Gary Webster, the TTC’s top executive, is caught in the crosshairs of Mayor Rob Ford’s administration, prompting fears that Toronto transit could be headed on a disastrous course if he’s fired.

A 30-year TTC veteran, the 60-year-old chief general manager has drawn the ire of the Fords over his refusal to support the Sheppard subway extension the mayor wants to build, say Toronto Star sources.

Webster could not be reached for comment, but TTC spokesman Brad Ross issued a statement Thursday saying, “The TTC will not speculate on Mr. Webster’s future. The chief general manager is working hard with staff on the 2012 budget, as well as ongoing customer service improvement initiatives. This is a large, complex organization. His continued leadership has never been more important.”

Most transit experts, including former TTC boss David Gunn, consider the subway plan a joke.

The Fords are so intent on Webster’s removal, sources say, they won’t let him hire a new chief operating officer — an internationally advertised position that is attracting top applicants from London and Sydney, Australia.

TTC chair Karen Stintz has expressed frustration about the slow speed at which improvements in customer service are taking place. But she has so far refused to be part of a plan to oust Webster, drawing speculation that her own time on the commission could be limited, according to some sources.

Voices were raised in a recent meeting between Stintz, Councillor Doug Ford and Amir Remtulla, the mayor’s chief of staff.

Sources say Stintz won’t even talk about Webster leaving unless the Fords come up with an orderly transition plan that doesn’t include appointing one of their political cronies to the top job.

Names being bandied about to replace Webster include former city councillor Case Ootes, who was recently interim head of the Toronto Community Housing Corp.; former Metro councillor Gordon Chong, who is leading Toronto Transit Infrastructure Ltd., charged with coming up with a finance plan for the Sheppard subway, and outgoing Liberal MPP David Caplan, who has said he’s leaving politics to pursue other opportunities. Sources close to Caplan say he’s an unlikely candidate.

Stintz confirmed Thursday that the TTC is interviewing for a COO, a position created following the sudden retirement last winter of general manager of operations Rick Cornacchia.

“Gary Webster is scheduled to retire and at this point he hasn’t indicated that he wishes to retire right now,” she said.

“Gary understands the need to get new blood in the TTC and is pleased at the calibre of people who are applying to the role of COO,” Stintz said.

Webster’s contract is up in 2013.

It would take five of the nine votes of the city councillors on the Toronto Transit Commission to fire him. There are no meetings scheduled until September, but if a majority of commissioners request one, a special meeting could be called with 24 hours’ notice.

The plan to get rid of Webster “is in play now,” said former TTC vice-chair Joe Mihevc.

“(The Fords) are so committed to Sheppard they are actively contemplating getting rid of the entire streetcar system in Toronto,” he said, adding that the cost of the new streetcars could be applied to the subway.

“If Doug Ford bullies his way through on this, it truly will be the victory of extreme authoritarian ideology over good public transit policy and good business management,” Mihevc said.

Doug Ford declined to speak to a reporter from the Star on Thursday

Replacing Webster with someone who has no engineering background or transit operations experience would be a disaster, say some councillors and transit experts.

Among them is former TTC chief Gunn, who recently came out of semi-retirement to review the TTC’s operations and finances. Firing Webster would be a mistake at a time when the system already has holes in its senior management team and is facing a financial crisis just to run the trains, buses and streetcars, he said.

Gunn, who worked with Webster, says he’s not perfect but he knows what he’s doing.

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“You need an engineer or somebody like me who knows you need an engineer,” he said.

Shortly after Rob Ford was elected mayor, Ford asked Gunn if he was interested in returning to the TTC. Gunn says he doesn’t know if the mayor was serious, but the former executive at Amtrak and the New York transit system was clear that he wasn’t interested.

With files from Daniel Dale

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