How the Rob Ford circus is hurting Toronto city politics

I was sitting in on a meeting of Mayor Rob Ford’s executive committee at city hall last week when I happened to see a tweet posted by Coun. John Filion:

“Big news at Mel Lastman Square as outdoor table tennis table is delivered!” it read. The tweet included a great-looking photo.

Reading that, I thought two things. First: Free outdoor ping-pong? Super cool. And then: Wait, how did I not hear about this until now?

I more or less got my answer when Rob Ford rose from his seat and walked out of the room, trailed by a dozen reporters. “Mayor Ford, can you address these allega—!” was the last I heard before the door closed.

The meeting continued without the mayor, but few seemed to care.

We are living the Rob Ford Show. It’s on every channel. As a result, other stories that affect the city are falling through the, um, cracks — overlooked, under-reported or unread.

Those stories range from small — like the super-cool ping-pong table — to stuff much larger.

Consider, for example, one of the major items up for discussion at that same executive committee meeting: ward population. As it stands, the city’s largest electoral district has 88,440 people. The smallest? Half that. Rebalancing that is critical to ensuring we have a fair, representative democracy.

Or take the TTC, which last week revealed its five-year corporate plan, which includes everything from implementation of cell service at subway stations and finally ditching tokens in favour of electronic fare media. It’s a landmark plan that deserves a closer look.

Work continues on other files as well. A future for the beleaguered BIXI bike-share system is being developed, with plans to better integrate it with the TTC and look to condo developers as a means to expand. Public consultations will begin in a couple of weeks on the question of what to do with the eastern part of the crumbling Gardiner Expressway.

On the waterfront, a planning dispute simmers involving two competing visions for the last slice of prime developable lakefront.

And did I mention the outdoor table tennis in North York? It’s super cool.

I point this out not to blame the media. The mayor has made this bed for himself by refusing to directly address the scandal in front of him.

But there does come a point where we have to acknowledge that the mayor isn’t going anywhere. It’s not in the Ford DNA to resign or temporarily step aside. And so we need to find a new status quo — one that separates the mayoral circus from the important work being done.

Because here’s the thing: mayors are temporary, but cities? They could last forever.