Daily BrewSenior policy adviser Brooks Barnett resigns from Mayor Rob Ford’s office
The script isn't new, we should have seen this coming. One day after Toronto Mayor Rob Ford confessed to smoking crack cocaine, one of his staff members has left City Hall.
The Toronto Star confirmed that policy adviser Brooks Barnett resigned Wednesday morning. The newspaper reports Barnett was one of only four people remaining on Ford's 18-person staff that was with the team when Ford first took office in 2010. A LinkedIn page for Barnett says he has been the mayor's senior policy adviser and council relations since March 2011.
The Toronto Sun also reports that Barnett was with Ford during a drunken St. Patrick's Day party at City Hall last year.
The night included Ford knocking Brooks off his feet in an apparent rage, jumping on his giant Cut the Waist challenge scale and stripping off his clothes, smashing his cellphone on the wall, crying uncontrollably and even throwing racial slurs and his business cards at a cab driver.
The sudden resignation comes following Ford's shocking admission to smoking crack after months of denial. The announcement is said to have taken his staff by surprise.
This would not be an unheard of complaint for the mayor's staff.
Shortly after the Toronto Star and Gawker reported the existence of a video of the mayor smoking from a crack pipe, a stream of staff members left the Mayor's Office, including press secretary George Christopoulos and deputy Isaac Ransom. The pair is said to have left after having not input in a bizarre public statement issued by the mayor.
Executive assistants, advisers and chief of staff Mark Towhey all either quit or were fired in the following days.
And now, as the Ford crack controversy winds into the next phase, we have another staffer leaving. One of Ford's most experienced remaining staffers, nonetheless.
Here was the instant reaction on Twitter:
@brooksbarnett you sir, are a gentleman and a scholar. Was a pleasure to work with you.
— Isaac Ransom (@IsaacRansom) November 6, 2013
Good luck to my friend and former MO colleague @brooksbarnett! A pleasure to work with at City Hall — Brian Johnston (@BJohnston42) November 6, 2013
All the best to my friend @brooksbarnett. #TOpoli
— Adrienne Batra (@AdrienneBatra) November 6, 2013
Brooks Barnett is a bright, outstanding young man of amazing integrity. He was a pleasure to work with & will be an asset wherever he goes. — Mark Towhey (@towhey) November 6, 2013
@brooksbarnett you've made the right decision. You were outstanding asset to the Mayors Office, I am sure that you will be truly missed
— Sarah Hull (@shull7777) November 6, 2013
Thanks to @brooksbarnett for doing the right thing. May he have a soft landing elsewhere.
— Dexter the Dog (@dexter_doggie) November 6, 2013
