee. That doesn't detract from his qualities though, he is a very good councilor who represents his ward's interests very well and I am happy to have him as my councilor.

As for being difficult to work with, one thing is being against Ford's idiocy, another is being stubbornly in the way of the agenda and being a general nuisance and stalling council decisions. I don't think he'll back down on the ScarSub for instance. We'll see what happens this term.