You may hate Rob Ford . . .

[Boges]

Its also the minimum.

If found guilty he is thrown ouy of office and barred for 7 yrs.

Conflict of interest can be far worse than this.

So there's a mandatory minimum here?

The judge find him guilty and fine him and not turf him from office

[guyser]

So there's a mandatory minimum here?

The judge find him guilty and fine him and not turf him from office

As I understand it, only if he made (Ford) an indavertant error.Sorry about that

[jacee]

As I understand it, only if he made (Ford) an indavertant error.Sorry about that

It doesn't have to be inadvertent.

It's an error in judgement.

But Ford said he made no error, he was right.

And on the football front ...

Under Article VI of the city’s code of conduct, members of council can’t use city staff or other resources “for activities other than the business of the Corporation.”

MacDonald noted that Ford, in a speech in July, thanked special assistant Isaac Shirokoff for “helping me left, right and centre with these kids.”

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/cityhallpolitics/article/1256305--rob-ford-s-football-activities-focus-of-complaint-to-city-integrity-commissioner

Ya ... City-paid staff taking registrations on a city phone at city hall during work hours, using a city vehicle for football functions ...

The man is a loser user.

Edited September 14, 2012 by jacee

[Boges]

I'll concede the football thing is hypocrisy at it's worst.

You know Ford supporters can be pretty happy with a lot of what Ford has done, but he does stuff like this that only provides ammunition to his opponent.

Staff workers are going to do what their boss tells them. They're not unionized, the more they please the boss the better their chance at upward mobility. Kiss Ass until you can Kick it.

Ultimately it's a trivial matter but it just allows people that don't like the mayor to fuel the fire to say that he's a bad mayor.

[Black Dog]

I'll concede the football thing is hypocrisy at it's worst.

You know Ford supporters can be pretty happy with a lot of what Ford has done, but he does stuff like this that only provides ammunition to his opponent.

Staff workers are going to do what their boss tells them. They're not unionized, the more they please the boss the better their chance at upward mobility. Kiss Ass until you can Kick it.

Ultimately it's a trivial matter but it just allows people that don't like the mayor to fuel the fire to say that he's a bad mayor.

Trivial? Sure. But there's a delicious irony in the guy who made his name harping on trivial stuff lie sandwiches at committee meetings and the cost of watering the plants at City Hall getting roasted over the small stuff. If you're going to pound the bully pulpit over every misspent nickle, then you had better be damn sure your own track record is pristine. Ford, in his ignorance and entitlement, forgot that.

[jacee]

Ho-LY!!!

Do you believe this guy!

I knew the staff had a story to tell.

Public employees KNOW they're not to take care of the boss's private affairs.

Rob Ford's own staff raised red flags over football

Members of Rob Ford’s staff raised questions with him early on in his term about the ethics of using taxpayer-funded staff and vehicles to help with football teams, but the mayor would not budge, sources told the Star.

Instead, staffers made sure the special assistant working with Ford’s football teams was also doing a “good amount of constituent work, just in case reporters ever came knocking.”

The amount of work devoted to football varied with the time of year, said one former staffer, but during the warm months and into the fall, it’s fair to say football was the focus.

According to a former young political aide who witnessed senior members of Ford’s circle arguing with him about alleged misuse of city resources, the feeling was that Ford’s character transgressions — like the 911 calls and driving while talking on a cellphone — would not affect his core support.

But the football issue, “This is the one type of thing that could actually piss off Ford Nation, because it goes against the bedrock principle of not dipping into the trough.

...

From the beginning of Ford’s term, one of those special assistant jobs ... was earmarked for the football file in addition to other duties.

...

when special assistants are asked to do football-related work by the mayor, they don’t have much choice.

...

for a man who ran on a platform of “ending the gravy train” this most recent scandal is all the more juicy.

“He’s violating his own principles. It’s not like he’s being held to a different standard here. He’s being held to his own standard. This will impact his base,” he said.

Is the Ford gravy train about to crash ...?

Edited September 14, 2012 by jacee

[The_Squid]

Using public servants for your own personal projects while they are getting paid by the public! That's pretty low... and probably illegal!

[Boges]

Using public servants for your own personal projects while they are getting paid by the public! That's pretty low... and probably illegal!

Well they aren't Unionized.

Probably on salary so you can't prove they weren't helping Ford on their own time.

They'd have to prove that Ford forced them to help otherwise they'd be fired or otherwise penalized.

[The_Squid]

Probably on salary so you can't prove they weren't helping Ford on their own time.

So salaried employees don't have to do their work? That's news to me...

I thought you were one of the folks that was anti government waste???? I guess it depends who is doing the wasting, eh?

