Mayor Rob Ford to city: Change the locks, I’ll be back
Mayor Rob Ford to city: Change the locks, I’ll be back
Rob Ford will return to his office on June 30, ‘in the afternoon,’ he said in a letter to the city.
Mayor Rob Ford will return to Toronto and to his seat at the head of the city in just over 10 days.
In a letter dated June 2 to the city clerk’s office, Ford said he would be back Monday, June 30 “in the latter portion of the afternoon, to resume my duties as Mayor of Toronto.”
City spokesperson Jackie DeSouza said the letter was received by the clerk on June 16.
The note is signed above where “MAYOR FORD” is written out in capital letters.
The letter also asks the city to change back the locks before his arrival. In his absence, Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly absorbed all of Ford’s staff and his duties as mayor. Last week at council, Kelly appointed Councillor Mike Del Grande as deputy-deputy mayor since he had planned to be away this week.
Ford has been in rehabilitation, at the GreenStone treatment facility in Bala, Ont., for more than a month.
Last week, his council colleagues worked through nearly 200 agenda items without him. There have been several mayoral candidate debates — including one on transit and one on his home turf in Etobicoke — he has missed since leaving.
Ford put his bid to be re-elected as mayor on hold when he left for rehab. His brother Councillor Doug Ford, who is acting as his campaign manager, has insisted things are going well. A planned fundraiser was earlier scrapped and it is not clear if and when it would be rescheduled.
At a birthday party held at his Scarborough campaign office in his absence, a handful of supporters turned up to congratulate the now 45-year-old mayor.
At home, Torontonians have been critical of the rehab program after Ford was spotted several times running errands in the surrounding towns in the Muskoka Lakes area.
In May, LeeAnne McRobb was pulled over just minutes from GreenStone driving the mayor’s black SUV. She was charged with drunk driving, but not with stealing the car. Doug Ford said they later had the car picked up from an impound lot.
It’s not clear how McRobb knows the mayor, but in a video captured by Moose FM, McRobb says she was at the facility with Ford before being released. She was expected in court Tuesday morning.
There are only two council meetings remaining in this term with an election scheduled for Oct. 27.
With a return date set for June 30, Ford will once again miss Pride celebrations in the city, but be back in time for Canada Day.
Ford has yet to respond to the latest allegations of crack smoking, caught on video seen by the Star, or address the homophobic, racist and sexist remarks made on various audio recordings.