Comments on: The most stressed-out man in Toronto

By: trickyricky

trickyricky — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 15:07:40 +0000

I think Del Grande makes a perfect budget chief. The personal assaults being made by posters here bely the fact that it is precisely the budget chief’s job to question spending and put everyone to task. He should be thanked for his hard work and dedication.

The area I feel Del Grande needs to work on is his maturity level. His “threatening to quit if anyone plays with my toys” threat to council not only reminds me of a little boy whining to his mother, it also shows disregard for the office and for the ultimate authority that is council’s not his.

Carrol should be thanked for her work as well but her comments like “take on debt because interest rates are low” are scary bad. Only our generation of $500,000 historic-low interest rate mortgages amortized over 30 years that we can barely cover now, could ever see wisdom in such a statement.

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By: Joe

Joe — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 21:27:42 +0000

PS.

This was a fair and objective profile of Del Grande, me thinks. He is gruff, he doesn’t suffer fools (Hi Gord!) and he is a grinder.

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By: Joe

Joe — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 21:24:31 +0000

“Dave”?

C’mon Councillor Perks, you can do better than that.

Childish, entitlement drivel — your post exemplifies the whole Miller no accountability era perfectly.

Here’s a thought — I think the City should spend money on capital projects. I just don’t trust Council to do so in a responsible manner. Why? Because they almost NEVER do. The Nathan Phillips Square redo looks great. It will cost $55 million+ when it’s done. But who says it couldn’t have cost $45 million? We’ll never know because THAT’s how the City operates. And if you ask questions you are accused by jackasses like Perks. Mihevc, Vaughan etc. of stealing food out of the mouths of children. To these professional lay-abouts we only have a “revenue” problem (that means higher taxes) because god-forbid they are forced to do something as arduous as getting value for our money. $9.4 BILLION and these clowns struggle to keep the streets clean but man, they sure pay the people who do it an impressive $60k+ a year. Nice.

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By: CanoeDave

CanoeDave — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 21:03:47 +0000

The best thing that Del Grande said yesterday and is not covered enough by the press is that when Mihevc, who was always just a Miller tool, says that he wants a more transparent budgeting process he is simply blowing smoke and dreaming of the old days where he was a VIP on the Miller train and got his way in driving through spending increases, tax increases, debt increases and union pandering with virtually no fiscal accountability. Miller was an arrogant and authoritarian con man but a good one who had the absolute control of NDP party discipline and used it to hide the truth from the public just as Daddy Dalton did in the last election. My favourite examples of Miller’s “lack of transparency” were in his first term where he contracted in Garbage collection in York to reward his union allies and then in his first round of public sector bargaining, without a word to the public, extended the “jobs for like clause” that Lastman had fought against, from 10 years to eternity for all the permanent employees. Miller was very much a servant of the servants whereas Del Grande is a servant of the public.

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By: CaligulaJones

CaligulaJones — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 17:53:13 +0000

“being a bully is not how you make a budget”

I guess when you’re a wimp, everything looks like a bully.

Get a pair, Perks. You’re gonna need them.

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By: doconnor

doconnor — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 17:33:39 +0000

So… after all that did he find any gravy?

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By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 17:23:16 +0000

You’re right Dave! He should just grow up, really so what if he spent the whole year looking at paperwork that other councillors could give a shit about. Spent his saturdays trying to balance the agenda of someone he didn’t necessarily believe in with the agenda of those only concerned for themselves all the while trying to do good by the mandate his consituents put you in there for in the first place. He totally acted like a child when councillors who spent a few hours looking at his year long work dismantled and criticized it. He should’ve simply said “duh” and agreed to all the changes they wanted. Man this guy is a dick. Fuck him right Dave? We need more councillors who take their job less seriously, thats what your adovcating?

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By: ChelseainToronto

ChelseainToronto — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 17:15:35 +0000

The headline of this article intrigued me and I was really looking forward to reading it and to learning more. Sadly, within a few paragraphs it was clear that it was just a left-leaning love-in and there was no intention to present the information objectively. Hey, I don’t love Rob Ford but I don’t hate him. What I do hate is some people’s inability to debate issues in a rational way, instead letting emotion and vitriol get the better of them.

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By: alex

alex — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 14:37:25 +0000

Because Del Grande is not the only one with this mindset. Looking back at the city’s history, this prudence has been part of the culture for a long time and that’s why nothing ever gets done here. In a city hall full of Del Grandes, it’ll continue to be that way for the foreseeable future.

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By: Edmund O'Connor

Edmund O'Connor — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 13:10:44 +0000

The Budget Chief should have a staff. Otherwise wearing yourself into the ground is the only option. Ironically, Del Grande would be among the first to oppose this. Burnout isn’t an option. Knowledge and experience, accumulated over years of experience, is worth more than dollars can buy.

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