Concern over the prospect that tight-fisted Coun. Rob Ford could become mayor may boost turnout in the Oct. 25 municipal election, an urban governance professor predicts.

"The idea of Rob Ford getting elected mayor of Toronto is going to get a lot of people off their couch," said the University of Toronto's Mariana Valverde on Thursday.

Ford joined the race relatively late on Feb. 25. But the 10-year councillor from Ward 2 (Etobicoke North) has vaulted into a substantial lead in all parts of the city by relentlessly pushing a message of attacking spending and taxes at City Hall.

However, his track record of controversial statements on topics ranging from AIDS, refugees and to bicyclists being killed by drivers has made him a controversial and divisive figure to some even as he is adored by others.

"We don't often get people who are so one-sided and so willing to be uninclusive," Valverde said.

Chef Amir Derakshan said he'll be voting for the first time in a municipal election.

"He's really standing out as someone I don't want in office, so I'm going to do whatever I can to prevent that from happening," Derakshan said of Ford.

Toronto's voter turnout for municipal elections has traditionally been lower than for provincial and federal ones.

In 2006, city-wide voter turnout was 39.3 per cent. It ranged from 33 per cent in relatively poor Ward 1 (Etobicoke North), to 52 per cent in Ward 26 (Don Valley West). Twenty-three wards achieved turnout of 40 per cent or higher.

In Trinity-Bellwoods park -- located in Ward 19 (Trinity-Spadina), the former political home of Deputy Mayor Joe Pantalone -- several people admitted to CTV Toronto that they didn't bother voting in the last municipal election.

Only 35 per cent of residents in the west Toronto ward bothered to vote last time.

Pantalone has represented Ward 19 for about three decades, but he has given up the seat to seek the mayor's job.

There are eight candidates seeking to replace him, including: Mike Layton, an environmentalist, community organizer and son of NDP Leader Jack Layton; and broadcast journalists Karlene Nation and Sean McCormick. Nation took a leave of absence from her employer, CTV, while McCormick left his job as host of Rogers Sportsnet Connected.

But Valverde noted that for a host of reasons, people don't turn up at the polls.

"You can't expect people to show up to vote when they haven't been involved," she said, adding city councillors are currently "feudal lords" of their wards

Councillors cater to small pressure groups who are up in arms on particular issues, but not the wider public, she said, adding district councils might be a solution.

Seniors and homeowners tend to vote more than young people or tenants, "and the councillors know that," Valverde said.

"Property taxes are an important issue," but other issues such as transit are also important, she said.

Valverde also pointed a finger at the media.

"Federal and provincial elections get a lot of media coverage," Valverde said. "There's advertising, and there's money behind them -- and there's parties behind them."

The media tends to only cover the mayoral race, she said. In 2006, Mayor David Miller didn't face much of a challenge when he ran for re-election. He announced last year he wouldn't be seeking re-election this time.

Individual councillors' races tend not to get covered -- and this will worsen as media outlets are forced to cut back on coverage as their revenues decline, she said.

Valverde also supported extending the right to vote to permanent residents who aren't citizens -- something that would require the province to amend its laws.

With a report from CTV Toronto's Naomi Parness