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I just wanted to clear out the cupboards of leftover 2008 items. Just a few more items that you might find of interest.

SO MUCH FOR GREENLINK

And all this time I thought the Mayor and Council were concerned about the quality of life of Windsorites. Piffle!

It has absolutely nothing to do with whatever it is that Eddie's legal Dream Team was talking about at Council. It has nothing to do with the area of mass destruction around the DRIC Road. It has nothing to do with tunnels or Schwunnels.

If Eddie can say this at a media scrum, then someone needs to ask him what his multimillion dollar opposition to the DRIC Road is and why he is stalling. It is absolutely clear from his comment that he and Council are prepared to back off from their Greenlink position provided that they are given certain things now:

• "Let me be very clear as it relates to the local commentary that has been expressed as it relates to construction and jobs. City council and the city of Windsor and myself would be the first to stand in support of this project if the province of Ontario guarantees 20,000 jobs will be in this community at the beginning of 2009."

Wait a minute. There is no concern about air quality here. No concern about residents' health. No concern that the DRIC Road does not link communities. No concerns at all.

As the joke goes, DRIC now knows what Eddie and Council are. They are just negotiating over price.

BUSINESS SENSE

If I offered you the opportunity to discuss business with our Young Entrepreneur of the Year, the Mayor of Windsor, or a person who is ranked #321 on the Forbes list of the 400 richest billionaires in America, which would you choose?

The answer I would have thought is self-evident.

If you were to follow the advice of these two people as to what you should do in this time of economic distress, which one would you choose?

Again, the answer I would have thought is obvious.

You probably thought that the person to whom I was referring was Matty Moroun of the Ambassador Bridge Company. While that was his ranking, he actually tied with another person in Detroit, Roger Penske.

Here is what Roger Penske did in Detroit:

• “Detroit Grand Prix group understands cancellation
  
  A group of about 100 Detroit Grand Prix Association volunteers gathered Thursday night at Rumors on the River on East Jefferson for its annual Christmas party.
  
  On everyone's lips was the cancelation of the 2009 Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix, which had leaked out a few hours earlier.
  
  No rumor -- just plain, cold facts. With the Motor City suffering from an economy in crisis, organizers of the race thought they could not, in good faith, stage the event scheduled for Labor Day weekend.
  
  Roger Penske, the force behind the return of the GP to Belle Isle in 2007, pulled the plug -- with the understanding of the Detroit city officials, event sponsors and the Indy Racing League, the race's sanctioning body.
  
  Merrill Cain attended the Christmas function. Cain, who has run the GP's public relations efforts from his office at the Renaissance Center, wasn't putting a spin on the night's mood. He was bitterly disappointed, like everyone, but he understood the necessity of cancelling the race.
  
  "With a lot of folks in Michigan hurting, it just wasn't right to stage the event," Cain said. "We all had a few beers and talked about it. Everybody wants this race to come back. But we knew it wasn't a good situation to go ahead next year with it."
  
  Even with Washington coming to the aid of Detroit automakers Friday, the decision to cancel the Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix is a good one.
  
  The Detroit Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau reports last year's event generated $55 million in economic impact for metropolitan Detroit and another $12.8 million in direct spending in Detroit and the surrounding tri-county area. But to expect the public to shelve out that kind of money for the 2009 event in such economically challenging times would have been foolish and arrogant.”

Although it has not been announced, the information I have received, and it is posted on another BLOG in Windsor, is that our Mayor has been successful in bringing Red Bull back to Windsor. While congratulations are in order for him to do so, one wonders why he has not yet publicized it.

Could it be that the Mayor is out there looking for Sponsorship money in the amount of several million dollars and is having difficulty collecting it. After all, this is Windsor, not Detroit, which ran the event last time. With these tough economic times, I expect that our Mayor will have great difficulty in convincing businesses to provide that kind of money for a frivolity when they are hurting financially because of the distressed economy.

