Savouring The Moment

The sun is shining as I write this.

The City cut the grass on the median on my street.

And the Star published my Guest Column.

Does it get any better than this for a lonely Blogger/Naysayer!


Pressing for transparency naysayers' positive role
Ed Arditti, Special to The Windsor Star

Published: Thursday, August 07, 2008

What a rush! Imagine going from virtual anonymity as a lonely blogger to being designated as Windsor's Official Naysayer to seeing a Star editorial praising the "lonely voices of dissent." All in one week.

You must have read The Star story where I discussed the canal concept to revitalize the downtown:

• "Naysayer calls plan pie in sky.
  
  "Local blogger and self-described political observer Ed Arditti could be considered one of the 'naysayers' dismissed repeatedly at the news conference held Tuesday to announce the redevelopment plan for the Western Super Anchor site."

It was difficult being outed in public as a naysayer.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw people pointing at me and whispering as I pushed my grocery buggy through the supermarket aisles.

"Dismissed repeatedly." I thought Windsor naysayers ought to be praised, not pilloried. That is why I was so pleased with the editorial.

Understand that naysayers can reason and actually think. We do not blindly accept what is presented as gospel. It is not our function to spread the word, to help out those in power.

And I don't feel too badly about it.

I am not ashamed to remind people that the naysaying of STOPDRTP, of which I was general counsel, helped stop the intrusive DRTP truck expressway. In fact, we naysayers were able to convince some DRTP supporters to switch sides, the Star editorial board being a prime example.

If it was not for naysayers, GreenLink and/or the DRIC Road would never have been proposed. Instead, we would have been stuck with the useless and expensive Schwartz Report Horseshoe Road. We might have seen major environmental damage to the Ojibway Prairie Complex and been offered an expressway with few of the advantages of the roads being proposed today.

Naysayers have asked for the business case for the US$75-million tunnel deal and are still in the dark about it.

We merely want openness and transparency and the ending of secret, in- camera meetings.

Why should Windsor take on the risk of a loan default to help Detroit out of its budget mess if it means putting Windsor taxpayers into financial distress.

While I would love to protect the 5,000 tunnel commuters, it may not be necessary to spend $75 million. Real competition with the private-sector Ambassador Bridge Company will do the job. Commuters are now the beneficiaries of reduced tolls, an increased number of customs booths, a transponder payment system and discounted gasoline prices without spending a penny of taxpayer money.

Cheerleaders win some, too

Naysayers play a positive role in the city. Think of WeAct, Tax Cut Now, the WUC increases fiasco, the Spitfires' lease disclosure and the controversy over the 400 Building audit.

Some believe that naysayers are capable of stopping anything. That is a deliberate falsehood designed to discredit us.

Look at the east end arena. Naysayers could not stop that.

Building where the city expropriated properties years ago, limiting the city's risk to $15 million and rejuvenating the downtown with a jewel that would attract businesses and residents as well as providing another entertainment outlet for the casino convention visitors made sense to me.The cheerleaders won instead. The new arena is now in yehupitzland, out of the way of everything. Taxpayers are on the hook for at least $50 million or more, not including all of the extras like roads and bridges and the increased parking that will be needed. Our lease of the facility is a financial disgrace.

The absurdity now is that we are looking for something else to anchor the Anchor site. Venetian canals now perhaps.

I could have been a cheerleader like so many others. I would not have to think.

I too could strap a "W" on my chest and applaud loudly at every idea that came out of City Hall.
I could jump up and down screaming "W.E. Believe" or "W.E. Can" or "W.E. Whatever the sloganeers can dream up next."

I could hope that our best and brightest would go out of town to earn money out West and then commute crying out "W.E. W.E. W.E. All the way home."

Rather, I would prefer to be the way I am. Someone wrote to me at my BLOGsite about that Star article and stated: "Clearly they are afraid of you....why would anyone spend so much time talking about the 'naysayers' when discussing the project? They obviously think that your opinion carries lots of weight and needed to counter it prior to giving the details of the project."

While it is humbling to receive the accolades, the reality is that the real power in Windsor is its citizens. I don't have to naysay the canal project. If it makes no sense, the People will let the politicians know about it.

Now, the People have an outlet via the Internet to state their opinions. Whether it is writing a blog like mine, or through the Windsor Star forums, individuals have the opportunity to express their views easily, both positive and naysaying, in a timely fashion.

And that dynamic has changed everything.

Ed Arditti is a lawyer in Windsor and vice-president of Wyndham Hall Consulting, a firm that offers advice to organizations in the formation of strategic alliances and new business ventures. He also writes WindsorCityBlog at http://windsorcityon.blogspot.com.