Thoughts and Opinions On Today's Important Issues

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Produce The Tunnel Letter


According to the news clip, Windsor Council is very serious. I guess we must not have been serious before eh!

Council fired over a letter to Detroit saying that we were in this all the way ie the Tunnel deal.

Wouldn't you like to know what it said? I sure would.

I know from reading the Detroit media reports that Detroit Councillors seem to be aware of some of the transaction details. Moreover:

  • "Council members, who have resisted the deal for months because they contend it lacks specifics, have asked more questions. The administration is getting answers.

    "We don't know what the council will do," said Denise Tolliver, Kilpatrick's spokeswoman.

    Councilwoman Sheila Cockrel, whose committee has been working with the administration, said that while her committee is against the deal, members can wait until Monday for a final vote so council staffers could review the latest proposal."

Heck Detroit Council staffers may know more about the deal than our Councillors by the 30th. Oh and didn't you like this quite from Eddie which I thought suggested that nothing was final:

  • "We need to stress June 30 is Detroit's deadline," Windsor Mayor Eddie Francis said Monday. "We are not going to get involved in issues between the mayor's office and Detroit city council. From our end, a number of things need to be resolved, but right now nothing is scheduled to come to our desk."

It would not appear that the same level of information sharing is taking place in Windsor. Why not?

Is Detroit Council going to know the facts and then our Council is going to be surprised in the last minute and not read the documents but be forced to approve it:

  • "I [Councillor Halberstadt] would remind you again of my still outstanding Council question, presented on June 25, 2007, almost a year ago now, asking for an acturarial study, a detailed financial prospective, a risk assessment, a traffic volulme/revenue/expenditure analysis since Sept. 11, 2001, and a projection of the lifespan of the facility.

    Counc. Bill Marra has asked for a similar analysis as a member of the Tunnel Commission, and is also cooling his heels waiting for answers, in his case for nine months.

    Since the proposed deal has been re-arranged from an outright purchase to a double-barreled loan, I now have further questions."

So who sent the letter, what did it say and who on Council approved it?

My inside moles are unaware of any recent correspondence approved by Council.

Simple request to the two Mayors: Produce the letter.