Pushing Eddie's Button

I would have thought it was a simple matter to determine who was responsible for the "Kill Button" sound system installed at City Hall.

Not in Windsor.

Nothing is ever simple here when it comes to our City Hall. We have the silly spectacle of the "Mayor Said, Cogeco Said" to try and determine the truth of the matter.

Here is exactly what Eddie said during the Face-to-Face interview. Compare this with what was said in the Star today :

• "JOHN FAIRLEY: Didn’t know that. I got to ask you a question.
  
  MAYOR FRANCIS: That, that’s the number one issue (inaudible-two speaking at once)
  
  JOHN FAIRLEY: You watch this show all the time.
  
  MAYOR FRANCIS: Mm-hmm.
  
  JOHN FAIRLEY: Okay. What’s the deal…
  
  MAYOR FRANCIS: Well you send me the tapes.
  
  JOHN FAIRLEY: No I don’t. What’s the deal with that dump button, that microphone control thing that you…
  
  MAYOR FRANCIS: Oh thank you for asking me that question.
  
  JOHN FAIRLEY: Now but why would you do that?
  
  MAYOR FRANCIS: Listen, I always call…
  
  JOHN FAIRLEY: You didn’t, first off you didn’t, you did not, you did not ask other Councillors and they arrived and they showed up and all of a sudden this control thing you have of being able to cut everybody off. So why?
  
  MAYOR FRANCIS: Okay. I’m glad you asked the question.
  
  JOHN FAIRLEY: I’m glad I did too.
  
  MAYOR FRANCIS: Because I forget what Councillor you were asking the question to.
  
  JOHN FAIRLEY: Every one that comes on.
  
  MAYOR FRANCIS: You know why? Cogeco. [pause]
  
  JOHN FAIRLEY: Really?
  
  MAYOR FRANCIS: Yeah. The system in the Council Chambers needed to…the old microphone did that too, but the system in the Council Chambers, you’ll appreciate, people at home that watch Council meetings on Monday night were complaining that they were hearing the, the buzzing sound that was coming across the microphones or were not hearing what was being said at Council Chamber because it wasn’t being transmitted properly. So as I understand it, the City Clerks met with Cogeco and there was an agreement that we needed to update our systems and when they updated our systems the same company that did the last microphone, has got this microphone and that’s the feature that they have. That’s where it is.
  
  JOHN FAIRLEY: But the buzzing sound was people on Council receiving stuff on their blackberries …
  
  MAYOR FRANCIS: But you don’t hear the buzzing…
  
  JOHN FAIRLEY: …from people watching at home.
  
  MAYOR FRANCIS: Oh I know, that’s…
  
  JOHN FAIRLEY: And here’s the question to ask, right, that was going on.
  
  MAYOR FRANCIS: Right, that was going on and I’ve asked Councillors not to use their blackberries for that purpose because I feel if you’ve got something to say you can say it in the Council Chamber. But now since the system’s been upgraded you notice that the buzzing sound is not longer there. Right. So it’s, it’s an old facility and they’ve upgraded the system.
  
  JOHN FAIRLEY: If you…
  
  MAYOR FRANCIS: But I love the question. I love the question to the Councillor as if I wanted to cut them off and stuff like that and…
  
  JOHN FAIRLEY: But you do cut some of them off.
  
  MAYOR FRANCIS: Well because you have told me as others have told me, I got to keep them on track.
  
  JOHN FAIRLEY: {slight laugh}
  
  MAYOR FRANCIS: We’d be there all night.

Notice that the Mayor said that there were public complaints, that there was a meeting with Cogeco and an agreement was reached that there was a need to upgrade the system

Here is what Eddie said in the Star today:

• "The mayor said Wednesday he has handled meetings no differently and interjects only to enforce rules and procedures during meetings.
  
  "As chair of the meetings, it's my responsibility to ensure the meeting is flowing," he said. "That's been the case from day 1. Nothing has changed."
  
  
  TV Cogeco, which broadcasts council meetings, had been complaining about the old microphone system and its audio quality, the mayor said.
  
  It was the city clerk's office that handled the upgrade, Francis said.
  
  "I came to council one night and they said, 'this is the way the thing works,'" he said."

Notice that now the Mayor said that TV Cogeco was the complainant and that there was no mention of a meeting or an agreement.

Cogeco said in the Star:

• "Robert Scussolin, programming manager for TV Cogeco, said it had nothing to do with changes to the sound system in council chambers and said the cable broadcaster has never made any demands for audio improvements.
  
  A statement by Francis on a recent Face to Face broadcast with host John Fairley, where he pointed to TV Cogeco as the reason for the upgrade, "caught me off guard," Scussolin said.
  
  "I've been the manager for five years and don't recall us saying get a new system for us. I didn't know we had that much power.
  
  "When we go there, we just plug in our cameras and into their audio system. The radio stations and other media need to plug into it as well. It is the city's system, we don't own it. We never said what to purchase or what options should be be included on it."

No complaints by Cogeco, no meeting and no agreement

You tell me what the truth really is.