Spoiling For The Next Mayoral Campaign

It is not easy being a Windsor’s Official Blogger/Naysayer.

It takes a lot of time and effort to write a BLOG. The writing part is easy. It is the research behind a BLOG that is time-consuming along with the phone calls to the inside moles to get the latest juicy item from City Hall for your reading enjoyment. And then trying to figure out the machinations that go on.

Once that is done, then it is necessary to devise a way to grab your attention and make you want to read what I have written. Of course, a good caption is required to set the tone for what is to come and an e-mail Subject line to make you want to click on the link.

Take this BLOG. It would be relatively easy to write but it would be boring for you. So to pique your interest, I have to ask you, dear reader, a question first:

How are these four stories closely connected
to the E-Machine and Windsor’s future?

1) Cheeks Kilpatrick triumphs over Waters in close primary race

“With all precincts reporting, Kilpatrick had 20,888 votes, or 39.1% and Waters had 19,183 votes, or 36%. State Sen. Martha Scott was in third place with 13,280 votes, or 24.9%.

“This is to be a continued political saga,” said Waters’ campaign chairman Sam Riddle. “What we did last night is establish Mary as a credible candidate at the congressional level even with Martha in the race as a spoiler.”

Kilpatrick, who has won at least 78% of the vote since first being elected in 1996…”

2) Marra vs. Brister?

Now that the dust is settling from the kerfuffle over Windsor Mayor Eddie Francis's musings about staying on for a third term, here's an outrageously premature prediction of how the next mayoral race will really play out.

Going out on a limb, blindfolded, my guess is that Francis, although he's pushed that door open a crack and given himself the option of seeking another term, will have had more than his fill in three years and shall be more than happy to hand over the ball-and- chain of office.

But anyone who thinks this means the 2010 coronation of Ward 4 Coun. Bill Marra is back on schedule should give that a second thought. There will be no free ride. There will be a war, a vicious, take-no-prisoners struggle and I'm placing early money that it will be between Marra and Ward 1 Coun. Dave Brister.

Brister told me in his rookie term that he had no interest in the top job. And he's still circumspect about his intentions. But what I'm hearing, from people close to him, is that if Francis does pack it in to go make some serious money, Brister will not stand idly by and let Marra claim this (dubious) prize without a fight.

3) Water works

The surest evidence of this undertaking's credibility is the involvement of Dave Cooke, former education minister, current chairman of the University of Windsor board of governors and, if we're very lucky, Windsor's next mayor. Cooke is heading a feasibility study that will determine over the next three months whether the dream can be turned into reality, and at what price.

4) Council waives $166K in fees for children's centre

In a near-unanimous vote, councillors agreed to make a grant that will defray $166,480 in building fees and development charges associated with the renovation plans of the John McGivney Children's Centre…

more than 2,000 families rely on the centre's programs every year, and the names on the waiting list can number in the hundreds…

But Coun. David Brister said he was voting against the motion because health care should be a provincial responsibility…

"At the end of the day, we're doing the community a disservice (by making the grant), because we're not looking long-term. As we continue to plug the dam with our fingers, what's happening is a gradual erosion of what the municipality is able to do in other areas."

If you will recall, the E-Machine run by the Eminence Greasie is our Mayor’s political organization designed to get him elected to whatever position he decides he wants. Contrary to popular belief, it has been working, some would say not so well-oiled, ever since the last election. However, you can see the steam rising and hear its engine revving as we’re getting closer to the next mayoral campaign.

It was considered a given, because we’re supposed to believe him, that Eddie was only going to run for two terms. The trial balloon about Eddie running for a third term did not go over very well and so Eddie pulled back. More importantly, no one took the bait and said that he/she was considering running. Part of the exercise was to see who might decide to run and who was making plans early on.

It is obvious that just about everybody expects that Councillor Bill Marra will be our next mayor. He has not been idly sitting by either waiting for it to happen but has been taking the steps that he thinks are necessary to do so.

Bill will be a formidable opponent and but for a few dumb mistakes in the first campaign probably would have beaten Eddie in the mayoral contest. That was when Eddie was the golden boy too. Bill's election in Ward 4 this time around was mere preparation for the next campaign and to keep his team together.

The E-Machine knows this as well as we do. It too has been taking its actions in case the Mayor decides that he wants to run for a third term. Henderson effectively told us as much when he said that Eddie wants to finish the canal project.

Let’s get to the four stories now. Cheeks Kilpatrick, the mother of the Detroit Mayor, has won 78% of the vote over her terms in office. Remarkably, that was almost the same percentage exactly as the Mayor received in his last election against David Wonham and the Chicken Suit.

