Tag Archives: Integrity Commissioner Report

His Own Worst Enemy

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This report [August 12, 2010] is the fifth report to Council concerning breaches of the Code of Conduct by Councillor [Rob] Ford. He has been reminded in the past that it is a breach of the Code of Conduct to use the City logo for private concerns, not related to the work of the City. Also, Councillor Ford received specific advice in February of 2010 and December of 2009 which outlined the dangers inherent in his fundraising activity. If he had followed this advice, he could have avoided a further complaint, this investigation and the need for Council to become involved.

Let’s all agree that Mayor Rob Ford is not corrupt. He is not lining his pockets, making deals on the side to the benefit of himself, his friends or family. He is not a crook and, unlike the person who infamously claimed that 40 years or ago, it’s true. No one is accusing the mayor of any sort of criminal enterprise.

Also, I’ll state right here that I don’t want to see the mayor run out of office for this. Almost entirely because it’ll supply the cloak of martyrdom he and his supporters have already wrapped themselves in. Left wing vigilantes, looking to overturn election results that they never accepted from the beginning, using some ‘technicality’ to get their way and screw with the suburbs again. Boo hoo hoo, get down off the cross because we could use the wood… as kindling to light the fire in which to burn the witch we have hunted down!

That said, this isn’t just another frivolous swipe at the mayor. Some sort of one-off oversight, blown all out of proportion, parlayed into a big ol’ game of gotcha. Reading through the Integrity Commissioner report from which the first paragraph is taken, it’s clear the mayor’s football fundraising was a systemic and blatant disregard for the rules laid down about such activities by his council colleagues. Sure, he didn’t seem to see what the problem was but was repeatedly informed that there was a problem and repeatedly chose to ignore the warnings.

Councillor Rob Ford used the City of Toronto logo, his status as a City Councillor, and City of Toronto resources to solicit funds for a private football foundation he created in his name. Donors to the Councillor’s foundation included lobbyists, clients of lobbyists and a corporation which does business with the City of Toronto.

Wave it off as inconsequential, bureaucratic nit-picking, all for a good cause, however you want to rationalize it. The fact of the matter is as councillor, Rob Ford defied written warnings to cease and desist the practice right up to at least 6 days before announcing his intention to run for mayor. “… asking citizens for money for a personal cause on Councillor letterhead, there is a risk that you could be seen to be using your influence as a Councillor to raise money for your private foundation.” Rob Ford either didn’t see or understand the conflict or simply didn’t agree with it and went merrily along his way.

Interestingly, during the course of the Integrity Commissioner’s investigation, then Councillor Ford justified using his office letterhead as appropriate since he’d paid for it with his own money. But when it was suggested that he instead create some Ford Foundation letterhead to solicit donations, he wanted to know who was going to pay for that. Hmmm… let’s see. Pay for your office stationery out of your councillor office budget and your private stationery for donations to a private cause out of your own pocket?

“In return for these donations…Councillor Ford received the benefit of additional funding to his Foundation, which he used to enhance his reputation both as a Councillor via his website and as a candidate by including this information in his campaign materials.”

Yeah, so it’s a little difficult to swallow that all this was some simple misunderstanding by a well-meaning elected official to just selflessly do good for others. He insisted on using all the trappings of his office to shamelessly promote his philanthropic undertakings. Councillor Rob Ford’s Football Foundation not private citizen Rob Ford’s Football Foundation.

He knowingly flouted the rules. He ignored the council sanctions brought down on him for flouting the rules. He then participated and voted to overturn those sanctions. It is the last thing that has got him into his current troubles. It’s always the last thing that gets you into trouble.

Like I said, I won’t give his rabid supporters the satisfaction of hoping this is a firing offense. But please, stop defending the mayor as some sort of lightning rod for scurrilous attacks, a well-intentioned politician never putting his own career first, and only ever looking out for the little guy. Personal gain isn’t always about money directly into your pocket. For Rob Ford, it was never about the money but about the image. An image he burnished while skirting rules, thumbing his nose at colleagues and the Integrity Commissioner and, once elected mayor, actively participating in avoiding facing the consequences of his actions.

Nobody’s demanding perfection in our politicians but at some point of time there has to be accountability. That time came yesterday for Mayor Rob Ford.

— come cleanly submitted by Cityslikr

On The Other Hand, Maybe Some Debaters Should Be Stifled

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While trolling through our Twitter site, I came across this little gem from Jonathon Goldsbie about the conduct of a certain councillor now being touted as mayoral material. I highly urge anyone interested in the municipal campaign to take a moment to read through it. It is the city’s Integrity Commissioner Report on a code of conduct violation.

I won’t go into all the details but, in short, Councillor Ford twice blew off questions of confidentially, once during a radio broadcast and then again during a council meeting. He subsequently tried to bluster and bluff his way in order to avoid taking responsibility before finally being cornered into apologizing.

Allow me to just give a few snippets from the report as it makes its way toward recommending a reprimand be given to Councillor Ford for yet another breach of the official Code of Conduct.

A Council meeting was called for August 5 and 6, 2009. One of the agenda items was for Council to approve the purchase of a residential property in North York as part of the “Strategy for the Implementation of the North York Centre Plan Service Road-North York Centre.” A report and a confidential attachment concerning the real estate transaction were circulated to the Councillors because it was on the Council agenda. Councillor Ford did not read the report [bolding ours], but instead he focussed on the recommendation that Council approve the sale of a house, and the costs associated with the proposed deal. He objected to both because he said he didn’t think a recession was the right time for the City to “buy a house.”

Councillor Ford said that he knew he couldn’t defeat the motion, but that he wanted to bring the matter to the attention of his colleagues and he asked the matter be held for debate.

… Councillor Ford said that he decided to reveal the confidential information on the radio show on the morning of August 6, because he thought that Council had already dealt with the item on the 5th of August which would mean the figures could be made public. Councillor Ford admitted that he did not actually check to see if the item had been debated in his absence [bolding ours]. He also knew that he hadn’t spoken to it on the 5th of August, but he said that sometimes items are dealt with in his absence. Accordingly, he took the data from his purple sheet, made notes on his agenda for the radio program and made the confidential information public during the broadcast on the morning of August 6, 2009.

Councillor Ford acknowledged that he did not read the report to Council about the transaction [bolding ours]. If he had, he would have seen that Council was being asked to “authorize the release of the confidential information and recommendations in Attachment 1, once the transaction has closed.” In other words, Councillor Ford’s justification for releasing the information did not apply, even if Council had debated the item.

And so it goes. The man kicks up a fuss over an issue he has not taken the time to even read through thoroughly. And when he makes a mistake he only admits to it when he’s trapped into a corner of his own making with double-talk and obfuscation.

Can we please stop taking Rob Ford seriously as a contender for the office of mayor of Toronto. Regardless of how angry you may be at the state of the city and how it’s being run, Rob Ford is not the solution. In fact, he may be part of the problem.

— astoundingly submitted by Urban Sophisticat