City
Reaction to the firing of TTC GM Gary Webster
That the TTC board voted to fire General Manager Gary Webster yesterday didn't ultimately come as a shock given all the talk about the meeting prior to its taking place, but now the task is figuring out what it means for Toronto's transit future and for the relationship between the mayor and city council. Here's a sample of the speculation and reaction that's circulating in the wake of yesterday's decision.
Gary Webster
There are times when situations arise that are outside of our control. But the one thing we always have control over is how we respond to those situations. I ask that you respond to all of this by doing what you all do so well - by continuing your professionalism and delivering the safe, courteous service that our customers expect and deserve. — Excerpt from an email sent to TTC employees posted by the Star.
Rob Ford
"I support the Commission's decision on the departure of Mr. Webster. Gary has served Toronto and the TTC well in his years of service. He was an important element in the organization's many successes to date and can proudly point to a list of accomplishments.
But, it's time for the organization to look forward. The Commissioners tell me this. Councillors tell me this. The general public — and subway, streetcar and bus passengers all tell me it's time for change." — Excerpt from a note posted the mayor's Facebook page.
The Star
The imbroglio over Toronto transit is unprecedented. The transit commission, though a separate legal entity, always defers to city council, as council approves its budget and appoints the commissioners. Now, add another log into a raging fire — a mayor unwilling to abide by city council's decision — and fireworks begin.
"Mayor Ford was elected promising subways over light rail. He said the private sector, not taxes, would build it. For a year he's failed to show how, but killed the light rail plan. And he has not sought a city council vote." — Royson James
The Sun
"Thankfully, the five commissioners who voted for Webster's axing -- Denzil Minnan-Wong, Norm Kelly, Vince Crisanti, Cesar Palacio and Frank DiGiorgio -- were having none of this leftist theatre of the absurd.
I knew Augimeri was a lost cause. But I still can't understand why TTC Chair Karen Stintz, Vice-Chairman Peter Milczyn and Commissioner John Parker so vociferously supported a CGM who has been out of his depth for years, is downright resistant to change, failed to improve customer service, runs a secretive organization rife with nepotism and can't seem to bring a single major project (capital, IT or whatever) within budget." — Sue-Ann Levy
The Globe and Mail
"Firing him now reeks of spite. It confirms what many people already feel about the mayor's blunderbuss, my-way-or-the-highway approach to governing the city. It conflicts with the mayor's pledge to cut waste. Firing Mr. Webster only a year and a bit before the end of his contract could cost the city $500,000 and more.
Worse, it sets a dangerous precedent that could intimidate the other leading public servants who advise the mayor and city council on public policy. Only weeks ago, Toronto Ombudsman Fiona Crean warned about the increasing politicization of the public service. "It can be exceedingly difficult for staff to speak truth to power and provide their best advice as dutiful public servants." — Marcus Gee
The National Post
The Post points out — via the citation of a previous article published in the paper — that Webster's predecessor left on account of political manoeuvring.
David Miller (on Twitter)
Discussion
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And his crying to Dalton for cash help seems to forget that he's crying for TAXPAYER MONEY. El Fordo can't get his stories straight when it comes to taxpayer money. One minute he can do everything with private cash and outsourcing, the next minute he's raising property taxes 2.5% and asking Dalton for more taxpayer money to fund his poorly thought out subway dreams (which include, by the way, an LRT not a subway, under Eglinton).
By drinking the RoFo Kool-Aid and attempting to attack Webster, Sue Ann-Levy has unwittingly written the best description of Rob Ford's leadership I've read outside of Edward Keenan's posts for The Grid.
right on, brother!
I am taking my tax dollars elsewhere before I get all aggressive in this shitty city! I want out.
going to my home country of Czech.
The Ridership Growth Strategy that Council and the Commission approved years back saw vehicle loads reduced and service frequencies increased. We also saw hours on bus routes extended to match the subway hours, which made using the TTC for commuting viable for a lot of people with irregular work hours. Bunching on the streetcar & bus lines, while still at an unacceptable level, has been reduced over the last few years. Worn-out streetcar track has continued to be replaced, and is now almost all in a state of good repair. Tail tracks are under construction on the YUS subway to reduce the impact of service disruptions. An order is in for replacement streetcars, which will allow us to keep transit service running. The TTC finally has a half-way decent website, as well as live mapping of service. All bus routes now use accessible vehicles and have automated stop announcements (the latter the result of a lawsuit).
