Rob Ford has no plans to rip up streetcars, his brother and campaign manager said Tuesday, an indication the mayor-elect may be softening on some of his most divisive campaign pledges.

“That was (a rumour from) our competition,” said Doug Ford. “Yes, we want to look at more effective ways of running transit, but by no means are we going to get a crane and start yanking up streetcars and throwing them in the lake.”

Whatever the mayor-elect finally decides on transit and other aspects of his agenda, he will be looking for support in a drastically altered political landscape.

Half a dozen incumbents, including David Miller loyalists Sandra Bussin and Adrian Heaps, were knocked out. Conservative-minded newcomers, such as Mary-Margaret McMahon, were voted in. And the mushy middle, which tended to vote alongside Miller, was sent a message to swing right. Ford will easily have more than 23 votes on council.

One place the mayor-elect can expect to find backing on council is among the new faces. There are 14 of them.

A group of newcomers — including Josh Colle (Ward 15), Ana Bailao(Ward 18), Josh Matlow (Ward 22), Jaye Robinson (Ward 25) and Michelle Berardinetti (Ward 35) — has already made plans to meet and hash out a strategy of dealing with the entrenched incumbents.

Each told the Star they would work with the newly elected mayor.

Berardinetti, a longtime Liberal who is married to an MPP, said she would support Ford on issues from cutting office budgets to building subways rather than streetcars.

“And if he's prepared to reverse the land transfer tax, I'm prepared to vote with him,” said Berardinetti.

Matlow said that while he plans to evaluate each issue on a case-by-case basis, “I'm not going to vote against something just because Rob Ford came up with it.”

Doug Ford said they are in the process of putting together a transition team “and Rob's already called about half of council. We can work with anyone. A good idea is a good idea.”

Centrist and veteran councillor Frank Di Giorgio said he, too, “could work with anybody. I told (Ford) I can support him on three of his five main issues.”

Those would be: repealing the vehicle registration tax, ending sole-sourced contracts and reducing councillor budgets. Di Giorgio has concerns with Ford's pledge to cut council in half and do away with the land transfer tax.

Last month, Ford's campaign team sent a questionnaire to council candidates, gauging their support for those five initiatives.

Speaking before a football practice outside Don Bosco Catholic Secondary School on Tuesday, Ford said scrapping the $60 car registration tax was priority one.

“Hopefully in the first council meeting,” he said.

Ford also addressed what he felt would be his biggest challenge as mayor.

“Basically, getting everyone in place, finding out, you know, what councillors, how they want to contribute to the city, and work on people's strengths,” he said.

Veteran Etobicoke councillor and Ford supporter Doug Holyday, who endorsed Ford early last week, said anyone who opposes Ford would do so “at their peril.”

“This election if nothing else showed that people who go against the public or sit on the fence run the great risk of not being returned. I think public opinion in the end will be what makes them do the right thing,” he said.

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Holyday, who is rumoured to be in the running for deputy mayor, said Ford would be ill advised to appoint any Miller loyalists to high-profile positions.

Doug Ford, the newly elected councillor in Ward 2, Etobicoke North, and Councillor Mike Del Grande are both being touted as possible budget chiefs.

Doug Ford said he hasn't discussed the issue with his brother, but did tell reporters he will be donating his $99,619.52 paycheque to community organizations.

Premier Dalton McGuinty said he's willing to listen to the mayor-elect if he has “a thoughtful approach” to changing the direction of Toronto's provincially funded transit expansion.

“Our job, whether we're talking about above ground or underground, is to find common ground and I know that mayor-elect Ford has a real interest in subways. We're investing heavily in a subway (to York University) now and a number of other projects as well,” McGuinty said Tuesday.

However, senior government sources noted Ford's promise to build new subways appears to be based in part on funding that has already been earmarked for transit in York Region.

On Sheppard Ave., where Ford has said he wants the subway extended, Metrolinx and the TTC are already building the first Transit City light rail line to open by mid-2014.

The province has a plan, said Transportation Minister Kathleen Wynne.

“I've been on the record and clear we want to see that plan move ahead.”

The city's longest serving transit commissioner, Joe Mihevc (Ward 21, St. Paul's) said he's never seen a council with so little transit experience and he may not be reappointed himself after supporting Ford's rival, George Smitherman, in the election.

Former TTC commissioners Bill Saundercook, Suzan Hall and Sandra Bussin were defeated. Former TTC chairs Adam Giambrone, Howard Moscoe and Brian Ashton didn't run.

“I've been at that file for 13 years. I would say without hesitation I'm still learning,” said Mihevc.

With files from Tess Kalinowski, Robert Benzie and Jennifer Yang

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