Their departure follows Ford’s firing of his chief of staff, Mark Towhey, on Thursday.
George Christopoulos, Ford’s press secretary, and Isaac Ransom, Ford’s deputy press secretary, both resigned and walked out of city hall Monday, a source with knowledge of their departure told the Star.
Sources said both men resigned on principle because they felt they could not continue in good conscience after Ford's statement on Friday.
In that statement, Ford said, “I do not use crack cocaine, nor am I an addict of crack cocaine. As for a video, I cannot comment on a video that I have never seen or does not exist.”
Ford’s former press secretary, Adrienne Batra, wrote in a weekend Toronto Sun column that the statement was “barely recognizable” compared to a statement his staff had written for him. Batra, citing unnamed sources, wrote: “Ford’s family basically wrote the statement, with only a sprinkling of staff input.”
The resignations appeared to take Ford by surprise. In full view of journalists watching through a glass window, Ford, trailed by a city hall security guard, paced around the mayor’s suite looking into empty offices, appearing agitated.
Speaking to reporters later, the mayor said it is “business as usual” for his administration.
“I want to inform you that George Christopoulos and Isaac Ransom have decided to go into a different avenue, or down a different avenue,” the mayor said.
“And I was informed about this at approximately 12 o’clock noon today and I wish them the best of luck in their future endeavours and I thank them for working hard in this office. And that’s it, it’s business as usual . . . We have our executive committee tomorrow and we’re just soldiering on.”
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Ford refused to say why they resigned but appeared to suggest both his spokesmen were leaving to take other jobs, noting he has always told colleagues “if an opportunity comes up, go, please, take advantage of it.”
The mayor named Amin Massoudi, Councillor Doug Ford’s young executive assistant, as his new spokesman.
Asked why Toronto police detectives interviewed a senior member of his staff in relation to allegations involving the widening crack video scandal, Ford said: “Everything’s fine. I have no idea what the police are investigating. It’s better that you talk to the police about that.”
The resignations significantly weaken a 14-person staff many councillors felt was too lean even before the crisis. Most of Ford’s remaining aides are young, and many have little policy or government experience. Ford’s two most recent hires are 21-year-old J.C. Hasko, a Don Bosco football assistant coach and fitness trainer, and Brendan Croskerry, a musician who has worked for a marketing firm.
Rob Ford hired Christopoulos in January 2012 after Batra quit to join Sun Media.
Christopoulos, an amiable former Sun reporter who later worked in communications for the Toronto Police Service, was noticeably quiet in the 11 days since reporters from the Star and website Gawker said they have seen a video that appears to show Ford smoking crack cocaine.
While Christopoulos announced Ford appearances, it was the mayor who, after days of silence, flatly denied the existence of any such video on his Newstalk 1010 radio show Sunday.
On Thursday, Towhey was marched out of city hall by security.
Multiple media outlets reported that Towhey’s firing was prompted by Towhey urging Ford to enter a rehabilitation program. One source told the Star the same thing last Friday.
Other accounts emerged. Two other sources told the Star that while Towhey had indeed been advising Ford to seek medical assistance, the firing was closely related to Ford’s ouster as coach.
The sources told the Star that Ford was so emotional after losing his beloved post at Don Bosco that he ordered Towhey to go to the school and retrieve thousands of dollars worth of football equipment he had donated. When Towhey told Ford that this was a bad idea, the sources said, Ford fired him.
The sources said Towhey implored other aides not to answer any phone calls from Ford that night because the mayor was so upset. Accustomed to Ford’s mercurial behaviour, Towhey, who thought he had experienced a “phantom” firing, then returned to city hall the next day — at which point Ford asked him to help arrange a party next week with Don Bosco players and other friends.
Towhey, incredulous, calmly explained that the mayor’s office had more urgent business. This so infuriated Ford, the sources said, that he reminded Towhey that he had been fired the night before and had him escorted from the building by security.
Towhey has not confirmed any of the accounts publicly, saying as security marched him out of city hall only that he had not resigned.
Ford started his media scrum by apologizing to journalists for calling them “maggots” on his Sunday afternoon Newstalk 1010 radio show.
I’m sure you understand that this has been a very stressful week for myself and my family but that doesn’t justify using the terminology I did to describe the media,” Ford said.
“So I sincerely apologize to each and every one of you.”
Original Article
Source: thestar.com
Author: David Rider, Robert Benzie, Daniel Dale
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