But she is not as popular these days because of her son, whether that is fair or not does not matter. If there had only been one person running against her, then most likely she would have lost. This time around she only received 39.1% of the total vote, half her normal, but because the other two candidates split the balance, she was able to come in up the middle.

That should tell you what the E-Machine has been doing since the last election. In a two-way race, Councillor Marra and his well-tried and true organization would beat the Mayor hands down. Accordingly, the E-Machine has been looking for another candidate to run for mayor, to act as "spoiler" with Bill Marra running.

For the longest time, the big hope was the Councillor formerly known as Councillor Budget. Being the penny pincher on Council with his reputation of being the financial guy as well as having the support of the residents along the DRTP corridor made him look very attractive. That is the theme of the second story above.

However, most people do not know that he had antagonized the Mayor during the first mayoral race and Eddie does not forget with his photographic memory. Being the Chair of the East End Arena Committee was the kiss of death for him.

Who’s going to replace him… why Dave Cooke of course. That's the third story. He is the man after all who will decide on the future of our downtown by doing the feasibility study and he will have the opportunity to deal with the movers and shakers in town over the next three months as he talks about it. Of course, the gossip mills are suggesting that there are some pretty powerful individuals backing his run, interestingly some of whom are strong Eddie supporters.

While this could suggest that Eddie is not running for a third term, it also opens up the possibility that Cooke could be the "spoiler" that Eddie needs. Alternatively, Cooke's entry could convince Marra not to run for Mayor again because he could lose in a three-way race but perhaps to run as a Councillor again or perhaps look at a different level of politics. If Cooke did not run, then Eddie would be a shoo-in because, unless Cooke says this early on and he won't being the good politician that he is, it would be too late for anyone else to mount a campaign. That is what happened in the last election here.

In passing, wouldn't Junior be all upset if Cooke decided to take his canal notoriety and run federally if Joe Comartin decides not to run again for MP.

Eddie would leave his options open until the very last second so that he could make his final decision but by that time both Cooke and Marra would have had to have made their intentions known. As well, as I Blogged previously, the name of the former Chair of the Chamber of Commerce has also been mentioned recently as a mayoral candidate.

Eddie’s risk is that Cooke decides to run and that he beats him. That is an eventuality that the E-Machine is factoring into their plans obviously. But do not worry. If Eddie’s friends are helping Cooke and are in his camp, then Eddie will know in good time what Cooke is going to do and can build his campaign against Dave to use as needed.

What about the fourth story you might ask… Brister has to be shellshocked by Henderson’s comment about Cooke. It just goes to show how naïve he is politically in my opinion. Voting against a proposition that helps disabled children, even to make a point about the Provincial Government, does not make any political sense when 2000 plus families are involved. That is a lots of votes that Dave has just lost, not only of the families but of their friends as well as the word gets out.

What Dave has not yet understood is that the world is not always black and white. If you are a politician, you are expected to see gray on certain occasions. This was one of them and Dave failed the test big time.

That is why the E-Machine abandoned him very quickly and needed Dave Cooke. Brister was no longer credible as someone who take votes away from Bill Marra. He could not be the "spoiler" that Eddie desperately needs.

What about Henderson's column today. Remember he is the Sheriff. One can be made to look the fool while seemingly being praised. Moreover, Cooke cannot be made to appear to be a Mayoral candidate too early or the feasibility study and the canal project become politicized.

Few may have read the news story but a lot will read his column and shake their heads in disgust. All that Henderson's column did was make it even more obvious to those who missed the story what Brister did. He reminded others as well why they should hold a grudge against the Councillor. He is $166,480 disabled children wise and $65,000,000 and counting arena foolish:

• "Brister has turned thumbs-down to funding pleas from a long list of worthy organizations, including Habitat for Humanity, Brentwood Recovery Home and the Children's Aid Society."

It is the utmost of hyprocisy not "spinal fortitude" to turn down worthyimportant causes in the community but then be part of a huge costly arena. Remember Brister had said:

• "Compared with real needs like deficient sewers and pothole pandemics, he said an arena would be far down on his list of priorities. "Not even my 10th or 20th choice."
  
  He fears the city is getting involved in a project that will cost taxpayers far more than anticipated.
  
  "Do I believe it's going to be limited to $15 million? No way. And if we enter into a partnership with somebody, who generally ends up entertaining the risk? We do."

I don't remember him showing his guts by voting NO on the arena!