Ford moved quickly to counter the apparent chaos in his office, saying he had hired “movers and shakers” to replace the departed staff members.
As previously reported, one of the new faces is Katrina Xavier Ponniah, a recent Mount Allison University graduate. Yesterday, the city announced three others were joining the mayor’s office: Victoria Colussi, Jonathan Kent and Rob Krauss.
Last week’s exodus included the mayor’s policy adviser, Brian Johnston, executive assistant Kia Nejatian and special assistant Michael Prempeh, who left Thursday and Friday.
On Monday, special assistant Tom Beyer, a longtime Ford ally who worked the front desk in the mayor’s office, was promoted to become the mayor’s executive assistant.
Twice on Friday, the mayor made the short trek from his office to the glass-walled suite where his staffers work, allowing media to see the meetings but not hear anything.
The new staffers appeared to listen intently, smiling and nodding occasionally as Ford spoke. The mayor left through a rear door, avoiding reporters, the same exit used by the staffers when their day ended.
Councillor Doug Ford visited the mayor’s office twice during the day, but refused to comment to media — unlike last week, when he took media questions after emerging from the mayor’s office.
While the hires were described as “movers and shakers,” in the past the title of special assistant has been used to characterize the duties of former football players Ford has hired in his office who have helped with the mayor’s high school coaching.
Their names were announced by circulating an updated phone list for the mayor’s office. Their credentials and a description of their job duties were not provided.
The exodus from his office began when Ford fired his chief of staff, Mark Towhey, on May 23. Sources told the Star and other media that Towhey had been urging Ford to seek help for his health.
Press secretary George Christopoulos and communications assistant Isaac Ransom quit a week ago “on principle,” a source told the Star.
The mayor named Earl Provost, a senior official in his office, to take over Towhey’s duties as acting chief of staff, and brought in Amin Massoudi from his brother’s office to help with communications.
The departures came after the Star and U.S. website Gawker reported seeing a video apparently showing the mayor smoking crack cocaine and making homophobic and racially charged statements. Ford has denied the video exists and said he does not smoke crack.
Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, a longtime friend, said Monday that he’d had “personal” talks with Ford since the video report surfaced.
“I’ve spoken with the mayor and I’ve spoken with members of his family,” Flaherty told CBC television. “I’m very close to the family and I won’t comment further on that,” he said, adding that the discussions have been strictly personal, not “about infrastructure or anything like that.”
Flaherty was a Tory MPP with Rob Ford’s father during the Mike Harris years and endorsed Ford for mayor in 2010.
Observers have described the mayor’s office as being understaffed even before the exodus began.
In one of four brief news conferences he held last week, Ford highlighted his efforts to save taxpayers’ money by cutting his own office budget by $700,000 a year.
The mayor’s office budget approved by council for 2013 totalled $1.9 million and included 19 staff members. In 2010, the last year of former mayor David Miller, the mayor’s office budget was $2.6 million and had 23 staffers.
Original Article
Source: thestar.com
Author: Paul Moloney
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