They Were There To Watch The Master In Action

Panhandling and No Plan B Mayor Miller are like ham/cheese, peanutbutter/jelly, fart/smell, etc. and that is probably the reason Sue-Ann spotted two of his students on Sunday morning.

Last ditch sanity pitch Pitfield's the only real choice today

By SUE-ANN LEVY

As I waited for Mayor David Miller to arrive at one of his 11th-hour campaign whistle stops in tony Yorkville yesterday, two panhandlers hit me up for loose change.

I watched one -- perched at the corner of Bloor and Bay with a suitcase full of belongings -- harassing the steady stream of Sunday shoppers as they hastened on by.

Miller was so busy flashing his toothy smile and trolling for last-minute votes, he didn't even notice the panhandler. Not that it would have mattered, mind you. The mayor would say all beggars have a right to occupy the city's public sidewalks, even in the toniest parts of the city.

"Everywhere I am in this city I'm getting a very good response," he told me. "I'm reminding people of all the terrific work that's been done in the past three years and the way the city was before I was mayor."

I couldn't help but laugh at the irony of his comments on the eve of today's election.

This was a mayor who swept to power three years ago waving his trademark broom as he promised to clean up both the streets and the corridors of City Hall.

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