City officials waive fines related to Rob Ford’s election campaign

In fairness to Ford, almost every campaign breaches the sign bylaw – volunteers put up signs everywhere and invariably some are put up in the wrong place. Just about every campaign gets a fine after the election and almost everyone writes to ask for consideration on the basis that the breach was unintentional.

Now that said, I am surprised the fine was waived in full (I’ve never seen that before) and I note that the other campaigns (George’s most significantly) got a breach notice and promptly paid it.

Regardless of anything else, the optics suggest this mayor – with his focus on cutting and user fees – should have paid the fines or at least part of them. Certainly his campaign was not strapped for cash.

http://bit.ly/renbLJ

JOHN LORINC

From Monday's Globe and Mail

City of Toronto officials earlier this spring quietly waived a $13,362.25 fine levied against Mayor Rob Ford for 483 infractions of the bylaw governing the placement of election signs, according to documents obtained by The Globe and Mail through an access-to-information request.

Bylaw enforcement officers recorded most of the infractions during the final week of the campaign, as well as the three-day grace period after the vote that is meant to allow candidates to collect their signs.