TORONTO

A second councillor has jumped from Mayor Rob Ford’s executive committee but Josh Colle says it’s not because of the mayor’s legal troubles

“I made a decision well before that,” Colle said Tuesday. “A lot of it was, I have a young family at home.

“I was conscious of making sure my time was focused in the right area.”

Colle hasn’t actually even made it onto Ford’s inner circle — his appointment was supposed to be approved Tuesday — but he said he told the mayor and his staff about the decision a week ago.

That was shortly after the centrist councillor’s name first emerged as candidate for executive — and seen as a move to bolster the mayor’s shaky grip on council.

Ford’s inner circle is dominated by suburban councillors and Colle (Eglinton-Lawrence) would broaden that somewhat, Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday said.

“I would have liked to have him,” said Holyday, the executive committee’s vice chair.

“It would have shown an interest and that we’d tried.”

Colle joins Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti on the sidelines, after Mammoliti bolted from the executive committee Monday — pointing to the mayor’s conflict-of-interest conviction as the reason.

But as the losses piled up for the Ford administration, he could point to one victory Tuesday as council approved placing Budget Chief Mike Del Grande on the Toronto Police Services Board.

Del Grande is keen to take a close look at the nearly $1-billion police budget.