And ridership has increased to record levels.
Of course, if we decided instead to just look at the last year or so, there's a different picture:
Fleet reliability continues to decline (because we haven't got new vehicles yet). Budget cuts that Rob Ford demanded have resulted in reduced service and heavier crowding, which is slated to get worse. And the Sheppard LRT is behind schedule because Rob Ford decided he could unilaterally cancel it.
The first issue is already being addressed. And those last two issues are entirely due to the choices made by Rob Ford, and can't be laid at Gary Webster's feet.
Julian Fantino was also not fired, he just didnt have his contract renewed.
anything else?
Maybe the TTC does need a re-mix. Boards do it all the time. But, frankly, firing someone a year before their contract renewal does not make any fiscal sense. Also with 35 years of experience on the TTC, Webster would have been an asset to aid in a possible board transition.
Ford really messed up, this is not only going to hurt us fiscally, it will likely further hurt our relationship with the province or other borides, and as for Ford, its going to hurt what's left of his future in politics.
Its a bad move on all fronts.
The issue here is that this sets a precedent for all public servants. The people who actually know what is going in the various parts of the city, and who council and the mayor rely on to tell them the truth and advise them so they can make informed decisions, may be too afraid for their jobs to actually tell council the truth. Instead those interested in keeping their jobs will simply tell council and the mayor exactly what they want to hear.
Like I said, I don't like how Ford has done this and it's debatable whether it's taking place for the right reasons...but based on what the TTC has become under Webster's watch, Webster should have been gone a long time ago. His record speaks for itself -- and it ain't good.
Gotcha.
Actually, TTC commissioner and Ford ally Frank DiGiorgio was exactly that stupid: "Di Giorgio said the responsibility of the city’s bureaucracy is to follow the will of the mayor and achieve the objectives set out by his mandate, which TTC managers have failed to do."
http://www.thestar.com/news/transportation/article/1133895--ttc-transit-chief-gary-webster-may-not-be-only-one-to-lose-job-di-giorgio
"The problem with that is no one on council has said he was fired for disagreeing with the mayor, nor will they ever as that would be stupid."
But Councillor Di Giorgio was exactly that stupid:
"Excellence in a bureaucracy means the ability to undertake or perform tasks that are consistent with leaders of a corporation… the ability to put forward positions that are consistent with a position adopted by the mayor... It doesn’t mean you have to believe in it, but you have to do the best to your ability to basically defend the position that is being proposed by a mayor."
Source:
http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/02/21/meeting-expected-to-result-in-dismissal-of-ttc-chief-gm-gary-webster-convenes-amid-cheers-and-conflicting-visions-of-transit/
The motion to fire him clearly invokes the "Without Just Cause" clause in his contract. They could have gone for incompetence, if Webster were incompetent.
And now we pay $500,000 for him to sit at home because he wouldn't sign off on Rob Ford's gravy subway.
Respect for taxpayers!!!
Truthiness is a "truth" that a person claims to know intuitively "from the gut" or because it "feels right" without regard to evidence, logic, intellectual examination, or facts.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truthiness
Didn't I just watch the head of the TTC, Toronto City Councillor Karen Stintz on 'Undercover Boss' going on about her daily duties and responsibilities while 'running the country's largest transit service'?
I'm aware that a 5-4 vote can't oust her like Webster was, but Stintz has been on the job long enough to shoulder some of this blame that Webster wasn't exactly a stellar leader. Fact is, he was doing a good job. Not perfect but the TTC has been further from the case over the years.
If he was so incompetent, fire him for it. Don't use a clause in his contract and pay him off. It wreaks of the Do-As-I-Say-Or-Else bullying that the Fords have made themselves famous for. This was just done in a very public forum.
