[TOareaFan]

Well i guess not everyone is perfect

Toronto councillor Ana Bailao charged with drunk driving
City councillor Ana Bailao was busted for impaired driving Tuesday morning.

Toronto Police confirmed Bailao was arrested just after 1 a.m. near Bathurst St. and Harbord St.
Bailao, 36, is charged with impaired driving and having more than 80 mgs of alcohol in 100 ml of blood. She is due to appear in an Old City Hall courtroom on December 3. Bailao is the councillor for Ward 18, Davenport.

At least unlike Ford, she immediately acknowledged the charges. But if convicted, she should, or be forced to resign.

I always feel a draft when I see the name Kouvalis. If proven true (which it sounds like) that Baliao (and Grimey) were boozed up by casino lobbyists, it will look really bad - at least worth an integrity commissioner's investigation.

The interesting thing (to me) is how important the dates seem to be on the lobbying. "Both Besner and Wright registered to lobby Bailao and Councillor Mark Grimes on Oct. 15, the day of the arts ball." The party at the Thomson, presumably, went past midnight which takes you into the 16th and you get this:

"My registry covers any conversations that I had with any officials regarding MGM on that day. I had no conversations with any city officials that required registry on October 16th … I had no role as a lobbyist after the Mayor’s arts ball. I was on my own personal time the rest of the evening.â€

That seems to me to be a "yeah we were there but not working...just having a good time" kinda comment.....one that seems to expect an look from the integrity commissioner.

And if Baliao hadn't been stopped for DUI, the public never would have known about this after-hours meeting with casino lobbyists.

Now, she's in a bind. If she supports the MGM proposal it will look like she was influenced--and opponents will, no doubt, bring up the meeting that occured on the night she was stopped by police (something, I'm sure, she would like the public to forget about).

Who knows what other secret meetings are occuring involving well-monied casino lobbyists and city councillors (we know how much the Fords like back-room deals). We need some well-placed spies in the top restaurants and bars (the Baliao-MGM meeting was at the Thompson) in town.

I'm impressed that she did the right thing, and pleaded guilty, rather than letting her lawyers find a technicality to let her off. Maybe there is hope for her after all.

I wonder who she felt gave her bad advice.

I took a few minutes to go back in this thread to mid-October when the DUI incident occurred to see what the discussion points were at the time and what we (collectively and individually) feel/say now.

What we now know is that she was well over the limit (.13 v .08 = 1 5/8 over) and that she now agrees that "as the Star reported, she had been drinking at the Thompson Hotel before her arrest with a lobbyist representing a casino company, among other corporate interests.

So, now that she has a) admitted criminal activity and b) drinking with lobbyists past the day they were registered to lobby......is there further action required? At the time, some thought being found guilty should lead to resignation.....does admitting guilt rather than being found guilty change that? At the time, some felt that if she was indeed drinking with the lobbyists after the Mayor's Gala for the arts then it would bring into question some ethical matters....is that changed now by her "guarantee" that there was no discussion of the casino file? Do these lobbyists need to get fired by their clients for missing the opportunity to speak to a councillor about the casino, then?

Just thought, since we discussed it in this thread when the event happened, a short side-trip for follow up might be interesting....if the mods feel it should be in another thread...so be it.

 

[DSC]

Councillor Kelly - chair of the City's Environment Committee! - does not seem to believe in climate change. He should maybe buy a copy of this book on climate change and cities. Urban areas and global climate change / edited by William G. Holt. Bingley, UK : Emerald, 2012. ISBN 9781781900369

 

[nfitz]

Councillor Kelly - chair of the City's Environment Committee! - does not seem to believe in climate change. He should maybe buy a copy of this book on climate change and cities. Urban areas and global climate change / edited by William G. Holt. Bingley, UK : Emerald, 2012. ISBN 9781781900369

Is that true, or has something he said been taken out of context.

There's a lot of difference between not believing in it, and not being worried about it.

You can't not believe in climate change ... or how else do you explain that there were mile-thick glaciers in Toronto 20,000 years ago?

 

[W. K. Lis]

Why doesn't Rob Ford contact Karen Stintz directly before commenting on the TTC newstand discussion? Instead, he just yells about it on his radio show. He is the mayor, so act like a mayor. Talk with others in the city organization.

See Karen Stintz's letter to the TTC commissioners at this link.

[Below is the text of a letter I sent to TTC Commissioners today. Karen.]

Dear Commissioners:

By now, you should have received an “unconditional†offer from International News, submitted at 8:00 pm yesterday evening, with respect to operating the newsstands within the subway system. I learned about this proposal at 9:45 PM last evening through the media, and reviewed it for the first time this morning.

While the proposal claims to be unconditional the terms of the proposal are very unclear, since the current leases do not expire until 2014 at the earliest.

I cannot explain why this proposal was not submitted over the course of the last four months when this issue was before the Commission; however, I believe that it should be reviewed in the interest of fairness and transparency. I will be asking TTC staff to conduct a third-party review of the International News proposal against the Gateway proposal and to provide a briefing note to the Commissioners before the next meeting. This third-party review should include commentary from legal and real-estate experts and will evaluate the terms of each proposal for value-for-money, the current relationship each tenant has with its respective landlord(s), and the customer-service impact on the TTC.

If you feel there are other components regarding this issue which need to be covered by such a third-party review please forward them to me.

I feel strongly that this review be conducted by a third-party since TTC staff have been inconsistent in their recommendations to the Commission.

I also believe very strongly that this issue has become a distraction to the good work that is going on at the TTC. This needs to end. Andy Byford agrees with me.

