TORONTO

Rob Ford makes you weak at the knees. Seriously. To many of you, he is hotter than a subway car in Scarborough in July.

Our mayor wins my Hotties of City Hall survey, proving once again that sex symbols, like mass transit, come in many shapes and sizes.

(Ed. note: Strobel, wait! Clayton Ruby is on the line. The lawyer. Says he’ll appeal.)

Fear not, boss, the results are clean, ethically. You could only vote once, and 5,000 folks did.

Ford wins the male division with a whopping 43.25%. The Ford Nation Ladies’ Auxilliary clearly got busy at their computers.

I expect the mayor to declare, “Sexy, sexy, sexy! The people want sexy!” It’s his second big win of the day, after “subways, subways, subways!” for Scarborough.

Mayoral bodyguard “Mighty” Mike Toolaram is runnerup, with mayoral nemesis Councillor Adam “Red Dawn” Vaughan third, though Adam might have done better had voters seen his snazzy red trousers during Wednesday’s transit debate.

Vaughan is his usual gracious self. “If Rob Ford is your readers’ idea of virility, they are really out of touch with reality,” he opines.

I should point out Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong, though not on the ballot, gets some write-in support.

Chief planner Jennifer Keesmaat tops the female division by a similar margin, 42.09%. “I don’t know what to say,” Keesmaat tells me. “I’ve been so deep in the transit debate, I haven’t had time to enjoy the honour.”

Councillor Michelle Berardinetti is second, TTC chair and wannabe mayor Karen Stintz third.

Unless you are blind or a Habs fan, those results are hardly a shock.

Ford’s sex appeal is more mystifying. True, his performance during the transit debate was sweaty, but not in a good way.

Often, he seemed flustered and unprepared. Details of the Scarborough RT and its erstwhile replacement LRT escaped him. The likes of left-wing councillors Josh Matlow and Gord Perks pinned him like a worm on a hook early in the debate. Our mayor is not the most cerebral of politicians. He is not a details guy.

That’s his appeal. Most of us are like him. We are not like Matlow and Perks and other bright-eyed keeners, preachers and social engineers.

When Ford said “taxpayer” a zillion times during his pitch for subways over LRT, you could hear ’em sighing lustfully all the way from the Rouge and Etobicoke Creek.

Besides, nothing gets Ford Nation lathered up like a pack of elitist jackals snapping at their hero’s heels.

Especially when he whups them, as he did Wednesday, in a 28-16 vote. Scarberians get their subway, at least until they don’t. It hinges on $1.8 billion from the province and the feds paying half the ongoing construction costs. If either blinks, we’re back to donkey carts, or whatever.

So start digging, for crying out loud. Get on with it.

Now back to the hotties. Here’s how the Fab 14 finalists fared in your eyes:

Hotties of City Hall (Women):

1. Jennifer Keesmaat, chief planner: 42.09%

2. Michelle Berardinetti, councillor: 26.2%

3. Karen Stintz, TTC chair: 16.11%

4. Mary Fragedakis, councillor: 6.43%

5. Janet Leiper, integrity commissioner: 5.14%

6. Ana Bailao, councillor: 2.49%

7. Maria Augimeri, councillor: 1.54%

Hotties of City Hall (Men):

1. Rob Ford, mayor: 43.25%

2. Mike Toolaram, mayoral bodyguard: 13.69%

3. Adam Vaughan, councillor: 13.5%

4. Josh Colle, councillor: 13.13%

5. Andy Byford, TTC CEO: 10.01%

6. Joe Pennachetti, city manager: 3.4%

7. Giorgio Mammoliti, councillor: 3.02%

On Thursday, councillors will discuss a motion to halve their number. It is doomed, of course, akin to a vote by turkeys to keep Thanksgiving. But imagine just 22 members in a sleek new council.

Now that’s sexy.