Is "MAYOR" Now A Four Letter Word In Windsor
And a happy new year to you too!
You know what a four letter word is don't you. It is one of those vulgar words in the English language that is not used in mixed company by polite individuals.
Has the word MAYOR now become a word that polite Windsorites don't use in mixed company when discussing local government in our City.
Let me give you the reason why I ask this question. Take a look at the Windsor Star online and the comments in the Windsor Star Forum dealing with Gord Henderson's Saturday column, "Henderson's not buying the grim predictions for Windsor. Are you?" http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/story.html?id=88b96c2a-2082-48eb-951a-573342c319a2&k=11403
To be fair about it, some of the comments there are harsher than anything that I have ever written. Check out some of the other forums as well and you will see the animosity that has arisen so quickly between Windsorites and its Mayor and Council. Remember, the last election was only a year ago.
Let me tell you what I find so fascinating about the Henderson column. First of all, when you look at projects that are being identified, none of them involve the private sector. Each and every project is financed by the taxpayer whether directly or in directly through the University. Private enterprise seems to be walking away from the City. In other words, if there is no government spending that will create jobs, this City is in the toilet.
And what is our Mayor and Council doing... stalling DRIC, opposing the Ambassador Bridge Company and fighting the University. How many thousands of jobs are we not creating in Windsor because of our local government's actions? In fact, an argument can be made that the focus on the Casino project may have hurt Windsor since the WFCU project was chased out to the boonies.
Another common denominator in all of the projects other than the Casino expansion is how long they have taken to start. It seems as if our local government is incapable of action. The arena only got started to be blunt about it because of desperate moves taken by our Mayor and Council because Project Ice Track was going to go to Tecumseh.
In this regard, you will note how small a role our Mayor and Council have played and will play in all of the projects other than the East And arena. In this project, some might wish that they had no involvement as well. Remember that the Mayor, when he was running the first time for the Mayor's office, wanted a P3 deal for the arena involving the private sector which would have limited taxpayers exposure to $15 million. Now it is all a taxpayer risk at a cost of at least $65 million and counting.
And here is the fascinating part which the commentators on the Windsor Star forum have missed. Tell me how many times the words MAYOR or EDDIE FRANCIS were used in the Henderson column. The answer is not once, neither of the terms.
Henderson could not bring himself to use those words in his column. I don't blame him either. I would have expected all kinds of praise and glory to be showered on our Leader and his band of merry Councillors at year-end but instead nada, nothing, zilch. In particular, no specific credit for Greenlink which I found to be shocking.
The best that he could say for the talks about the location of the Engineering School is to use the words "city hall."
If you don't think that Henderson is the Sheriff of the Renegade Posse of reporters at the Star, then you just don't understand this column. It is just like the Editorials that slam the Mayor without mentioning his name. He pretends that Windsor has a future, and it does if the private enterprise sector starts playing a role, but he is smart enough to know that if Windsor has a success it is not due to our local Leaders.
Oh I know that there are going to be some columns in which Henderson gushes over the Mayor again and says that he is the best thing that ever happened to Windsor. But in this City, one must learn to read between the lines.
One last thing... poor Council Brister. Every time that Henderson mentions that he has responsibility for the East end arena, it is another nail in the coffin of his Mayoral aspirations.
You know what a four letter word is don't you. It is one of those vulgar words in the English language that is not used in mixed company by polite individuals.
Has the word MAYOR now become a word that polite Windsorites don't use in mixed company when discussing local government in our City.
Let me give you the reason why I ask this question. Take a look at the Windsor Star online and the comments in the Windsor Star Forum dealing with Gord Henderson's Saturday column, "Henderson's not buying the grim predictions for Windsor. Are you?" http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/story.html?id=88b96c2a-2082-48eb-951a-573342c319a2&k=11403
To be fair about it, some of the comments there are harsher than anything that I have ever written. Check out some of the other forums as well and you will see the animosity that has arisen so quickly between Windsorites and its Mayor and Council. Remember, the last election was only a year ago.
Let me tell you what I find so fascinating about the Henderson column. First of all, when you look at projects that are being identified, none of them involve the private sector. Each and every project is financed by the taxpayer whether directly or in directly through the University. Private enterprise seems to be walking away from the City. In other words, if there is no government spending that will create jobs, this City is in the toilet.
And what is our Mayor and Council doing... stalling DRIC, opposing the Ambassador Bridge Company and fighting the University. How many thousands of jobs are we not creating in Windsor because of our local government's actions? In fact, an argument can be made that the focus on the Casino project may have hurt Windsor since the WFCU project was chased out to the boonies.
Another common denominator in all of the projects other than the Casino expansion is how long they have taken to start. It seems as if our local government is incapable of action. The arena only got started to be blunt about it because of desperate moves taken by our Mayor and Council because Project Ice Track was going to go to Tecumseh.
In this regard, you will note how small a role our Mayor and Council have played and will play in all of the projects other than the East And arena. In this project, some might wish that they had no involvement as well. Remember that the Mayor, when he was running the first time for the Mayor's office, wanted a P3 deal for the arena involving the private sector which would have limited taxpayers exposure to $15 million. Now it is all a taxpayer risk at a cost of at least $65 million and counting.
And here is the fascinating part which the commentators on the Windsor Star forum have missed. Tell me how many times the words MAYOR or EDDIE FRANCIS were used in the Henderson column. The answer is not once, neither of the terms.
Henderson could not bring himself to use those words in his column. I don't blame him either. I would have expected all kinds of praise and glory to be showered on our Leader and his band of merry Councillors at year-end but instead nada, nothing, zilch. In particular, no specific credit for Greenlink which I found to be shocking.
The best that he could say for the talks about the location of the Engineering School is to use the words "city hall."
If you don't think that Henderson is the Sheriff of the Renegade Posse of reporters at the Star, then you just don't understand this column. It is just like the Editorials that slam the Mayor without mentioning his name. He pretends that Windsor has a future, and it does if the private enterprise sector starts playing a role, but he is smart enough to know that if Windsor has a success it is not due to our local Leaders.
Oh I know that there are going to be some columns in which Henderson gushes over the Mayor again and says that he is the best thing that ever happened to Windsor. But in this City, one must learn to read between the lines.
One last thing... poor Council Brister. Every time that Henderson mentions that he has responsibility for the East end arena, it is another nail in the coffin of his Mayoral aspirations.
posted by JoeBlog at 7:30 a.m.
<< Home