Councillor Jaye Robinson and Councillor Michelle Berardinetti have now made their decisions: Robinson will seek reappointment to the powerful cabinet-like committee; Berardinetti will not.
“I’m a Liberal. I’d like to focus on the values that I hold,” Berardinetti, whose ward Ford carried easily in the 2010 election, said in an interview Friday. “And to not feel constrained, and just feel that I can vote according to the wishes of my ward. It’s a great opportunity to just be an independent councillor.”
Berardinetti’s departure means that Ford’s inner circle — his nominal inner circle, at least — loses one of its least conservative members. Berardinetti and Robinson worked to weaken some of Ford’s proposed budget cuts.
Her exit also leaves Ford with a gender-balance and optics challenge as he contemplates his mid-term committee shuffle. The only right-leaning female councillors are TTC chair Karen Stintz, speaker Frances Nunziata, and Gloria Lindsay Luby, with whom Ford has long had an uneasy relationship.
Berardinetti (Ward 35, Scarborough Southwest), a rookie whose husband Lorenzo is a Liberal MPP, said she made her decision in part because she wants to be liberated from intense vote-whipping pressure from Ford’s staff. At times, she said, she has been expected to vote with Ford on even minor issues.
“I’d thought it would just be on key items. Then it became every item. Though that did change a bit,” she said.
She said she did not fault Ford, “who has done a great job.” But she said she doesn’t understand why he has insisted on pushing forward on votes he is sure to lose. And she said his senior aides are not sufficiently respectful of councillors.
“It’s the, ‘This is the direction that we’re going, just do it,’ kind of thing — and not listening to the fact that I’m the elected councillor, I’m elected by the 60,000 people in Ward 35, and I have to listen to my residents. If I say, ‘I don’t agree with this,’ or, ‘This needs to be amended,’ and that’s not listened to, then — what’s the point?”
Ford chief of staff Mark Towhey, she said, told her she was still wanted on executive but could not also become chair of Scarborough Community Council, a position for which she said he preferred conservative Gary Crawford. She said it was “appalling” that an unelected aide attempted to dictate the outcome of a community council decision.
“They wanted Gary there (at community council) and me there (on executive). But it doesn’t work like that,” she said.
Robinson (Ward 25, Don Valley West), a rookie from a ward Ford carried narrowly, said she made the “tough decision” to stay on the committee because the prominent perch will allow her to be more effective as a “moderating influence,” because she wants to promote diversity, and because Ford has become more conciliatory in recent months — though she said “there’s still a long way to go.”
“My decision doesn’t mean I’m condoning the mayor’s policies or decisions or actions,” she said. “In fact, I don’t support many of the things that have transpired, and I have been very vocal about my opposition on many occasions. I think I’ve demonstrated that I’m independent, I’m moderate, and I’m pragmatic.”
She added: “I’m not a Ford loyalist, I’m a Toronto loyalist. I’m here to make my decisions based on evidence and facts. If I’m reappointed to executive, I’ve shown over and over again that I’m independent, and the mayor can’t necessarily count on my vote.”
Berardinetti has voted with Ford on about three-quarters of significant issues this year, Robinson about half, an analysis by Metro’s Matt Elliott shows. Berardinetti said she does not expect a dramatic post-executive change in her voting habits; she said she has already been following the wishes of her constituents, 56 per cent of whom voted for Ford, and has few regrets.
Berardinetti listed the executive as her first committee choice in a survey she submitted two weeks ago. She said she had not yet made her final decision at that point and was simply keeping her options open.
Ford’s spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment. Speaking generally about committee appointments, Ford said Friday: “It’s very hard to say what we’re going to do right now. I’ll have an answer in the next week for you.”
Berardinetti was elected community council chair after Crawford agreed not to seek the post. He said he is interested in a seat on the executive.
Original Article
Source: the star
Author: Daniel Dale
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