As city council's final meeting before the fall municipal election wound down, some opponents of mayoral candidate Coun. Rob Ford questioned what type of strategic vision he has to offer Toronto.

"There's no platform beyond cutting everything that costs a dollar," said Coun. Adam Vaughan (Ward 20, Trinity-Spadina) on Thursday.

"He has no vision for spending things and making investments that are needed in this city."

Vaughan's very urban ward is unlikely to be fertile ground for Ford (Ward 2, Etobicoke North), who is running on a simple message of cutting spending and reducing taxes.

For his part, while making a radio appearance earlier this week, Ford had challenged Vaughan to run for the mayor's himself.

Coun. Michael Thompson represents a suburban riding -- Ward 37, Scarborough Centre.

"I think the vision that is needed by the city has to be put forward by Coun. Ford," he said.

If one reviews Ford's platform, it's heavy on cost-cutting. He wants to designate the TTC an essential service, contract out garbage collection and hire more police officers. He promises to cut wasteful spending and abolish unpopular measures such as the land transfer tax and the vehicle registration fee.

George Smitherman, the former provincial Liberal cabinet minister, has promised to consider contracting out garbage collection. He has offered more detail on issues such as the waterfront and public transit -- which Ford doesn't yet mention on his campaign website.

But anyone who holds the title of mayor is still only one of 45 votes on city council.

Outgoing veteran Coun. Kyle Rae (Ward 27, Toronto Centre-Rosedale) suggested Wednesday that council would pick its own de facto mayor and ignore Ford, who is currently the presumed frontrunner in the polls.

"He will be mayor in name, but I hope the citizens of Toronto wake up."

Coun. Doug Holyday, a former mayor of Etobicoke and a frequent ally of Ford's, cautioned that Ford might have to change his style if he ultimately did become Toronto's mayor following the Oct. 25 municipal election.

"Well, it certainly will have a bearing on how well he will do things here," Holyday said. "He's got to reach out to people and I guess he's got to bring people inside, give them some responsibility and hopefully get them to see his point of view."

Coun. Shelley Carroll (Ward 33, Don Valley East), the city's budget chief, refused to comment about Ford.

For his part, Ford shrugged off any criticism.

"I'm used to these attacks. They've been coming after me for the last 10 years," he said.

Ford's campaign team also released a photo of the lunch provided to councillors on Wednesday, saying it was an unnecessary $9,000 annual expenditure.

The day before, council had voted 26-10 to make Ford repay thousands of dollars the city's integrity commissioner said he had raised through improper use of city letterhead.

With a report from CTV Toronto's Galit Solomon