Toronto City Council Takes Over Governance From Lame Duck Mayor Ford

"The questions several councillors are now asking is, “Is this the new normal? Must we rescue every issue from the administration’s incompetence?”¹- The answer, of course, is, unfortunately YES.

Before the election, when it looked like Ford would win, I was hoping that council would stop Ford's nonsense from the beginning. It has taken council - well, the so-called "Mushy Middle" of the council - all this time to finally see the light and vote for reason. And a few on the right have also seen the light. It will be strange to have the city governance exclude a (useless and foolish) mayor over the next couple of years. This is a hard lesson for Torontonians (who voted for Ford) and for councillors (who originally supported Ford until they began to see reason) which has set transit, among other things, back a year and a half.
The lesson of course is: pay attention and think about your choices before you leap - your choices will have consequences for years to come, not only for you, but for everyone else in Toronto.

NEW TTC BOARD ELECTED! The 5 Ford supporters who fired Webster are GONE!
New board:
Maria Augimeri, Raymond Cho, Josh Colle, Glenn De Baeremaeker, Peter Milczyn, John Parker, and Karen Stintz.
Stintz was also re-elected as chair in a vote that followed. Stintz got 24 votes to Milczyn's 19 votes (2 members were absent).

This is another huge defeat for the mayor, and another gain for Torontonians and city council. Basically, city council not only has re-set the agenda for transit, but has taken control of the TTC board and replaced it with a more diverse and intelligent set of people (people who who think about their constituents and don't just follow the mayor's lead).

Details on the motions and votes that led to council taking control of the TTC board way from the mayor at The Torontoist.²

Yes people, this is our mayor (L) and his brother (R).
383,501 people have some explaining to do.

¹  Toronto Star: James: Mayor Ford Whiffs, Swinging for Subway Fences

² The Torontoist: Debating The Future of The TTC Board

Picture from NOW magazine: http://www.nowtoronto.com/news/story.cfm?content=185504