New Yorkers such as myself, until recently, have generally considered Toronto as a solid conservative place to run a business or raise a family. Of course, that’s a stereotypical and narrow way of looking at it.

Fancamp does not need to look any farther than Mayor Rob Ford to learn how to put together an organization of enthusiastic followers. After all, he didn’t get to be the popularly-elected mayor without painstakingly reaching out to the citizenry. That didn’t happen without cool-headed diligence and planning well in advance.

Fancamp does not need to look beyond Mayor Ford (in our own neighborhood) to learn how to draw attention to ourselves. Of course, we badly need to do that. Keep in mind, outlandish behavior—in of itself—is not enough to draw great attention. Mr. Ford’s unorthodox lifestyle has only had the chance to capture the popular imagination because of the fact that he became Mayor of Toronto beforehand.

In other words, getting to be mayor—in the first place—was the key ingredient of the great attention he and his colorful antics are drawing years later. Even far off in central New York State (where I reside), we cannot but fail to notice there’s much more to Toronto than all the mineral exploration companies located there.

Moreover, I admire Toronto’s amazing underground infrastructure projects more than anything New York has built, especially since your amazing Mayor Rob Ford has been in power. So far as the recent goings on and controversies concerning Mr. Ford, I’ve got to hand it to him for the spirited way he defends himself. Even in far away New York, there are many (including myself) who very much share the joy he expressed yesterday in having “more than enough to eat at home.”