Rob Ford's Toronto

[casita]

I think with Chow meeting the Sheik from here on it takes the wind out of some "celebrity endorsements" Ford might have been trying to leverage - now its going to be "so what...."

Some fallout from the "Sandwich Summit".
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com...sed-by-ranting-homophobe-who-encourages-rape/

 

[SecretSquirrel]

This conversation brings up an interesting point about how and why we elect people to council. I've mentioned in other posts that I have worked on political campaigns before. I've always found it odd that people will bring up a complex problem - like narrow roads where vehicles have to stop to make deliveries and then pepper a candidate with questions about what they are going to do and then dismiss said candidate if they don't have an immediate and detailed answer. Candidates know this is coming so they try to rehearse stock answers to things they cannot possibly know the answer to but I'm curious why people think any candidate will have a good answer to these types of questions?

Almost none of the people who run for council are experts in transportation or infrastructure. Ideally they should be someone who can think creatively, work with others, find support, know where to get funding, represent us with dignity, be able to make tough decisions when required and get things done on time and within a budget. It's a waste of time to ask candidates these types of questions. It only creates a situation where the focus is diverted to whatever pet peeve is on the asker's mind. And it effectively eliminates good, honest candidates when others are willing to bluster their way through baloney answers to please angry voters. Rob Ford said that he'd end the gravy train. Isn't that how we got into this mess in the first place? All the clues were there before he was elected. His criminal activity, arrest, spousal abuse, unwillingness to work with others, attitude that everyone else is stupid or corrupt. It was under our noses and he was still elected simply because he promised lower taxes and less "gravy". How easy was that?

Can you imagine going into a corporation to apply for a job as a secretary and be turned away because you couldn't answer a question about how to improve the company's stock prices? It just doesn't happen - so why do we do this when hiring people to sit on council? We don't elect people to personally solve these issues but we do elect them to work with people who can create an environment where things get done.

Have we lost our collective minds?

Thoughtful and incisive post.

To answer your question: yes, absolutely! We have lost our minds, because we seem to expect our elected figureheads to personally solve every problem, rather than fostering an environment of collaborative problem-solving.

 

[casita]

Latest from MetroMan: "which is why I'm kind of hoping the arrest comes October 28. Defeat by the people first, justice the next day."
https://twitter.com/MetroManTO/status/460584264094859264

Another six months of trench warfare?

 

[tjcv74]

Doesn't the bottom left and bottom right of the ad conflict with one another?

"Fund-raising

s 1(1), 67(2.1), 73 of the Municipal Elections Act, 1996

Fundraising functions are events or activities for the purpose of raising money for a candidate's campaign. The event or activity can only be held during the candidate's campaign period.

Types of events

There can be events where an admission charge applies. Examples of these events are dinners, dances, garden parties, etc.

There can also be events where there is no admission charge. Example of these events are auctions, button sales, etc.

The full amount of the admission charge is a contribution and a receipt must be given to the person purchasing the ticket. Remember, any admission charges over $25 cannot be paid in cash. If the price of the event is over $100, the person's name and address must be listed on the candidate's financial statement.

What is not a fund-raiser

- Events or activities that are held to promote public awareness of a candidate, even though the candidate may receive contributions from them
- Promotional materials where seeking contributions is secondary"

http://www1.toronto.ca/wps/portal/c...nnel=72c5715242ccd310VgnVCM1000006cd60f89RCRD

While not completely clear, I'd say that a campaign launch is primarily "to promote public awareness of a candidate." In this case, the fundraising appears to be "secondary."

 

[Jude]

They've done it before, been found in contravention, with no penalty.

Claiming a money-losing "fundraiser" outside the campaign limit, with no serious effort to raise money at the event. It was modern, according to Doug.

Audit committee decided not to pursue it.

Lesson learned.

 

[OSS 117]

Latest from MetroMan: "which is why I'm kind of hoping the arrest comes October 28. Defeat by the people first, justice the next day."
https://twitter.com/MetroManTO/status/460584264094859264

Another six months of trench warfare?

I don't care for that. If Ford successfully completes his term, that gives it a legitimacy that it doesn't deserve. I want his name to have a perpetual asterisk next to it in the history books.

 

[themarc]

Does anyone know what the deal is with the Rob Ford signed street signs?

Is that a campaign fundraising thing or is it for Charity or sheer enterprise?

 

[Bob But Not Doug]

MetroMan has become a joke. MY sources say Ford is going to be charged with JFK's murder, the Lindbergh baby kidnapping, price-fixing of gasoline prices and masterminding the Black Sox scandal, and that every second the police get half as close to an arrest as they were the second before, despite or because of interference from the Mafia, the Illuminati, The Smoking Man and The Elder Things.

 

[Tee]

MetroMan has become a joke. MY sources say Ford is going to be charged with JFK's murder, the Lindbergh baby kidnapping, price-fixing of gasoline prices and masterminding the Black Sox scandal, and that every second the police get half as close to an arrest as they were the second before, despite or because of interference from the Mafia, the Illuminati, The Smoking Man and The Elder Things.

...reaching for the ignore/block button...ahhhhh

 

[Bob But Not Doug]

It would pretty much be the end of any lingering faith I had in humanity and democracy.

 

[PinkLucy]

MetroMan has become a joke. MY sources say Ford is going to be charged with JFK's murder, the Lindbergh baby kidnapping, price-fixing of gasoline prices and masterminding the Black Sox scandal, and that every second the police get half as close to an arrest as they were the second before, despite or because of interference from the Mafia, the Illuminati, The Smoking Man and The Elder Things.

Before or after the election?

 

[AlbertHWagstaff]

MetroMan has become a joke. MY sources say Ford is going to be charged with JFK's murder, the Lindbergh baby kidnapping, price-fixing of gasoline prices and masterminding the Black Sox scandal, and that every second the police get half as close to an arrest as they were the second before, despite or because of interference from the Mafia, the Illuminati, The Smoking Man and The Elder Things.

You missed the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald as well.

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

Xtra's! Margaret Webb with Robyn Doolittle on Rob Ford and homophobia.

 

[John_Dee]

I don't care for that. If Ford successfully completes his term, that gives it a legitimacy that it doesn't deserve. I want his name to have a perpetual asterisk next to it in the history books.

I tend to agree with this line of thinking. Every time Mayor Assclown's gotten away with something, it's only empowered him further, and every single second of time that passes until he's finally, finally punished in some significant fashion only strengthens that empowerment and emboldens him on towards ever further outrages. If the timing of a potential arrest is being influenced in any way by the upcoming election, it's a bad idea, IMO. That shouldn't be a factor at all.

In the meantime, I am sick to death of the people supposedly overseeing Ford allowing him to skate each and every time he gets caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Shouldn't the audit committee mentioned above be held accountable themselves for deliberately sitting on their hands and refusing to, oh, I don't know, do their jobs in this case?

 

[Kat's Meow]

"forgets church's name"
Does that mean he wrote the cheque out to "that Serbian church over there. You know the one."

There are only 2 in Toronto I believe: St Sava and and St Michael. I guess the Cyrillic alphabet threw him off lol although if I remember correctly they are also signed using an alphabet he ought to be familiar with lol.