Thoughts and Opinions On Today's Important Issues

Tuesday, October 04, 2005

He's Everywhere!


Is it just me or is Mayor Eddie Francis appearing all over the city these days?

From a Mayor who seemed never to leave the confines of his office at City Hall to go on the rubber chicken circuit (Councillors were asked to be his stand-in most of the time), all I do now is see Eddie in different photo-ops. I even saw him working the room at a dinner the other night honouring a major benefactor in the City and his wife. (Unfortunately, he could not stay to offer them the "Key to the City" after the dinner. Frankly, I believe that this was an insult to these people, although the MC said that Eddie had to leave early. I wonder if it was due to Fox 2 perhaps coming to town to view some artwork!)

What can explain this change?

I hear that there is some public opinion polling done in town. Sponsored by two different groups at least. We were contacted by Pollara as an example and asked our opinion. The polling must be fairly detailed based on some of what I was told. It even went down to the ward level.

I was told the poll results in one poll were not positive ones on what has been accomplished so far by the Mayor and Council and about the Mayor, personally.

That may help explain why he is out there, trying to offer an apology about why he has been out of view for so long. I assume that his strategists have told him to go out there and start mingling with the people he has ignored. I wonder if he is using the excuse that he was so busy working for Windsor "building relationships" with the movers and shakers across North America that he could not attend many functions over the past 2 years.

As someone told me, it does take a lot of $750 cheques to elect a mayor. And the next election is only 13 months away.