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Rob Ford Reportedly Trying to Fire TTC Manager Gary Webster

Ten days ago, Gary Webster told city council that light rail was a better choice for Toronto. Today it seems the TTC is taking the first step toward firing him.

By Hamutal Dotan

At last week’s city council meeting, councillors spent the morning questioning staff about the merits of various transit options for Toronto. Should we build light rail or subways? Should the Eglinton LRT go entirely underground or be built at street level in less congested areas?

Answering many of these questions was TTC Chief General Manager Gary Webster—and the mayor didn’t care much for what he had to say. The LRT plan was “better value for money,” he told council, in direct contravention of Ford’s subway aspirations. It would, he went on to explain, serve 135,000 more people. Webster also put the cost difference of a buried vs. unburied Eglinton LRT at $1.9 billion, and anticipated that, contra Ford’s wish, there would be no money left after building a completely buried Eglinton LRT for any other transit projects. And in case that left any room for doubt, then there was this line: “We don’t recommend spending money you don’t have on an asset you don’t need.”

The mayor and many of his allies have not taken kindly to that advice, it seems. This afternoon the TTC announced that a special meeting of the Toronto Transit Commission has been called for this upcoming Tuesday, February 21, to “consider a personnel matter, pursuant to a petition signed by a majority of Commissioners.” A few minutes later, one of those commissioners, Councillor Frank Di Giorgio (Ward 12, York South-Weston) told Star reporter Daniel Dale that the meeting is, in fact, about Webster. (The Star has more details on today’s move, and another article from earlier in Ford’s term exploring the tense relationship between Ford and Webster.) Putting those pieces together: a majority of the TTC’s commissions have decided, it looks like, to fire Webster for giving them advice they didn’t want to hear.

There was a time when public servants existed, in large part, to weather political changes and provide a continuity of insight and advice regardless of who was in office. That time, apparently, is not now.

Comments

  • iaxe

    I’m pretty sure that Star article is from 7 months ago, not today.

  • Anonymous

    He can’t fire Stintz, so Webster will have to do I guess.

    Rob: how does serving fewer people at significantly greater cost count as “respect for taxpayers” or ending the “gravy train”?

  • Chris

    Funny, but it was the more conservative faction on council that wanted the TTC staffed with “professionals” rather than politicians and yet its that same faction playing political shenanigans with the TTC. Fire Webster if you want, but good luck finding someone to replace him – that job’s becoming toxic under this administration.

    • Anonymous

      They’ll find some revolving-door yes man from whatever sector they’re trying to cozy up to.

  • Anonymous

    I don’t know what’s worse, that this is so horribly petty, or that it is such bad policy.

    I mean, I get that the Ford camp doesn’t like Webster because he wasn’t lockstep loyal with them. But that horse is out of the barn – Council has now adopted Webster’s vision for transit for the future. Having done that, wouldn’t you now want the person who knows and believes in that vision to implement it?!

    • http://twitter.com/gilmourtaylor Geoff Gilmour-Taylor

      No, of course not. They want someone there who will do everything in his power to block the LRV plans and support subways. They still believe they can block the plan approved by Council.

  • Anonymous

    Telephone, e-mail, text, telegraph, pigeon post you councillor and tell them to remove or fire city councillors Norm Kelly, Denzil Minnan-Wong, Cesar Palacio, Vince Crisanti and Frank Di Giorgio from the board at the Toronto Transit Commission. They do not act in the best interests of the transit user, but follow the anti-transit dictates of Supreme Leader Rob Ford.

    • Anonymous

      This. Emphatically this. In fact, call and email Kelly, DMW, Palacio, Crisanti and Digiorgio too.

      Constituent pressure on councillors absolutely works.

  • M Gold

    It is time for city council to finish the job they started at the last special meeting. Call another and either replace or bulk up the TTC Commission with people who support transit in this city so the Mayor and his allies can not keep playing these games to try and defy the will of council. While council cannot direct the TTC they do have the power to replace the commissioners or add additional ones.

  • JP

    With all these “special meetings” being planned, when can we arrange a “special meeting” to fire Rob Ford?

    • Anonymous

      Rob has his label company to fall back to. No one else would take him.

      Webster would easily find another job from most other companies. He’ll definitely avoid Rob’s company.

    • Anonymous

      He can’t be “fired”. He can be castrated. Karen Stintz made a good start. Time to finish.

  • Doris

    Good luck to him!
    I’m sure that he will land on his feet with a newer and better job! Being removed by the likes of Ford supporters is the best recommendation one could get.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Vote-Ndp/547678963 Vote Ndp

    I thought Mr Ford was elected to rid of the gravy train. Well terminating Mr Webster is going to cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in addition to any legal expenses and wrongful dismissal suits later. I wonder why Mr Ford doesn’t get it.

