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Morning Brew: Stintz hits back at Ford over newsstand deal, Ana Bailao pleads guilty, Las Vegas Sands pitches casino, TTC names its new carhouse, and paying cyclists
TTC chair Karen Stintz says Rob Ford doesn't understand the sole-sourced newsstand contract the Commission awarded to Tobmar Investments International. Ford and his brother used a portion of their radio show Sunday to sound off on the 10-year, $50-million deal, calling it "appalling." Toronto's transit provider decided to accept a lucrative contract extension with the existing newsstand operator without seeking competitive bids. Was the TTC right?
The Star's Christopher Hume is calling the contract a missed opportunity to revamp an "invisible" TTC asset into something more attractive to riders. Is he right?
In a tearful press conference, councillor Ana Bailao announced she has pleaded guilty to drunk driving yesterday after initially saying she would protest her innocence. Bailao said her blood-alcohol level was 0.13, almost twice the legal limit of 0.08, when she was pulled over in October near Bathurst and Harbord Sts. Bailao had her license suspended for a year and fined $1,000. The Ward 18 rep will keep her position on city council. Is that the right decision?
The president of the Las Vegas Sands Corporation thinks the Metro Toronto Convention Centre is the best place for an "integrated resort" that comprises a casino, convention centre, and entertainment venue. Speaking before the Economic Club of Canada, Michael Leven said a revamped MTCC would attract world-class conventions and be "fun." Do you care which company runs the Toronto casino?
The TTC's new carhouse at Lake Shore Blvd. E and Leslie finally has a name. The Leslie Barns - not Leslie Barn or Ashbridges Bay Barns as was previously thought - will be complete in 2014 and house Toronto's new LRV streetcars. A short piece of connecting track will run up Leslie to Queen, connecting the new barn with the existing network.
St. Clair Ave. had a fiery awakening yesterday when an underground electrical transformer gave up the ghost in spectacular, smoking fashion. Several office buildings and a nearby school were closed due to a thick plume of smoke emanating from a manhole. As of last night some homes in the area were still without power.
And finally, one Toronto company is paying its staff to ride a bike to work. Consultants at Bursting Silver are allowed to bill the company $1 per kilometre for travel made on a bike compared to 50 cents for trips made in a car. The company's founder says it helps keep staff happy and fit and also saves clients money. Good idea?
IN BRIEF:
- LGBT community celebrates Wynne's victory [The Star]
- Temperature on rise in Toronto over next 2 days [CBC]
- Conrad Black strikes deal to host weekly TV show [CBC]
Chris Bateman is a staff writer at blogTO. Follow him on Twitter at @chrisbateman.
Photo: "121025 Neighbourhood Walk 034" by Aben and Xiao Mei/blogTO Flickr pool.
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For weeks on end she proclaims her innocence. "No, I didn't drive drunk and I will continue to fight and blah blah blah."
She then pleads guilty, and has the drunk driving charge dropped, while also retaining her position? What kind of nonsense is that? The woman is an embarrassment to not only her constituency, but Toronto itself.
But they are hopelessly incompetent at everything outside of vehicle maintenance. Fare collection, cleaning, security, general HR, customer service, transit museums, transit shops, retail operations, development of property, etc. All of these should be handed off to a smarter agency to run. The problem is, who? Can we get London Transport or Singapore MRT to take an interest in Toronto the way airport operators are now international?
Geez. I really hope they get their transit museum up to standards. I don't think I can ride public transit for a company who doesn't have a good museum!
Bailao's one of the more community-focused councillors we have. Yeah she screwed up. So what. She still serves her community well.
Hume: 'Not that anyone expects underground boutiques and pop-ups, but surely these shops could be a little more interesting, imaginative and appealing to commuters'
The outfit running the newstands has no incentive to offer anything interesting or even convenient or different from one location to another. It IS more about dollars and cents, but it's emblematic of the cheap-out approach used by the TTC and by sole-source contract holders (see also the TTC merchandising deal).
