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Rob Ford's Toronto

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euler said:
7rMeNwl.jpg
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It sounds like everyone likes this because they think it's Norm Kelly being funny. I'd like it if that were the case, but isn't it Ford responding to Norm Kelly?
 
tiffer24 said:
Robyn Doolittle and Kanye West have been confirmed as the first two guests on Late Night with Seth Meyers.
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They'll be the guests on Tuesday. Joe Biden and Amy Poehler are first up on Monday. But she's up there, right between the Vice President and the better half of Kimye. Doolittle must be having a "well that's pretty fucked up, but in a good way... I think" kind of week.
 
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dt_toronto_geek said:
He has brought a degree of sanity back to City Hall, and he's got a wicked sense of humour and dry wit. Ideologically I'm opposed, but I do like him.
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Yep, that's my position on Kelly as well. I admire him for his wit and perseverance in what will ultimately be a fairly thankless but critical position; however, let us not forget that he holds various positions which should be untenable in this day and age; not least, he has publicly and frequently expressed doubt about anthropocentric climate change being a thing. I wonder if the ice storm gave him pause for thought at all.
 
ndawgg said:
but isn't it Ford responding to Norm Kelly?
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That's how I saw it - proves how Childish and Moronic the Mayors office has become - Norm should turn around and give Ford the responsibility for filling all the pot holes - just to see him melt down LOL.
 
ndawgg said:
It sounds like everyone likes this because they think it's Norm Kelly being funny. I'd like it if that were the case, but isn't it Ford responding to Norm Kelly?
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This is the one thing that I kinda, sorta admire about Rob Ford. As much as I realize that his attempts to bypass bureaucracy actually create more waste and inefficiencies, he is speaking to a specific population of people who are completely alienated by large, bureaucratic organizations.

Members of the middle class, upper class, and unionized-working class are used to dealing with bureaucracies. We're used to dealing with paper work. We may feel annoyed at having to walk into a government office to accomplish some task, but not completely alienated by it. However, there is an increasing number of people whose lives are spent in informal, underground employment. These are people whose daily lives are lived through informal social networks. They not only lack a basic familiarity with the "proper channels" of large organizations, they distrust and actively avoid having to deal with large organizations in the first place.

To these people, it makes a huge difference when an actual human being shows up at their doorstep, hands out a personal phone number, and says "buddy, I got your back!" Rob Ford understands informal social networks.

As inequality grows, this problem will only become worse. Both the left and the right is going to have to find a way to reach out to these people in a more reasonable way than the Fords are currently doing.
 
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Pickles said:
What makes you think Ford Nationals will subscribe to this twitter hashtag?
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I don't think they're the target; rather it's the next 20% of the electorate. You know, the ones who say: well, he had some personal problems and I don't approve of that, but he does work hard and stick up for the little guy. Plenty of people just don't really know what Ford does/does not do, other than drinking a bit and smoking crack that one time by mistake, probably due to overwork.

Of course, I don't want to speak for jml, but that is my assumption.
 
I think the idea of recording and publicizing Ford's work attendance at City Hall is great. I just believe that hourly posts are overkill. If the media mentioned Ford's arrival time everyday, that would be sufficient, but they don't. After all they cover not just Ford but legitimate City business.

They also have never compiled, say, a month's record of attendance. It would be pretty powerful to keep track of him for the next month and broacast how little he shows up at City Hall for his $140,000 salary. That's something that could be used in anit-Ford campaign literature, like a record of how he voted on key issues.
 
Silence&Motion said:
Rob Ford understands informal social networks.

As inequality grows, this problem will only become worse. Both the left and the right is going to have to find a way to reach out to these people in a more reasonable way than the Fords are currently doing.
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I think you make a very good and oft-overlooked point, here. I do think there exists room for such a position within City Hall, perhaps not elected, a person or a team of people who are accessible and help people navigate the bureaucracy. Unfortunately the catch-22 is that creating such a position or team is an exercise in simply introducing more levels of bureaucracy. I do think what Rob describes as "customer service" is something that councillors and their offices do well, and I do think Rob takes a lot of pride in doing a lot of this sort of work when he was councillor.

That being said it's definitely not the mayor's job, and I'm sure the staff at the 311 call centre will be very helpful if you call them with a problem and haven't the faintest clue about the proper channels. I think maybe more public awareness about 311 is what is needed, I don't really think it needs to be a left or right thing, it's not political at all.

Certainly an interesting problem.
 
Ford definitely sounds like he's on something in this pre-crack scandal video:
[video=youtube;DOOIZUJtcqg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOOIZUJtcqg[/video]
 
euler said:
I think you make a very good and oft-overlooked point, here. I do think there exists room for such a position within City Hall, perhaps not elected, a person or a team of people who are accessible and help people navigate the bureaucracy. Unfortunately the catch-22 is that creating such a position or team is an exercise in simply introducing more levels of bureaucracy. I do think what Rob describes as "customer service" is something that councillors and their offices do well, and I do think Rob takes a lot of pride in doing a lot of this sort of work when he was councillor.

That being said it's definitely not the mayor's job, and I'm sure the staff at the 311 call centre will be very helpful if you call them with a problem and haven't the faintest clue about the proper channels. I think maybe more public awareness about 311 is what is needed, I don't really think it needs to be a left or right thing, it's not political at all.

Certainly an interesting problem.
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I agree that it works for Ford, but I do not think it is my MP's, MPP's, or Councillors job to help me navigate the bureaucracy. Their job is to represent me and if I have troubles with the bureaucracy, then they should simplify the bureaucracy - not help me and leave the remaining people who are non-complainers to fend for themselves.
 
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