The auto companies certainly will not be able to help since they would be slammed by the Government officials in Washington, Ottawa and Toronto who have just given them bridge loans. If the United Way goals have dropped from from $9.3 million in 2001 to $6.5 million in 2008, I would think that any business that contributed to an air race might be criticized for not donating that money to a charity instead.

If the Windsor International Air Show was given such a hard time because of “process” for a $10,000 City sponsorship, does anyone believe that Councillors have the nerve to commit $3 million to the Red Bull race? I’m sure they would not be so foolish as to take out this money from the reserves or the Budget stabilization fund or somehow offset it from the $20 million that the City will be receiving from the Province. Surely, the Council would not claim that they are using part of the $4 million for the Arena that was received from the Province for this.

I would doubt that Eddie would try and run the Sponsorship through the Visitors’ Bureau or the Airport or even the Development Commission since these organizations don’t have that kind of money.

I would think that perhaps the Senior Levels might be the only reasonable source of money considering that former Senator Fortier seemed to be able to gather government money to try to save the Montreal Grand Prix. However, considering the number of snubs, I would think that this source of money would be dried up for anything to do with Windsor.

I would think that our Mayor should perhaps contact his friend Roger and ask for a copy of the news release that he sent out with respect to the Grand Prix not being run this year. If Eddie has any sense what he will do is tell us all that he was successful in bringing back the Red Bull Air Race so that he can be our big hero but that he has decided that it is not the time to run this race in this City this year with all of our economic difficulties. In this way, he shows some empathy for his fellow citizens.

He wins both ways if he does this. However, I don’t think he’s capable of doing so. He had the chance to do so on Face-to-Face but did not. Who knows, I might be surprised.

IT'S ALIVE. IT'S ALIVE

If the hint given in the Henderson column some time ago that he might be retiring is true, then if I was the Mayor, I would try and hire him either full time or on a retainer basis to be my Communications guru. I am sure that he would not charge the quarter of a million dollars that the Mayor wanted to spend for a PR Group but even if he did, he would be worth the price to the Mayor.

Who else but Gord could almost make me feel guilty about not demanding that my tax money be used for the Francis/Cooke “pie-in-the-sky” canal scheme. I almost was made to feel that I would be characterized as a "detractor" if I did not go along with building this project that will revitalize our downtown so that "visitors [could go] home with fond memories and great impressions to pass on to friends and relatives." Just like the almost $1 million spent on fixing up our entranceways, but for the weeds, that visitors would see as they whizzed down Dougall and other avenues.

Yes, let's spend money for visitors and forget about those sewer backups and potholes.

Obviously, the Mayor did not want to announce the results of the Cooke study at this time because he literally would be laughed out of town if he dared try to suggest that it move forward. I have heard from a person who is very close to City Hall that the Report had been completed sometime ago and that in fact it came in under the outrageous $60 million cost that had been floated. But then again, they should have floated $100 million so that the “savings” would have been so much more spectacular.

However, we learned in the Henderson column that the Report that should have been out by now will be out in February. What a nice Valentines Day present for us

• “Things are coming along. I'm still hopeful it will happen," said Cooke, explaining that the engineering feasibility study, conducted by Landmark Engineering of Windsor, is 95 per cent complete and the economic feasibility study, by UrbanMetrics Inc. of Toronto, should be finished by the end of February.”

There was a mention in the Henderson column of a new company. In case you are wondering who Pristine Power Inc. is, they are the people who are proposing

• “84 MW natural gas-fired cogeneration facility using modern technology to generate reliable clean power for over 80,000 homes in the Windsor area and steam for Ford's Windsor operations. The project will encompass approximately 1.5 acres of industrial land, located adjacent to the existing Ford powerhouse and will be equipped with modern emission controls to meet all federal and provinical air quality standards.”

