If you Google the name Rob Ford, my collection of Rob Ford quotes is on the first page of results. Rob Ford, for those of you who don't follow the exciting world of Toronto municipal politics, is a city councillor who represents Ward 2 in Etobicoke North.
I'm not a Rob Ford fan, as you might have gathered from that entry, but I dislike the optics of what's happening to him at City Hall. Ford makes a lot of noise about not spending a penny of his allotted $53,000 office budget. That's his schtick. He pays his office expenses out of his own pocket and that goes against the city's ethics rules. "You don't spend private money, or developers' money, or anybody else's money on things like your newsletters. You spend the public money because there's an audit trail, it's accountable," said Mayor David Miller.
Ford was formally reprimanded by the city's executive committee and they'll decide on his punishment December 12. I totally get why Ford is in the wrong here, and as a human being, I'm not eager to defend him, but the optics here stink. It just makes Miller and his cronies appear petty and brings more attention to Ford and his hot air.
They're playing into Ford's hands and he's loving every minute of it. Of all the battles that need to be fought, this is one Miller should have taken a pass on.