    It seems that Mr Ford has borrowed GW Bush’s playbook in the USA where you terminate respected and experienced civil servants and replace them with cronies who are unqualified or dont know anything about the department.

    If Mr Webster is terminated, then how about terminate Mr Ford before he causes anymore damage to this city.

    • Gchomniak

      Yes, and don’t forget about Harper….he continues to remove top officials….is it just me… Or aren’t these conservative leaders a little Kooky with their visions ??

  • Anonymous

    You must either lie for Rob Ford or get fired.

  • http://twitter.com/ftefno Simon Vehicle!

    The great thing about all of this is that they’re looking to hang a boondoggle around somebody’s neck and nobody is biting. What these neocons need is their very own Michael D. Brown.

  • Alex

    Ridiculous.

  • Anonymous

    Webster’s not going to go for cheap. Betcha it’s close to a million to buy him out. Respect for taxpayers, of course.

  • http://twitter.com/buschic Emily Green

    That meeting is on my birthday, Dammit, I’ll OCCUPY the dammed city call to SAVE him, Gary is liked & RESPECTED by MANY frontline TTC staff, both operators & staff alike, he KNOWS the TTC, He is the BEST CGM the TTC has EVER HAD!!!

    Damm YOU R.F, & while on that train of thought, my city councillor is getting a not so nice Phone call, he’s the Vice-Chair, he’s lost ALL my respect & support with this bonehead manoeuvre!

  • Anonymous

    I know city council can remove the head of TTC commission if they so chose to do so, what I’m wondering is if they can remove any of the other politicians on the commission besides the head? If so city council needs to dump the current crop of Ford yes-men from the TTC and replace them with councillors who respect the will of council and are willing to work for the best interests of Torontonians instead of simply doing as Ford tells them to do.

    It amazes me that Ford’s council “allies”, who are not in fact allies since that implies some degree of equality which isn’t the case here at all, sycophants is a more apt description of them, jockeying for the mayor’s favour so they may get some personal advantages or perks, anyways it amazes me that they would be so willing to show off just how much they lack spine and that they are not representing their constituents but instead the Ford brothers.

    How that can possibly help them get re-elected is beyond me. I find it extremely pathetic and nauseating that so many city councillors are willing to act as the twin mayors’ pet dogs, rolling over and doing whatever their masters tell them to do. My councillor, Mark Grimes, is one of them and while I was never fond of him as my councillor seeing him debase himself and the role of councillor like he has been doing fills me with disgust. I’d much prefer a councillor who even if I opposed their politics at least stood their ground and acted in what they believed was the interests of their constituents rather than be a sycophant for a petty, vindictive, idiotic mayor like the Ford brothers.

    Its very sad and pathetic how quickly and easily some city councillors have allowed the democratic process at city hall to be greatly diminished by the bullying of the mayor and his brother.

    • Canpolicy

      Maybe they do believe they’re doing what’s best. Too many people here can;t wrap their heads around the possibility that someone might disagree with them.

    • JK

      Grimes is almost always the only concillor to oppose extended speaking times. I get a kick out of that.

  • Anonymous

    councillor_digiorgio@toronto.ca, councillor_crisanti@toronto.ca, councillor_palacio@toronto.ca, councillor_minnan-wong@toronto.ca, councillor_kelly@toronto.ca

    If the mayor has such an amazing plan… maybe he should start convincing people it’s the right way to go vs. intimidation and simply repeating the word subways over and over again as if that’s all it takes to make hundreds of millions of dollars fall out of the sky to pay for his plan.

  • dysan

    “There was a time when public servants existed, in large part, to weather political changes and provide a continuity of insight and advice regardless of who was in office. That time, apparently, is not now.”

    Public servants can give advice/insight but should not try and push policy when they were not elected by the public. 35 year entrenched at the TTC, he pushes policy rather than suggest it at this point. Gary should have been fired long ago. Transit city is dead, LRTs are a bandaid solution for an eventual subway which is the right solution.

    • nasyd

      Thanks for the view from Upside-Down World…

    • OgtheDim

      There never will be enough demand for a subway dysan. The report that Ford suppressed proves that. More subways in this city are wasting taxpayers money. If you don’t like to hear Webster say that, tough noogies.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Mike-Anderson/1667850037 Mike Anderson

    I made you a photoshop, Torontoist. I hope you like it.

  • http://twitter.com/LarryTill LarryTill

    It’s not often that I would quote this source, but I am reminded of the words of John Boehner, speaker of the US House of Representatives, after Gabrielle Giffords was shot last year: “An attack on one who serves is an attack on all who serve.”