Thoughts On A Sultry Summer Day

It's hot out there today. All that I have the energy to do is to sit by the pool and think great thoughts that I can share with you

STAPLING ON A “W”

Oh my goodness. What a transformation. And all in one week too! The Star headline now screams

• "There's no room in this city for small minds"

I guess that a bunch of us better get together and hire some moving vans with a group discount!

Do you remember Dalson Chen’s comment in the Star last week:

• “This is the 151st edition of this column. I've been writing in this space a little more than three years now.
  
  And something has changed since I started. I've become the sort of person who immediately thinks the worse of things. Especially when those things concern Windsor…
  
  So here is a request to anyone reading this: If it is to your convenience, and the mood should strike you, please feel free to send me a little message about what you like about Windsor. I'm totally serious. I want to read pleasant things about Windsor. Because I sure ain't writing any.”

Wow, within seven days, Dalson can talk about his

• "former sense of doom. Because the sheer volume of the positivity threatening to overflow my Inbox is enough to make me think twice about Windsor."

He can quote a reader who said

• “Small minds are amused by small things, and putting down the city where one lives and works or goes to school is definitely an occupation for a small mind,"

I see he is learning not to distinguish between “putting down” and “trying to improve.”

Putting down Star subscribers is not a smart thing to do these days. Dalson though is fearless. In order to help out the Mayor and Councillors get through the day, we learn

• “some sage advice about not taking The Star's webforums too seriously."

Whew, thank goodness that Dalson received all those letters

• “Nothing like words of hope from people who've endured more than you to make you recognize your own pettiness.”

Positivity, small minds, petty, sage advice....this name-calling suggests that Dalson has learned well from his Professor!

This is probably the quickest transformation that I have ever read about since Winston Smith went to Room 101 and saw the rats in Orwell’s 1984.

• “When finally you surrender to us, it must be of your own free will. We do not destroy the heretic because he resists us: so long as he resists us we never destroy him. We convert him, we capture his inner mind, we reshape him. We burn all evil and all illusion out of him; we bring him over to our side, not in appearance, but genuinely, heart and soul.”

As Dalson has learned

BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU

WHERE IS THE STAR TUNNEL EDITORIAL

What has surprised me the most in all of this conversation about the Tunnel deal with Detroit is the seeming lack of interest of the Windsor Star Editorial Board. After all, it is a $75 million transaction that is not something that a Municipality normally gets involved in. Moreover, it is with a City across the River that is in financial difficulty. What happens to Windsor or the Tunnel if Detroit defaults.

I wonder if this silence due to the fact that the Editors know that the deal makes no sense for Windsor but they cannot bring themselves to say this for fear of attacking the Mayor. Or perhaps they are waiting for the appropriate time whenever that is.

The Star Editors have not:

• Fumed about the lack of openness and transparency and the failure to let citizens of Windsor know what the transaction is all about
• Questioned why the transaction should be undertaken in the first place since under the management of the Mayor the Tunnel has been described as a “unique security risk” and it has continuously lost traffic and money such that the City no longer receives a dividend
• Informed its readers that if DRIC is correct, then the new DRIC bridge will take away 25% of the Tunnel traffic thereby negatively impacting its ability to survive financially
• Analyzed the transaction to see if it makes sense from a business perspective
• Judged it for the stated reason that the Mayor has said that it is necessary IE in reality, to keep it out of the hands of the Bridge Company
• Talked about the amount of the legal fees and asked who the consultants were on this project and how much they received
• Asked why the Province would loan the money in effect to Detroit when the Government Infrastructure Fund is designed for Ontario municipalities
• Commented on the Detroit Council flip-flops.

Oh dear, here I am again being petty and small minded. Forgive me Dalson.

HAS THE PROVINCE SAID NO

What a strange story in Saturday’s Star about the Tunnel deal.

To be honest, after the Detroit Council flip-flop on the transaction, I would have thought that Eddie and his lawyer, Cliff Sutts should have been overjoyed that the deal might go through now. Instead, the story was rather negative.

• "When you look at the events taking place, charges that are being made, investigations being conducted and statements by various parties involved, it's extremely difficult for Windsor to assess where we go from here."
• Detroit's council did approve creation of a tunnel authority -- a required step to match what has been done in Windsor to complete a deal.
  
  But unlike Windsor, Council in Detroit has not approved a rollover of the city's ownership of the U.S. side of the tunnel into the new authority it approved creating on Tuesday, Sutts said.
  
  "That leaves the city of Windsor wondering why we should be negotiating at this stage if they won't commit to putting themselves in a position where they can make the agreed-upon agreement," he said.
• When you add the text message controversy swirling around Kilpatrick and growing FBI sludge deal investigation it further muddles the fate of a potential tunnel deal.

It looks more and more that Mr. Sutts is building up the reasons why Eddie cannot be blamed if this deal falls apart. This will be especially important for the Mayor since already over $1 million has been charged to the City for legal and consulting fees.

However, Eddie does have a relationship that he needs to protect in Detroit. After all, he is participating in so many Detroit events as sponsor with taxpayer money. I would have thought that if the deal made no sense, then Eddie should have terminated it right now to save a few dollars at least in legal fees.

Instead however we see that

• “Windsor city council will be updated on the latest turn of events in Detroit sometime within the next couple of weeks as soon as he can assemble a report, Sutts said.”

The next couple weeks… that should give the Detroit Mayor enough time with his balanced budget to obtain his

• “$360 million in casino-tax backed revenue bonds to finance an economic stimulus plan mayor says is crucial to revitalizing the city's economy.
  
  While officials said they wanted to go to market quickly when they first introduced the plan in early April, the inability to balance the budget became a stumbling block.”

Hmmm. Would Dalson call this a good news story for Windsor? Tough call.

COUNCILLOR DILKENS' PRE-AMALGAMATION MOTION

Of course, the Motion has nothing to do with amalgamation of the City and County but it will be described that way by Drew's foes. In the end, however, it will be viewed historically as the first step when that is accomplished many years from now.

What will happen I am sure in the interim is a lot of chest beating by politicians expressing lack of trust in each other but eventually cooler heads will will prevail and the City and County will come to some agreement as to which services ought to be run cooperatively. It was like that in Toronto when I lived there when they had the Metro form of Government.

I do like how Councillor Dilkens scooped his Wardmate on cooperating with the County! The Star Editorial has to be confirmation that the chances of the Councillor formerly known as Council Budget to be mayor are slim to none now.

When talking recently about Mahatma Brister, the Star talked about:

• "Coun. Dave Brister's ludicrous threat to lay down in protest on Huron Church Road."

Contrast that with:

• "Taxpayers should expect all city and county politicians to support the principle that local government should be run as efficiently and effectively as possible.
  
  With that in mind, Windsor Coun. Drew Dilkens deserves credit for suggesting it's time to revisit the idea of a regional form of government."

Here is the Councillor's Motion:

Hey Dalson, there is a good news story for you!