Mayor Rob Ford

[Corn Flake]

I'm not really an expert on municipal politics, but in theory, the mayor doesn't have any more power than the Councillors? The mayor is just another vote on the council... or do I have this wrong?

To put things in an NHL-esque perspective, his powers are sort of like a combination of Bettman's and Jeremy Jacobs'. He sets agendas for the meetings, is the tie-breaking vote and has limited authority in certain areas. There isn't a whole lot he can achieve on his own, but he can prevent a fair amount of stuff from being achieved. He decides on who heads up executive committees, etc. He has a fair amount of influence on what direction the city takes, but, he can't make things happen on his own. He is also the public face of the city, and that's the area where you can point out his most obvious failures as mayor.

Oooh super relevant tie in there!

 

[Corn Flake]

I'm not really an expert on municipal politics, but in theory, the mayor doesn't have any more power than the Councillors? The mayor is just another vote on the council... or do I have this wrong?

"A common power structure is the council-weak mayor. This type of structure gives the majority of the city power to the council members, with the mayor acting as more of a ceremonial leader of the council. This traditional form of governing, which was adopted from the British style of local government, sets up the mayor as a member of the council, equal to all other members, except for a few other responsibilities. The mayor in this structure may have final authority over fiscal issues and will usually be the presiding member over all the council meetings, sign proclamations for the city and make ceremonial appearances.  - http://people.howstuffworks.com/government/local-politics/mayor1.htm

so I guess the answer to your question is, yes, more or less

The point about him being mostly ceremonial is the key item there.... he's the "face" of the city, and right now the face of Toronto is the butt of all jokes around the world, and is a complete embarrassment. 

 

[Bullfrog]

I'm not really an expert on municipal politics, but in theory, the mayor doesn't have any more power than the Councillors? The mayor is just another vote on the council... or do I have this wrong?

I'm not familiar with Toronto's policies and by-laws, but often the chair of the meeting (president or mayor usually) has the final vote on deciding matters. Often that's the only time a chair votes (e.g. to break a tie, or create a majority decision.) It varies considerably though.

 

[Zee]

Ladies and gentleman, Rob Ford:

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

He could have done some truly great work on this.

 

[Stickytape]

And then?

http://www.torontosun.com/2013/11/07/i-need-f---in-10-minutes-to-make-sure-hes-dead-new-rob-ford-video-surfaces?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=recommend-button&utm_campaign

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/11/07/mayor_rob_ford_caught_in_video_rant.html

If that man ain't coked up, I don't know what's what.

He's just trying to cut a Hulk Hogan-esque wrestling promo addressed to the Iron Sheik.

 

[maplesyrup]

He could have done some truly great work on this.

:'(

 

[TML fan]

It is the council's duty to work with him to get things done. If they can't do that, then they have failed us just as much as Ford has.

The council's duty is actually to advance the interests of the citizens of Toronto and working to implement the agenda of the crack smoking Mayor probably doesn't fall into that category for a lot of them.

That's fine, but the failure to move forward with city affairs shouldn't be based on Rob Ford smoking crack, but rather about whether or not they are in the best interests of the city. Deciding not to cross a busy street is a good idea regardless of whether or not I've smoked crack.

 

[TML fan]

Seems he is content to let the people decide his fate.

Sure. But meanwhile, who knows how much damage or how much more of this freak show will go on over the next 11.5 months while he's still in the mayor's chair.  That to me is the problem. If the election was in six weeks.. great.  But a year is too long to have to wait to deal with this guy.

What actual damage has he done though? Oh my god Jimmy Kimmel made fun of us! Who cares? Frankly, I'm more embarrassed by our public transportation system then I am by Rob Ford's behaviour.

Until he's forced out of office, or until the next election, Rob Ford is the mayor. He's not stepping down. Nobody has to like it, but everyone has to accept it. It is the council's duty to work with him to get things done. If they can't do that, then they have failed us just as much as Ford has.

I disagree.  It is the job of the populace to ensure their voices are heard, and continue to demand he resign, if that's what they want. 

Regardless, I'm pretty certain he's going to get a phone call from the province, or the Harper government, suggesting that he'd best just resign rather than having them remove him from office forcefully.

I don't know. I think he best way to make your voice heard is in the voter's box. I don't think screaming really loudly and making public displays is going to convince Ford to change his mind. Don't get me wrong, I support everyone's right to do that. I just think it accomplishes nothing.

 

[TML fan]

Seems he is content to let the people decide his fate.

Sure. But meanwhile, who knows how much damage or how much more of this freak show will go on over the next 11.5 months while he's still in the mayor's chair.  That to me is the problem. If the election was in six weeks.. great.  But a year is too long to have to wait to deal with this guy.

What actual damage has he done though? Oh my god Jimmy Kimmel made fun of us! Who cares? Frankly, I'm more embarrassed by our public transportation system then I am by Rob Ford's behaviour.

Until he's forced out of office, or until the next election, Rob Ford is the mayor. He's not stepping down. Nobody has to like it, but everyone has to accept it. It is the council's duty to work with him to get things done. If they can't do that, then they have failed us just as much as Ford has.

So it's all fine and good he continues to work even though he has drug and alcohol problems, fraternizes with criminals at crack houses, utters death threats on the latest video (to start) and has become such a massive poop storm and distraction to everyone at city hall they can't possibly get a single thing done because of him.

