A Bunch Of Short Comments

Here are a few thoughts I had while watching the rain fall this morning.

MARKO'S LEGACY

Who knows if what Marko Paranosic said about the City is right or wrong. However, the silence since last Saturday strongly suggests that what he said is true. Eddie's lack of comment is very telling. The "no comment" is remarkable since he is easily reachable. It tells me that he must be going apoplectic about the criticism but his handlers are keeping him out of public view since he has no answer. They are hoping it will all be forgotten in two weeks or so when he chooses to be visible again. In the meantime, I heard a rumour that Sam is back intown.

The Star Editorial will drive Eddie crazy. He may worry that his key supporter is deserting him. He will undoubtedly call his Chief of Staff to get her input inot this.

Marko should be congratulated for letting Windsorites know that we have a real problem that has to be dealt with immediately. And I do not mean the border file but the secrecy of this Mayor and Council.

The Star too should be congratulated too....Liplock Sam, now that was clever!

However, in case you think that the Star is backing away from supporting Eddie, they are not. The issue between the Star and Eddie has to be when to release Schwartz II. The Star obviously wants it done NOW for tactical reasons before the DRIC open house so DRIC will react to the City. Eddie must want it AFTER DRIC comes out with their prooposal to make them look like fools.

Of course the Star and Henderson feel that they are out there hanging in the wind since Eddie has undercut them on tunnelling so they need something to ooooo and ahhhhh over to make people forget their previous position.

Oh and thanks guys, I and other Windsorites did get the memo about Eddie never supporting a tunnel! I guess it never made its way to your building.

The Battagello story was not a big expose. It was nothing more than a set-up for the Star Editorial writers to get Eddie to reveal Schwartz II now. Marko was a mere tool to be used and then thrown away

I wish they and Eddie would keep their dirty linen secret!

WINDSOR AND TERRORISTS

Oh well, the FEDS have NOT yet given up on scare stories about the Ambassador Bridge.

I almost burst out laughing at Joe Comartin's comment. To be honest, I would have expected that out of Brian Masse's mouth not from Joe. I thought he had more sense. Anything to hit the Bridge Co. no matter how absurd:

• "Comartin said the report will needlessly increase anxiety among some citizens. He also said the analysis indicates that the Ambassador Bridge should not be twinned, since bridges should be far enough away that if one went down, the other would remain standing."

Yet Joe said a few paragraphs before:

• "It won't make any difference for a sophisticated terrorist group. But as we've seen this past weekend (with car bombs) in London and Glasgow, and as we saw in Toronto last year, there are more copycat, unsophisticated groups coming forward."

DUHH! Joe. The sophisticated terrorists hit multi-sites remember in different areas and the copy-cats did too. Do you really think it makes a difference locating a second bridge a block away or a mile away or hundreds of miles away, say the distance between London and Glasgow.

If there is a desire for security, do what the Bridge Co.'s Skip McMahon says:

• "vehicles should be inspected before entering the bridge...
  
  "It's one of the reasons that we are such strong supporters of reverse customs inspection."

Fight for that already, somethign useful, and do your constituents a favour.

SPEAKING OF COPYCATS

You must remember how Eddie kept using the Keg as a symbol of downtown revitalization.

Well Councillor Postma learned from the best. Do you know what she said was a symbol of the new propserity of Ward 2: a new Tim Hortons!

A double-double please and a bagel toasted with butter and jam.

A POSSIBLE NEW CANDIDATE FOR WARD 2

Right after the vote on the Junction, I got a call from a politico who told me that he had decided that he was going to run in Ward 2 the next time around. He said he could not stomach it any more and he had to do so.

If he really does, he would be a formidable candidate to the incumbents if they decided to run again since he is a very good political organizer and has worked for other candidates in the City before.

Councillor Jones saying at Council that he is only "part-time" and not as smart as the University trained bureaucrats has pretty much admitted that he has no place on Council. Since they are so much smarter than he is it seems, he may as well just rubber-stamp everything they do. Council meetings can be so much shorter that way.

GEORGE'S TICKET

It appears that George Sofos received a ticket from by-law enforcement for his Teen dance last Friday! I wonder if the cost of the by-law officers being at his site are covered by the amount of the ticket.

Council supported George and said that the Entertainment Lounge By-law was flawed yet Administration sent out the enforcers to issue a ticket. Who is in charge at City Hall...as if we did not know!

I am afraid for some in Administration and Council that the Junction matter will turn into something very ugly by the time it is done. Leon Paroian was serious about litigating and very eager for a fight, virtually challenging the City. He must know something that we do not know yet but will if this matter goes to trial! It could do some serious damage to some people if he is right. I can just imagine the fun he will have cross-examining certain people on their files. It gets tough under oath in front of a Judge.

The absurdity watching last night is seeing how Administration was thwarting the will of Council so much, throwing roadblocks in front of them. Then it was watching a helpless Council not knowing what to do in a situation that is clearly unfair and was never intended as was admitted by Councillor Valentinis.

It was frankly one of Councillor Gignac's better nights on Council. Her questioning made it clear that the Chief Building Officer did not have all of the facts re the Junctions' operations as a place where people danced in the past eg the Firemen's function amongst many more.

What she should have done or what the CAO should have encouraged her to do to solve the problem was to get the CBO to admit his decision re non-conforming use may have been incorrect and to get his agreement to reconsider it. However, no one on Admin helped her out on this.

There is no leadership on this Council and no one prepared to stand up and do the right thing. If they won't do it for George, then we know the border file will never be solved until the Feds impose their will or walk away

Oh my goodess, if Council directs Administration to deal with expediting matters with George, that means his file will jump the queue. Oh dear me. The unfairness of it all for Admin to work so much harder. Heck, it is only a taxpayer's business that is at risk. Procedure rules.

What happened at Council---a Motion to do a study to tell Council how to move forward quickly. In other words, no decision and another stall. a typical indecisive Council decision.

Poor George....he just wants to run a business, not turn into Windsor's version of Toronto's Paul Magder!



CORPORATE CONSULTING BUDGET


I happened to see a reference to this on a CAO approval matter and asked the Operating Budget Chair, Councillor Halberstadt, what it was.



His reply:

• "The 2007 approved budget for the corporate consulting account is $250,000. The amount is a general placeholder for consulting costs not specifically budgeted separately by a department. Typically, the amounts flowing through the account are related to corporate initiatives and are therefore approved by the CAO ( your attached document of a delegation of authority matter is an example). In some cases council will direct expenditures to this account if a report is brought to council on a matter that requires council approval."