If it was not for those silly landlords who delayed by a month the setting up of the Town & Gown committee since they thought that the City was trying to force them out of business, I am sure that the Report would have been out a lot sooner. It would not surprise me if the Report suggested that the focus of the canal vision could be buildings constructed by the University and St. Clair College along with student housing. However, there I am being cynical again.

It is so much easier for Gord to write about “vision for a downtown renaissance,” “the dream of a Little Venice,” “pie-in-the-sky schemes,” and “eye candy.” Why I bet he can do it almost with his eyes closed after he has supported so many of Eddie’s other dreams.

Gord asks

• “Is the dream still alive? Even in these hard times? You bet it is.”

Yes, so much easier than doing one column about the 400 Building audit and the joke that it has become.

REASSURANCE

Wow, is our Mayor ever lucky that Prime Minister Stephen Harper made a personal phone call to him about the letter that he sent with respect to the automobile industry. Just take a look at this Reuters update:

• UPDATE 3-Canada auto plan expected to be unveiled Saturday
  Fri Dec 19, 2008 5:50pm GMT
  
  (Adds comments by mayor of Windsor, Ontario)
  
  By John McCrank
  
  TORONTO, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper will unveil an aid package for Canada's auto industry on Saturday, responding to Washington's move to provide U.S.-based automakers with $17.4 billion in emergency funding…
  
  The spokesman declined to give more details of what Harper would announce on Saturday. The prime minister will appear with Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty.
  
  Eddie Francis, mayor of Windsor, Ontario, across the border from Detroit, said he spoke to Harper last Friday about the crisis in the auto industry.
  
  "He left me with the impression that they were on top of it and I walked away very reassured that they understood the significance of this industry to the economy," he said.
  
  About 45,000 jobs in Windsor are tied directly to the auto industry.
  
  "Our lifeline is extended today -- we are not out of the woods yet -- but what it means is that this industry has bought 90 days and our communities have bought 90 days," he said."

What a slap in the face to the Prime Minister however. I thought that the Federal Government and the Mayor were on good terms. The best that the PM could do was to leave Eddie with the “impression” that he knew what he was doing rather than Harper actually knowing what he was doing.

I will bet that Stephen and Dalton are so reassured that our Mayor is reassured. At least for 90 days after which the canal vision will come out to make us feel so much better. Isn’t that reassuring for us all too.

NOW AND THEN

• Reuters:
  
  "Ken Lewenza, president of the Canadian Auto Workers union, lauded the U.S. package, but criticized concessions included in the deal that could lower wages and benefits, saying they weakened his own position in bargaining for a Canadian package.
  
  Lewenza has resisted the idea of wage and benefit cuts, but he said the union would find a way to work with the provincial and federal governments to find a solution.
  
  "I never said (concessions) were a nonstarter," he said."
  
• National Post/Windsor Star:
  
  "CAW offers no breaks for auto bailout
  'We've suffered'
  Nicolas Van Praet, National Post, Published: Tuesday, November 18, 2008
  
  Canadian Auto Workers union president Ken Lewenza yesterday rejected calls for his members to make concessions as part of any taxpayer-funded rescue of Detroit's car manufacturers, saying labour did not create the crisis now threatening General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC with collapse.
  
  His comments came as U. S. senators began debating the merits of a US$25-billion emergency loans package for Detroit. The White House said the deal does not have sufficient political support to succeed.
  
  In Ottawa, a senior government official said Stephen Harper's Conservative government has not made any decision on offering parallel aid.
  
  "We don't see this as us being the problem," Mr. Lewenza said, adding he would "absolutely not" accept any further cuts after losing tens of thousands of jobs in recent years. "We've suffered our share of pain."

WINDSOR IS TRIVIAL

All of a sudden, I have seen a couple of news stories where facts about Windsor are the subject matter of a quiz. Perhaps that would is what we should do, name a game after the City so that we would get worldwide attention. How about "THINK BIG Pursuit" or "The Entitlement Game."

