Rob Ford good for Midtown?

Mayor-elect’s biggest support in suburbs
Downtown not a fan, Midtown voters were  luke warm
Will  a Ford administration be good for Midtown Toronto?
Kris Scheuer
(Written for Town Crier Nov. 4)

Mayor-elect Rob Ford. Photo by Francis Crescia/Town Crier.

New mayor Rob Ford got mixed reaction from voters in midtown, but one’s thing for certain: This is definitely not his core electorate.
So his sweeping victory — he won easily with 383,501 votes — has midtown wondering: what will he do for us?
Overall, there’s a cloak of secrecy surrounding Ford these days as he bunkers down with his transition team lead by Councillor Case Ootes.
What campaign policies will Ford stand by and which will he soften?
Calls to Ford’s team were directed to Ootes, who said he could not discuss any policy direction now. Period.
“The objective of the mayor is to deliver on his commitments and to get costs under control,” Ootes said earlier this month. “I won’t get into what’s doable and what’s not doable. That’s what the transition team is discussing now.”
And while they’re behind closed doors talking, so is midtown.
There’s mixed feeling among business owners, residents and Ford’s midtown council counterparts: fear, hope or downright uncertainty of what a Rob Ford Toronto will mean for midtown.

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Rocco Rossi platform for mayor

Mayoral hopeful attends Town Crier editorial board
Then announcing he’s quitting race hours later
Kris Scheuer
(Written for To wn Crier Oct. 13. See UPDATE.)

Mayoral candidate Rocco Rossi told the Town Crier’s editorial board today his campaign isn’t stumbling but picking up steam.
“I think the choice is clearer and clearer,” he said at the Oct. 13 session before he later announced he’d bow out of mayoral race.

Rocco Rossi at the Town Crier offices. Photo by Victor Aguilar/Town Crier.

With all the other candidates, save Joe Pantalone, having released their economic platforms, Rossi said that he’s riding high on the news that the Globe & Mail,Toronto Sun, National Post and Toronto Board of Trade have all said that so far his plan is the only one that adds up and is fiscally-responsible. His plan includes eliminating Toronto’s $3 billion in debt that costs the city $450 million in payments annually by selling off Toronto Hydro, the city’s a minority share in Enwave and some surplus land.