Nelson Eddie And McNamara's Band

I wonder if Warden Nelson Santos likes all the pressure that he is being put under these days to ensure that he joins the Undevelopment Commission Board.

The reason is quite simple. If he does not go on the Board then neither does Eddie. And our Mayor must have some really big reason for trying to salvage the Commission for him to be so aggressive about it at Council last Monday night.

Fortunately, Dr. Albert Schumacher, the Vice-Chair of the Board, has made it very easy for the Warden. His huge Guest Column in the Windsor Star is so ridiculous in my opinion and so out of touch with what the Community is saying that the Warden should refuse to sit on the Board and should introduce a motion to wind it up immediately. Of course, before it is wound up, he must ensure that a proper forensic audit is done of the Board so that we will know exactly how our taxpayer and Credit Union money has been spent.

I would certainly like to know about all of the trips to Europe, who went and what they spent! Also, did they travel out of YQG or DTW!

I have never been a fan of the Undevelopment Commission given what they thought that their mandate was and their lack of action in doing anything significant. The recent events that have been disclosed in the Star just compound how troubled this Organization is.

It is a mess and yet, Dr. Schumacher seems oblivious to this fact. If that column was designed to be persuasive, then it failed. I found it arrogant and patronizing.

Can you believe this statement:

• “While we know that Mayor Eddie Francis and Warden Nelson Santos have the communities' best interest at heart, returning political representation to the development commission is not the answer.”

My mind boggles. Who has ever suggested that? The concern is the way that they are carrying on business now: making nice brochures, creating award-winning websites and going on tradeshows overseas to Europe at taxpayer and Credit Union member expense. Preposterous!

The only reason we are having this conversation about the Mayor and the Warden is because the Commission is failing. Frankly, he should be thrilled that the conversation is not about winding up this Organization completely and starting anew! That is what I would propose.

There seems to be no recognition by the good doctor that the troubles of the Commission are of its own makings. I see that he has learned from the cheerleader/sycophant book of sayings how to call opponents names rather than dealing with issues:

• “Under these conditions we must find a new chief executive officer with a unique set of qualifications and new ideas to lead our region and assist the board in bringing new investment and employment opportunities…
  
  The board realizes that there are those who would detract us from this goal, who feel the need to insert a different agenda and grasp at the absence of a CEO as an opportunity to destabilize the ongoing work. I would remind those professional critics…”

I wonder who those detractors are and those professional critics. I guess it must be those people who believe that taking 10 months to fill a position is absurd. If the Big Three can undertake a massive reorganization in a few months in order to obtain Government funds, it seems to me that it should not be such a difficult task to find one person in all of this time.

Perhaps Dr. Schumacher could have explained to us the process that the Commission went through that seemed to be able to hire a new Vice President so quickly. I do not understand why they did not follow that process as well to try to find a new CEO.

To be blunt about it, I would wonder why anyone would want to come to Windsor to work for this Commission. It is a joke. It appears that our salvation will be unemployed executives of companies that have gone out of business or who have been downsized. No disrespect intended but if they did not make it at their old jobs what makes one think that they will be successful with the Commission in attracting new business and jobs here.

Dr. Schumacher tries to explain why it takes 10 months to hire a CEO. I wish he would explain why was necessary to hire a Vancouver headhunting firm rather than someone in Ontario. Someone has to pay for the travel bills don’t they.

My goodness hiring someone from the “municipal economic development field” is not good enough for us. We need someone with contacts “beyond those in the traditional municipal field.” There is that good old Windsor entitlement attitude again. We deserve something better.

In fact, I believe that the Doctor stated that he attended a number of Ontario Development Commissions meetings and he was not impressed with very many of the people that he met there. You know those people don’t you, the ones who have brought jobs and industries to their communities already.

But it is interesting that he glosses over what everyone seems to be upset about now. As Chair, CEO Evaluation & Review Committee, it seems to me that he needed to explain how Chair Mancini became the Interim CEO. He also needed to explain how he became a member of the Search committee. He did not set out whether anyone within the Board recognized that there was a possible conflict between searching for a new leader and receiving $1200 a day while there was no leader and how was that dealt with?

I wish the Vice-Chair had told us what Board Members were thinking and saying over this 10 month period. Were any of them asking questions about why this process took so long? I wonder if any of the business people who were on the Board would have allowed their businesses to be run in this fashion, without a leader for almost a year.

Does Dr. Schumacher not get it? Does he not understand how foolish this statement is:

• “That person will plug our region into the emerging world of creative industries as envisioned by the recent provincial report by Dr. Richard Florida that will form a new template for economic development -- that frankly overlooked our area.”

Why was our area overlooked? Why did Dr. Florida ignore us? What has the Development Commission been doing so that we would be at the forefront when one thought about creative industries in locating in Ontario? The answer would seem to be… not very much.

How could Dr. Schumacher write the following statement. I do not remember anyone asking for permanent representation by politicians:

• “The partnership and synergy that exists between the three bodies in our collective efforts will in fact be diminished by the inclusion of political representation on the commission.”

Even our Mayor who seems so protective of the Commission did not want to remain a member for a very long period of time. He stated six months maximum. I expect that the County will ask for a much shorter at a time period to make a determination whether the Commission has any value at all. I would suspect perhaps 30 to 90 days might be the most that they would be prepared to accept.

I did not see anything in the column as well about the Schumacher Research and Leadership Group. Why not? That is an issue that was raised both by a City Councillor and by the Windsor Star. Does he think that this is something that need not be discussed, that no one cares about? I trust that this is a matter that will be discussed at County Council because it appears our City Councillors were not aware of this matter when they voted to put the Mayor on the Board. I am certain that they would have asked some insightful questions to get answers before voting.

No one questions the dedication of Board members. No one questions their calibre. No one questions their “desire to see our community grow and prosper.” What people are questioning are the issues that Dr. Schumacher chose not to address in his column because he has no satisfactory answer.

Dr. Schumacher’s Column is the reason why the Warden should not spend his efforts to try to salvage the unsalvageable. It would be a waste of effort frankly if this is the doctor speaking on behalf of all the existing Board Members.

Who knows, perhaps they all have threatened to resign if politicians are put on the Board, even temporarily. I hope so. Call their bluff and let them all go! It would make life easier for the Councils

The Warden's real challenge should be how can he set up a new Organization that will actually do the job of attracting new businesses to our area and help our existing businesses grow and diversify thereby creating jobs.

As well, if the Warden chooses this approach, he does not get caught up in the world of City of Windsor politics and also sticks it to his political opponents.