Here are the quizzes:

TORONTO SUN

16. Dwight Duncan, who represents Windsor-Tecumseh, asks: Which of the following facts is NOT true about Windsor?
a) The first urban settlement in what is now the City of Windsor was named Sandwich in 1797.
b) Windsor was the final terminus of the Underground Railroad.
c) The child-resistant, push-'n-turn caps on medicine bottles that are now accepted worldwide by the pharmaceutical industry were invented by a doctor and pharmacist from Windsor.
d) The Windsor/Detroit Tunnel is the longest underwater international vehicle tunnel in the world.
e) Windsor is often lovingly referred to as the "Rose City."

Answer is (d) The Chunnel, that connects the U.K. and France, has the longest undersea portion of any tunnel in the world.

SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

3. If you're in Windsor, Ontario, but would rather be in Detroit, which direction should you head?

HOLISTIC MEDICINE

If you happen to pass an Executive of one of the Big Three auto companies in Canada and you see them dressed in robes and chanting a mantra, here is why. They are trying to please the PM. This was part of the PM's Press Release about financial aid to the auto industry to help cure them of their financial woes:

• "With these measures taken together, Canada is following a holistic approach that will benefit the entire supply chain,” said the Prime Minister."

GREENLINK PRIZE

I had one further thought with respect to Gord's column about the big prize that Sam won.

Which Greenlink proposal was submitted? Was it the first Greenlink, the Son of Greenlink or, if Eddie decides to do another version, would it be Greenlink: The Next Generation.

Don't you think it would be rather awkward for Eddie and Sam to stand up at the podium and receive an award for a project that they have junked?

D.I.R.T.

I really would like to be able to say that the DRTP's DIRT project---Detroit International Rail Tunnel---or was it DRRT, made sense but I cannot yet.

Sure, a whole bunch of people apparently liked it but then again, many of them also thought DRTP's truck tunnel was a great idea and you know what happened to it!

The Detroit Regional Chamber supports the proposal. Yet I wondered how they could do so considering they had all of these concerns:

• Approvals/Permits Required: DRTP has stated that roughly 60 permits must be obtained before they can proceed with construction of the project; To-date, DRTP has not applied for or obtained any of these permits.
• EIS: An Environmental Impact Analysis of the project has not been conducted to-date.
• Cost-Benefit Analysis: A detailed cost-benefit analysis of the project has not been made available to support the project benefits outlined in the rail tunnel proposal.
• Additional Information Required

In order for the Chamber and other interested organizations to conduct a comprehensive review and analysis of the DRTP’s proposal, the following additional information would be required:

• Detailed information regarding plans for the design, construction, proposed alignment highway and rail access and egress, etc. for the proposed new high clearance rail tunnel.
• Updated planning data and statistics that document the demand for additional rail capacity in the Detroit-Windsor corridor. Similar data which documents the projected future increase in intermodal freight traffic in the nation.
• Statistics from MDOT on rail traffic volume in Michigan indicating that the majority of Canadian Pacific (CP) rail traffic is pass-through from Toronto to Chicago via Detroit at their Oak Yard facility.
• A potential area of concern is spin-off development. Historical planning data indicates that spin-off development typically occurs not where the tunnel traffic flows, but where the freight is actually handled and processed, i.e. at intermodal freight facilities.
• What information and data are available to document the cost-benefits to the region of this project – i.e. new economic activity or the generation of new jobs?
• Specifically, how will the local business community and industry benefit from the tunnel project, and who are potential customers?
• How will this project impact current plans for development of the Detroit Intermodal Freight Terminal (DIFT), and what is being done to coordinate those plans with MDOT?
• How will this project impact the environment and local transportation infrastructure in the region, i.e. adjourning streets and roads?
• What other state and local planning agencies are you working with to obtain support for the project, i.e. Corps of Engineers, SEMCOG, etc.?
• What approvals or permits are required for CP to move forward with this proposal?
• What municipal or other political support is required to move forward?

