Mostly, they just shook their heads and sighed.

Those who dared wade in had little to say about yet another scandal involving Mayor Rob Ford, surfacing on yet another day when they were trying to focus on city business.

“There is a point at which you get into diminishing marginal rates of return. One more story on top of all the stories that already exist has an increasingly minor impact,” said Councillor John Parker. “It’s just déjà vu all over again, isn’t it?”

Although many councillors vowed they would not be distracted from the order of the day — the all-important task of determining the city’s budget — the revelation that new trouble had engulfed Ford was impossible to ignore.

As council debated the property tax rate, Ford’s lawyer Dennis Morris was in council chambers for most of the afternoon, seated in the front row of the public gallery with Ford’s driver, Jerry Agyemang.

When news broke that the Ford is being sued by his sister’s former common-law spouse for his alleged involvement in a jailhouse assault, a crush of journalists descended on Morris, and later followed him to the hall outside the mayor’s office for a brief press conference.

“Our attention is being diverted by, ‘What the heck is going on?’” said Councillor Gloria Lindsay Luby. “You can’t help but whisper amongst yourselves to say, ‘What’s happening out there?’”

“Now that I’ve been told, it is very shocking what’s been happening,” she added, “and God knows, there may be more to come.”

Try though they might to steer clear of commenting on Ford’s personal issues, the deepening scandal surrounding the mayor has often forced councillors to register an opinion.

In November, after Ford admitted he had smoked crack cocaine, many councillors said they felt they had no choice but to take action, and strip him of much of his power.

However, on Wednesday, there was a sense that fatigue has set in.

“Nothing could surprise me at this point, but I haven’t read anything about it,” Councillor Mike Layton said. “It sounds like it’s a matter that will be up to the courts.”

Councillors Denzil Minnan-Wong, Janet Davis and Gord Perks were among those who simply declined to comment.

One of Ford’s harshest critics, Councillor Adam Vaughan, insisted the lawsuit provides further proof for an argument he has made repeatedly in recent months.

“He is a crazy person who hangs out with other crazy people and does crazy things. I’m not going to sit here and try to explain it, because it’s impossible to be rational about,” Vaughan said. “He’s the worst mayor the city has ever had.”

Following the lead of the many late-night comedians who have seized on the mayor’s personal issues, Vaughan concluded his comments to reporters with a joke. He compared Ford to Justin Bieber, who turned himself in to Toronto police on Wednesday in connection with an alleged assault.

“What’s the difference between Rob Ford and Justin Bieber?” he asked. “Justin Bieber shoots and cuts his own videos.”

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Morris dismissed the allegations against Ford as “for sure without fact or foundation.”

The mayor refused to answer questions about the lawsuit on Wednesday. After losing a hard-fought battle over the property tax rate, he called it “probably the worst day since I’ve been mayor down here at city hall.”

With files from Paul Moloney

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