According to reporting by the Toronto Star's David Rider, John Tory's chief of staff, Courtney Glen, and Don Peat, a former reporter and one of her deputies, formed a "war room" to deal with the unfolding crisis. Amanda Galbraith, a former Tory spokesperson on parental leave from crisis communications firm Navigator offered guidance remotely. Meanwhile, the embattled Mayor got advice from his former Chief of Staff Luke Robertson, political strategist Nick Kouvalis, communications consultant Bob Richardson and his 2022 campaign manager, Patrick Harris.That's an awful lot of talent to map out a strategy that eventually led to a short press conference by the mayor at 8:30 p.m. on a Friday night to announce he'd be stepping down.A “war room”? Who were they planning or expecting to fight with? They weren't planning an invasion. Nor were they in campaign mode having to manage attacks.Perhaps they were planning John Tory's quick rehabilitation following his bombshell announcement with a coordinated campaign aimed at staying rather than retreating - a kind of shock (first) and awe (second) strategy.It might sound far-fetched but, had it worked, it would have made a masterclass in public relations.The war room went into action in early February when the Star started asking about the mayor's relationship with a woman who had worked in his office.Much of what has unfolded since feels like it could have been carefully scripted and executed with military precision.The identity of the mystery woman has been kept out of the news. She's largely disappeared from the web. And there's been no gossipy press reports with grainy photos of her, the way the New York Post would no doubt have reported on the story.The story quickly moved to the mayor needing to stay on to finish the job. He would not officially resign just yet, so he could appear at council as mayor to debate the budget he proposed under strong-mayor powers.Meanwhile, opinion columnists, like Rosie DiManno, came to the mayor's defence: Tory is no less fit to occupy the mayor's office today than he was less than four months ago, when voters overwhelmingly elected him to a historic third term.Then came indications of public support for Tory to remain in the job with the publication of poll results conducted in record time. Forum Research found that almost half of Torontonians don't think John Tory should resign.The unnamed sources then got their say. A City News report claimed that Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland was among political figures who had reached out to Tory to encourage him not to resign. She quickly denied the story.Soon after, the big gun spoke. Ontario Premier Doug Ford voiced his support for Tory, saying if he follows through with his resignation and a “lefty” mayor gets elected, it would be “a disaster” for the city.To add more artillery fire, CP24 reported that two of John Tory's allies at city hall were floating the possibility of the mayor taking a “leave of absence” by stepping aside for a period of months before making a final decision about his political future.The mayor was reportedly torn. Some of his closest advisors were urging him to stick with his resignation, according to the CBC's Mike Crawley. “His personal brand of integrity and respectability would be shattered”. That's assuming that this political animal's personal brand can be distinct from his political brand.In the end, the budget passed, and John Tory sent his resignation letter to the city clerk.It's a sad personal story for a man who obviously loved the job. It's doubtful he'll get a bronze statue to commemorate his service. But some of his advisors almost gold medals in crisis management.