What a way to run a railroad!

Eddie On Face-To-Face

John Fairley does it again! His interview of the Mayor was masterful, allowing the Mayor to say what he wanted but pushing him into saying some things I am certain that he did not want to say.

As I have said before, John has a different style depending on whom he interviews. No matter, he gets the information out there.

Here are some excerpts from John’s interview that I thought might be interesting for you. It is just a sampler of what you will see on his complete interview with the Mayor on Cogeco.

Now if only Councillor Brister would have the nerve to appear on the show. I'd love to have John interview him about how the Arena was on budget.

MAYORAL PRIORITIES

JOHN FAIRLEY: Why weren’t you at that luncheon?

MAYOR FRANCIS: Oh I had a prior family commitment. As you can appreciate, they didn’t, they didn’t even give us notice until I think a month prior to it. So it was my wife’s…

JOHN FAIRLEY: Why didn’t the Councillors go?

MAYOR FRANCIS: ….it was my wife’s birthday weekend. I don’t know, you’re going to have to ask them. Let me go back to…

JOHN FAIRLEY: Yeah but don’t you send Councillors out? We knew there was one councillor there out of ten councillors. There’s other events, someone always goes on your behalf.

MAYOR FRANCIS: Sure.

JOHN FAIRLEY: So why didn’t anybody go?

MAYOR FRANCIS: Well you just said there was a Councillor there, so. And I know there were tons of City staff that were there as well. As far as I’m concerned I had a long standing family commitment. It was my, it was my birthday, my wife’s birthday weekend and certainly…

[While I cannot fault the Mayor for placing such importance on family, nevertheless he is the Mayor of a City of 200,000 people who do depend on him as well. He has a responsibility to citizens since he is our Leader. Considering that he had a month of time to change his family plans, his failure to attend the Premier's luncheon is inexcusable given the potential "death" of this city, in the Mayor's terms. And it was not his wife's 40th birthday either.

I saw this ad in the Star which you may find interesting as well

DID THE PREMIER BIAS THE DRIC PROCESS

JOHN FAIRLEY: Why would Premier Dalton McGuinty come to town and says we’re eager to move on it [DRIC ROAD].

MAYOR FRANCIS: anyways, back to your point in terms of the Premier. I fundamentally disagree with the Premier. The Premier’s comments that it’s the responsibility of leadership to make decisions. Okay. It’s the responsibility of leadership to make the right decision in difficult circumstances…When other cities are adopting GreenLink concepts and putting them into place to become economic competitiveness, doesn’t the Premier have a responsibility to sit back and say shouldn’t we look at doing things differently? And that’s where the Premier’s responsibility lies. More importantly, the Premier has an obligation to ensure that the integrity of the Environmental Assessment is not compromised. And that he put this process in place. He agreed to this process. This process…

JOHN FAIRLEY: Do you think he crossed a line with his comments?

MAYOR FRANCIS: Well I think his comments…

JOHN FAIRLEY: You’re a lawyer?

MAYOR FRANCIS: I, I believe his comments are very prejudicial because basically, and I don’t need, you don’t need to be a lawyer to understand this or appreciate it. DRIC is in the City of Windsor and DRIC is saying we have until December the 12th to respond to the current proposal. The Premier’s coming down on December the 5th, seven days before submission deadline and says don’t even bother. There’s an inconsistency and they can only answer it.

[If the Mayor is taking the position that the Premier's comments are prejudicial, then there is no reason to wait. He should immediately commence a lawsuit that he has threatened forever. Nothing can possibly be done, even waiting for what the Mayor claims is the DRIC timeline, to undo the bias]

DRIC LAWSUIT

JOHN FAIRLEY: Do you, do you and Council have the mandate to stop this process legally?