They also used government vehicles in this endeavor... probably with a government gas card too...

Edited September 14, 2012 by The_Squid

[Boges]

So salaried employees don't have to do their work? That's news to me...

I thought you were one of the folks that was anti government waste???? I guess it depends who is doing the wasting, eh?

They also used government vehicles in this endeavor... probably with a government gas card too...

I think what he did was wrong. No Defending it whatsoever. Rob Ford has one hell of an ego to try and do this.

Just responding to your claim that it's illegal, I doubt it can be proven. At least regarding having the assistants on the sidelines. Perhaps using the phone and cars might be actionable.

Perhaps if making Ford repay those costs goes to council he won't be daft enough to vote on it this time.

Edited September 14, 2012 by Boges

[Black Dog]

I think what he did was wrong. No Defending it whatsoever. Rob Ford has one hell of an ego to try and do this.

Just responding to your claim that it's illegal, I doubt it can be proven. At least regarding having the assistants on the sidelines. Perhaps using the phone and cars might be actionable.

Perhaps if making Ford repay those costs goes to council he won't be daft enough to vote on it this time.

I think the fact that Ford is hiring junior staffers basically just to work on football is pretty objectionable from a "respect for taxpayers/stop the gravy train" standpoint.

[Boges]

I think the fact that Ford is hiring junior staffers basically just to work on football is pretty objectionable from a "respect for taxpayers/stop the gravy train" standpoint.

It is, even your friend Sue Ann sorta went after him in the Sun today.

[Black Dog]

It is, even your friend Sue Ann sorta went after him in the Sun today.

Yeah, in a most Sue Ann way in which she spent the bulk of her column whinging about the unfair double standard to which Ford is being held.

[jacee]

Rob Ford built a career and a solid base of supporters by hammering political opponents and the government in general over how they spend taxdollars.

This week,the script has flipped,with the mayor under fire for apparently using city resources —staff time and cellphones —to help run the high school football teams he loves to coach.

His brother says the young special assistants are volunteering their time. A source told the National Post that’s how the mayor saw it, although the employees didn’t have a choice in the matter. The perception among assistants was that “you got fired if you didn’t do it,” according to the source,although no one was ever fired.

A source told the Post that staff warned the mayor about using a city-paid special assistant to help with his high school football squad,only to have it brushed off by the chief magistrate. “We’d have big fights over this,” said the source. The mayor’s response: “Don’t worry. We’re going to take care of it.”

That Mr. Ford continued to coach football, which he had pledged to quit if elected during his 210 campaign,was a source of tension in his office.

http://www.nationalpost.com/m/wp/posted-toronto/blog.html?b=news.nationalpost.com/2012/09/15/rob-fords-brand-rocks-on-despite-claims-he-use-city-resources-for-football-pollster

Staff did the right thing, speaking up.

Ford put them in a bad position: They can be fired for misusing taxpayer time and resources, but they felt he'd fire them if they didn't!

A really appalling situation for them.

Edited September 15, 2012 by jacee

[madmax]

Well they aren't Unionized.

Probably on salary so you can't prove they weren't helping Ford on their own time.

They'd have to prove that Ford forced them to help otherwise they'd be fired or otherwise penalized.

So you hire football pals to teach football on the public dime....

Nice gig.

[madmax]

I think the fact that Ford is hiring junior staffers basically just to work on football is pretty objectionable from a "respect for taxpayers/stop the gravy train" standpoint.

LMAO

Makes you wonder how Ford could run an office year after year after year and yet claim no expenses. Yet as Mayor he's got the Football Train knee deep in gravy.

I thought this was what he was going to weed out, not weed in.

[guyser]

Rob Ford Geography class.....Winnipeg is the city you enter crossing from Detroit.

Chicago and Toronto are on the same lake.

I kid you not.

And some question how dumb he is?

Edited September 19, 2012 by guyser

[jacee]

Rob Ford thinks he's entitled to his entitlements and he just doesn't quit!!!

More ...

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, faced with fresh allegations he personally approached senior officials to have the road in front of his family business paved in time for a company celebration, needs to "smarten up," says one of his staunchest allies on council.

...

The controversy comes just as the mayor is dealing with two other headaches —widespread criticism over his use of city resources to help administer the football teams he runs and a legal challenge over conflict of interest rules he is alleged to have broken that could ultimately result in him being removed from office.

"It's really important for the mayor to separate his duties and responsibilities as mayor from that of his personal and business relationships," Minnan-Wong said.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2012/09/21/rob-ford-smarten-up-minnan-wong241.html

Original report here ...

A request for road repairs outside Mayor Rob Ford’s family firm was fulfilled in less than three weeks and included a meeting at the Etobicoke site where Mr. Ford pointed out to city staff the work he wanted done.

