Toronto's Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly took over executive powers at city hall Tuesday, a day after Mayor Rob Ford was stripped of some of his powers and budget by council.

Kelly also took 11 key members of Ford’s team into his camp, changing the locks on the staffers' doors so the mayor is no longer allowed access.

Nine employees stayed with Ford, but those joining Kelly’s staff including two key of the most powerful people at city hall: Policy Director Sheila Paxton and Chief of Staff Earl Provost.

"What I'm looking for are people who are policy-orientated, that enjoy debate, have a sense of adventure and want to have some fun," Kelly said of his new staff. "You want a good, collegial atmosphere where everyone has the feeling that they could make a contribution."

Kelly said he plans to continue with a fiscally conservative agenda, but noted it will differ somewhat from Ford's style of politics.

"It may be expressed in a more co-operative (way) and more sensitivity to the arguments and positions of others," Kelly told reporters at city hall Tuesday.

Coun. Adam Vaughan said he’s confident in Kelly’s ability to move forward and lead council.

“He is a rational and mature individual who’s prepared to listen to all sides and move forward,” Vaughan told CP24’s Katie Simpson.

He added that council shouldn’t be about “trying to threaten people into submission.”

“It’s about negotiation, debate and a study of the facts and Norm is capable of doing that,” Vaughan said. “I’m confident that we can move forward with him or even the other 43 members of council, it’s just a couple of folks that seem to be lost in their own mythology.”

In an explosive meeting Monday, Toronto city council overwhelmingly voted in favour of transferring about 60 per cent of Ford's office budget and staff to Kelly, as well as giving him the ability to designate key items for council debate.

The move leaves Ford as little more than a figurehead at city hall.

Ford has been under a barrage of criticism since admitting earlier this month to having had smoked crack cocaine at least once since taking Toronto’s top office. He has repeatedly refused calls to take a leave of absence from his position, culminating in Monday’s vote.

Asked about Ford's behaviour during Monday’s rowdy meeting -- when the mayor charged toward a spectator in the gallery, knocking over Coun. Pam McConnell, and later declared "war" against his fellow councillors -- Kelly said he had never seen behaviour like that at any level of politics.

"I couldn't tell you why he did it, but it certainly didn't look good on him or this council, or frankly for the reputation of this city."

'Like a wounded animal'

Kelly, who has arguably become Toronto's most powerful politician overnight, said he hadn't spoken to Ford following Monday’s vote. "I didn't talk with him yesterday. He was obviously in a combative mood. A wounded, cornered animal -- and they're not always the most rational," Kelly told CTV's Canada AM Tuesday morning.

Asked if Ford's behaviour has recently changed, Kelly said: "He's multi-faceted and it's difficult to know which side of him he'll display at any given time. You always hope for the best, you talk to him as gently as you can."

Kelly said Ford's declaration of war was an unexpected conclusion to the tumultuous debate. He said that despite the animosity that has spawned over the last few weeks, he was hoping council could move forward in a more "consensus-building" manner.

Kelly said much of the recent drama that's surrounded Ford could have been avoided if the mayor had taken some time off when police first announced that they had recovered the infamous crack video.

"There was a consensus on council at that time to take a pause, take leave, call it what you will -- family time. Just take the time to regroup, look after yourself physically and come back in two or three months ready to govern and campaign and none of this would have happened.

"I'm hoping this is the rhetoric that surrounds the wounds that he's feeling right now," Kelly added. "He tends to talk explosively and then settles down and acts in a more sensible way."

Kelly said while much of Ford's power has been taken away, the mayor continues play a role in city politics.

"The mayor still has ability to speak on behalf of the city to everybody else out there, he still has those powers," Kelly said. “But the powers or authority to direct business internally has been divorced from his office."

Meanwhile, the mayor's brother, Doug Ford, maintains that the mayor is not out of control and will bounce back from the ongoing controversies.