The Toronto Transit Commission should have sought competitive bids for the right to operate 65 subway newsstands, eight lottery booths, two bakeries and two cafes, Ford said Sunday on CFRB Newstalk 1010.
The mayor devoted a major segment of the two-hour talk show to the deal, heaping blame on Stintz, a veteran city councillor who’s considered likely to run against him in the October, 2014 municipal election.
He started off the program by congratulating Kathleen Wynne for winning the provincial Liberal leadership, before fielding calls from citizens about transit overcrowding, a power outage downtown and broken street lights in North Toronto.
Ford also took calls from supporters congratulating him on wining his court appeal Friday on a conflict of interest case that could have ended his mayoralty.
He repeatedly referred to the TTC deal, which saw the commission last week approve a $48-million, 15-year lease extension to Tobmar Investments, which franchises the Gateway newsstands.
“What happened last week was absolutely appalling if you ask me,” Ford said. “It’s absolutely an embarrassment.”
The mayor told his radio audience that he called Stintz for an explanation but didn’t hear back. The Star reached Stintz, meanwhile, who said Sunday she called the mayor last week, upon hearing that Councillor Ford was criticizing the deal.
After failing to connect, Stintz said she “she called him back the next day, left a detailed message explaining the deal, and I never heard from him since.”
On the radio, the Fords interviewed a competitor, International News president Sam Davis, who reiterated that he could have offered more if the TTC has sought bids, and suggested up to four companies may have bid.
“We’re saying at minimum we can increase that,” Davis said. “Let’s assume 10 per cent. That’s $5 million more. That’s a lot of subway tokens.”
Stintz said Tobmar’s unsolicited proposal was considered attractive because it included a 67-per-cent rent boost, a $1.5-million signing bonus and $1.5 million in store renovations.
She added that the deal has been under consideration since last October, and nothing prevented International News, from filing its own unsolicited offer. “We had talked to International . . . They indicated they would submit an unsolicited proposal but they never did.”
Doug Ford scoffed at the notion that Tobmar’s offer was attractive.
“How do you know it’s a good deal when you don’t go out and get a competitive bid?” he said. “You don’t have a clue. This is what happens from a person that has never run a business in their entire lives.”
Original Article
Source: the star
Author: Paul Moloney
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