If you want to simply frame it around the city being run, it is very obvious that he and his issues are standing in the way of the city being able to move forward. 

And I won't get into how much a steaming pile of BS his claims of tax savings and transit success are.

I think this sounds like blaming the person who called your cell phone while you were driving for you getting into a distracted driving accident.

I get distracted at work every day. It's up to me to make sure those distractions don't affect my performance.

Just for the record, I don't like Ford and I'm not defending his actions. I just don't fully blame him for city hall's failure to get things done. I think they could have managed the distraction better than they did. I also think Ford has the right to refuse to resign as much as we have the right to call for his resignation. I don't agree with his decision, but I respect it.

 

[mc]

Well he made front page on the New Yorker today

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2013/11/torontos-rob-ford-problem.html

Asking why a city of two and a half million mostly sane people would do such a thing makes for an interesting conversation.

 

[Kin]

Deciding not to cross a busy street is a good idea regardless of whether or not I've smoked crack.

Sure, but if you've smoked crack you wouldn't be the person I'd ask if it was safe to cross the street or not. Your judgment is impaired and as a result, I'm not going to be basing any important decisions on your judgment and I certainly won't trust you on when is or isn't a safe time to cross the street. A keen example of this analogy in action can be observed by most people who, when trying to cross a busy street, don't first decide to seek out the local crackhead's advice.

Right? Municipal politics is a collaborative effort and a great deal of that involves relying on someone else's good judgment and trusting that they're being honest and scrupulous. Crack use, typically, impairs judgment and probably damages trust. I wouldn't blame a councilor one bit for refusing to work with the mayor and, just like you're defending his right not to resign, it's absolutely a councilor's right to do that as well. Ordinarily I have no interest in an obstructionist agenda but when the person being obstructed is, again, a crack smoker I'm going to side with the person who isn't smoking crack.

 

[TML fan]

Deciding not to cross a busy street is a good idea regardless of whether or not I've smoked crack.

Sure, but if you've smoked crack you wouldn't be the person I'd ask if it was safe to cross the street or not. Your judgment is impaired and as a result, I'm not going to be basing any important decisions on your judgment and I certainly won't trust you on when is or isn't a safe time to cross the street. A keen example of this analogy in action can be observed by most people who, when trying to cross a busy street, don't first decide to seek out the local crackhead's advice.

Right? Municipal politics is a collaborative effort and a great deal of that involves relying on someone else's good judgment and trusting that they're being honest and scrupulous. Crack use, typically, impairs judgment and probably damages trust. I wouldn't blame a councilor one bit for refusing to work with the mayor and, just like you're defending his right not to resign, it's absolutely a councilor's right to do that as well. Ordinarily I have no interest in an obstructionist agenda but when the person being obstructed is, again, a crack smoker I'm going to side with the person who isn't smoking crack.

Fair enough. That being said, I'd be pretty upset if the council refused to do something they would otherwise do simply because Rob Ford smokes crack.

I respect their decision to refuse to work with Ford, but as much as I disagree with Ford, I disagree with the council. I'm not taking anyone's side here.

 

[crazyperfectdevil]

here's my question..when things like the police budget come up now...does he still get to vote on that?  seems like some serious conflict of interest

 

[Kin]

Fair enough. That being said, I'd be pretty upset if the council refused to do something they would otherwise do simply because Rob Ford smokes crack.

I really don't see how you can criticize anyone for wanting to distance themselves politically from the policy decisions of a crackhead.

Honestly, the things I have to type these days.

 

[Heroic Shrimp]

Fair enough. That being said, I'd be pretty upset if the council refused to do something they would otherwise do simply because Rob Ford smokes crack.

I really don't see how you can criticize anyone for wanting to distance themselves politically from the policy decisions of a crackhead.

Honestly, the things I have to type these days.

Next you're going to tell us that Tommy Shanks was mentally unfit to be the mayor of Melonville.

 

[TML fan]

Fair enough. That being said, I'd be pretty upset if the council refused to do something they would otherwise do simply because Rob Ford smokes crack.

I really don't see how you can criticize anyone for wanting to distance themselves politically from the policy decisions of a crackhead.

Honestly, the things I have to type these days.

I don't support anyone who refuses to work and still collects a pay cheque.

 

[Redleaf]

Now we've got Anderson Cooper showing interviews with Fords family on CNN. This ain't going away Rob. Time to step down, before the next batch of crazy videos finish you off completely...

http://www.cnn.com/video/standard.html?/video/politics/2013/11/08/ac-ford-drunken-rant.cnn&hpt=hp_t2&from_homepage=yes&video_referrer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F

 

[Zee]

He could have done some truly great work on this.

Oh I know, I fully expect a Rob Ford movie to come out eventually, and Farley would have been perfect.

 

[Zee]

Now we've got Anderson Cooper showing interviews with Fords family on CNN. This ain't going away Rob. Time to step down, before the next batch of crazy videos finish you off completely...

http://www.cnn.com/video/standard.html?/video/politics/2013/11/08/ac-ford-drunken-rant.cnn&hpt=hp_t2&from_homepage=yes&video_referrer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F

Even Giorgo Mammolitti is calling for him to go and get some help, usually one of his fiercest supporters.