This review, I believe, will still demonstrate that the Tobmar/Gateway lease extension proposal is very solid. It makes enormous business sense to extend leases for good tenants when the rents are increased by 67%. This is not a sole-source contract. It is a lease-extension and a very common practice throughout the TTC, the City and its Agency, Boards and Commissions where there is a landlord-tenant relationship.

For the record, the Mayor has yet to contact me on this issue.

Thank you.

Yours truly,

Karen Stintz
TTC Chair & City Councillor for
Ward 16, Eglinton-Lawrence
City of Toronto​

 

[TOareaFan]

Is that true, or has something he said been taken out of context.

There's a lot of difference between not believing in it, and not being worried about it.

You can't not believe in climate change ... or how else do you explain that there were mile-thick glaciers in Toronto 20,000 years ago?

a fluke?

 

[rm20010]

Why doesn't Rob Ford contact Karen Stintz directly before commenting on the TTC newstand discussion? Instead, he just yells about it on his radio show. He is the mayor, so act like a mayor. Talk with others in the city organization.

See Karen Stintz's letter to the TTC commissioners at this link.

Here's the problem: http://twitter.com/ddale8/status/296736204987187201

 

[Electrify]

Is that true, or has something he said been taken out of context.

There's a lot of difference between not believing in it, and not being worried about it.

You can't not believe in climate change ... or how else do you explain that there were mile-thick glaciers in Toronto 20,000 years ago?

“We interpret the past but we imagine the future,” said Mr. Kelly, adding that if Toronto ends up feeling like Tennessee, “that ain’t bad.” He remains skeptical, however, of “the degree to which the climate is changing and what lies ahead.

“I think there is information coming along the academic pipeline that suggests that there is a complexity to the issue that has yet to be fully understood,” Mr. Kelly said, adding “healthy skepticism” is important if it will cost billions of dollars for an infrastructure overhaul. Still, he said, the city should take the report “seriously,” decide whether it’s an accurate assessment and determine how to prepare.

http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/0...all-plans-for-volatile-weather-of-the-future/

On the plus side, climate change skepticism/denial is quickly approaching tinfoil hat territory.

 

[nfitz]

“We interpret the past but we imagine the future,” said Mr. Kelly, adding that if Toronto ends up feeling like Tennessee, “that ain’t bad.” He remains skeptical, however, of “the degree to which the climate is changing and what lies ahead.

“I think there is information coming along the academic pipeline that suggests that there is a complexity to the issue that has yet to be fully understood,” Mr. Kelly said, adding “healthy skepticism” is important if it will cost billions of dollars for an infrastructure overhaul. Still, he said, the city should take the report “seriously,” decide whether it’s an accurate assessment and determine how to prepare.

http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/0...all-plans-for-volatile-weather-of-the-future/

On the plus side, climate change skepticism/denial is quickly approaching tinfoil hat territory.

I'm not seeing anything in that that denies climate change is happening. Clearly if he's suggesting our climate might approach that of Tennessee, then that acknowledges significant climate change might occur.

And he's saying that the complexity of the issue might not yet be fully understood? Well duhh ... nothing new there.

And he's also saying the city should determine how to prepare?

I'm not seeing a quote in that that denies climate change occurs. Merely skepticism that it's such a terrible issue. Is there further information, or are the people twisting his words?

 

[Torontovibe]

Why is it, when Rob Ford was running for mayor, this DUI did not matter one bit to the Toronto Sun? They were perfectly fine with it. When Ana Bailao gets charged for drunk driving, her mug gets put on the cover of the Sun for 3 days in a row, with demands that she quit. Why the double standard? (because Ford did it years ago?) Both of them showed terrible judgement and if one is not fit for office, neither is the other.

 

[TOareaFan]

Why is it, when Rob Ford was running for mayor, this DUI did not matter one bit to the Toronto Sun? They were perfectly fine with it. When Ana Bailao gets charged for drunk driving, her mug gets put on the cover of the Sun for 3 days in a row, with demands that she quit. Why the double standard? (because Ford did it years ago?) Both of them showed terrible judgement and if one is not fit for office, neither is the other.

I think there are two potential explanations:

1. His arrest was before he was ever elected to public office (1999?....when was he first elected?) and the theory is that despite that the public elected him anyway (although I don't know how much was known when he first ran for office but it sure was "out there" in 2010)

2. The sun's attitudes to people/things are very binary......on or off.....good or bad......black or white. They don't know where the middle ground is or, if they do, they are not interested in going there.

It is likely a combo of those things...likely more 2 than 1......but a combo I think.

 

[rm20010]

They don't seem... impressed with each other. Or it could be out of context, but still: https://twitter.com/blissblogs/status/296048082498494464/photo/1

 

[nfitz]

They don't seem... impressed with each other. Or it could be out of context, but still:

Looks like they are all sitting listening to a speech to me.

 

[DSC]

The City's Compliance Audit Committee meets on February 4 to discuss the Mammoliti audit. (http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/decisio...oPrepare&decisionBodyId=521#Meeting-2013.EA12 ) At one time I heard they were also going to discuss the Ford audit but no sign of it yet. Another meeting or ??

 

[cdr108]

They don't seem... impressed with each other.

i bet in Frod's wildest dreams/nightmares, he never thought he would be 'working' with a female (who's also a lesbian) in a position of higher authority than him.

 

[TonyV]

i bet in Frod's wildest dreams/nightmares, he never thought he would be 'working' with a female (who's also a lesbian) in a position of higher authority than him.

In which case, looks good on him.

I know that at this point it's only words, but right out of the gate Wynne is showing leadership on the transit issues, immediately rushing headlong into possibilities for transit funding, whereas Ford has been holding out for handouts from the "transit fairy", to quote Dwight Duncan. I wish Kathleen a lot of good luck.