poisoning" in the chamber. Ford extended his exchanges outside the chamber with columnist John Barber of The Globe and Mail: "I am not a racist. Anyone who calls me a racist is going to face the consequences!", to which Barber replied "You are a racist." 2003 municipal election In the 2003 municipal election, Ford endorsed twelve political candidates on a platform of fiscal responsibility to take on fellow councillors: "We just need to get rid of these lifelong politicians that just give out money to special interest groups and don't serve the community. I'm really teed off. We need to get a new council or this city is going to go down the drain." Ford targeted Brian Ashton, Maria Augimeri, Sandra Bussin, Olivia Chow, Pam McConnell, Howard Moscoe and Sherene Shaw. Shaw was defeated by Ford's future budget chief Michael Del Grande, while the rest were re-elected. Ford made a priority of responding to local constituents' problems, often returning calls himself or meeting with city staff to resolve problems. In 2005, local radio station AM 640 tested councillors on their response by having a reporter make an after-hours call to report a pothole. Ford was one of only three councillors to call back in person, within a day. His zeal in attending to constituents' problems became a competitive rivalry with fellow councillors Howard Moscoe and Gloria Lindsay Luby. In June 2006, Ford spoke out against the city donating $1.5 million to help prevent AIDS, arguing that most taxpayers should not be concerned with AIDS. Ford publicly apologized for the comments in May 2010 during his mayoral campaign after his opponent, George Smitherman, called Ford's character into question over the remarks. At a council meeting on March 5, 2008, Ford stated "Those Oriental people work like dogs", a remark he later formally apologized for while stating that he meant it as a compliment. On March 7, 2007, Ford spoke out against cyclists sharing roads with motorists, which were "built for buses, cars, and trucks, not for people on bikes". As councillor, Ford opposed the installation of bike lanes on University Avenue and Jarvis Street and during his election campaign, proposed spending money on off-road cycle paths. Bike lanes were installed on Jarvis in 2010 over the objection of traffic advocates, and Ford made it a priority to get them removed during his campaign. As mayor, he was able to get council