Gravydämmerung: Shooting the messenger
Apr. 24th, 2014 05:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sabotabbyThe Honourable Wife-Beater's latest kerfuffle is an example of why I think more emphasis needs to be placed on his disastrous politics instead of on his little crack hobby or weight.
To summarize the story briefly: Toronto Community Housing Corporation is the body in charge of public housing in Toronto. While frequently unresponsive and even abusive to poor, marginalized tenants—resulting, at least in one case, in the death of an elderly tenant evicted in 2013 under sketchy circumstances—its officials make six-figure incomes and are about as corrupt as you'd imagine. In part of his efforts to stop the gravy train, Ford forced the resignation of its entire board. The current CEO, Gene Jones, is an American who, up until recently, made $271,000 a year and a bunch of really interesting decisions involving hiring and firing, including hiring one of his buddies, creating a position for her, and then immediately raising her salary $30,000. Needless to say, the penny-pinching fiscal conservative Ford just loooooves this guy.
Anyway, the city's ombudsman, Fiona Crean, just released a scathing 111-page report on Jones that would cause the immediate resignation of anyone with an ounce of decency. OMG, did civic oversight just work? There was much rejoicing. I knew we had an ombudsman but didn't actually know anything about her, but this lady is my hero right now.
The Honourable Wife-Beater's response? He called for her head.
This right here—not the crack, not the drunkenness, not the public urination—this is why Ford is a shitbag. Because it's the pattern, not just with him, but with every conservative at every level of government. Preach austerity, hire cronies to waste money, and then try to muzzle anyone—journalists, scientists, ombudsmen—who point out the hypocrisy.
On a related, though less serious note, John Tory's latest is also pretty good. He's going to plant 3.8 million trees, presumably with magical money farted out by unicorns, because he cares sooooo much about the environment, but wants to cancel the proposed Eglinton bike lanes. (I try to have nothing to do with that part of the city, but I do really like the Eglinton Connects plan; it seems completely sensible and even pretty.) So, you know, anyone who votes for him should be aware that we would just be getting Ford, policy-wise, with fewer funny things that get us featured on American talk shows.
To summarize the story briefly: Toronto Community Housing Corporation is the body in charge of public housing in Toronto. While frequently unresponsive and even abusive to poor, marginalized tenants—resulting, at least in one case, in the death of an elderly tenant evicted in 2013 under sketchy circumstances—its officials make six-figure incomes and are about as corrupt as you'd imagine. In part of his efforts to stop the gravy train, Ford forced the resignation of its entire board. The current CEO, Gene Jones, is an American who, up until recently, made $271,000 a year and a bunch of really interesting decisions involving hiring and firing, including hiring one of his buddies, creating a position for her, and then immediately raising her salary $30,000. Needless to say, the penny-pinching fiscal conservative Ford just loooooves this guy.
Anyway, the city's ombudsman, Fiona Crean, just released a scathing 111-page report on Jones that would cause the immediate resignation of anyone with an ounce of decency. OMG, did civic oversight just work? There was much rejoicing. I knew we had an ombudsman but didn't actually know anything about her, but this lady is my hero right now.
The Honourable Wife-Beater's response? He called for her head.
This right here—not the crack, not the drunkenness, not the public urination—this is why Ford is a shitbag. Because it's the pattern, not just with him, but with every conservative at every level of government. Preach austerity, hire cronies to waste money, and then try to muzzle anyone—journalists, scientists, ombudsmen—who point out the hypocrisy.
On a related, though less serious note, John Tory's latest is also pretty good. He's going to plant 3.8 million trees, presumably with magical money farted out by unicorns, because he cares sooooo much about the environment, but wants to cancel the proposed Eglinton bike lanes. (I try to have nothing to do with that part of the city, but I do really like the Eglinton Connects plan; it seems completely sensible and even pretty.) So, you know, anyone who votes for him should be aware that we would just be getting Ford, policy-wise, with fewer funny things that get us featured on American talk shows.
