Star not being denied access, says Ford ally Milczyn

Councillor Peter Milczyn, the city's planning and growth committee chairman and a staunch ally of Mayor Rob Ford, is backing the boss.

Milczyn (Ward 5 Etobicoke-Lakeshore) has used his newsletter to tell constitutents "what's really going on at City Hall." He then provides information that is  misleading, but somewhat less so information being emailed to taxpayers by Ford. (The mayor replied to those who complained: "To be perfectly clear, the Toronto Star receives all notifications, press releases, media advisories from the City of Toronto." He was referring to releases sent out by city staff -- road closures and the like -- but did not bother telling residents that, on his explicit instructions, the Mayor's Office has not sent any of its many press releases to the Star in 11 months. Go here to the see the last five releases the Star didn't receive (provided by a competing news outlet last Friday).

Milcyzn says: "I don't agree ... with the Star's complaint that their access at City Hall has been denied."

Last week, calling the Ford "freeze" and abuse of power, TorStar chairman John Honderich wrote: "Mayor Ford has no obligation to speak to or be interviewed by the Star. That is entirely his choice. However, when it comes to public press releases and public notifications from his office as mayor of all the people, that is another matter. That directly affects our ability to cover city hall and serve our readers."

Bizarrely, Milczyn writes: "All City initiatives are communicated through official City Press Releases and official Press conferences prepared by civil servants. I believe that The Star does receive notice of all official city activities.

"I am aware that beyond that 'access' to City Hall, the fundamental issue really is that the Mayor himself, and his staff do not grant personal one-on-one interviews to the Toronto Star, nor give them political briefings." That is not true, and never has been, as anyone who read the Honderich column would know.

Here is Milczyn's letter in full. Decide for yourself.

In the past week, I have received a few emails regarding the ongoing battle between the  Star and the Mayor's office.  Many emailed me for clarification as to what the history of the issue, and to find out what really is occurring at City Hall.

It is my understanding that The Toronto Star and Mayor Ford have been feuding since well before the election.  Neither side is in the clear on this. I don't agree however with the Star's complaint that their access at City Hall has been denied. 

If you watch coverage of City Hall press conferences, you will see that reporters from the Star are at every press conference at City Hall. They also attend every media briefing, and have the same access into City Hall and to the Councillors as all other media. They have office space in the Press Gallery and seat at Council in the Press Gallery seating. I see the Star reporters at City Hall daily.

All City initiatives are communicated through official City Press Releases and official Press conferences prepared by civil servants. I believe that The Star does receive notice of all official city activities.

I am aware that beyond that 'access' to City Hall, the fundamental issue really is that the Mayor himself, and his staff do not grant personal one-on-one interviews to the Toronto Star, nor give them political briefings. 

I don't believe that there is an 'obiligation' to all politicians to grant interviews to everyone who requests them.  Some residents have written me to state that they feel all one-on-one interviews should be granted.  Others have stated to me that they don't have an issue with interview requests being denied, as long at the current access to City Hall and press conferences continue as is.   

Should this 'feud' between the Star and the Mayor be settled? I would agree the answer to that is YES.

What Ford is telling Torontonians about his Star freeze-out

Below is the response Toronto Mayor Rob Ford is emailing to people who contact his office complaining about the fact that Toronto Star's city hall bureau has not received official communications from his office since January.  Ford is technically correct in saying the bureau gets news releases and other communications from the "City of Toronto" -- the communications arm of the bureaucracy. He does not acknowledge that news releases, statements and other communications from his office do not go to Star reporters, who were told in January that they were being taken off the list at his request. (The bold type is at it appears in the original message)

From: Mayor Ford [mailto:Mayor_Ford@toronto.ca]

Sent: Friday, December 02, 2011 11:39 AM

Subject: Re: Boycotting the Star

 

Thank you for your email regarding the relationship with the Mayor's Office and the Toronto Star.  This is an issue that stems from a factually incorrect article the paper wrote while I was a candidate for Mayor.  The Toronto Star has still taken no responsibility for their mistake.

To be perfectly clear, the Toronto Star receives all notifications, press releases, media advisories from the City of Toronto.  Their reporters are welcomed into the Mayor's Office during media availabilities with the rest of the press gallery.

As the Mayor of Toronto, I'm accountable for my actions and I believe the media also has an equal responsibility to provide the facts to their audience to whom they are accountable

I appreciate you taking the time to share your concerns. Please feel free to contact my office again at any time.

Yours truly,

Mayor Rob Ford

City of Toronto

 

Torontonians like Mayor Ford's handling of Occupy issue, poll says

Most Torontonians approve of Mayor Rob Ford's handling of the Occupy encampment in St. James Park, a new Forum Research poll has found.

The poll conducted Wednesday found that 61 per cent approved of Ford's low-key approach to getting protesters out of the downtown park.

His support was highest among older residents, with 69 per cent of those aged 55 and over approving his conduct, and lowest among 18 to 34 year olds, at 51 per cent.

