Twenty Fearless Predictions For 2006

Ok.......now is the time that soothsayers bring out their crystal ball and make predictions about what will happen during the new year. Here are my top twenty forecasts for 2006.

1. The border will still be an important election issue but amalgamation of the City and County will become a major topic
2. The City will be hit by a huge scandal
3. The relationship between the Mayor and Councillors and amongst Councillors themselves will deteriorate badly, finally coming out into the open
4. Eddie Francis will be a one term Mayor IF any credible candidate runs against him, a big IF right now
5. Bill Marra will decide early in the year if he will run for Mayor or Ward 4 Councillor or at all
6. If Bill runs for Mayor, Eddie will desperately seek someone else to run to split the vote so he can sneak in.
7. There will be big surprises in Wards 1, 4 and 5.
8. The Raceway arena will effectively be dead and gone early in the year
9. St. Clair College will pull out of the Cleary deal since the price will be too expensive but will still relocate downtown, perhaps in a joint deal with the University
10. The Mayor of Detroit will rebuff Eddie's entreaties over the Tunnel
11. Sam Schwartz will appear back in Windsor to make a new presentation on the border and soon thereafter close his office here.
12. No one will care what the City says on the border issue
13. The Americans will force the ending of DRIC
14. Governor Granholm and Mayor Kilpatrick will announce a major initiative with the Bridge Co. to redevelop SouthWest Detroit
15. In Windsor, the Mayor's Office will continue to churn out press releases like the one saying "Windsor‘s Economy is Shifting into High Gear" rather than actually doing something.
16. The Bridge Co. will start building their 200 booth "intermediate" border crossing project
17. The DRIC road to the border will be started by the Senior Levels as part of a "jobs" and economic redevelopment program for Windsor since hundreds of people will have to be employed to build it
18. The two floors in Canderel will finally be rented out but at a huge discount and there will be vacancies in the Income and Security Building that will be filled by more City workers being moved over
19. Some new financial surprises will come out that will cost taxpayers dearly resulting in a lowering of Windsor's bond rating.
20. The Windsor Star will face serious challenges this year resulting in significant changes