MAYOR FRANCIS: We as a community have the opportunity, and I think this is the important part to recognize, there is an environmental assessment. The environmental assessment is law in the Province of Ontario. The law and the legislation in the Province provides a number of opportunities for stakeholders, such as us, to provide input, to provide comment…

MAYOR FRANCIS: But we, we have different avenues available to us. Legal being one of them, okay. But it’s also important to recognize the timelines here. DRIC. The Province of Ontario. Dwight. Sandra. Premier McGuinty. Dave Wake. All of the partners associated with DRIC know the timelines. The timelines have been very, very clear…

so John, back to your earlier question about what our options are? We have another year of options available to us. And make no mistake about it, City Council has given clear direction that we are going to do what we need to do…

JOHN FAIRLEY: Did you vote in-camera to go to court? Is that a strategy on the table for the City of Windsor?

MAYOR FRANCIS: Absolutely. It’s always been a strategy and that shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone.

[See comment above. A "year of options." What a farce.]

MEMBERS’ INTEGRITY ACT ISSUE

JOHN FAIRLEY: Okay. What did you talk about with Dwight in the cab ride? The infamous cab ride we heard about?

MAYOR FRANCIS: You know I’m not…

JOHN FAIRLEY: Did you talk about the border?

MAYOR FRANCIS: I’m not going to get into …

JOHN FAIRLEY: Did you talk about the border?

MAYOR FRANCIS: Well I won’t talk about…yeah we did…I’m not going to get into the details of it, but I can tell you exactly the general premise. I said to Minister Duncan, and the conversation I had with Minister Duncan is consistent with the conversation that I’ve had publicly. I’ve explained GreenLink. And just like you started off this show by asking me what the principles of GreenLink were, is exactly what I explained to him. And as I said at the St. Clair College meeting, you got to look at those three key residential areas and those high dense areas and find a way to plug up the holes to protect those residents.

[I wonder if the Opposition will ever act]

TUNNEL DEAL

JOHN FAIRLEY: Okay. We have the tunnel…give us an update on the tunnel deal. We, it’s reported in the news that there’s 1.8 legal fees already…

MAYOR FRANCIS: Mm-hmm.

JOHN FAIRLEY: …calculated. Where is it at and where are things going?

MAYOR FRANCIS: Well the tunnel deal right now is, the ball’s in Detroit’s court. And has we had indicated earlier…

JOHN FAIRLEY: The cost of, the managing the debt, like infrastructure Ontario…

MAYOR FRANCIS: Mm-hmm.

JOHN FAIRLEY: …what would the cost be for the $75 million?

MAYOR FRANCIS: Well again, we never got to that point because there are different variations of the deal that were being negotiated with the Kilpatrick team. Obviously that deal did not happen. Those discussions stopped. So we’ll see what, what starts anew.

JOHN FAIRLEY: We don’t have a ballpark of what that is?

MAYOR FRANCIS: Obviously is there’s going to see a transaction, what you’d like to see is the financials, what it will cost. And as I’ve indicated and as Cliff Sutts has indicated and everybody else has indicated that’s associated with this file, and I think you have come to know me well enough in the community who understands we will not do anything unless there’s a, a supportable and sound business case. That business case…

JOHN FAIRLEY: From the information you have right now, is it a sound business case for…

MAYOR FRANCIS: But there, the deal…

JOHN FAIRLEY: …75…

MAYOR FRANCIS: …the deal never progressed to the point where we were ready to make the deal or close the deal. And I guess you literally do not know what the deal is until you’re in a position to…

JOHN FAIRLEY: Both sides.

MAYOR FRANCIS: … close the deal and until you have all the information. And the deal never got to the stage where it was a decision, okay we got to Council this week or next week because we’re ready to close the deal. Until you get those numbers and until you have a firm understanding of what the terms and conditions are, you really can’t really assess what the …

JOHN FAIRLEY: So you don’t have…

MAYOR FRANCIS: …business case is…

JOHN FAIRLEY: …firm numbers…

MAYOR FRANCIS: …but I can tell you…

JOHN FAIRLEY: …from Infrastructure Ontario.

