adma said:
If Rob Ford coached the way that Doug Ford offered urban schemes, his team would be chock full of doping infractions and the like.
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Hearsay evidence only, but I recently heard a story about Rob and his coaching -- apparently, he used to coach in the TDSB league and had a major hissy fit (threatened legal action!) when he used an ineligible player and got caught. They drummed him out of the league -- said he couldn't coach anymore -- so he went over to the Papists.
 
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I've been e-mailing "mushy-middle" councillors like crazy over the past two weeks regarding the WT vote--as I know many others have--and it feels really satisfying to get this result. A lot of councillors responded over the past week to say that they were not going to support the Ford plan (McMahon was the first to reply, surprisingly, as she's one of the hardest ones to figure out) but things really broke on Monday which I guess is when the Ford deal caved in.

My point being that, City Councillors react to e-mail more than anything E-mail seems to be the special ingredient, the elixer, that can stiffen the spine of even mushiest of councillors. So, keep the emails flying. Do not get complacent. Doug Ford is pissed as hell right now and he's scheming, as I write this, on some other kind of end run around the inconvenient obstacle of democracy to manifest whatever idiotic notion pops into his head. Guys like him are essentially sociopaths who never give up and have no regard for those who oppose or question them. One must always be vigilant around them and treat them as a constant threat. It's going to take three more years of constant pushing back at these yokels until they are finally driven out of City Hall.
 
Irishmonk said:
[...] So, keep the emails flying. Do not get complacent. Doug Ford is pissed as hell right now and he's scheming, as I write this, on some other kind of end run around the inconvenient obstacle of democracy to manifest whatever idiotic notion pops into his head. Guys like him are essentially sociopaths who never give up and have no regard for those who oppose or question them. One must always be vigilant around them and treat them as a constant threat. It's going to take three more years of constant pushing back at these yokels until they are finally driven out of City Hall.
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Mall giant met with Doug Ford in May
2011/09/21 17:38:00
David Rider Urban Affairs Bureau Chief


Plans to put a “megamall†in the Port Lands appear dead, but questions linger about how the proposal sprang to life in the first place.

Much of the public opposition to the attractions-based waterfront vision championed by Councillor Doug Ford was rooted in concerns about its origin, which has never been fully explained.

The city’s lobbyist registration records reveal that real estate consultant Tony Grossi, acting for Australian shopping centre giant Westfield Group, met May 12 with Doug Ford; Mayor Rob Ford’s chief of staff, Amir Remtulla; and Councillor Michael Thompson.

The topic is listed as “Preliminary discussions regarding Toronto Port Land’s and City’s vision for waterfront revitalization and Client’s view of its development potential.â€

Grossi, a former chief operating officer of Cadillac Fairview, a Canadian mall owner with holdings that include the Eaton Centre, then met again with Doug Ford alone on July 12, the records suggest.

Thompson, the city’s economic development chair and a close ally of the Fords, couldn’t say who initiated the meeting. He recalled it as Grossi wanting to introduce Westfield to the mayor’s office and “talking to folks in terms of what the city was going to do with the waterfront.â€

“They have an office in Los Angeles and said they were scouting out building opportunities in Canada . . . and said, as I recall, ‘We have a lot of American retailers looking at Canada as viable.’â€

Thompson said he had to leave the meeting early. He had no knowledge of the follow-up meeting between Grossi and Doug Ford.

Asked why Councillor Ford was at the first meeting, Thompson laughed and said: “Doug can be wherever he wants — he’s the mayor’s brother — quite truthfully.â€

Neither Doug Ford nor Remtulla answered inquiries from the Star about the meetings. Approached at a conference Wednesday, Grossi refused to discuss the meetings with the Star’s Dana Flavelle.

Few knew an alternate Port Lands plan was brewing until Aug. 30, when Doug Ford outlined a detailed vision on CBC Radio, saying it had been presented to about 15 people and “everyone’s jaw just dropped.â€

That presentation apparently happened at the office of the city’s Toronto Port Lands Co., which normally does leasing and soil remediation but spent $25,000 for the video and other work on the now-shelved plan.

Asked Wednesday who initiated that work when council only last year approved Waterfront Toronto’s plan, TPLC CEO Michael Kraljevic would only say “it came from our board.â€

The board is chaired by Mike Williams, the city’s general manager of economic development. Williams could not be reached Wednesday.
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http://www.thestar.com/news/torontocouncil/article/1057608--mall-giant-met-with-doug-ford-in-may


There's been plenty of scheming all right, and we need to explore why Doug Ford wielded as much influence as he did- he's not the member of any committee or anything- why is he sticking his nose in this? Why was the TPLC allowed to spend taxpayer money on a project like this?

My bet would be to keep an eye out for anything else that Ford opposes/ wants to sell- streetcars, public housing, Toronto Hydro, Toronto Parking Authority; chances are that there's plenty of backroom planning going on.
 
In light of what's transpired, I feel it worth reflecting upon how StCatharinesCitizen essentially vanished from the thread and, I guess, UT as well after he was called out on his Harvard credentials...
 
