Commission convenes for a special meeting to discuss the fate of Chief General Manager Gary Webster.

By Hamutal Dotan

Photo by Photolipher from the Torontoist Flickr Pool.

6:30 PM Of note: in the open mic meeting are Peter Milczyn and John Parker, two right-leaning councillors who have broken with Ford about transit issues. Anyone who calls this a meeting of downtown Pinkos isn’t doing a proper head count.

6:22 PM: @goldsbie: In the hall, Milczyn says to Royson [James, columnist for the Toronto Star: “This is your fault!” He’s heard this was in response to Royson’s column about the suppressed report.

6:13 PM The question of the hour: if city council cans the current TTC board and installs new Commission members, could that new TTC board re-hire Webster. Answer: procedurally yes (i.e. those commissioners would have the authority to do so), though in theory Webster’s settlement package could include a clause precluding this.

6:07 PM We stepped out for a bit as Webster gave a short statement. He too was diplomatic, and took no questions. “This is not how I expected this or wanted it to end…I am proud of the opportunity I have had to serve as chief general manager.” He thanks Torontonians for their support and says transit will still run tomorrow, as usual.

6:05 PM The first of the speakers at the open mic session: Allan, who deputes frequently at the TTC. He had a slidedeck in which he draws an analogy between Gary Webster and Galileo, who both got in trouble for saying true things public leaders didn’t want to hear. (The text in his slides was red for emphasis.)

5:57 PM Some updates from the past half hour. Stintz is currently running an informal open mic session in the overflow room, so that those who had registered to speak at the TTC meeting and other in attendance can still share their views on today’s decision. About six or seven have spoken so far, all opposed to firing Webster. In a scrum before the session she was very diplomatic, saying that while she opposed the decision it was the Commission’s decision to make. She also noted that the last search for a general manager took a year and a half, and produced no results. This isn’t an easy role to fill. When she came into the overflow room she sat down and introduced herself: “My name is Karen Stintz, and I am the chair of the TTC. For today.” Laughter.

5:21 PM VOTE ON MOTION TO FIRE WEBSTER: 5-4, same lines as the councillors who called the meeting.
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