Windsor Is Flat
What a shock! There has been no economic development plan in place for Windsor for the last two years. No wonder Dennis Perlin left. He must have been totally frustrated in a job where he was given few directions by his political bosses.
That’s the gist of what I got out of Gord Henderson’s column yesterday. I was looking for a grand Plan. Instead I found out what book Eddie read 5 times, "The World Is Flat." Hmmm I wonder if there will be a run on that book now at Chapters a la Oprah.
It is absolutely clear now that the Mayor and Council have been sitting around waiting for an Economic Statement to be produced. As if another piece of paper will create a single job. It’s like thinking that the Community Improvement Plan document in itself will build a single house in an urban village in Windsor West.
Can you believe the Mayor’s comment: "Things are looking much better than last week." Tell that to the people who have lost their jobs. Tell that to the people who will have to uproot their lives to go to Oakville or St. Thomas for work. Tell that to the merchants in town who will see their businesses decline as people leave the workforce.
Apparently there is a strategic direction that the City is following. I guess a major achievement of that Direction is the announcement of the Keg restaurant opening. It will open IF the parking issue is resolved that is. (Another mess that we might be getting into).
Apparently, it was known 2 years ago that Windsor would be experiencing some major economic disaster. Gord Henderson said that the news would necessitate increased efforts to diversify and attract new industry. His column today signalled loud and clear the total failure on the part of City Hall!
Finally though, thanks to Gord, I got it. We don’t have an entrepreneur in charge at City Hall, young or otherwise. We have a bureaucrat, a planner. He has no problem in planning but considerable difficulty in executing. Can you imagine sitting around until October 3, as if he didn’t know what his CAO was going to suggest.
It is like the border. Develop the Schwartz plan which is great on paper, flog it to death even though it bears no relationship to reality and then watch it die as the Senior Levels dismiss it out of hand and as the Bridge Co. on its own solves our problems!
Frankly, instead of reading what a New York Times columnist thinks about the real world, as Mayor, I would have contacted the major business people in town who really understand what is happening and who know how to achieve success. I would put them together in a room, lock the door and not let them out until they came up with an economic development plan for Windsor and a commitment to carrying it out, together!
It may be the time to set up an alliance amongst the major business players here whereby they agree to set aside "egos and ambitions" and work together or we all lose. We may need an "Economic Czar" in Windsor to get things moving not just a Border Czar.
No, I won’t mock anyone for having a plan, a plan. I can mock someone though who has sat around reading a book 5 times while waiting for the bad news that he knew was coming.
That’s the gist of what I got out of Gord Henderson’s column yesterday. I was looking for a grand Plan. Instead I found out what book Eddie read 5 times, "The World Is Flat." Hmmm I wonder if there will be a run on that book now at Chapters a la Oprah.
It is absolutely clear now that the Mayor and Council have been sitting around waiting for an Economic Statement to be produced. As if another piece of paper will create a single job. It’s like thinking that the Community Improvement Plan document in itself will build a single house in an urban village in Windsor West.
Can you believe the Mayor’s comment: "Things are looking much better than last week." Tell that to the people who have lost their jobs. Tell that to the people who will have to uproot their lives to go to Oakville or St. Thomas for work. Tell that to the merchants in town who will see their businesses decline as people leave the workforce.
Apparently there is a strategic direction that the City is following. I guess a major achievement of that Direction is the announcement of the Keg restaurant opening. It will open IF the parking issue is resolved that is. (Another mess that we might be getting into).
Apparently, it was known 2 years ago that Windsor would be experiencing some major economic disaster. Gord Henderson said that the news would necessitate increased efforts to diversify and attract new industry. His column today signalled loud and clear the total failure on the part of City Hall!
Finally though, thanks to Gord, I got it. We don’t have an entrepreneur in charge at City Hall, young or otherwise. We have a bureaucrat, a planner. He has no problem in planning but considerable difficulty in executing. Can you imagine sitting around until October 3, as if he didn’t know what his CAO was going to suggest.
It is like the border. Develop the Schwartz plan which is great on paper, flog it to death even though it bears no relationship to reality and then watch it die as the Senior Levels dismiss it out of hand and as the Bridge Co. on its own solves our problems!
Frankly, instead of reading what a New York Times columnist thinks about the real world, as Mayor, I would have contacted the major business people in town who really understand what is happening and who know how to achieve success. I would put them together in a room, lock the door and not let them out until they came up with an economic development plan for Windsor and a commitment to carrying it out, together!
It may be the time to set up an alliance amongst the major business players here whereby they agree to set aside "egos and ambitions" and work together or we all lose. We may need an "Economic Czar" in Windsor to get things moving not just a Border Czar.
No, I won’t mock anyone for having a plan, a plan. I can mock someone though who has sat around reading a book 5 times while waiting for the bad news that he knew was coming.
posted by JoeBlog at 5:45 a.m.
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