Interesting
Council foes give Ford even more power
He’s a souped up Ford — thanks largely to his council opponents.
A bid by councillors to derail a staff recommendation to shrink six city boards has given Mayor Rob Ford the power to make hundreds more appointments.
Before Tuesday’s vote, Ford — like his predecessor David Miller — had the power to fill 183 positions on various boards.
Thanks to the motion and the lack of council support to correct it, Ford along with the striking and civic appointments committees he controls, can now handpick more than 400 positions, The Sun has learned.
While the original motion would have altered just six city boards, the amended motion changes 102 of them.
“That motion single-handedly changed 102 boards, no transparency, no accountability, no real debate, just a hasty move,†Ford’s press secretary Adrienne Batra told the Sun Thursday.
Asked if she feels the mayor’s power has been strengthened by the change, Batra acknowledged he will have more chances to put people where he wants.
“It’s given the mayor’s office more opportunity to put people on boards certainly,†Batra said. “That’s something certainly this office was not asking for.â€
The vote was the first major vote Ford has lost since taking office in December.
Council voted 24 to 19 in favour of Councillor Adam Vaughan’s amendment which guaranteed no city agency, board or commission would have less than 11 members.
Vaughan’s motion stated that at least three of those 11 should be city councillors and one should be the mayor or a designate appointed by the mayor.
After the vote, Vaughan called it a “really good day for the people of Toronto†while Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti warned the “on the fly†motion would backfire on councillors who supported it.
Hearing the new appointment numbers, Councillor Shelley Carroll chuckled that Ford’s now “got a lot of work to do.â€
“It was certainly not our intention to create that much work for him to do,†she said.
Carroll pointed out councillors, many who supported Vaughan’s amendment, tried to fix it with another vote but Ford’s council supporters stymied the quick fix.
“Through pure partisan petulant behaviour on the part of their quarterback,†she said, taking a not too subtle shot at Mammoliti.
http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2011/04/14/17997021.html