TORONTO – Mayor Rob Ford and his brother Coun. Doug Ford used a significant portion of their weekly radio talk show to criticize TTC chair Karen Stintz over a sole-sourced newsstand deal.
Meanwhile, a new poll suggests Stintz would beat Ford if she ran against him in the 2014 municipal election.
The TTC awarded a 15-year lease extension worth about $50-million to Gateway Newstands to continue running 65 outlets on TTC property. On their Sunday afternoon talk show, the Fords criticized Stintz for voting against TTC staff recommendations for competitive bids. They also claimed lobbyists were involved in the deal.
“Why didn’t she listen to staff? I called her and asked her for an explanation and I haven’t yet received a call back,” Mayor Ford said.
Stintz issued a statement on Sunday, saying she delivered her findings in October and again last week, with no response from Ford.
She also said no lobbyists were involved in the decision to award Gateway the contract.
Stintz said the TTC will get a 67 per cent increase in revenues from Gateway on top of a signing bonus of $1.5 million. The company also plans to undertake another $1.5 million in capital investments.
On their show, the Fords interviewed Sam Davis, the head of Gateway competitor International News, who said he could have offered a deal that would’ve saved the city $5 million. He also claims two other companies likely would’ve bid on the contract if the process was available.
“This is what happens from a person in my opinion that has never run a business in the entire lives chairing the TTC,” Coun. Ford said.
While Stintz and the Fords remain at odds over sole sourcing contracts, the results of a recent Forum Research poll published in the Toronto Star on Monday showed the mayor would face some steep competition in the race to keep his job next year.
“I plan to spend the next six years getting the job done,” he said Sunday.
According to the poll of 1,099 people conducted on Friday, NDP MP Olivia Chow, a former Toronto councillor, would beat Ford by 12 points in a mayoral election (52 per cent to 40 per cent). Former Progressive Conservative leader John Tory would beat Ford by a 12-point spread (48 per cent to 36 per cent). And Stintz would beat Ford by nine points (49 per cent to 40 per cent).
On Friday Ford won an appeal of a court decision that ordered him out of office.
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Just because they are both over weight white male Ford and Rush Limbaugh are no way alike. It is quite funny how the left wing nuts always makes an asisine comparison and are always easily offended.
BTW you should check David Miller’s track record, how many garbage strikes, ttc strikes and countless job actions there were but the left wing always considered he did a tremendous job.
I forgot to mentioned land transfer tax, vehicle registration tax etc.
The TTC just fired, and criminally charged, a number of employees who weren’t doing their jobs. How is it the Chair didn’t know these jobs weren’t being done? Did the city even need those positions in the first place or is the Chairperson just trying to please the Union. If the city is paying Andy Byford to run the TTC, what is the city paying Karen Stintz to do?
Ford is back. The man who can do no wrong. What a joke.
As the poll was published by The Star I’m sure there is no bias in this whatsoever. Ironically the poll on 680 last week about voting for Rob Ford had him at over 50 percent. So, which is right? Regarding the outsourced deal, Rob Ford is right to question the sole sourcing. Was this the best deal available? However, Karen Stintz is also right. To her credit she secured a deal which will bring in more revenue than the previous one. All contracts which exceed a certain dollar value should always be put out to tender and this should always be a public process. This way there can never be any suggestion of favoritism. Though I am a supporter of Rob Ford this example of trying to put down Stintz is an example of poor management. As the mayor of the city how could you not know that this was going to be sole sourced? As he is the mayor it is his responsibility to make sure that he is aware of these things. No excuses.
First of all, you can summit anything, but if you are not on list then your tender gets filed under garbage. To get on the list you have to qualify .You can’t compare your company to City Hall.
can someone tell me please why the Fords need to use this radio show to bring up anything. Can they not get the job done on City time at council meetings. It seems that once again however they are accusing someone of not keeping them in the loop when in fact her calls were left unanswered. With regard to Sam Davis, why did you not personally contact the TTC and offer your services. I get calls from people everyday at my office with companies wanting to be involved. So not having been personally invited along with the so-called other two companies is just ridiculous.
They need the radio show because normal employed folks haven’t the ability to lurk around city hall watching and listening to all the childish (and possibly immoral/foolish/stupid/illegal/asinine) antics of various elected officials. Watching Toronto politics is like watching a never ending train wreck in slow motion..
I will tell you why: having the Fords run the City is like having Rush Limbaugh run it.
The city was a gong show long before now… there is a heck of a lot of momentum in this mess.
Vilifying the Ford’s is inaccurate at best… they simply haven’t had enough time to cause (or correct) Toronto’s level of dysfunction! I’m not a Torontonian (thank God!) – I just watch the train crashing, and crashing and crashing – for so many years… and people STILL act surprised at the ’cause and effect’ situations…
What did they do to you?
There doing a job they got elected for, and thats save money and stop throwing money in hole at city hall, people like me can’t afford to give my extra money.