Do Eddie's Two Wrongs Make A Right

How can a parent teach a child about right and wrong when our Mayor makes absurd statements to support a failed process. Especially because he should know better given his educational background.

Probably the most absurd justification given for the process so far that the City of Windsor went through to approve the East end proposal was given by the Mayor:

• "Francis noted that the association's complaint about sole sourcing would have applied to Windsor Raceway's proposal for the Ice Track arena, since that would not have been tendered either if council chose that project. "That would have been sole sourced as well."

Do you want to laugh or do you want to cry? One can justify the process being wrong with the East end arena because it was wrong with Project Ice Track too! So two wrongs make it right so stop complaining Construction Association

Of course this is a bunch of BS. The process involving Project Ice Track was following the Purchasing By-law if the Mayor would only read the By-law. It was a public/private partnership which the Sole Sourcing section specifically allows and is exactly what Eddie wanted when he was a candidate for Mayor!

It was the East End arena proposal procedure that was faulty in my opinion. It had to be rushed through since the Raceway called the Mayor's bluff and went to Tecumseh. If Eddie had not done something quickly, he would no longer have a hope of being Mayor and he knows it.

Remember also that the Mayor said that the By-Law could be "waived." Of course that was ridiculous as well since the By-law is "mandatory" under Provincial law.

The Teflon Mayor, and only he, can take the blame as CEO of the Corporation of the City of Windsor for the mess that the arena fiasco has become. These slip-ups from the legal technocrat Mayor suggests he knows he is in big trouble over the arena. And it will only get worse as time goes on.

If the Mayor is so wrong on something so fundamental as the Purchasing By-law, then I am so afraid of the rest of what Administration has said as justification for the expenditure of over $70M by the time this is done. MFP and Canderel, here we go again!

Can you imagine if the Mayor allowed himself to be questioned on his positions on the process by someone who read the By-law. Hey........he's on CKLW on Friday isn't he! Perhaps we will get our chance after all.

No matter....as readers will recall, I contacted Gord Henderson's "star performer" performer in Ward 5, Councillor Jo-anne Gignac, and asked her to "let me know forthwith which section is that because there is none in the By-law that I can find. Section 32, the Sole Source section, has no such provision." She claimed "a contractor can be chosen without asking for bids, if the city feels it's in its best interests."

The following is her long, detailed and thorough response that obviously must have been cleared by the Mayor's office and Administration:
"

"

BREAKINGNEWS

Here is the latest Press Release issued by the Wonham camp on the arena:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Arena deal should be open to the public

(Windsor) – Dr. David Wonham wants details of the arena proposal open to the public, removing the cloak of secrecy that envelops the eleventh-hour deal endorsed by Eddie Francis.

“It’s the least Windsorites can expect when they’re footing the bill,” said Wonham. “They should demand to know what the total of that final bill is going to be. The mayor says $48-million, but we all know that’s smoke and mirrors.”

“Does anyone remember Toronto’s Skydome? It was originally announced to cost only $150 million but by the time it opened cost $630 million, most of it public money. It was bought by Rogers in 2004 for $25 million. This should be a lesson and a concern for us all especially given the hidden, secret and untendered actions of the mayor and council. Isn’t this how we got into the MFP, Canderal and Cleary fiascos in the first place?”

Windsorites should demand answers to many important questions.

Why was every arena proposal over the past 30 years subjected to a tendering process, but not the present deal?

Why is the arena being built in an obscure area hidden behind an industrial complex? It’s so far from downtown that it will only further hurt the remaining businesses and ensure the longest commute for almost all fans who currently attend.

Why are so many issues surrounding the deal hidden from taxpayers?

How much of the deal was cooked up behind closed doors long before the public heard about it?

It’s time to come clean. But that will only happen if there’s a change in the mayor’s office.

Nov. 13, Windsorites should send a message to the mayor and vote for Dr. David Wonham.

He’ll make change happen.