By the time long time City Councillor Georgio Mammoliti became a candidate for mayor of Toronto in 2010 he had become one of the least-distinguished local public servants of too many shortcomings.
Even his candidacy and platform sounded like a joke straight out of a silly Tom Green prank video.
His vision for Toronto included a floating mega casino and the designation of a Red Light district for legal prostitution. Much like a totalitarian government, he also proposed to restrict curfew on young people's movement at night, massive deportation of immigrants (to help curb crime) and the arming by-law enforcement officers.
He sounded a joke and a fringe voice at best. As he was being neglected as an afterthought mayoral candidate, he went back to running for councillor and he was easily re-elected.
With the successful election of Rob Ford as mayor, his once arch enemy, he became an influential member of the mayor's executive team. Since then, he has been the administration's eloquent bully along with the mayor's brother -- councillor Doug Ford.
At the beginning of the mayor's term in 2011, for instance, the councillor even used social media to help the administration collect ideas to help save money -- a Facebook group he named Save The City Support The Ford Administration. The public was invited to contribute as long as you do not "smell like someone who can be a part of the Communist Party."
The councillor with the blessing of the mayor is literally making Toronto seem like a dictatorial third-world city where stupidity is the norm. It seems the production of a slew of gimmicks and political play is becoming the norm. How long is this going to last?
Yesterday the councillor who is known for his immaculate expensive suits and shiny hair style more than his substantive contributions to the public, sent out a press release to the media, along with what seems like, a picture of a City of Toronto employee sleeping on the job. In his press release he explained how "managers and supervisors of departments should carefully consider proposing any increases to their respective budgets if these are the types of employees our great city is hiring."
Mayor Ford responded how he will "seek the firing of both the employee and a manager if the employee was indeed sleeping on the job." "If we have someone that's literally sleeping at their desk, how it looks, we cannot tolerate this," Ford added. "The managers who are overseeing this employee obviously aren't doing their job." Surprisingly, the public has now located a picture of the mayor sleeping while attending an important government meeting.
Should we then be asking Rob Ford to fire Rob Ford?
At the end the mayor called the alleged action of the employee "a complete embarrassment and a black eye on our city." While I await the investigation of that particular city employee, I am convinced that the mayor is a proven embarrassment to our city.
What is more unfortunate is how the mayor and his idiotic councillor is literally destroying the fabrics of our local government even on what should have been a minor internal personnel matter. Why run to the media with a one-day-old photo when an internal investigation could have done wonder or is everything politics for this mayor?
The mayor and his lieutenant are both incompetent and an embarrassment to Toronto.
Between them they have a list of serious allegations that they have not answered to even be taken seriously. An allege drug use, incompetent personnel in the mayors office, the use of private spaces subsidized by big business, illegal loans and shady friends often come to mind.
As the old proverb reminds us "people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones." Indeed. Mayor Rob Ford certainly should not do that as he has such a low standard for himself and his friends.
