The use of taxpayer-paid city employees for non-city purposes is a likely violation of council’s code of conduct. In fact, Ford was found by the integrity commissioner to have violated the code in 2010 for what appears to be an identical issue: using his staff to assist with his foundation’s work.
In a Sun News interview in late February, Ford said he had learned a lesson from the commissioner’s 2010 report, in which she also criticized him for using his official letterhead to solicit donations for the foundation.
“There’s not a more honest politician than I am, and I have gone by the rule book,” he said. “Now, a few things using letterhead for my football foundation, I’ve changed that. But I am who I am.”
The email was sent amid significant uncertainty about Ford’s future at Etobicoke’s Don Bosco Catholic Secondary School, where he has coached for a decade. The Catholic school board is currently reviewing recent Ford comments that offended teachers and parents, and the Don Bosco parent council held a meeting Tuesday night to discuss what to tell the board about Ford’s involvement with the school.
The email, date-stamped 4:37 p.m. Tuesday in the version obtained by the Star, was sent by Chris Fickel, the same young aide who has regularly and controversially attended Don Bosco games and practices, sometimes in a city car. Fickel, who appears in team photos, is listed as an assistant coach in Bosco’s game programs.
“I was wondering if Marshall McLuhan Catholic Secondary School would be at all interested in fielding a football team in the near future?” Fickel wrote in the email, which was sent to school trustees and McLuhan administrators.
“I have the means of providing start-up funding up of to $10,000.00 for a team through the Rob Ford Football Foundation,” Fickel continued, “and have a vast amount of accredited coaches who would be interested in coaching. I understand that your school is prominently known as a rugby school, but a football program would be great for keeping the kids in shape during the fall as well as boosting school morale. I understand that a major roadblock for starting up a team these days is an inability to secure funding, but through funding from the Rob Ford Football Foundation you’d have a significant head start.”
The email was sent on the same day Ford was dealing with the fallout from a Star story that detailed his struggles with alcohol.
The board did not appear to welcome Fickel’s email. Its communications co-ordinator sent a letter to school principals on Wednesday instructing them to refer all proposals from Ford to the board.
“It has come to our attention that a member of Mayor Ford’s staff has contacted our Secondary Schools with offers of funding for football programs,” John Yan began. “Please note that these types of offers are required to be vetted through our Partnership and Development Department.”
Fickel hung up on a reporter who called him Wednesday night at the number he listed in the email. Ford’s spokesperson and chief of staff did not respond to an email seeking comment. In the past, Ford has said that his staffers work at least 40 hours per week doing official business, “often more.”
The email was sent from a Gmail account, not Fickel’s city account. The Star could not determine late Wednesday whether the listed number belongs to the city or to Fickel personally.
Catholic trustee John Del Grande said Wednesday night that such an email was also sent to Brebeuf College School.
The school board is conducting a review of the Sun interview, in which Ford made comments that have been called inaccurate by the board, parent council members, teachers and even one of Ford’s assistant coaches. Ford asserted that Don Bosco players come from “broken homes” and would have “no reason to go to school” and would be dead or in jail if not for football.
Some parents have called for Ford’s removal. The board’s director of education, Bruce Rodrigues, is attempting to schedule a meeting with Ford to discuss the comments.
This is the second time in a month that Ford has committed a foundation-related error for which he was reprimanded in 2010. The solicitation of donations from lobbyists is also a code of conduct violation. Ford sent hand-signed letters to two lobbyists in the last three months. His chief of staff said this was an “error.”
Original Article
Source: thestar.com
Author: Alex Consiglio and Daniel Dale
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