MPs hone in on Harper's friendship with Rob Ford
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Rob Ford's diminished might at city hall came into stark relief on Tuesday, when his most senior staffers joined Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly's team, taking with them much of the experience and policy expertise in the mayor's office.
As Ford reiterated his promise to wage "war" against his opponents in an interview with CP24, several of his most seasoned advisers — including chief of staff Earl Provost, policy director Sheila Paxton and deputy chief of staff Sunny Petrujkic — left his side.
City council voted 37-5 on Monday to slash the mayor's office budget, ensuring that he would no longer be able to support a 20-person office.
Behind the glass walls of the mayor's office, meanwhile, staff loaded up boxes, and Ford's access to the area that housed many of his staffers, dubbed the "fish bowl," was cut off.
"The locks have been changed, security has been changed, everything's been changed," Kelly told reporters late Tuesday afternoon. "Everything is going to go forward."
Kelly said that it was "up to staff to indicate whether they wanted to move or stay."
But Ford's significantly reduced role has left him without the need or the budget for key policy specialists.
Negotiations were still underway on Tuesday evening. According to Paxton, about half of the mayor's 20 staffers have jumped to Kelly, including the mayor's most recent hire, Kathleen Wright, who was interviewed the same day that Ford admitted to smoking crack cocaine.
Late Tuesday, a Star source said Ford has named Dan Jacobs as his new chief of staff. Before Jacobs joined Ford's team in June, he was a part-time producer at Newstalk1010, where he handled the radio program hosted by the mayor and his brother until its recent cancellation.
"It's been stressful," Paxton said.
Just last week, she was trailed by reporters as she guided Ford's wife, Renata, through the city hall parking garage after he held a hastily assembled news conference to apologize for his lewd remarks.
Ford's controversial $130,000-a-year director of operations and logistics, David Price, has not yet been offered a job in either camp, Paxton said.
Kelly, who was surrounded by a large crowd of reporters near Ford's office as the mayor returned to city hall on Tuesday afternoon, said there were attempts to contact the mayor to notify him of the changes, "so hopefully it doesn't come as a surprise."
"Every effort was made to make sure that he had not only enough people but the people with the requisite skills to look after his office," the deputy mayor said.
He sidestepped a question on what message the exodus of such key people sends, telling reporters: "You'll have to draw your own conclusions on that one."
Ford appeared unimpressed on CP24 when he mentioned that the deputy mayor voted in favour of stripping his powers, but Kelly tried to play down any animosity between the two camps.
"There's a loyalty that transcends the person and the office and that's a loyalty toward the citizens, the residents of Toronto … and their expectation of good government and that's why I voted the way I did," Kelly said.
However, it appears that remaining loyal to Ford is not always an easy proposition.
In interviews with police, Price said Ford "tends to 'bark' at his staff," according to police documents released last week relating to the ongoing police investigation of Ford and alleged drug dealer Alexander "Sandro" Lisi.
Ford has vowed to sue former staffers who told police that Ford had abused staff, been drunk on the job and while driving, and had led an all-night party at which he swilled alcohol, appeared to snort cocaine, and partied with a woman some suspected of being a prostitute, in part at city hall.
He has dismissed the allegations, none of which have been proven in court, as "100 per cent lies."
When Ford's former policy adviser Brooks Barnett resigned on Nov. 6, he was one of only four staffers remaining from the beginning of the mayor's term.
Despite the upheaval in the mayor's office, councillors spent much of the day in community council meetings — a welcome reprieve, it seemed.
"I think all members of council are quite happy to get back to the regular business of community council," Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong said. "It's really refreshing after all the controversy that's taken place at city hall, and the circus that's taken place in the last 10 weeks."
With files from Jane Gerster
Staff shakeup — who's going where
Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly's team
Earl Provost — chief of staff
Sunny Petrujkic — deputy chief of staff and director of council relations
Sheila Paxton — director of policy
Rob Krauss — special assistant
Jacqueline Czajka — senior policy adviser and council relations
Reid McKay — special assistant
Kathleen Wright — special assistant
Katrina Xavier Ponniah — special assistant
Brendan Croskerry — special assistant
Amin Massoudi — special assistant communications and media relations
Tom Beyer — executive assistant
Jerry Agyemang — driver
Jonathan Kent — special assistant
Judith Williams — special assistant
Christine Maydossian — special assistant
Victoria Colussi — manager — protocol and events
Dan Jacobs — manager — administration and scheduling
Apparently not offered any position yet
J.C. Hasko — special assistant
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