MAYOR FRANCIS: …I can tell you….well Infrastructure Ontario is only one element of this, really. Infrastructure Ontario is just being approached to see whether or not we can borrow money from them at whatever the interest rate was that they were charging. That’s only one element of the deal. You’ve got traffic, you’ve got a number of other issues, you’ve got capital requirements. For us, the driving, the driver force, the driving force behind the discussions was that we cannot afford to have this entity, the American half fall into private hands because of the…

[Almost $2 million spent and the transaction never progressed to the point where one could even consider whether there was a business case made such that this transaction made sense. And no information about what Infrastructure Ontario offered. Unbelievable.]

DUNBAR AUDIT/REPORT ON 400 BUILDING

JOHN FAIRLEY: Okay. Alright. City Hall. 400 City Hall Square audit.

MAYOR FRANCIS: Mm-hmm.

JOHN FAIRLEY: Have you seen the Dunbar Report, have you read it?

MAYOR FRANCIS: No. No, I’ve seen… Elements of it.

JOHN FAIRLEY: You’re telling me that this Audit that’s so important, that you have not looked at it, never read it…?

MAYOR FRANCIS: it’s not an audit and it’s not complete until the Audit Committee submits their report… There was a time….we have an Audit Committee, we have a lot of faith in their abilities to do what they need to do. There was a time where there were, desired by the Audit Committee to bring elements of it in front of City Council and there was a question as to whether or not some of it was in-camera or not. So I had to see elements of the report to make a determination. And basically my, my conclusion back to the Audit Committee was no, when you’re done your work, then you come to City Council. Until you’re done your work, and you shouldn’t be in, in front of City Council.

[Citizens should at least be able to see the parts that the Mayor saw. But don't hold your breath.]

INDIAN ROAD HOMES

JOHN FAIRLEY: What about coming together to demolish homes on Indian Road?

MAYOR FRANCIS: I could you tell you exactly and I’m going to give you more insight in terms of the discussions I’ve had with the Ambassador Bridge. Contrary to their position, contrary to what they will lead you to believe, I’ve met with the Ambassador Bridge on several occasions on this very issue. With them were, was Susan Whelan. And I can tell you exactly what I said to them. And it’s something that’s consistent with what Councillors have said, but for some reason continues to go ignored, perhaps it’s for their own purpose. We said to them show us the plan.

JOHN FAIRLEY: It’s a buffer zone.

MAYOR FRANCIS: Show us a…

JOHN FAIRLEY: It’s a green buffer zone.

MAYOR FRANCIS: Where? Where’s the plan? Do you…

JOHN FAIRLEY: Well how would anybody know…

MAYOR FRANCIS: …know what they said to me?

JOHN FAIRLEY: …about it but you?

MAYOR FRANCIS: Do you know what they said to us?

JOHN FAIRLEY: What?

MAYOR FRANCIS: They’d like to take time to develop it. We said no-no-no, we, we’ll replace it with a buffer zone, show us your construction. Home goes down tomorrow, how long is it going to take you to replace it? What’s your construction cycle? What kind of landscaping are you going to put into place? How long do the people have to wait? The fear that we have is demolishing it and becoming a parking lot. Or overgrown with weeds. We support a buffer zone. We support replacing those homes if, if they can be replaced and they, they…

MAYOR FRANCIS: Why should the Bridge, why should the Bridge be given any more special treatment or any other different treatment than you and I would receive? ‘’

JOHN FAIRLEY: Okay.

MAYOR FRANCIS: The area’s under demolition control. Go read the bylaws. They’ve been that way forever. Demolition Control is very clear. To demolish, when an area’s under Demolition Control and someone wants to apply for a demolition permit, they have to provide for what they will replace that demolished property with…

JOHN FAIRLEY: It’s not personal?

