Process Rules

Process, process, process. I finally figured him out. Eddie Francis makes a perfect bureaucrat and a lousy politician.

There are a whole bunch of reasons why I say this that I will not bore you with right now. The awakening came to me in reading the two exciting stories in the Star the other day. The first was about the Via Rail relocation and the other was about the 5,000 acre industrial park urged for Windsor and the County.

Here is what the County politicians said about the VIA Rail story:

• I don't think anybody could be happier than Lakeshore with this because we have 25 miles of this," said Mayor Bob Croft. "I'm so pleased.... Everything that was screwed up in our planning over the last 100 years, we can re-plan and redevelop. ..." Croft cited the potential for walkways, green space or possibly a commuter road linking Windsor to Tilbury... The first thing we will need to do is bring in a designer to come in and look at this," he said. "What a great opportunity."
• Tecumseh Mayor Gary McNamara said, "There is a real opportunity here. Having no rail coming through the heart of our community will be a huge improvement. Once they make the announcement, the important thing is to act on this quickly." "I think it's important to look at everything," McNamara said. "Forget the municipal boundaries and look at the region and what is best."

Here is what Mayor Francis said about the VIA Rail story:

• Eddie Francis said the issue of a commuter road in the corridor will be explored, but there are no guarantees it will become a reality, citing environmental assessments and who would pay for the costs of removing the railroad tracks..."It will certainly be considered to see if it is feasible," Francis said. "It's an extremely involved process and it's too early to tell what may or may not happen. We have to look at the potential for what that land may offer. It's way too early in the process.

Here is what the County politicians said about the industrial park story:

• The City of Windsor and Essex County municipalities should do more than "pay lip service" to regional development by joining forces to build a 5,000 acre industrial and commercial business park in a central location, Tecumseh Mayor Gary McNamara said..."Everyone talks the talk (of regional development), but when they go back to their municipalities they don't want to walk the walk," McNamara said.
• Lakeshore Mayor Bob Croft, whose town has had the most success recently attracting new industrial and commercial growth, still supports the idea of a regional industrial park. "I agree," said Croft. "Everybody who puts something into it, would gain."

It appears as if Eddie was not interviewed for this story so here is what Roman Dzus, acting director of the Windsor-Essex County Development Commission , said about the industrial park story:

• Roman Dzus also agreed the idea of municipalities sharing costs and tax revenue from a regional industrial park was worth exploring..."It eliminates the time and energy wasted in internal rivalries," Dzus said...The city and county have agreed in principle to reorganize the development commission and increase its funding and the idea of a regional industrial park should be on its agenda when the restructuring is completed early in the New Year, Dzus said.

Oh I am sure that there will need to be a lot done before this will all come true. But don't you see the contrast.

Great excitement from county politicians who have seen their towns being impacted negatively but now see great opportunities. More importantly, their view is a regional view for economic development and not a local, parochial one.

Our Mayor....why he could not be more bored about the whole thing, just so worried about the process. Not one word about the potential this could bring....Didn't he just bring in a world-class guru to talk about matters such as this!

As for the 5,000 acres, the Development Commission learned not to be too excited either but to place it on an agenda.

Vision compared with process...what a shame for Windsor and the region.