I don't read the city report and get a warm and fuzzy feeling that the problems have been solved. I read the document to state that the city have thrown down speed bumps, the possibility of a totally new flood control plan, has given itself a greater role in the inner workings of the plan to essentially be able to come to disagreement on a fiscal plan the Waterfront Toronto agency would find acceptable, and all the while stating Waterfront Toronto is in control and go fast to silence opposition to the other statements in the document.

b. Enter into discussions with Waterfront Toronto and the Toronto and Region
Conservation Authority to re-evaluate the delivery of flood protection; and

c. Direct appropriate staff to pause any further actions that implement the Lower Don Lands framework as they relate to the Port Lands including any on-going Ontario Municipal Board processes.

1. Any review of the plans for the Port Lands will be a significant undertaking that requires the cooperation and collaboration of the City of Toronto, Waterfront Toronto, TPLC and TRCA.

2. This review will look at two things:
- The current EA and
- The economic model for development of the Port Lands including city-building
objectives.
This will be done while recognizing financial constraints of the three orders of government and the basic objectives of the EA.
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Oh yes, we are speeding it up and Waterfront Toronto is in control. Pay no attention to the details.
 
Irishmonk said:
I've been e-mailing "mushy-middle" councillors like crazy over the past two weeks regarding the WT vote--as I know many others have--and it feels really satisfying to get this result. A lot of councillors responded over the past week to say that they were not going to support the Ford plan (McMahon was the first to reply, surprisingly, as she's one of the hardest ones to figure out) but things really broke on Monday which I guess is when the Ford deal caved in.

My point being that, City Councillors react to e-mail more than anything E-mail seems to be the special ingredient, the elixer, that can stiffen the spine of even mushiest of councillors. So, keep the emails flying. Do not get complacent. Doug Ford is pissed as hell right now and he's scheming, as I write this, on some other kind of end run around the inconvenient obstacle of democracy to manifest whatever idiotic notion pops into his head. Guys like him are essentially sociopaths who never give up and have no regard for those who oppose or question them. One must always be vigilant around them and treat them as a constant threat. It's going to take three more years of constant pushing back at these yokels until they are finally driven out of City Hall.
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I totally agree!
 
(From the Star)

"That presentation apparently happened at the office of the city’s Toronto Port Lands Co., which normally does leasing and soil remediation but spent $25,000 for the video and other work on the now-shelved plan."

Shades of the MFP scandal? (We're through the looking glass, people...)
 
Doug Ford should be made to pay for it. This isn't respect for taxpayers. We didn't want it, council didn't want it. He should pay for it out of his pocket.
 
Remember: Rob Ford made NO friends in City Hall in 10 years as a councillor. He's not about to make any friends as Mayor -- his brother included. This is all falling into place. Rob's team was counting on Doug keeping his brother in line, preventing him from going off the deep end like he did so many times as councillor. But Doug is a rookie who is making rookie mistakes and is losing the confidence of his brother. Soon, Rob will be left to his own devices and that's where Ladies & Gentlemen, The Show is about to begin.
 
jje1000 said:
http://www.thestar.com/news/torontocouncil/article/1057608--mall-giant-met-with-doug-ford-in-may


There's been plenty of scheming all right, and we need to explore why Doug Ford wielded as much influence as he did- he's not the member of any committee or anything- why is he sticking his nose in this? Why was the TPLC allowed to spend taxpayer money on a project like this?

My bet would be to keep an eye out for anything else that Ford opposes/ wants to sell- streetcars, public housing, Toronto Hydro, Toronto Parking Authority; chances are that there's plenty of backroom planning going on.
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seems like DF has lived too long in Chicago and thinks TO politics work the same way as Chitown.
 
Toronto's Waterfront Moment


Read More: http://www.theatlanticcities.com/politics/2011/09/torontos-waterfront-waterloo/185/


.....

Mayor Rob Ford and his administration had foisted a plan on the city to take over the waterfront from Waterfront Toronto, the long-established body that has been overseeing its revitalization, and turn the area into a mega-mall, complete with ferris wheel and boat-in hotel. We drafted a letter that was co-signed by 147 urbanists from the academic and professional communities and held a press conference last week. Yesterday I traveled to Washington, D.C. for a series of meetings for The Atlantic Cities. When I checked my e-mail upon arriving at my hotel, this report from Royson James, the crack urban columnist for the Toronto Star, was waiting for me:

"In an unprecedented, mind-bending political reversal, Toronto City Council dismissed the Rob Ford administration’s planned takeover of the waterfront, leaving Waterfront Toronto in charge of the multi-billion-dollar revitalization. So complete was the rebuff of the first-year administration that councillors and citizens stood and applauded one another in the council chamber following the unanimous vote Wednesday.

Just two weeks earlier, the mayor’s powerful executive committee unanimously backed the very opposite direction. They made it clear then they intended to grab waterfront land, sell it off, take the cash for the city’s coffers and replace the council-sanctioned planning regime with a new vision hatched in the mayor’s office. And it all blew up in their faces with a ferocity that left its architect, Councillor Doug Ford, the mayor’s brother, ashen-faced.

.....
 
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