Toronto mayor-elect Rob Ford, centre, is hugged by a mob of supporters as he makes his way into speak to supporters in Toronto on Monday, October 25, 2010.Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press
While his transition team toils away on the 16th floor of the west tower, Mayor-elect Rob Ford has begun quietly hiring his permanent office staff.
His choices are almost exclusively familiar faces from his campaign, as opposed to city hall veterans who could help him navigate the bureaucracy after Councillor Case Ootes and his team exit the clamshell.
Besides Nick Kouvalis, the deputy campaign manager turned chief-of-staff, Mr. Ford has brought on two other major players from his victorious campaign team. Adrienne Batra is now his press secretary and Mark Towhey (also a member of his transition team) is his director of policy. Both played the same roles on the trail. At least one other campaign staffer is expected to be hired permanently soon too.
One exception to the campaign-staff-only rule is Andrew Pask, another freshly hired senior policy adviser whose bailiwick will be councillor relations. He might not have worked on the campaign, but he's a long-time Ford loyalist: Mr. Pask served as Mr. Ford's executive assistant for eight years before leaving city hall in 2008 to work as the manager of municipal affairs for Bell.
"As far as filling out the rest of the staff, those decisions will be made in the next week," Ms. Batra said.