He is the calculated brain behind the gravy train. A big man with a small stomach. A bare-knuckle political boxer with a dash of charm and a gruff demeanor and one of only a few people able to keep Toronto’s self-proclaimed “rebel” mayor in check.
He is Nick Kouvalis, Rob Ford’s 35-year-old deputy campaign manager turned chief of staff. A Windsor resident who, until recently, has been sleeping in a slapdash bedroom at Deco Labels & Tags, the Ford family’s printing factory in Etobicoke.
He is the former Chrysler auto worker known at City Hall as the mastermind behind the straight-talking populist that is this city’s new mayor.
As one councillor puts it, he is the Karl Rove to Rob Ford’s George W. Bush.
http://www.thestar.com/news/article/905604--the-brains-behind-rob-ford?bn=1