All those aspects you mentioned currently suffer from the TTC's indifferent attitude: that's not our job, we've always done it this way, we're not interested because it's not our idea, etc.
"Bailao is a good councillor, who cares if she drinks and drives!"
I find this unbelieveable, especially from posters on this board. Would you be so forgiving if it were Ford? Keep in mind that plenty of people in this City believe he does lots of good for his community, particularly when he was a councillor. Ask yourself honestly if you'd be so cavalier if it were Ford who just "screwed up" - who are we kidding, we all know the answer to that.
I'm not a member of "Ford Nation" by any means, but this kind of hypocrisy absolutely galls me. The message you're sending is, in essence, breaking the law is ok as long as you're a councillor we like. Sorry, but that position absolutely discredits you both.
Now, I'm not offering an opinion as to whether she should resign or not, but keep in mind her first reaction was deny that sge was intoxicated and claim she would fight it to the end - its only several months later that she finally owned up to it - presumably after disclosure was made and it was clear to her she wouldn't have much of a case. That behaviour sound familiar? Its the very same behaviour Ford routinely gets chastised for, and how many times on this board do people get accused of being trolls for using the very same language to defend Ford?
Keep that in mind as you're so casually dismissive of a DWI offence in which she blew almost double the legal limit.
I have no problem with her denying that she did anything wrong before the trial because that's usually what people are advised to do. She doesn't have to incriminate herself. I don't expect public servants to be perfect, but I do expect them to be willing to learn from their mistakes. Ford never does. I guess we'll see with Bailao.
She even lives downtown. She makes six figures. Too cheap for a cab? Too special to walk?
Either way, it's over now. We'll forget about this the next time someone we don't like does something similar.
What do you mean "if"? Rob Ford has a DUI conviction too.
It would be great if the one-year suspension gave her a new appreciation of cycling/transit issues, but she'll probably just get a family member to drive her.
she's also now a drunk driver and should not be defended.
My point was that DL and vampchick's casual dismissal of Bailo's DWI, on the basis that she's a "good councillor" reeks of hypocrisy, considering that this board has absolutely pilloried Ford over his various "errors in judgement" and lamented the fact that he doesn't appear to suffer any consequences, either legal or political for his various follies (and I count myself amongst those who have taken part in that). Ford's most common tactic is to deny, deny, deny, and only when confronted with overwhelming evidence that he in fact did what he was accused of doing, does he admit it, even grudgingly.
In this case, Bailo did the same thing - she denied she was drunk. She held a pathetic news conference with a bunch of weaselly councillors on both sides standing in support and insisted she would fight it, and only when it apparently became clear that she wouldn't win, did she suddenly develop a conscience and own up to it and plead guilty.
So, why is it that we accept that behaviour from Bailo, but not from Ford? If we are of the view that these character traits are part of what makes Ford so ill-suited to be Mayor, then why be so forgiving of Bailo for doing the same thing? That is the hypocrisy I was pointing out.
I rarely agree with Hume though, he generally likes to complain without offering any actual ideas. In this article he says the newsstands should offer more to consumers, but doesn't have any suggestion to what else people would want. Plus he says most of the time they're closed, which is just wrong so I guess he doesn't even take the TTC that often.
If the Mayor, who is supposed to be a role model, can drive while intoxicated, drive while on the phone, drive while reading, drive while giving rude gestures to children, drive past open streetcar doors, and suffer no consequences whatsoever, you shouldn't be surprised if others start misbehaving too.
Ana Bailao was out drinking with casino lobbyists.
Ana Bailao was out drinking with casino lobbyists.
And then drove drunk. And then lied about it at a press conference where she was flanked by supportive gullible colleagues. Drunk or sober, her judgement is impaired.
I wouldn't care. I don't believe things like this determine whether or not a person is fit to represent the masses.
Sue Ann's close.
Ana, for the love of god and all things holy/funny, please contract out a limo every chance you get. Better yet, a stretch Prius --that's what all us city-folk use to get to our snooty soirees, right?
Yeah...soak us taxpayers good and proper! We DESERVE it!