Making A Fool Of Oneself

Every so often I will get an e-mail from or I will speak with a Reader of my BLOG. The person will tell me that perhaps I am being a bit too harsh on [Name of Person].

In such a case I will reconsider my approach but in the end I usually find that my criticism cannot compare with what these people do to themselves. Moreover, I take a look at the comments on the Windsor Star Forums and in many cases my remarks are mild compared with what other people say.

Honestly, I do not have the imagination, even if I was writing a fictional BLOG about a person, to come up with some of the things that these people do.

And that brings me to Councillor Ken Lewenza Jr. who is also the Chair of the Windsor Utilities Commission. You probably did not know that because during the last WUC fiasco, the Chair was virtually invisible as the Mayor did all the talking.

A few days ago in a Star A3 Column, the Councillor/Chair attacked Bloggers. That is fair because we go after him. One has to have a thick skin after all if one writes a political BLOG. But the manner of his attack was personal and ad hominem:

• “Lewenza lumped Halberstadt in with the small group of dissidents "who are often negative and like to create a lot of noise."
  
  Halberstadt's true constituents aren't the residents of Windsor, but the online bloggers more interested in raising their profiles than offering constructive ideas, he said.”

That is hardly what I would consider a reasoned argument. Take a look at what the Three Musketeers said the other day and you can see from whom Junior learned:

• “Mayor Eddie Francis and County Warden Nelson Santos as well as acting commission CEO Remo Mancini accused the agency's critics of spreading innuendo through the news media.”

As I have Blogged before, no one is more professional in destroying this region in the national media than our Politicians. No Blogger in town could ever do the harm that our politicians have done for years now.

In the same respect, no Blogger could damage the reputation of Councillor Lewenza the way the Councillor is doing it to himself.

As an example, who was the Councillor who introduced the Motion to “Buy Canadian.” Yet who was the Councillor who voted in camera for hiring a foreign consultant under the sole source provisions of the Purchasing Bylaw to do a study on the airport? JUNIOR!

The poor Councillor did not understand that he was set up and that when the Resolution went public he would be slaughtered. Moreover, his discomfort obviously heightened when he saw the Saturday Star story that a subsidiary of Luftansa, the German airline, was going to do the work.

Poor Councillor Lewenza… he thought he would be protected because the name of the Foreign Consultant was supposed to have been kept confidential on the report that was made public. No one would have known. No one would have been the wiser. His “BUY FOREIGN AND SOLE SOURCE” could not have turned around and bit him in the rear end before the Buy Canadian Motion is heard. Now it has and he looks foolish.

Did he not know we already had a consultant's report on the airport and the consultant turned thumbs down on it? That was called SERCO walking away from Windsor.

• "In 2006, Serco Aviation Services Inc. had announced that it requested early termination of its contract with the City of Windsor regarding its management of the Airport."

Pssst, between you and me, dear reader, who do you think leaked the story to the Star for his/her own glory and to ridicule Junior?

Please believe me. I could not have made this stuff up in my wildest imagination.

Then the latest faux pas is this story in the Star:

• “Consultant to gauge public tolerance for WUC rate increase
  
  Two years after a public outcry over an 86 per cent water rate increase, the Windsor Utilities Commission plans to hire a consultant to get the public’s input on whether to raise rates again this year…
  
  The board plans to solicit the public’s input through a hired consultant, who will confer with 150 residents invited to participate in a focus group in March and April, said chairman Ken Lewenza Jr.”

Is the Councillor/Chair so out of touch with reality? Can he be this foolish? I would expect that very few people will be tolerant of another rate increase or of the hiring a consultant to prove the obvious. I wonder if the Councillor/Chair will open up the bidding for a consultant to foreign and Canadian organizations or whether he will sole source a foreign one again.

In passing, after reading the McNamara/Burton Guest Column in the Star, if it is acted upon, then I might know a Consultant who would be available at a cost of about $1200 a day for three days a week and might be able to undertake the task.

As the Star quoted, the Councillor/Chair learned early on how to use ad hominem attacks:

• “When pressed about how WUC would regain the public’s trust, Lewenza blamed the media for spreading misinformation about the water rate increase and WUC. He did acknowledge that “there are things we could have done better.”

Oh my goodness, I may be wrong. He may have taught the Three Musketeers.

I could go on and on, dear reader about the Councillor, but you might think that I am unfair because after all the Councillor attacked Bloggers and you might think that I just want to hit back. Instead, may I direct you to the Star Forum and you can read what your fellow citizens are saying for themselves.

http://communities.canada.com/windsorstar/blogs/soundoff/archive/2009/02/27/300827.aspx

From 8:42 p.m. last night until 10:56 p.m. when the person responsible for the Forums must have gone home there were 67 comments in such a short time. It will be interesting to see how many there are today.

One last Lewenzaism. The guy whom I have not yet heard opposing a $3.2M freebie give-away for the Red Bull sponsorship for a one week-end event said on CKLW:

• "A request for a $300,000 interest-free loan for the Windsor Symphony Orchestra has struck a sour note with city councillor Ken Lewenza Jr. He doesn't think it's the best use of city resources. He says he'd find it difficult to believe that, after the difficult budget session that council has gone through, such a request could be granted."

But WUC can hire a consultant at what cost after the difficult budget session to tell WUC how to make rate increases tolerable. Another foolish remark.

The Councillor owes it to Lufthansa to fly over to Germany again at taxpayer cost again for the day and show them his Blackberry to tell them how citizens feel about the hiring of consultants. Fair's fair since

• "executives with Lufthansa Consulting turned to three visiting Windsor councillors and asked how a $220,000 proposal to study the feasibility into a similar facility at their municipal airport was being received by their community.
  
  "Positively," replied Mayor Eddie Francis. As proof, Ward 4 Coun. Ken Lewenza Jr., pulled out his city-issued Blackberry, displaying an online report bearing the headline -- "Cargo central."
  
  The story was splashed on the front page of the Windsor Star Saturday."

Of course, since Windsorites had not heard of this before, I do not understand how Junior could have taken such a foolish step. Do you think that the Councillor or the Mayor will direct them to the Forums?

After reading this BLOG, you will understand why my criticism of [Name of Person] is nothing by comparison. I do not have to make a fool of them. They are quite capable to do it to themselves better than I ever could!