Wynne said "The business at city hall is obviously not going as it should be at the moment" after news that two more of Mayor Rob Ford's staff have left his team. In the past week five of Ford's key staffers have either left by their own accord or been fired. "It would be better if the Mayor could deal with his personal issues," Wynne also said.
Thirteen days ago Gawker and the Toronto Star wrote that three reporters had seen a video that showed Mayor Rob Ford allegedly smoking crack cocaine. The alleged video was filmed by a drug dealer it was reported. Since that time Toronto City Hall has been the focus of news outlets around the world.
Mayor Rob Ford has denied that there is a video and that he doesn't smoke crack cocaine. Ford's statements came a week after the story broke.
In the days that followed Ford staffers have been leaving. First was Chief of Staff Mark Towhey, who reportedly was fired for telling Ford to seek professional help for a substance abuse problem.
On
Monday Ford's assistant Isaac Ransom and Press Secretary George Christopoulos both left on their own accord a day after the Mayor called journalists maggots on his radio talk show.
Today policy advisors Brian Johnston and Executive Assistant Kia Nejatian both left Ford's team.
At hearing the news of today's news Mark Towhey tweeted, "Kia @kianejatian and Brian @BJohnston42 are both exceptional young pros with great integrity. I was privileged to work with both of them. Remaining Mayor's staff, w/whom I worked closely, are also honest, hard-working pros doing their best 4 Toronto under trying circumstances. So, I guess this may be a bad time to come back and clear out my desk?."
Thursday after Mayor Ford wandered through his office laughing reported those in front of Ford's staff offices called the 'fish bowl' by the media.
Ford's office released a statement this afternoon concerning today's staff departure saying that Nejatian and Johnston were no longer employed by the Mayor and that Ford wishes them well on their future endeavors.
*reporting from live media feeds
