Ottawa Mayor Larry O’Brien is bragging on his website that he plans to start his fourth task force into city affairs since becoming mayor less than two years ago.

This latest task force will be studying high oil costs and the impact they have on the city and ways to reduce oil consumption. Coming next week is an announcement to drum up a task force on the effects of oxygen on people’s ability to live.

For a guy who promised to cut jobs and excess spending at City Hall one has to wonder how much these task forces will set taxpayers back.  I’d love to read in the Ottawa Citizen (actually maybe the Ottawa Sun since Larry says he doesn’t read the Ottawa Citizen and I would like him to read this) how much these task forces are really costing us and more importantly — how useful they’ve been!

If you already look like Lex Luther, is it wise to make yourself look anymore creepy?

Randall Denley writes in today’s Ottawa Citizen what everyone was thinking last weekend during Mayor Larry O’Brien’s wedding weekend, including one person who writes me to tell me the coverage was way over hyped — and that person was at the wedding!

His well-publicized wedding this past weekend was a typical O’Brien production. Described by the fawning media as “the high society wedding of the season,” this simple affair featured 500 of the O’Briens’ closest friends. Who even knew Ottawa had a “high society”? Apparently, it includes such figures as radio personality Stuntman Stu, Elvis Sighting Society chief Moe Atallah, two news anchors, a veteran defenceman, Ottawa’s one recognizable fashion designer, its best known hairdresser, sundry city councillors and even a few ambassadors.

In this celebrity-starved city, the O’Brien wedding was clearly the place to be seen, even if the plotline seemed overly familiar. Rich older man marries attractive, much younger woman. Stop me if you’ve heard the story before.

Municipal Affairs Minister Jim Watson offered the opinion that Colleen McBride will be a good “first lady” for Ottawa. First lady? The mayor acts like he’s the president down at Ottawa City Hall, but that doesn’t make his wife the first lady.

Again, one was reminded that Bob Chiarelli kept his personal relationship personal, which seems the appropriate thing to do. You wouldn’t find him blogging about his “angel,” as O’Brien has done. This was a story best covered in a single column, under the headline “Mayor weds, again.”

I had to post an excerpt because the mayor says he doesn’t read the Ottawa Citizen anymore and well, we all know that some members of the O’Brien clan love to read this blog.

Randall then goes on to ridicule O’Brien’s blog. Now I have to tell you as a citizen of Ottawa the content of Larry’s blog concerns me but let me tell you as a fellow blogger how can I complain about his blogging when he feeds me crap from it almost every day?

apply-liberally.com captured three and a half minutes of fame back when Larry went after me on the CBC — which was soon followed by him going after the reporter which happened just before Larry went after the reporter’s microphone. Then the blog mayorlarry.ca popped up like a pimple on the face of a 15-year-old. Ugly and traumatic. But for me it’s been nothing but fun ever since.

Who can forget the French blog kerfuffle (oh and Brent, there’s still plenty of translating left to do)? How about that time Larry mixed up the mayors of Winnipeg and Regina right there on his blog? Then there was that post about not being that mature and how he tells people that he hasn’t grown up yet. All the “angel” blogging. The “marathon” photo was a huge hit. Nothing says fun like comparing his job cuts plan to the jobs of war heroes too. Some day soon he might realize that every time he writes the word “city” he doesn’t necessarily have to capitalize the “c”. Oh Larry, please don’t stop blogging…

At least if you stop blogging please do re-hire “Tom”, stuff him in your basement, get him a laptop and a microphone and start up his own internet call in radio show.

The mayor of Ottawa is once again taking a lot of heat over comments posted on a blog. This time it wasn’t on my blog and this time it was his own comments.

Like father, like son.

Mr. O’Brien was busy with his wedding duties on Friday, but did leave a message about the blog.

“I think it’s been a very good couple months and things are moving in the right direction,” he said. “We’re able to debate the ideological differences while at the same time getting good work done.”

Bay Councillor Alex Cullen, however, begged to differ.

“For all his bravado, he has yet to show council one original idea,” he said. “This is bad political theatre. It doesn’t make sense to polarize and do this to people who can help him. This is not good politics for him. He’s playing fast and loose with the facts, people see this, and on top of that he’s dividing a council.

