Midway through the hour-long meeting, Ford seemed to have made up his mind.
“We can’t have fire trucks and police cars and EMS there all the time and eight cars parked on the street. You’ve ruined the community,” Ford told Griffin Centre staff.
In the next breath, he said he would ask them to relocate the home.
“You can’t destroy a community like this. People have worked 30 years for their home...My heart goes out to kids with autism. But no one told me they’d be leaving the house. If it comes down to it, I’ll buy the house myself and resell it.”
Ford accused centre staff of not being up front with him about the home, a charge they denied saying they explained the facility to him at a meeting in his office months ago.
Ford urged another meeting in two weeks with centre staff, city staff and two community representatives: “I want to work with you and move forward,” he said.
Ford roused the crowd one last time at meeting’s end.
“I’m going to get the you-know-what kicked out of me. Tomorrow, I’ll be inundated by every media in the country saying I don’t like kids with autism,” he said.
One man asked if the youth had criminal backgrounds. The answer was no.
Ford asked if any of the four are sex offenders. The answer was no.
