Mayor Ford’s key players approved

City Council gives nod to mayor’s picks for choice roles
Chairs of important committees and Ford’s inner team chosen
Left, downtown and women mostly shut out
Kris Scheuer
(Written for Town Crier Dec. eight)

Mayor Rob Ford. Photo by Francis Crescia/Town Crier file image.

Mayor Rob Ford got a key win today at city hall as the councillors he’s hand-picked for key committees were approved by council.
But the 39-6 decision to endorse the slate with some minor amendments did not come easily.
Some complained none of the 12 councillors on Toronto-East York community council were appointed to serve on key committees including the executive, TTC, budget, police services board or Toronto Community Housing.
The make-up of the mayor’s 13 member Executive, for example, includes five Scarborough reps, three from North York, three from Etobicoke and two from York. Of the nine councillors on the TTC, none represent downtown.
Several politicians argued that these committees and other boards should include not just different ideologies but a geographical representation from all corners of the city.
“There are practical issues about how to make the city functional that require input from people (politicians) from different corners of the city,” Councillor Adam Vaughan told the media this afternoon. “Because different corners of the city are built differently.
“There is no ideological argument about which time of day you pick garbage, but there are practical reasons why you pick it up in Kensington (Market) and not at a certain time in Scarborough,” he added. “If you don’t have a cross section of people weighing in on city wide issues you lose that intelligence.”

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Mayor Ford picks team players

Ford announces key roles for councillors
Kris Scheuer
(Written for Town Crier Nov. 29)

Mayor-elect Rob Ford announces his picks among councilors for key roles. Photo by Francis Crescia/Town Crier.

Mayor elect Rob Ford announced this afternoon the team that will help guide Toronto for the next few years.
The were no surprises in the appointments to head the seven council standing committees nor the spate of other plum posts as Ford’s choices had already been widely reported in the media.
The geographic and ideological composition of the group also offered no surprise. There are reps from the suburbs and midtown, but no one from downtown. Leftie councillors were shut out but two newbie female politicians are on Ford’s team.
“This is the team that’s ready to get down to the hard work of bringing accountability and respect for taxpayers back to city hall,” Ford said.