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Next Mayor of Toronto?

Hipster Duck said:
Agreed. Not to mention that responding to every citizen's petty complaint even goes beyond the duties of a city councilor. I'm absolutely certain that Rob Ford worked harder than anybody on council - except very little of it was related to his job. Coaching high school football and listening to people's gripes took up a lot of his time and, in the end, he was AWOL for the majority of council votes.

I think that if Rob Ford stayed away from politics and decided to be a private good samaritan, he would go down as one of the most popular and well-liked Torontonians in history. His personal life as a drunken wife abuser wouldn't be in the spotlight, and people wouldn't need to know about his political ideologies. There would be no invitation for the media to drag his name through the mud. He would not have created a cult of fervent supporters who believe that he is some shining white knight who is riding into town to save us all - much as Obama did during the 2008 campaign - that can end in nothing other than unfulfilled disappointment by those same supporters once elected and in power. In short, he could remain blissfully idealistic without having to have any real responsibility. By going into politics and, ultimately, angling for the top job I think he is deceiving no one more than himself.
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Probably only in politics would a customer decide not to choose a company when the CEO gives you his phone number. I guess Steve Jobs should resign from Apple otherwise nobody in Toronto would buy an iphone. That guy answers customer emails, the horror!

I really envy Canadian politicians. They don't even need to come up with bad excuses. In a private company, heads will start to roll if a customer does not get response in 2 months. Not so in city hall. Why? Because the service is new. Our people are just too nice. Hopefully, that's going to change.
 
archanfel said:
Probably only in politics would a customer decide not to choose a company when the CEO gives you his phone number. I guess Steve Jobs should resign from Apple otherwise nobody in Toronto would buy an iphone. That guy answers customer emails, the horror!
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Whether he really answers them himself is another story and, besides, he probably only answers a handful of the complaints devoting the majority of his time doing what chief executives are supposed to do: making executive decisions. They're probably a series of generic form emails, anyway.

I really envy Canadian politicians. They don't even need to come up with bad excuses. In a private company, heads will start to roll if a customer does not get response in 2 months. Not so in city hall. Why? Because the service is new. Our people are just too nice. Hopefully, that's going to change.
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This "Canadians are too nice" story that is often trotted out is a myth. Have you ever lived in the United States? I have, and I remember a lot of people being angry with a lot of the customer service provided by private companies (US Airways and AT&T were some of the favourite punching bags). While just as many Americans complained about these companies as Canadians do, just as few Americans actually made good on their word and actually filed complaints. Actually, come to think about it: far more Americans were resigned to the fact that their country was at the whim of private corporations who could do as they pleased and that there was nothing for little people like them to do about it.
 
Metroman, what kinda dope u smokin'?

Let me be perfectly clear: Joe I-can-hardly-hear-nor-understand-what-the-hell-you're-saying-Pantalone will NEVER be mayor.

Rossi? He's a backroom policy wonk. Sorta like Bob Rae....

Smitherman? I hate Liberals, but at least the man is positive!

Ford? Sounds like a baby, is probably a Virgo (micro manager type) and angry that he's so fat. The classic image of the coach--the loser who can't play the game. :p

I'm not voting, but Smitherman sounds like a mayor.
 
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archanfel said:
Probably only in politics would a customer decide not to choose a company when the CEO gives you his phone number. I guess Steve Jobs should resign from Apple otherwise nobody in Toronto would buy an iphone. That guy answers customer emails, the horror!
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But here's the thing: Steve Jobs might reply to a bunch of emails but he isn't responding to all of them. I worked with a CEO of one of this city's fastest growing companies and I can tell you that he would respond to customer issues as well, but only when it was worth his time to do so. I wouldn't expect him to deal with every petty concern though, nor did he. Ford seems to think he can just start a lineup for help at city hall and put in a 10 hour shift everyday. If that's the job he wants then by all means find a job doing just that. But I can guarentee you Steve Jobs would never tell anyone "If you have a problem, call me and I'll personally make sure I resolve your problem." Apple wouldn't be the company it is today if that was the case.

