[URBAN NOTE] "‘I don’t remember’ 89 times: details of Mayor Rob Ford’s closed-door grilling revealed

[rfmcdonald]

The point is fast approaching when Torontonians will find out if the turfing of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford from his office on grounds of conflict of interest violations--one of the more dignified endings imaginable for Ford's career as mayor--will actually happen. The Toronto Star's David Rider reports on the mayor's testimony to date.

Mayor Rob Ford thought he could be in a conflict of interest only if the item he was voting on benefited the city, and had no knowledge of a handbook city staff gave him and other council members that explains conflicts.

That’s according to remarks recorded in a transcript of a closed-door June 27 deposition by lawyer Clayton Ruby, who will give him another grilling — in open court this time — on Wednesday during a three-day conflict of interest hearing.

If the lawsuit launched by resident Paul Magder is successful, Ford would be automatically kicked out of office unless the judge deems his actions inadvertent or an error of judgment, or the sum involved “insignificant.”

Ford also told Ruby he voted to spare himself from paying back donations to his foundation, which gives football equipment to schools, because the foundation is “fantastic” and “saves kids’ lives.” Asked if he regretted his actions for even a moment, Ford replied: “Absolutely not.”

But the mayor was much less emphatic about many other things, including his first vote on the issue, in December 2010, and when it returned to council last February because he had failed to repay, as ordered, $3,150 in improperly solicited donations by lobbyists, their clients and a business.

During the roughly three-hour deposition, Ford replied “I don’t recall,” or “I don’t remember” a total of 89 times, prompting a chiding from Ruby about his “memory problem.”

[. . .]

Ruby took Ford through multiple instances where he declared a conflict of interest on issues involving printing contracts — his family owns a printing firm — and Greensboro Dr., where one of the printing plants is located.

“If staff tells me to declare a conflict, I declare a conflict,” Ford said.

He said it was important he convince council to let him off the hook for the $3,150 repayment.

“Number 1, I think the thing that bothers me is that I had to pay it back personally. It’s not personal money,” he said. “I don’t benefit from this. I don’t make a dime on this. I actually lose money on this” foundation.

“So when (the integrity commissioner) said I have to pay it out of my own pocket, I don’t see why I have to pay it out of my own pocket . . .

“I’m voting because I know my foundation. It’s a fantastic foundation . . . The foundation does great work, saves kids’ lives. That’s exactly why I’m speaking about it, and that’s why I did speak about it.”

The transcript is here.