“Torontonians are giving their mayor a thumbs‐up on his handling of this sensitive issue,” said Forum Research president Lorne Bozinoff in a statement. “Although approval ratings for his management of the Occupy Toronto protests are still strongest with his base, significant support among younger voters on this issue will provide Ford with positive momentum.”

Fewer than half of respondents - 46 per cent - thought the Occupy protesters had "accomplished anything" in their five-week squat, the poll found.

Results of the poll are considered accurate plus or minus 3.1 per cent 19 times out 20. 

Download Forum-ford-occupy

A balanced Toronto budget with no deep cuts

The Wellesley Institute and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives have beaten city council to the punch and balanced Toronto's 2012 operating budget. Just like that.

Except there is pretty much zero chance that council will vote in favour of a 6 per cent hike in property taxes. Also, even the mushy middlers on council say they want to get away from the past practice of relying on unpredictable windfalls, like last year's surplus, to balance the books.

The proposed budget, released Thursday, seeks to puncture Ford's budget balloon right at the start.

"The City of Toronto is not in a severe financial crisis and without options, as the rhetoric coming
from the mayor’s office would have us believe," writes economist Sheila Block.

Here is her recipe to get (almost) to a zero shortfall:

• Measures already announced by the city (TTC fare increase and increases in revenues) will bring the deficit down by $131 million.
• Reversing last year’s ill-advised decision to freeze property taxes and increasing this year’s property tax rate by 3 per cent (a total increase of 6 percent, reflecting two years’ worth of normal
increases) would increase revenues by $136 million.
• If the city matches the average amount it has saved over the last five years through cost cutting and efficiencies, costs will be reduced by $98 million;
• Over the last five years, the surplus from the previous year has averaged $181 million. Assuming
this year is no different, that amount could be applied to this year’s budget;
• Another $188 million can be found by accessing the $88 million from the 2010 surplus that was
put into a tax stabilization fund and by readjusting the projected increase in costs of salaries
and benefits to reflect a more likely increase of $116 million (double last year’s increase).
Block says those moves would shrink the shortfall to $41 million, less than the cost to the city of council cancelling the car registration tax last year.

The actual proposed budget, to be released Nov. 28, will include a combination of layoffs and deep spending cuts.

 

He's coming home Toronto!

Rob Ford and Amir Remtulla at Guadalajara airport following last night's Pan Am flag handover ceremony.

His worship Rob Ford and I have had some serious bonding time this Pan Am Trip. First there was the provincial reception dealios on Friday and Saturday night, then I watched him wave the PASO flag at the Pan Am closing ceremonies and now — the man himself and I are sharing a flight out of Guadalajara.

He wasn't feeling super chatty whilst reading his morning paper (I'm sure it was a Toronto Star flown down special), but he kindly posed for a photo. His wife Renata is with him, as is chief o'staff Amir Remtulla.

The guys at customs had glowing things to say about Toronto's mayor. When they realized who he was they were very excited and asked for Toronto pins (pin trading has been huge at these Games). But they'd packed them! So Ford offered to mail some down and took the men's addresses.

I lost Ford at US customs. I think he was shuttled away to some special security land. Meanwhile, I took a full 45 minutes just to get to bag check. Thanks Houston.

A Mayor in Mexico

Mayor Ford with a bunch of sports and government big wigs, including the governor general and government ministers, at a reception in Guadalajara.

Mayor Rob Ford touched down in Guadalajara Friday afternoon. This is his first international I'm-here-representing-Toronto gig since taking office last December. So far Ford has taken a tour of the athlete's village, watched a few sporting events and attended two provincial receptions — one for athlete's and their families (although only a handful of athletes showed up, seems like most have gone home judging by the empty village) and the other for dignitaries. 

Last night he met Governor General David Johnston, although the two didn't get any one-on-one time. Ford did chat with Charles Sousa, Ontario's minister responsible for the Pan/Parapan American Games and Bal Gosal, the federal minister of sport. He spent the night chugging back H20 and I didn't see him try any of the carmel, bacon, whip cream cake things (of which I had 4.) 

Ford has been a popular guy here. People seemed genuinely very appreciative and supportive that he made the trip, especially since his RSVP came at the absolute last minute. Those who have spoken to him about today's closing ceremony, where he will receive the Pan Am flag from Guadalajara's mayor, say he is a bit nervous. More than 50,000 people will be in the stadium and millions will be watching on television.

Ford won't be speaking. That's the GG's job. 

Toronto's Pan American Games - What's in it for us?!

 

As the Pan American Games wind down here in Guadalajara Mexico, the TO2015 team prepares to take that torch. Here's VP Allen Vansen talking earlier this month about what's in it for us.

First, I would like to share with you a tragic story from the local Guadalajara Reporter where dozens and dozens of cases of glorious Corona became casualities in a "fluke mishap" traffic accident.

