Sarah Thomson says front-running rival Rob Ford would be a “scary” Toronto mayor, but she will not drop out to help another candidate defeat him.

In an interview with the Star’s editorial board, Thomson said that, while door-knocking recently, she detected waning support for the Etobicoke councillor who is promising deep cuts to city spending.

“I would say on any street there is one (Ford supporter) that might slam the door and there’s about five (residents) who say, ‘As long as it’s not Rob Ford.’ I think people are starting to get scared,” she said.

The Women’s Post publisher said she shares their fears because Ford doesn’t have a vision for Toronto and hasn’t thought through proposals such as scrapping streetcars.

But she had few kind words for her three other main rivals, saying she could not support any of them for mayor.

George Smitherman can’t be trusted with a budget, Joe Pantalone is not a “strong leader,” and Rocco Rossi has “got a great show, but people see it as a show,” she said.

Asked if she’s afraid of waking up Oct. 26 to find Ford mayor because she drained votes from Smitherman, who is in second place according to polls, Thomson replied: “I’m gonna win and I’m not worried about that.”

Thomson has pledged a one-year freeze on property taxes while she looks for efficiencies. The city’s budget planners have forecast an operating budget shortfall of $250 million next year — some estimates put it much higher — even with a 3 per cent tax hike.

Thomson said her campaign team has identified $700 million in savings that could be part of the 2011 budget, but she refused to elaborate ahead of a news conference planned next week.

The entrepreneur and Rosedale resident has never held public office, but got early notice in the campaign by putting road tolls on the agenda. She says revenues from rush-hour tolls on the Don Valley Parkway and Gardiner Expressway are needed to fund her plan to add 58 kilometres of subway line in a decade.

And, while she is rejecting the Transit City plan to put light rail transit in the inner suburbs, Thomson said some non-downtown parts of her expansion would be above-ground, while other portions would be “light rail underground that could be expanded later” to full subways.

Asked why Torontonians should hand a political neophyte the keys to the biggest city in Canada, Thomson said: “There’s a lot of politics when you build a company from the ground up . . . Look at what (Mayor Michael) Bloomberg did for New York.”

As to why she didn’t run for a Toronto council seat — she ran unsuccessfully for Hamilton council in 1997 — Thomson said: “I tend to take over. I’m an A-type personality and I find I would probably undermine the mayor if I did that.”

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

Asked about her effect on the tone of the campaign, Thomson said she learned early on she could end bickering during debates and refocus the discussion on policy by saying, “Calm down boys, calm down.”

“I don’t have to do that any more; all I have to (say) is ‘Calm down,’ and they settle down.”