As a city councillor, Rob Ford made headlines by railing against the apparent extravagance of his colleagues on city council when they spent their office budgets.
Whenever the media reported on councillors’ expenditures, Ford’s name would appear at the bottom of the list, meaning he’d spent little or none of the amount that council approved for its members to run their offices. Ford often paid for his administrative expenses out of his own pocket.As a candidate for mayor, Ford proposed reducing councillor expenses as a key platform in his campaign. Then, one of his first actions as mayor was convincing fellow members of council to vote for a reduction in the upper limit for these expenses – from more than $50,000 to $30,000. He also decreased the mayor’s office budget to a little more than $2 million.The mayor has never missed an opportunity to hammer away at the expense issue and boast of his own frugality. The thing is, according to a recent article by John Lorinc in the Globe and Mail, we have no way of knowing how frugal or transparent Ford actually is.According to the Globe, Mayor Ford spent just $1,700 on office expenses for the first three months of 2011 – an amount that supposedly includes basic costs such as paper, printing, business cards, telephones and a variety of other expenses. Over the same period, the mayor has disclosed no expenditures paid for from his own pocket. As Lorinc writes, it raises “questions about how Mr. Ford pays for routine expenditures associated with a busy 17-person operation.” (The mayor has a personal staff of 17.)
The mayor’s brother, councillor Doug Ford has revealed zero office costs for the first quarter of 2011, absolutely none of the money from the amount the city allocates to councillors. And apparently, he’s spent no money of his own.Almost all councillors – except for councillors Ford and Holyday – approved a new expense policy in 2008, allowing councillors to spend their own funds for office expenses. The proviso being they must disclose how much they spent, and that it didn’t exceed the limit approved for each member. The new policy was inspired by comments from the city’s auditor, Jeffrey Griffiths, and integrity commissioner David Mullan, both of whom argued that disclosing out of pocket payments was necessary to preserve a level playing field – so wealthier councillors didn’t enjoy an unfair advantage over less affluent ones and taxpayers clearly understood just how much it cost to serve as a member of city council.The total amount of office money spent by councillors is insignificant when compared with the city’s total budget. But Mayor Ford has made it such an issue in the past he needs to clearly state how much he’s spent, and where it’s come from. The lack of disclosure from the mayor and his brother disdains, rather than respects, taxpayers. Exactly the opposite of what the mayor’s campaign rhetoric promised.
