With Gary Webster’s sacking, Ford’s allies somehow made a hero out of a civil servant
As expected, five transit commissioners voted yesterday to oust TTC chief general manager Gary Webster, whose penchant for “reasonable arguments” had become an unwelcome distraction from Rob Ford’s delightful transit fantasies subway expansion schemes. Every daily paper and television station in the city has covered the story from all angles, but the condensed version is as follows: Webster, a long-serving civil servant, was a known opponent of Ford’s proposed Sheppard subway extension—something that did not endear him to the mayor. After Webster spoke in favour of light rail transit at the special council meeting earlier this month—the one where Ford’s opponents won and the mayor was publicly embarrassed—Ford’s allies on the TTC board called a special meeting to fire him.
In the short term, Ford and Co. were successful—Webster’s gone, and they can (presumably) find someone a little more friendly to take his place. But by getting rid of Webster in what was clearly a political move, Ford has further alienated his allies on council. As the Globe and Mail’s Marcus Gee points out, Ford has actually managed to turn “a grey transit official” into a kind of civic folk hero—no mean feat when the TTC isn’t exactly the most popular civic institution in town. Worse, instead of demonstrating the mayor’s power, Webster’s termination might actually galvanize the councillors who oppose them—there are already rumblings that council might move to kick the Ford allies of the TTC board. Things can only get more interesting from here.
• Shameful firing of TTC manager widens gap between Ford and councillors [Globe and Mail]
• “So are they all, all honourable men” [Steve Munro]
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As expected, five transit commissioners voted yesterday to oust TTC chief general manager Gary Webster, whose penchant for “reasonable arguments” had become an unwelcome distraction from Rob Ford’s delightful transit fantasies subway expansion schemes. Every daily paper and television station in the city has covered the story from all angles, but the condensed version is as follows: Webster, a long-serving civil servant, was a known opponent of Ford’s proposed Sheppard subway extension—something that did not endear him to the mayor. After Webster spoke in favour of light rail transit at the special council meeting earlier this month—the one where Ford’s opponents won and the mayor was publicly embarrassed—Ford’s allies on the TTC board called a special meeting to fire him.
In the short term, Ford and Co. were successful—Webster’s gone, and they can (presumably) find someone a little more friendly to take his place. But by getting rid of Webster in what was clearly a political move, Ford has further alienated his allies on council. As the Globe and Mail’s Marcus Gee points out, Ford has actually managed to turn “a grey transit official” into a kind of civic folk hero—no mean feat when the TTC isn’t exactly the most popular civic institution in town. Worse, instead of demonstrating the mayor’s power, Webster’s termination might actually galvanize the councillors who oppose them—there are already rumblings that council might move to kick the Ford allies of the TTC board. Things can only get more interesting from here.
• Shameful firing of TTC manager widens gap between Ford and councillors [Globe and Mail]
• “So are they all, all honourable men” [Steve Munro]){kind=link}
It’s a shame all this attention is being focused on an city bureaucrat who failed miserably at his job. The job of a bureaucrat is to promote whatever the elected official wants – it doesn’t matter if their policies make any sense, or will cause harm to the organization they run, bureaucrats must be willing to burn down their building if the mayor asks them to do it.
That brings us to Andy Byford, who is replacing Webster for the time being. From what I understand, Andy Byford is the right type of bureaucrat, one who will merely stand and repeat what the mayor says, and will deliver evidence that fits with our ideology. Good luck, Andy!
Joe Tory, you are so wrong! The job of any decent human being with integrity is to serve honestly, not bend to the will of any person who happens to get elected. Imagine how far Adolph Hitler would not have got if he had been surrounded by people of integrity and ethics. Hazel McCallion, no less, had criticized the nasty, antidemocratic action of Ford. She says the Council reigns supreme. Ford is so out of line and is going to yet again get his over-sized butt kicked. He’s asking for it. Sadly for Ford’s preoccupation with putting trains in tunnels Mr Byford is an intelligent and well-informed man, not the lackey of someone as daft as Rob Ford around transit.
I can’t tell if Joe Tory is being scarcastic or not.
Those singing Webster’s praises need to give their head a shake. I don’t like how his firing took place or that it was over this issue, but given his performance or lack thereof, I’m surprised this didn’t happen three years ago. Webster has been at the top of the TTC since 2006. Under his watch, major projects have been badly mismanaged and run significantly overbudget, service and cleanliness seem to have gotten notably worse, and employee morale has deteriorated dramatically because of Webster’s tendency to blame the front-line workers rather than to fix the organization’s dysfunctional corporate culture. I don’t like Ford but under Webster, the TTC seems to have become more unresponsive than ever. Many of the TTC’s issues are related to it being underfunded… but many have to do with it being an extremely top-heavy organization with a very dysfunctional corporate culture. Two week’s ago, the Star columnist “The Fixer”, profiled how a broken Subway sign that readers complained about 5 years ago, IS STILL NOT FIXED. Whatever Webster’s credentials are, he did not seem to provide the leadership required.