“Very bad politics.”

The Citizen could not find one member of council that supported the mayor’s blog statements.

Hey Brent, I think it’s time to shut ‘er down buddy.  The blog wasn’t a very smart idea.

I just hope you didn’t drink too much of that bubbly after your wedding today. We all know what happened the last time you woke up after drinking too much… “…and when I woke up I was mayor of Ottawa.”

Sorry to highlight this Ottawa Citizen column so close to your wedding day Mr. Mayor but it’s very interesting…

The leadership vacuum at city hall has been a concern for participants and pundits alike. Previous administrations have produced cogent legislative agendas and carried them through. However, Mr. O’Brien has been reactive, often at the behest of callers to phone-in shows on talk radio. Then he changes his mind as quickly as you can flip the dial from CFRA to CBC.

Larry has taken this time to enlighten us about his personal life and family (you know, that thing we’re NOT supposed to talk about but you just know will be front page in Sunday’s Ottawa Sun!) on his blog.

As many of you know, I am marrying my Angel Colleen this weekend. (the emphasis is Lar’s.)

During the busy and exciting time ahead, I won’t have much time to blog but I did want to take this opportunity to reflect on the last few months

So he’s getting married again and suddenly won’t have time to blog? Like being the mayor of a capital city didn’t stop him from blogging…?

The secrecy and back room deals of the past, which hid the performance of the previous administration, are now a thing of the past.

Who writes this shit? Inspector Gadget? No seriously who writes this stuff? The guy facing two criminal charges for allegedly offering a job to someone in exchange for them dropping out of an election campaign. That’s who.

Amongst a nearly 700 word article we read:

The array of hot and cold appetizers at the 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. reception include sundried tomatoes with cream cheese on melba toast, mini Ruebens and chive biscuits with maple ham and Dijon.

Who the f*ck cares!?!?

In an attempt to justify his plan to cut about 500 jobs and likely put many Ottawans out of work, our mayor has come up with a pretty dodgy analogy on his blog…

When they were on their missions, WW2 bomber pilots used to say “You never take any flack unless you are over the target.”

Yes, because nothing says classy like comparing your idea to cut people’s jobs to the mission of people who risked their lives at war and whose mission it was to seek and destroy buildings and kill the enemy.

Classy Larry.

Mayor O’Brien shows off his fingers after being charged, photographed and fingerprinted by the Ontario Provincial Police earlier this year. The mayor told reporters, “I feel like a rock star!”

The Ottawa Sun continues its campaign to see how many times in one article they can use “pooh” and “pee” puns and jokes based around the Ottawa River sewage spill story. I think this is about article number 11 since the story broke several weeks ago.

Bravo Sun Media. Bravo.

“I take it you’re referring to some headline in one of the newspapers in the city? I don’t read that particular newspaper so I can’t comment,” Mayor O’Brien said a few months back.

What’s this here I read… now you DO read the Ottawa Citizen?

Some mornings I am sent articles from the Ottawa Citizen, particularly when they are insightful or biased. Today’s City editorial was titled “1000 days of spin” and this unfortunately fell into the latter category.

Larry is peeved that he spent time with the Citizen’s Editorial Board and they wrote bad things about him. Sweet merciful crap. The man publicly says he doesn’t read their newspaper — the most popular paper in the city, one of the paper’s reporters broke the story that has lead to criminal charges against the mayor and he sits down with them and gets peeved over their coverage!?

Oh Larry, you never cease to amaze me bud.

Separated at birth.

Mayor Larry O’Brien said meeting U.S. President George W. Bush was “the highlight of nine short months of being mayor.”

Couillard strikes the Tories again…

“Mr. Bernard Côté failed to inform me that while he was in a personal relationship with Julie Couillard, at the same time she was also vying for government business for Kevlar and raised it with Mr. Côté,” (Public Works Minister Michael Fortier) said. “Mr. Côté should have recused himself of having any dealings with the matter at hand, which he unfortunately didn’t.”

Anyone else care to admit to dating Ms. Couillard?