I really envy Canadian politicians. They don't even need to come up with bad excuses. In a private company, heads will start to roll if a customer does not get response in 2 months. Not so in city hall. Why? Because the service is new. Our people are just too nice. Hopefully, that's going to change.
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Have you ever gone more than 2 months without an answer to an easy question at City Hall? Between my girlfriend and I, we've had nothing but promptness through the various channels we've gone through to get information from the city. Sometimes things fall through the cracks, and I know for certain that that happens everywhere (and last I checked, heads aren't rolling everywhere). Toronto 311 is new. No one is making excuses for it or even saying it's not doing it's job, because it sure sounds like it's doing a good job from what I can tell.
 
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archanfel said:
Probably only in politics would a customer decide not to choose a company when the CEO gives you his phone number. I guess Steve Jobs should resign from Apple otherwise nobody in Toronto would buy an iphone. That guy answers customer emails, the horror!
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LOL

From: Steve Jobs
To: XXXX@my.liu.edu
Date: Thu, 16 Sep 2010 18:27:36 -0700
Subject: Re: Mr. Jobs - Student Journalist Concerned about Apple'sMediaRelations Dept.

Please leave us alone.

Sent from my iPhone
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Imagine the emails Ford would send out.
 
The romantic feelings some have toward the private sector is ridiculous. Businesses in the same market share range as governments (ie. close to 100%) have the same sort of bureaucratic and cultural challenges that the public sector often does.
 
The mayor of Toronto can be compared to the Captain of a ship... maybe a Starship Toronto. He or she makes decisions based on input from other members or advisers of council or ship. If he or she makes requests or decisions that are opposite to the input he or she receives, there can be a mutiny.

Which candidate do you want to Captain the Starship Toronto? Imagine the candidates as a Captain issuing orders to make it so. Who would you want to lead? Put that candidate and replay the following video in your mind.

[video=youtube;-ZxHAZChcYU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZxHAZChcYU[/video]
 
GraphicMatt said:
The romantic feelings some have toward the private sector is ridiculous. Businesses in the same market share range as governments (ie. close to 100%) have the same sort of bureaucratic and cultural challenges that the public sector often does.
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And from the government's perspective you wouldn't believe how bad the private sector can be. I've worked with a company on a project that didn't even keep digital records of anything (that same company recently bought all of their staff new cameras and cell phones to make them more "technologically advanced" not thinking that they could kill two birds with one stone by purchasing camera phones...). This idea that private sector = the better way is rather dated 80s-speak.
 
Miller's endorsement looks like it may not make much of a difference after all. What I expected would be the lead story on all the newscasts was second and third. I think it came too late in the campaign. A couple of weeks ago would have been ideal.

Pants' next line of attack will be to let Miller campaign for him. Speaking engagements, press, and photo ops could help get Miller's supporters to get behind Pants.

My strategy has changed a bit. I still intend on voting strategically to stop Ford but I will continue to support and volunteer for the candidate whose vision of Toronto I share the most (Pantalone). If the last poll before the election shows Pantalone still a distant 3rd, my vote goes to Smitherman.
 
MetroMan, I really don't think it would make a difference. Miller's endorsement was hardly a surprise move; it has been assumed since Pantalone entered the race.
 
I understand what you mean, but that's not the difference I'm expecting it to make. He's the deputy Mayor, Miller has already quasi endorsed him. What can make a difference is the kind of high profile news that Miller is able to get on demand. Pants has been almost ignored in this race, maybe because he's so soft spoken, not assertive enough or maybe not controversial. Miller can shine some light on Joe and by extension get the media to pay attention to his campaign.

I believe that once people get to know Joe, his positive message is quite attractive. Acknowledging that we have a great city -- not a perfect one -- is his niche. It may work. We'll see how the polls react over the next couple of weeks. 3 weeks in politics is a long time.
 
All I see in Pants (and Miller) is a legacy of massive cost overruns on the St. Clair ROW and Union Station rebuild, along with increased existing taxes and fees, introduction of new fees and taxes, while making no effort to reduce or control costs, nor to ensure maximum tax payer value.
 
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