Now that that's out of the way, this morning I realized I only have 3 unticked boxes on my hotel breakfast card, which means these Pan American Games are almost over. As the focus shifts to Toronto, the Ontario folk here are kicking into high gear.

The government of Ontario is hosting a number of events for Mexican business leaders, athletes and their families and sports dignitaries. Mayor Rob Ford is supposed to touch down in Guadalajara around 2 p.m. today. He's taking part in Sunday's hand over ceremony. This afternoon I'm heading out to the Omnilife Stadium for a sneak peek of our part of the closing ceremonies.

For tomorrow, I'll be taking a close look at how this Pan American Games benefited Guadalajara. Above, I've posted a video of TO2015's VP operations talking about what we can expect to gain.

Pan Am CEO Ian Troop - you're bugging me...

Today I once again read comments from TO2015 CEO Ian Troop labelling an article I wrote about the status of the Toronto Pan American Games “so untrue.” Specifically, Troop took issue with the following paragraph:

 "TO2015 plans to have everything built with test events running the summer of 2014. But about a quarter of the more than 50 venues still aren’t nailed down. Major builds, such as the velodrome, don’t have a home now that Hamilton city council officially rejected the project earlier this week."

Troop is of course entitled to respond however he chooses, but I find his statements irritating given the hoops the TO2015 team had me jumping through before this article ran. I gave the TO organizers more than 5 weeks notice that I intended to write a "status of the Games" article. I told them I was going to include an annotated map of the Golden Horseshoe, highlighting the status of every venue. I was initially told "sure, no problem" and that they would help find that information. More calls. More waiting. More promises.

Finally, on the day I was cross-your-heart-hope-to-die told the updated information was coming I was directed to the original bid book. I already knew many of those venues were going to be scrapped — like pretty well everything in Burlington, for example. That was all they could give me because "so much is still in the planning stages. We're four years out."

I still needed the updated info, so I spent the next week contacting dozens of the venues initially included as well as sports federations to see if they'd heard about changes. I tapped Toronto and provincial sources as well as other sports officials I know.

That 25% number I got to by counting. It wasn't a random observation from an anonymous source. I included what I'd learned on the map. And again, I had to count it out myself because the TO2015 team refused to provide me information on the status of venues because so much was still up in the air.

So when Ian Troop says only 5% of venues still aren't nailed down, I ask him: what is your definition of "nailed down?" And furthermore, if 95% is a done deal, why couldn't you provide me the information when I asked so nicely two months ago?

What surprises me is that if only 25% of the venues are still be decided and there's still four years to go — isn't that a good thing? As I mention in the map, the rejigging is all being done for good reasons, either to appease a sports federation or make it easier for spectators to watch popular events.

 

Death trap

I take this photo lying on the floor having tripped - again - stepping onto the carpet from this "out of nowhere" ledge.

Guadalajara, why build stuff like this?
Sent using Blackberry

Security breach at the Pan Am Games

Two days ago about half the media I know here got the following anonymous email:

I have made an important discovery about a security issue on the guadalajara2011.org.mx website where you have registered, and your privacy of your registration info (isn't) private anymore which is the reason I am contacting you and others who have registered on this website.

To prove that this is not a joke, I have included just 2 unsensitive informations about you.

At this point the individual, who identifies themselves as Galileo Truman, a web developor, includes the journalist's passport number and birthday. It goes on to say he is not a hacker, but:

I am sure somebody else with bad intentions could gain easily access and abuse this security hole.

When we applied for our media accreditation, we sent two pages of personal information to organizers here — photos, parents names, addresses, phone numbers, passport copies, etc. Obviously we were all pretty concerned. 

But the most disturbing thing of all has been the response from COPAG, Guad's Games organizing committee.

Regarding a supposed hacking of the official website for America´s Fiesta, the XVI Pan American Games Guadalajara 2011 Organizing Committee (COPAG) assured that its databases are completely secured...

In the email claimed that hackers could be able to gain access to personal data of the journalists. However, COPAG explains:

“It is suspected that there was an illegal instance of access to the database. It is confirmed now that this statement is not true,” explained the Assistant Director of Information Technologies of COPAG... The COPAG databases and the website are not linked to each other...

“Access to the information may have occurred because of an incorrect use of a real password for the registration system. The person that had the password may have accessed the information shown in the screen and therefore was able to make participants uncomfortable,” he added, which is why it is possible that people registered to the system may get more emails like this.

COPAG dismisses any claims of hacking to the database, and has cancelled 100 per cent of the passwords to the registration systems. Also, important and confidential information of the registered participants has been eliminated.

I really don't feel comfortable with that response. If they weren't able to access the system, then how did the individual get a hold of these journos' passport numbers? They claim that no other officials here have been impacted — like athletes or volunteers — then again, they also say a breach didn't occur. Our Olympic committee is investigating the issue and we've all froze our credit reports, but I have to say: not impressed COPAG. Not impressed.