Rob Ford wants TTC chief out: reports

[3gs]

http://www.citytv.com/toronto/cityn.../144451--rob-ford-wants-ttc-chief-out-reports

So the guy doesn't support Ford's project, so they are coming up with a plan to get rid of him, is that right? Can't the guy make his own decision/opinion. Sounds like if you're not on Ford's side, they will just get rid of you.

And why is his brother in everything that he does. Seems like there's 2 people in that position. These 2 guys are looking like bullies. Either their way or no way

 

[lurkerdick]

Don't forget Mammi he completes the the Fords

 

[kono]

Can you really believe everything the media tells you? (Article - March 3, 2011) There must be good reason why Rob's trying to get rid of the guy. If Rob is trying to implement new cost cutting measures and this guy isn't on board then get rid of him. There's a lot of hate on Ford and I can understand that. People don't like change. Personally I think in our day and age we need someone like him to cut the fat. How much money can Torontonians afford to pay? How much more money can you payout before it starts to affects you and family's life?

 

[fuji]

Ford knows that his transit "plan" (quotes required) is garbage. He wants to get rid of anyone who will point that out so that he can go on bullshitting people a little while longer.

Has Ford done anything yet that actually saved any money? So far everything he has done seems to have cost the taxpayer MORE than we would have paid otherwise. It's all been grandstanding. Expensive, costly grandstanding.

 

[james t kirk]

I've met Gary Webster before. I can assure you that he's very intelligent and on the ball. In short, he's everything Ford is not (like educated and smart)

I hope Ford does fire him and Webster sues his fat ass off making him a a bigger laughing stock than he already is.

Ford is truly the worst mayor in my lifetime at the City of Toronto.

 

[sidebanger]

Ford is truly the worst mayor in my lifetime at the City of Toronto.

Do a real comparison. You will find that your statement is utter bullshit. Hyperbole. The waste in Government, when I worked there, was staggering. It has increased significantly since then. Ford is not particularly eloquent but I for one will not judge his work until his term is up. He has effected lots of positive change in a few months in spite of the few whiners that keep taking shots at him. Let the guy do his job.

 

[avxl1003]

Can you really believe everything the media tells you? (Article - March 3, 2011) There must be good reason why Rob's trying to get rid of the guy. If Rob is trying to implement new cost cutting measures and this guy isn't on board then get rid of him. There's a lot of hate on Ford and I can understand that. People don't like change. Personally I think in our day and age we need someone like him to cut the fat. How much money can Torontonians afford to pay? How much more money can you payout before it starts to affects you and family's life?

What part of the subway extension is cost cutting? Strikes me as he's wanting to spend more money and he still has no idea where it's going to come from.

 

[avxl1003]

Do a real comparison. You will find that your statement is utter bullshit. Hyperbole. The waste in Government, when I worked there, was staggering. It has increased significantly since then. Ford is not particularly eloquent but I for one will not judge his work until his term is up. He has effected lots of positive change in a few months in spite of the few whiners that keep taking shots at him. Let the guy do his job.

I have no doubt that there is fat at city hall (and not just on the mayor himself). I'm certain there is less work than there are employees.

But personally I haven't seen any positive changes from Ford as of yet. Perhaps you'd like to outline one or two.

 

[wigglee]

giving the cops a raise and building a subway line doesn't sound like cost cutting to me........Ford just wants the ttc chief to fudge the facts to make it seem like his hairbrained plan makes economic sense..........just like harper likes to ignore the decreasing crime rate while building prisons and getting "tough" on crime....wait til hudak joins the party and makes gays work in chain gangs!

 

[DATYdude]

Time will tell.

On the TTC issue, what I've read is Ford wants to install a political appointee in a position that requires an engineer and transit specialist. Ford fans are true believers though, they are like the religious and there is no point in arguing with them.

Personaly I saw a lot of warning signs, especially his propensity for just saying WHATEVER would make the believers happy... no raise in taxes, no cuts in service, and a balanced budget. YOU believed it, YOU voted for him, and YOU'RE the ones I'm going to bitch at when Ford is exposed as a bad mayor who didn't do what he said. I doubt he will balance the budget but he WILL cut services, he WILL cut jobs, and he WILL raise taxes.

 

[fuji]

The waste in Government, when I worked there, was staggering

So far Ford has only made that worse. So far all of his initiatives have increased waste in government, even as he promotes himself as saviour of the taxpayer.

His handling of the Toronto Community Housing scandal? He put the city on the hook to spend over half a million bucks, to solve a $50k to $100k spending problem.

His handling of the bike lanes on Jarvis? He committed the city to what, near a quarter of a million dollars? Why? Opposing the change in the first place--OK. Reversing it at exorbitant cost to the taxpayer... really? From the saviour of the taxpayer?

His handling of the union issue? He locked the police union into a juicy pay rise, and he gave the TTC employees job for life, protection against lock-outs, and virtually guaranteed arbitrated wage hikes. Quite clearly union wages and inefficiencies are THE problem we face, but his actions have only made it harder to address that.

His transit plan? A disaster. His drive to use different gauge rail on different lines is going to turn into a money pit, and his proposals for the new subway line is completely unfunded.

All the while he has been recklessly pissing away taxpayer dollars he has been claiming that his actions were "saving" money. But if you look close his interventions have all COST US MORE.

OH WAIT--yes he did save taxpayers money, he cancelled a few hundred dollars worth of free metropasses given to city councillors!

