Adam Giambrone Takes Heat For YouTube Video

TTC chair and city councillor Adam Giambrone is being criticized for using $15,000 of tax payers’ money to produce an elaborate year-end transit report, complete with a YouTube video that many argue depicts an unrealistic version of life on city buses, streetcars and subways.  

Several mayoral candidates have pounced on the opportunity to deride what they consider excessive spending – a trend that is catching on after observant rivals have taken note of Rob Ford’s sudden popularity. 

Ford, as expected, was blunt and to the point. 

“Just sucking the tax payer dry right to the last penny, it’s absolutely appalling that a councillor leaving office, who is not running again, is going out and spending $15,000 promoting himself on a video.  That is absolutely appalling.”

Not willing to allow Ford the only sound-bite, George Smitherman and Rocco “Bocce Balls” Rossi quickly followed suit.

“Mr. Giambrone outraged Torontonians with the release of this taxpayer-paid video extolling the virtues of the TTC, when the lived experience of virtually every Torontonian is that the TTC is in decline,” said Rossi.

Smitherman, who was the face behind the eHealth scandal to the tune of a billion squandered tax dollars, was quick to criticize Giambrone’s comparatively paltry spending.

“It just seems ridiculous to me, I think it’s an abuse of privilege and an abuse of trust and it’s the kind of abuse we are going to bring an end to,” he managed to say with a straight face.

Joe Pantalone was unique in his defence of Giambrone, whose ignominous withdrawal from Toronto’s mayoral race following revelations of an affair made steamy headlines in the Big Smoke.

He took a playful poke at Ford’s overuse of the term ‘gravy train’.

“Well as far as I know he’s (Giambrone) not eating the gravy, so we can’t really call it a gravy train, he’s not pocketing the money,” Pantalone smiled.  “You know agencies, boards, commissions, departments, businesses, (they) write annual reports all the time.  Whether the form or cost is appropriate I can’t really comment because I haven’t looked into it.”

Former CityNews reporter turned councillor Adam Vaughan may not have thrown his hat in the mayoral race, but he had an active political day, showing up at Central Tech to offer guidance following a school shooting, and offering an interesting take on Giambrone’s latest boner.

“I don’t think people really care if the report is in video or print form, what they want is a streetcar when they need it!”

You can read the full TTC report here.