He's stuck with Stintz and won't even go there or else the writing would clearly be on the wall that the mayor wants to make decisions without council and the democratic system that got him into office in the first place.
I think Mr. Webster will not lose a moment's sleep while counting the 500,000 sheep at night. I see a consultant's position somewhere for him verrry soon.
Ford fired this guy mainly because he knows he can't get rid of Karen Stinz (his real target). He doesn't want anyone around who will challenge his "plan". As much as he's out there advocating subways, and to be frank, in a perfect world, I think most reasonable people would opt for subways over LRTs, a few clear facts remain:
-The money we have from he province will not pay for subways in Scarborough - even Ford's own "plan" will use up every dollar of the province's money, at a minimum, to bury the LRT (not the subway, because in truth, its not a subway getting built) completely. There won't be a nickel left for transit anywhere else.
-despite his talk about building subways, he actually has no clear plan for paying for subways. The Chong report that he commissioned sets out "ideas" for raising revenues to help pay for subway expansion on Sheppard, but even then its perfectly clear that the amounts raised will be far short of the total amount needed, and the "revenue tools" include items that Ford has made it very clear are non-starters in his world (VRTs, parking taxes, toll roads). In other words, there's no actual plan to build and pay for subways, simply a pipe dream.
-the province will not bail us out if Ford's "plan" comes up short - they're broke. As it is, the more we mess around with this, the more lkely the Province changes its mind and re-allocates that cash. Remember, they haven't actually transferred a single dollar to the city yet.
-although Transit City, while not "ideal" is at least a plan that have some connection to the real world of transit funding and will provide the biggest bang for buck i.e. the largest transit expansion we've had in years.
Webster may not have been the best TTC GM, and there may have been other reasons to replace him, but the words of Ford's own allies have made it clear that he was canned because he wouldn't play ball and pretend that what Ford is proposing is anything close to a coherent transit plan. Feel free to disagree, but Councillor DiGiorgio was not exactly ambiguous on that point.
Maybe this blog is full of Ford haters (and yes, many of whom would criticize ANYTHING he does or did), but only the most deluded Ford supporters could seriously doubt that Webster was fired for any other reason. Maybe you think that's fine and if so, that's your prerogative of course, but don't try to sell the story that he was fired for incompetence or anything like that, because we know that's patently untrue.
Given he himself says "nobody will ever be that stupid", and now it is confirmed one of Fords councillors/allies is in fact that stupid, will there be a zen moment where he realizes birds of a feather flock together? Can you smell the coffee? $500,000 a cup!
come on mark i can't wait for the misinformation you spread tomorrow!
All under Webster's watch. Yeah, real bang-up job by the ol Commish!!
Seriously people. I understand you all hate Ford but let's face it, Webster's reighn has been abysmal at best.
Also, don't call people thick. Except Mark.
the national post will educate you:
http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/02/23/what-the-a-closer-look-at-the-ttcs-decision-to-fire-gary-webster-including-what-without-cause-means/
If Mr Ford continued the status quo then nothing will ever be done on Sheppard other than more delays and excuses later.
Politicians and the people of Toronto who support/oppose them have screwed this city and neglected to properly build our transit system for decades. As long as my taxes don't go towards David Miller's crappy Transhit City plan, what's another few decades of the status quo?
Two months after City Hall fired the man in charge of vetting councillors' expenses, the council is no closer to knowing why, and attempts for clarity veered into the theatre of the absurd yesterday. In February, the city fired Tim Ivanyshyn, a 28-year veteran, "without cause." Doug Holyday, an Etobicoke councillor, moved a motion back then, asking that council get some clarity in a closed-door session of council, March 3-4. Mayor David Miller pushed that motion to the agenda of yesterday's executive committee meeting, and then, yesterday, ruled it out of order, saying, "We can't deal with something that suggests we meet on March 3 and 4, because they've already passed." Mr. Holyday shot back, "Why can't we just amend it?" The Mayor said, "I've given you a written letter." Mr. Holyday: "Your letter said nothing. You're hiding something here." The Mayor: "Your comments are out of order." Replied Mr. Holyday, "They're accurate."
Peter Kuitenbrouwer, National Post