Who is Rob Ford? Councillor Adam Vaughan says this about Ford, “He is a crazy person who hangs out with other crazy people and does crazy things. I’m not going to sit here and try to explain it, because it’s impossible to be rational about,” Vaughan said. “He’s the worst mayor the city has ever had.” and “What’s the difference between Rob Ford and Justin Bieber?” he asked. “Justin Bieber shoots and cuts his own videos.”
Yet others love him. They say he is a straight shooter and does not fool around and that he has tackled the issues that matter and that he has lived up to his promises.
Now its up to the voters of GTA to decide whether they want to vote for some one that does the job or merely lives up to an image of a mayor. Apparently there is no middle ground when it comes to Rob Ford. Either you love him or you leave him.
An Angus Reid poll released Friday, meanwhile, suggested three out of five people who voted for the mayor in 2010 would back him again in a by-election.
“A lot of people are surprised that he’s held the support that he has. It surprises me at times how resilient it is,” said Nick Kouvalis, the strategist who engineered Mr. Ford’s 2010 victory.
He contends the mayor’s supporters simply don’t care as much about the gaffes and miscues as they do about his policies.
“Everything that we see downtown, for those of us that are media bugs or political bugs, it’s all inside baseball,” Mr. Kouvalis said. “At the end of the day, [voters in the mayor’s base] really care about the big issues, the pocketbook issues: What’s the price of the utilities? What’s the price of their property taxes?”
It’s certainly true that on several fronts, Mr. Ford has succeeded in implementing his agenda. He thumped the city’s unions into submission without resorting to a strike or lockout, contracted out part of the city’s garbage collection and kept tax increases relatively small.
Even his defeats may not be enough to turn his core voters against him. On the transit file, for instance, he portrays himself as the champion of subways, thwarted by a city council determined to disrupt traffic flow on suburban roads with surface LRTs.
And Mr. Ford’s supporters say all the rigmarole surrounding mayor’s latest transgression has not changed their feelings about him, citing his forthrightness and their belief in his desire to take on big spenders at city hall.
“He’s really achieved everything he’s set out to do, minus the subways,” said Michael Hilton, 39, who works in sales, as he shopped at Etobicoke’s Sherway Gardens Mall Friday afternoon.
“That whole gravy-train thing. He certainly cut back some of the expenditures at city hall. I’ve heard, in the mayor’s office, he’s cut back as well. I’ve heard there’s more fiscal responsibility at city hall. He knew he was going to get push-back from everyone, but he stuck with it.”
Others cite the vehicle registration tax, which Mr. Ford cut upon taking office, his willingness to take on municipal unions and his championing of the car as reasons to back him. Although some supporters admit that he can be “crass,” even inviting ridicule, these traits are part of the everyman persona they like.
“He’s done so much for the city,” said Alfred Uhl, 80, a retired North York parks worker. “He comes out front with everything. He doesn’t fool around with anything. He is very straight. He’s not afraid of hard work.”
Mr. Uhl believes there is “a conspiracy” behind the ousting of Mr. Ford and adds a warning to the beleaguered mayor’s opponents: “He may still win again.”