There was a tent, a table and two chairs set aside for him.

There was a carefully written introduction about his career at City Hall, read to a crowd of residents by an eager young volunteer.

And there was huge expectation — teenagers were particularly excited —that Mayor Rob Ford would come to a Sunday afternoon barbecue hosted by the Thorncliffe Park Tenants Association.

Organizers pushed back the 1 p.m. start time in hopes that Ford, who had confirmed his attendance, would arrive. But when there was no sign of his black Escalade, or a phone call from his team, the event went on without him.

Ford’s chief of staff, Dan Jacobs told the Star on Sunday that the mayor never confirmed his attendance to the Thorncliffe event. Ford instead attended events in Nathan Phillips Square and Scarborough Ribfest.

“No one that I know of that has the authority to confirm ever did, so I don’t know where they got that from, I’m afraid,” Jacobs said.

However, Abbas Kolia, president of the Thorncliffe group, provided the Star with a Tuesday email confirming Ford’s attendance from the director of communications for Ford’s campaign, Jeff Silverstein.

Questioned again, Silverstein blamed the no-show on a “mix up in communications.”

“We were invited, we did confirm,” he said, noting the mayor has a very full calendar. “There was a mix up in communication. We are sorry that it happened, but that’s what happened.”

Five mayoral candidates, including front-runners John Tory and Olivia Chow, came to shake hands, pose for photos and, with the help of a small stage and sound system, make five-minute pitches to residents.

A cluster of 34 high- and lowrise apartment buildings near Don Mills Rd. and the Don Valley Pkwy., Thorncliffe Park is a busy, bustling neighbourhood of some 30,000 residents. It has higher-than-average rates of unemployment, poverty and recent immigrants — and one of the best voter turnout rates in the city.

Chow, who said she grew up in a similar neighbourhood, touched on the community’s need for affordable housing and expanded after-school programs.

Tory stressed the importance of enticing new jobs to Toronto, particularly to low-income areas.

David Soknacki and Karen Stintz spoke about bringing better transit and bigger schools and community centres to the neighbourhood.

Long-shot candidate Ari Goldkind, a 40-year-old defence lawyer, had a unique pitch: “Somebody like me, who has done well in life, should be paying a little bit more (in taxes) so people like you can have a bit more in your lives.”

Syed Mahmood, 40, believed little of what any of the candidates said. “People make promises here when they want to win an election,” he said. “When they get in office, then we get ignored.”

Mahmood, who has lived in Thorncliffe Park for 10 years, says any resident can rattle off a list of problems affecting his community that politicians should make a priority.

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These include: Apartment buildings in disrepair that badly need upgrades; a community pool; bigger schools and more opportunities for teenagers; programs to help new immigrants, many of whom are professionals, get well-paying jobs.

“They always come, and always make promises,” said Mahmood. “Then nobody calls, nobody comes back.”

Dozens of residents sat in white folding chairs to take in the speeches, which included statements from Ward 26 councillor candidates. Dozens more braved the long line for the $1 burger and pop special.

“They were good; I had two,” said Mirza Baig, 40, who came to the barbecue with his wife, Saba, and several friends. He wants to see politicians work harder to help those struggling to pay their bills.

“The politicians, they don’t work for these people here.”

Kolia, president of the tenants association, was pleased with the afternoon turnout, though he too echoed residents’ discontent with how politicians only stop through during a campaign.

“We are a community of 40,000 people; why do we always have to go looking for them?” he said, noting that some problems facing the neighbourhood, including a lack of benches for the elderly, require simple, straightforward solutions.

Despite Ford not showing up — “I am disappointed; there was no word on why” — Kolia said he will continue to invite candidates to campaign in Thorncliffe Park.

“These are important elections. We are doing everything we can to encourage people to vote.”

With files from Daniel Dale

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