Mayor Rob Ford is refusing to answer questions about the future of David Price, a top aide at the centre of a probe into several incidents of abusive behaviour at Georgetown GO station.

“It’s actually no one’s business what happens in my office,” Ford said in response to questions from media Thursday afternoon about whether Price should remain as the mayor’s director of logistics and operations — a job that comes with an estimated $130,000 annual salary.

“I take care of the people that work for me and they do a great job, as you see.”

On Thursday, the Star revealed that Metrolinx, the GTA’s regional transit authority, had received complaints about Price acting in an abusive manner at Georgetown GO station on several occasions dating as far back as November. The most recent incident occurred on Aug. 27, in which Price, after missing the 7:41 a.m. train to Union Station, swore at a Metrolinx employee and broke one of the station’s main doors, transit officials have told the Star.

Station security cameras and a witness caught the incident on video. The Star has viewed the video taken by the witness. Metrolinx is conducting an investigation and will share its results with Halton Regional Police, who will help determine if charges should be laid.

Price did not respond to several calls and emails from the Star between Tuesday and Thursday this week. The Star left messages for the mayor’s chief of staff inquiring whether Price was still employed, but did not hear back.

The mayor said he had not spoken to Price about the investigation, but said it is not his practice to “comment on personnel issues” in public. Price, 50, has been assigned the task of monitoring how efficient the mayor’s office is in responding to emails from Toronto residents.

When a reporter suggested to Ford Thursday that he was not adequately addressing questions about Price’s behaviour, he replied, “Well, maybe, obviously, to your satisfaction I haven’t, but to mine I have.”

The mayor then began talking about Ford Fest, the mayor’s second giant outdoor barbecue of the year, which will take place Friday night in Etobicoke. He invited all the reporters to attend.

Earlier Thursday, a Star reporter was scolded by Ford’s press secretary, Sunny Petrujkic, for asking questions about Price at the tail-end of an event marking the unveiling of a portrait of the mayor painted by Councillor Gary Crawford. The event was widely advertised to the media and took place in the member’s lounge above the council floor during business hours.

City councillors urged the mayor Thursday to look into the allegations facing Price, who has courted controversy before, and decide whether the longtime Ford family friend should stay in his job.

“If you work for the mayor, there is a certain code of conduct you have to follow, and lines should not be crossed,” said Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong, a conservative. “There has to be an investigation and if those allegations are well founded … the mayor has to take appropriate action to show he does not accept or condone this type of practice.”

Councillor Joe Mihevc said staff members for public officials should not expect to fall outside public scrutiny while going about their daily lives.

“Whether we like it or not, how staff behave outside city hall is a reflection of their employer, and in this case, Rob Ford,” Mihevc said. “Mayor Ford should look at alleged behaviour and decide whether this is really how he wants the City of Toronto represented.”

Councillor Josh Matlow would not comment directly about the Price allegations, but said anyone who is in the public service at city hall and who is a city representative “has a responsibility to behave in an honourable way and treat people with respect.”

The mayor has disciplined Price before.

Price was suspended for one week in June after he complained to a Toronto newspaper about a headline on a story describing the CBC’s revelation that he made at least six supportive phone calls to the mayor’s weekly Newstalk 1010 radio show. During the calls, Price was identified as “Dave from Georgetown” and other pseudonyms. The calls were made before Price was hired by Ford.

Price first made headlines in May, about a month after he was hired by Ford. A day after the Star revealed that drug dealers were shopping around a video appearing to show Ford smoking crack cocaine, Price contacted Mark Towhey, the mayor’s then-chief of staff, and asked “hypothetically” what the mayor’s office would do if Price had been told where to find the video.

Ford has said he cannot “comment on a video that I have never seen or does not exist.”

Related:

Letter from Toronto Star to David Price

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David Price, Rob Ford’s senior aide, under scrutiny over behaviour at GO station

Price later disappeared from city hall for several weeks when it was revealed that he had uttered a homophobic slur to a CBC reporter. He returned recently.

Kenyon Wallace can be reached at kwallace@thestar.ca or 416-558-0645.

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