Tom Jakobek

Tom Jakobek (born c. 1959) is a former member of the Toronto City Council. He was first elected to council in 1982[1] after first serving as a school trustee since 1980. He remained a city councillor until 2000.

Tom Jakobek
Toronto City Councillor for Ward 26
In office
1998–2000
Serving with Sandra Bussin[nb 1]
Preceded byNew Riding
Succeeded byRiding abolished
Toronto City Councillor for Ward 9/10
In office
1985–1997
Serving with Paul Christie[nb 2]
Preceded byPat Sheppard
Succeeded byRiding abolished
Personal details
Born1959 (age 61–62)
Spouse(s)Deborah Morrish

Background

Jakobek holds degrees from the University of Toronto. Certificate in Public Administration (CPA), 1981. Honours Bachelor of Arts, B.A., 1982. Masters of Health Science, MHSC, 2002.

Jakobek is the son-in-law of former veteran Scarborough councillor Ken Morrish.

Politics

Jakobek was first elected as a Toronto District School Board trustee in 1980 at 21 years of age, the youngest school board trustee in the history of Ontario.[2]

Jakobek was first elected as a municipal politician at the age of 23 in the 1982 Toronto election as a Metro Toronto councillor for Ward 9 the Beaches and was the youngest councillor in the history of Metropolitan Toronto.[3][4]

He was for many years a bulwark of the council's right-wing. He became city of Toronto budget chief in 1990, and held the position for the next ten years despite an attempt by Barbara Hall and others to oust him in 1994. In this capacity, he delivered nine consecutive budgets with no tax increases. Following the city's amalgamation in 1997, Jakobek emerged as a prominent ally of new mayor Mel Lastman. In 2000, he retired from politics in disgrace after an investigation found "he lied, prevaricated, stalled, obfuscated and lied some more, all of which was a strategy to obstruct any investigation of his dealings with MFP".[5] He later served briefly as a vice-president at Toronto East General Hospital.

Mayoral race, 2003

He ran for Mayor of Toronto in 2003 following Lastman's retirement, coming in a distant fifth. Jakobek garnered barely 5,000 votes across the entire city, less than one per cent of the total votes cast.[6] His candidacy was hurt by allegations of improper conduct in a computer leasing deal between the City of Toronto and MFP Financial Services.[7] In prior testimony at the Toronto Computer Leasing Inquiry, Jakobek had admitted to lying about his involvement in a controversial computer leasing deal between the city and MFP.[8][9]

Later life

In 2008, Jakobek and his family appeared in the Canadian reality TV show Spoiled Rotten on Slice, which showcased the family's lavish lifestyle.[10] The show was panned by The Globe and Mail' TV critic John Doyle, who characterized the show as being "so appalling that normal people will just want to turn it off."[11]

References

Notes
  1. Each ward in the 1997 election elected two councillors.
  2. Christie was a junior alderman from 1985-1988. From 1988 he was elected separately for Metro Council from the same ward.

Citations
  1. "Toronto Votes 2003 - Candidates". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
  2. "Tom Jakobek".
  3. "Jack Layton: City Hall's 'tired but victorious warrior' - CBC Archives".
  4. "History of Beach Metro News: The Beach was booming in 1982". 20 September 2011.
  5. "Dissatisfying end to MFP scandal". 17 March 2010.
  6. "Miller wins mayoral race". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. November 10, 2003. Archived from the original on February 23, 2005.
  7. Paul Hutchings. Jakobek happy to be out of political life. Town Crier. 18 Feb, 2004. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2007-08-15.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. James Rusk. Domi misleading probe to protect Jakobek, lawyer for city says. The Globe and Mail. 21 April 2004.
  9. Toronto Votes 2003: Candidates. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 2003.
  10. Spoiled Rotten. Slice TV (formerly the Life Network). April 2008 Archived 2008-05-02 at the Wayback Machine
  11. John Doyle. People who make you turn off the tube. Television: Reality TV: Egotistical and Self-Absorbed. The Globe and Mail. April 28, 2008.
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