 

[good to go]

The staff at TTC goes home at lunch for an early weekend every week. They cut out at Fridays at noon or double back for a few hours on Thursday night and call it a week. I think he is firing Webster since he will do nothing about cutting out the amount of staff at the TTC. They are terribly top heavy.

 

[james t kirk]

Do a real comparison. You will find that your statement is utter bullshit. Hyperbole. The waste in Government, when I worked there, was staggering. It has increased significantly since then. Ford is not particularly eloquent but I for one will not judge his work until his term is up. He has effected lots of positive change in a few months in spite of the few whiners that keep taking shots at him. Let the guy do his job.

Name 1 positive change.

For the record, my personal opinion would be to lay off across the board about 10% of all staff and then raise taxes to fill the gap to balance the books.

 

[buckwheat1]

This FORD guy is looking more like an idiot everyday, now his brother does the speaking for him because he's an idiot in front of the camera. I don't think there's as much GRAVEY as he thaught there was

 

[avxl1003]

The staff at TTC goes home at lunch for an early weekend every week. They cut out at Fridays at noon or double back for a few hours on Thursday night and call it a week. I think he is firing Webster since he will do nothing about cutting out the amount of staff at the TTC. They are terribly top heavy.

I have a friend that works for the TTC. Bob Kinnear and his union are the issue, not Webster.

Having said that,

The staff at TTC goes home at lunch for an early weekend every week.

That's not quite English, but if you're accusing staff of going home for lunch then you're right. It's called a split shift and they don't get paid for the time off between shifts.

They cut out at Fridays at noon or double back for a few hours on Thursday night and call it a week.

If what you are saying is accurate then how would any busses be running on Friday or Saturday? Sounds to me that you are a perfect Rob Ford supporter.. Mindless babble without any proof. You're probably in line to be the next head of the TTC.

 

[avxl1003]

I don't know about you, but if I were mayor, I'd want to surround myself with people who have the same vision as I do. I wouldn't want to keep someone who is going to fight me on every turn as I go after my vision. Gary Webster is married to the idea of Transit City. It seems to me that the real idiot here is Webster. He should just resign. If the direction of the organization is going in a direction that it significantly different from your own vision, then as leader, you should resign and let someone else lead whose vision is consistent with the direction the organization is taking.

With that logic then the head of the TTC should resign every time a new mayor is elected.. And that doesn't make one bit of sense.. The guy is an expert, he's not a politician. If you, as a non-expert politician, disagree with him, then you should compromise or try better to argue your point of view..

You should never surround yourself with people who will not challenge you. Any successful business person will tell you that surrounding yourself with "yes" men is a surefire way to ruin a perfectly good business.

 

[Captain Fantastic]

I don't know about you, but if I were mayor, I'd want to surround myself with people who have the same vision as I do. I wouldn't want to keep someone who is going to fight me on every turn as I go after my vision. Gary Webster is married to the idea of Transit City. It seems to me that the real idiot here is Webster. He should just resign. If the direction of the organization is going in a direction that it significantly different from your own vision, then as leader, you should resign and let someone else lead whose vision is consistent with the direction the organization is taking.

So what you're saying is that you're an insecure ninny who can't have a mature conversation, listen to all sides of an issue, make a decision based on all available information and know how to agree to disagree if it comes to that?

As a leader, one should be able to do all of the above. A true leader doesn't need YES people, a leader needs smart people who provide the best advice, not the advice he or she wants to hear.

(Edit: someone beat me to it...)

 

[james t kirk]

I don't know about you, but if I were mayor, I'd want to surround myself with people who have the same vision as I do. I wouldn't want to keep someone who is going to fight me on every turn as I go after my vision. Gary Webster is married to the idea of Transit City. It seems to me that the real idiot here is Webster. He should just resign. If the direction of the organization is going in a direction that it significantly different from your own vision, then as leader, you should resign and let someone else lead whose vision is consistent with the direction the organization is taking.

Yeah, but, Webster is an intelligent educated on the ball kind of guy with a degree in Engineering and 30 years experience in the Transportation Infrastructure world..

Rob Ford is a 2'nd year Poly Sci Drop out from Carleton University who worked for his father at his father's family run printing company because no-one else would hire him, was busted for impaired driving in Florida, was busted for beating up his wife and was busted getting into a fight at a leafs game.

Now which one do you think understands the big picture when it comes to running the second largest Transit system in North America?

BTW, it's never a good idea to surround yourself with Yes-men.

 

[good to go]

I have a friend that works for the TTC. Bob Kinnear and his union are the issue, not Webster.

Having said that, That's not quite English, but if you're accusing staff of going home for lunch then you're right. It's called a split shift and they don't get paid for the time off between shifts. If what you are saying is accurate then how would any busses be running on Friday or Saturday? Sounds to me that you are a perfect Rob Ford supporter.. Mindless babble without any proof. You're probably in line to be the next head of the TTC.

First off staff dont work split shifts. These are not bus drivers they are from the trades section.

 

[wigglee]

I'm sure Ford will be able to find someone just as competent as Webster and who shares the same vision as he does when it comes to transit. There are many ways to skin a cat. I like to surround myself with people who believe in the way that I want to skin a cat. That doesn't make them "Yes" men. That just makes them on my team.

I'm glad that works in the cat skinning business, but running a city requires technical expertise in each department, not just a clown who will ignore the evidence in order to fulfill the mayor's illusions.