Ah, so if they say it's unnecessary to declare it, it's only because they're working around him, not because they are rational city managers, etc. Gotcha. lol.
Why are you implying that working around Ford and being rational are opposites?
And lol. When they didn't agree with you, the city managers were free spending, bad at their job, etc etc. Now all of a sudden your view has changed?
Situations change over time. They did not have the commitment from the province that they do now when Ford made this choice, and the weather looked like it would turn even worse. At that point staff urged him to declare an emergency so that they could ensure access to as many resources as possible.
He refused so people had to work around him to find other ways to get additional resources. Ford sure as hell wasn't involved in securing special resources from the province. He isn't even talking to the province or the deputy mayor.
The fact that other people were able to find ways around him and the weather was a bit better than expected is not a credit to his decision.