Municipal Politics
little knowledge of municipal politics. All I had heard was that one of the mayoral candidates wanted to implement a «Red Light» district near the Lakeshore, and this was the extent of my icebreaker topics. I noticed when everyone was introducing themselves, they would announce both their first and last name. I did the same, even though I felt silly doing so. It was as though my two names glued togeth- er suddenly built a title to be recognized. The only title I could think of was «Ms. Sweaty-Hands-Nobody Moore.» About a quarter of an hour into the evening, my attention
Rocco embodies charismatic authority; he is a natural leader. When Rossi spoke at this fundraiser he was believable, he was likeable, and he was natural. These are all, of course, public speaking skills we’re expected to learn in our grade five curriculum, but somehow it’s refreshing when an individual properly exhibits them.
shifted from the hors d’oeuvre table to the front door, and in walked a big, bald presence with kind eyes. I knew from how all of the attention in the room focused immediately on him (and also from the pictures on his website), that this was Rocco Rossi himself. This event was in a small venue, with approximately twenty people milling around the foyer of a lovely home. Rocco stood at the foot of a staircase to make his speech, his stately presence towering over the room. This man was an incredible public speaker. In fact, to digress only a little: my whole experience with
18 Campaigns & Elections | Canadian Edition
Mr. Rossi has been complimentary to the summer course I was taking, where we studied Max Weber. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Max Weber: he had a famous theory about charismatic authority, and how it is inherent in some people and not others. Rocco embodies charis- matic authority; he is a natural leader. When Rossi spoke at this fundraiser he was believable, he was likeable, and he was natural. These are all, of course, public speaking skills we’re expected to learn in our grade five curriculum, but somehow it’s refreshing when an individual properly exhibits them. The room was hot, but people stood attentively to avoid miss- ing a compelling word to a shift or a shuffle. Rossi spoke about what drove him to run for mayor. He spoke about his genuine love and admiration for the city of Toronto, and this was no politi- cal spiel. He expressed his dissatisfac- tion with the lack of leadership and overall management at City Hall. He then went on to list his vast amount of business experience in the private and not-for-profit sectors. Rocco is the proud son of two im-
migrants from Italy, who moved to Canada not knowing how to speak
English. This is far from being a unique heritage-story amongst Torontonians, which is exactly why it is so touch- ing. His mother did not speak a word of English until a volunteer from the United Way knocked on their door, offering English-as-a-second-language lessons geared to- wards “house-moms”. From there, Rocco learned to speak English, and propelled by his persistence, hard work, and intelligence he earned full scholarships to Upper Canada College, McGill, and Princeton. He told this story so well I managed to get goose bumps on a 25C degrees summer
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