The meeting at the head office of Deco Labels and Tags on Greensboro Drive took place on July 20, city staff have confirmed. It was followed 11 days later by a meeting in the mayor’s office with two senior city staff where Mr. Ford repeated his request that the unscheduled work be completed before the company’s 50th anniversary party, planned for the following week.

...

Peter Noehammer, a director who also worked on the file, said Thursday that in his 16 years in the city’s transportation department, he had never had an elected official ask him or his colleagues to expedite road work on personal or business property.

“No, I don’t recall where they were personally involved, no,” he said, adding that requests from councillors to fix up streets usually are made on behalf of constituents or Business Improvement Areas.

Mr. Ford, who returned Thursday from a trade mission in Chicago, refused to take questions on the meetings, taking a side door at the Toronto City Airport into a waiting car.

[Black Dog]

As The Smiths said: that joke isn't funny anymore.

[Black Dog]

Ford in a nutshell:

Reporter: Don’t you understand about the optics of this?

Ford: “There’s no optics. There is no optics.”

Ford scrummed over pothole issue.

[Big Guy]

The Ford brothers were no strangers to the public during the last campaign. Rob Ford has not changed since the election. He is what he was. Those upset with politics and previous administrations decided to send (somebody) a message and “Ford Nation” was born. The best thing about a democracy is you get who you elect. The worst thing about a democracy is that you get who you elect. It was pretty obvious what kind of an individual Rob Ford was and it is quite obvious what kind of a mayor he is. There is a reason why elections take place every few years.

This administration is the best thing that could happen to Toronto. There are enough normal people on municipal council to minimize any long term damage. Those who were blinded by a slick campaign elected a large empty shirt. Even they will think twice during the next election.

[jacee]

Ford pushed city staff to beautify land near family business

When Toronto Mayor Rob Ford met with city staff at his family’s business on a Friday afternoon in late July, he came with a list of requests that went beyond patching potholes – to cutting grass, rebuilding culverts and removing nearby construction equipment – to beautify the area within three weeks for Deco Labels and Tags' 50th anniversary party.

At first, city staff responded that the timeline was too short to get all the work done, documents obtained by The Globe and Mail under a freedom of information request show.

Eleven days later, Mr. Ford called a second meeting, this time in his office with two senior city staff. Notes and e-mails from the days that followed show more than a dozen city employees at the supervisor level or higher were involved in making the mayor's request happen.

Staff efforts included crawling under a backhoe on private land to find its registration and visiting its owner’s home twice to ask for the machine’s removal, placing "emergency" requests to locate buried utility lines so that the culverts could be dug up on short notice, and cutting grass on provincial land.

Waaaaaaaay beyond normal city work ... not just fixing potholes.

Edited October 23, 2012 by jacee

[Boges]

Looks like he's out in 2 weeks. Found Guilty of Conflict of Interest.

Seems pretty harsh to remove a democratically elected mayor over a matter of $3,000. According to what I'm hearing on the radio, he can run again and won't be banned from running for 7 years.

I predict there'll be some blowback from this. I think reasonable people who aren't motivated by hatred for Ford would find a mayor being removed like this off putting. In Mississauga Mayor Hazel was found to participated in something far more shady and she's still in office.

Ford can appeal though.

I hope that having Doug Holliday being named Interim and possibly replacement mayor may be a good thing for the city, as he's as fiscally conservative as Ford without being such a divisive personality.

[Black Dog]

Looks like he's out in 2 weeks. Found Guilty of Conflict of Interest.

Seems pretty harsh to remove a democratically elected mayor over a matter of $3,000. According to what I'm hearing on the radio, he can run again and won't be banned from running for 7 years.

I predict there'll be some blowback from this. I think reasonable people who aren't motivated by hatred for Ford would find a mayor being removed like this off putting. In Mississauga Mayor Hazel was found to participated in something far more shady and she's still in office.

Ford can appeal though.

I hope that having Doug Holliday being named Interim and possibly replacement mayor may be a good thing for the city, as he's as fiscally conservative as Ford without being such a divisive personality.

"Don't do the crime if you can't do the time."-every conservative everywhere.

There's real poetry in the guy who came to office by railing against nickle-and-dime spending (Kyle Rae's retirement party, espresso machines and plant watering) getting turfed over such a small amount of money. Beautiful.

[Boges]

"Don't do the crime if you can't do the time."-every conservative everywhere.

That's kind of the irony of this on both sides. A Liberal might think that mandatory sentences in much more serious violent crimes are a bit heavy-handed. But in this instance a "mandatory minimum" was used without any discretion for the scope of the actual effect this had on how the city is run.