Toronto Mayor Rob Ford has responded to a councillor's criticism that he's a "part-time" mayor by saying he "works harder than any person" at city hall.

Coun. Adam Vaughan, one of Ford's most frequent critics and a rumoured 2014 mayoral candidate, attracted attention this week for several sharp jabs at the mayor and his commitment to the job.

Vaughan says Ford seems preoccupied with what he calls "sideshows" like his recent confrontation with a TTC driver or his public campaign to lose weight.

"When you talk about Rob Ford, you don't talk about city hall or the challenges facing Toronto. You talk about his latest run-in with someone or something," Vaughan told CBC News on Thursday.

Officials with the mayor's office has said they're not taking Vaughan's criticisms seriously, although in response they did release a photo of Ford at work in his office.

Ford himself said Thursday that Vaughan's comments weren't worth responding to.

"I work harder than any person down there," he said.

However, Vaughan is not alone in his criticism.

The CBC's city hall reporter, Jamie Strashin, says talk about the mayor's work ethic is an almost daily topic at city hall.

For example, last week the mayor skipped the annual Pride flag-raising event. Councillors had no idea why Ford was absent from city hall because his office rarely explains where he is.

Coun. Janet Davis said at the time that "if he's not going to be [at the event] he has to explain to the people of Toronto."

The mayor's allies, such as Coun. Giorgio Mammoliti, say that he simply does things differently.

"He has chosen to call every single person back that calls him," Mammoliti said. "What's wrong with that? Does that mean he's not working?"

Mammoliti said Ford doesn't need to be involved in everything.

"With the previous mayor [David Miller] his criticism was he took everything on himself to the point where things couldn't get done because everything needed to be filtered by the mayor," he said.

"In this mayor's case, he has chosen to delegate."