Watermain-gate: What Will Council Do

Monday night at Council should be a very interesting one. Councillor Halberstadt's WUC Motion is to be presented to Council for consideration. Come down to the Council Chambers or watch it on Cogeco.

You know that the Eminence Greasie has been working hard over the past few days trying to figure out all of the political permutations and combinations before a decision will be made as to what action should be taken to deflect the impact of the Motion and how to spin it!

It appears that six citizens have registered to speak at the session. They at least were aware that the Motion was going to be heard. The ordinary citizen who generally would never come to the City's Council website would never have found the item unless by a fluke happened to read the Order of Business page. That's where the Motion was buried.

Good old Democracy, Windsor style. Why put Motions on the Agenda page where someone might actually see it.

If you read the Star Saturday Editorial on the border, aren't those six people petty. Why they are only concerned about silly matters like the truth in Watermain-gate. All they want to know about is hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars that may or may not have to be spent. They are only worried about pocket-book issues that will impact everyone today and for years in the future. Don't they understand that there are BIG issues and that Eddie is our hero and only hope:

• "It would be refreshing if Duncan used the word "we" to describe himself and the residents of Windsor and Essex County instead of an unelected body of bureaucrats fixated on jeopardizing the future of this vibrant community with a quick and cheap border fix. When Windsor Mayor Eddie Francis uses that pronoun, he's talking about you and your family and everyone else in this community tired of traffic jams, pollution and trucks on city streets.
  
  "This is the most important issue that we as a community have to deal with. The solution we agree to will not only impact our lives but the lives of future generations," said Francis. "We want a solution that brings communities together. We don't want to repeat the mistakes of the past and have people 50 or 60 years from now asking what happened. If we don't fight for it, if we don't stand up for the city, who will?"

When I read that I got all choked up especially when I remember how Gord told us last Thursday that Eddie could "hammer out a compromise that might not be everything the city wants but will be dramatically better than the DRIC pitch." Wasn't Councillor Halberstadt virtually called a traitor for using the "c" word in his BLOG but now Henderson says compromise is OK.

In reading the names of the people who registered to be delegates, I do not expect the Mayor to have too much support from citizens for what he and Council proposed at the last Council meeting. In fact, I expect that the Mayor in particular will be severely criticized. And that is something that poor Eddie cannot handle very well.

I expect that they will be in support of Councillor Halberstadt's Motion or might even ask for more! There is one problem however. Will Councillor Halberstadt's Motion get heard at all?

Would Council dare not allow the matter to go forward? I can think of a Procedural By-law reason for not allowing it to go on. But that issue could be dealt with easily enough PLUS it would make the Mayor look afraid (Of course, he would defer to the Clerk and CAO who would have to do the dirty work by making the decision so the Mayor would not be blamed).

The real reason why no one may be allowed to speak is a simple one and is set out on the City's website:

• "Delegations will only be heard should this motion receive a seconder."

That's right, it seems that another member of Council has to second the Motion or it does not get heard at all and citizens do not get the right to express their opinion. I should let you know that I have heard that at least 5 Councillors have been contacted so far and not one of them has agreed to date to second the Motion. [See below for the change]

Let's assume that no one on Council seconds the Motion. Is Eddie off the hook? He can always pass the buck to his colleagues and say that THEY did not second the Motion so do not blame him. Of course if he still is in the Chair, he could second the Motion since he has nothing to fear. If he does not, then the finger points back to him.

But a little birdie has told me something. If no one does second it, a novel approach might be taken that could shock some people. No, I am not going to tell you what it is. It may never happen for a variety of reasons.

Anyway, do you think I would let you know on here in advance so someone can try and devise a way around it. No, I'll let the suspense build so you will have to watch Council on Cogeco. I'll give you a hint though: don't believe everything you read on the City Hall website.

Surely the easiest way out for Council is to have someone second the Motion, let the citizens speak and then vote it down as we all know they will. Then who can complain, right? Expect that to happen unless Eddie just cannot face hearing criticism and we'll get another Procedural move to try to block the Motion. It will be the Clerk who raises the issue, not the Mayor.

It's all a big game of chess isn't it. Plan, counter-plan and counter-counter-plan. Another little birdie told me confidentially that there is a check-mate move in the background that may be used as well depending on what happens at Council and who does what.

I did not ever suspect that local government was this convoluted and complex. Heck, we are just fixing watermains aren't we? What's so complicated about that?

PS. According to the Star online, Councillor Dilkens will second the Motion.

• "Coun. Drew Dilkins said he would at least second a motion by Coun. Alan Halberstadt so the issue can be discussed.

Congratulations to him for having the guts to do so.

It won't matter though, the Clerk I am told will now say that the Councillor's Motion is out of order since it is really a Reconsideration and Council's approval is necessary to hear it. Will Council have the nerve to reconsider and hear the delegations? Now that should be interesting to watch!