Mayor Ford, or never trust a conservative with money

They're too busy stuffing it in the mattress, or into bankers

As a conspicuously frugal Etobicoke councillor, Rob Ford made a very public point about spending almost none of his office budget and paying some of his office expenses using his own personal funds. A staunch critic of councillors’ spending habits, Mr. Ford used his own website to publicize embarrassing invoices submitted by other politicians, obtained through access to information requests.

In his current position, Mr. Ford has continued his crusade to slash discretionary spending by municipal politicians, and he claims to have spent just $1,718.46 for mayor’s office expenses for the first quarter of 2011.

But a Globe and Mail investigation of the mayor’s office budget indicates clear gaps in official expense disclosure documents that raise questions about how Mr. Ford pays for routine expenditures associated with a busy 17-person operation.

Notably absent is any evidence of how – and how much – Mr. Ford pays for mayor’s office supplies, such as letterhead, and his mobile phone, which he uses frequently to communicate with Toronto residents. Even the most frugal councillors routinely expense service packages for smartphones, which are obligatory equipment for busy politicians. Such subscriptions can run to thousands of dollars a year.

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