MAYOR FRANCIS: It’s never been personal. They, they like, they’ll make it seem like it’s personal.

JOHN FAIRLEY: It’s not personal to you?

MAYOR FRANCIS: No, why should [inaudible] personal?

JOHN FAIRLEY: So you would support it if they gave, came with a plan and show the buffer zone ….

MAYOR FRANCIS: Right, but…

JOHN FAIRLEY: ….and where they’re going to plant the trees and…

MAYOR FRANCIS: …not the type of plan that has been overly promised on this community and then it, we all go away. A plan that’s real with definitive timelines, with a schedule that if we agree to it, this is going be and this is going to replace it and this is how long it’s going to take to replace it.

[Their homes were not treated in a manner similar to others. It must be that darned amnesia disease again.

I guess the Mayor forgot about the Bridge Company's appearance in front of Council where they were only allowed 10 minutes to speak and were granted no extensions. I guess he forgot that they brought along their model of what they wanted to do. He also must have forgotten about this press release as well issued by the Bridge Company:

• "The Bridge had hoped to use the space for landscaping adjacent to the new customs booths under construction just west of the current Bridge. The company is working with the University of Windsor and the Green Corridor on a master plan to landscape the Huron Church Road area to improve Windsor's environment.
  
  "Our goal is to improve the international crossing that is viewed by the 9.4 million cars and trucks each year that use the Ambassador Bridge. Regrettably council's decision will delay the development of the green buffer area adjacent to the newly expanded customs plaza," added Stamper. "We will continue to work with the Green Corridor, the University of Windsor and other community partners that are interested in improving the area."]

ARENA COST

JOHN FAIRLEY: What is the cost, all in?

MAYOR FRANCIS: All in, the cost to the City taxpayer will be approximately $63 million, $62.9 million, we just made a decision last week.

JOHN FAIRLEY: But you have to, I have to ask you, what is the cost of the land?

MAYOR FRANCIS: That’s all in.

JOHN FAIRLEY: No, no, but you you traded land downtown.

MAYOR FRANCIS: That’s included in that $63 million number.

JOHN FAIRLEY: You’re [inaudible] …servicing, servicing…

MAYOR FRANCIS: John I, John…

JOHN FAIRLEY: …paving..

MAYOR FRANCIS: John I, I hate to burst the bubble, I really do, because I know there’s a lot of people out there that want this to come in a hundred million dollars because that’s what they positioned themselves on. I remember when we first announced the arena, people were saying it’s going to be $105 million, $110 million, this thing’s going to be a catastrophe. It’s coming in under, under schedule. On the budget issue? The budget issue has always been what’s it going to cost the City of Windsor. Right? The initial cost to the City of Windsor was $64.9 million. We, we’re very fortunate to receive a provincial grant…

JOHN FAIRLEY: Right.

MAYOR FRANCIS: …and I’m very grateful to the Ministry of Sports and Culture and Tourism that provided that $4 million grant. And then of that grant we used some of it to fit it out for the entertainment. We took the other remaining $2 million and applied it against what the City would have to pay, which brought it down to $62.9 million. This past week there was about $115,000.00. So it’s around $62.9 million that the City will have to pay.

JOHN FAIRLEY: But the cost of land, the developing…

MAYOR FRANCIS: All that’s in there.

JOHN FAIRLEY: …the street lights. The ..

MAYOR FRANCIS: Cost of the land.

JOHN FAIRLEY: ….asphalting…

MAYOR FRANCIS: The asphalt of the parking lots.

JOHN FAIRLEY: …the servicing.

MAYOR FRANCIS: The servicing of the site. The, all of that’s in there. And it’s not, don’t take my word for it, these documents are very public documents. They have been public from day one. The budget, the detail, all of that’s there. Just go and review it. It’s all there.

[Where oh where is Councillor Brister to put our minds at rest. I guess the cost of the new parking lot will not be included in this amount.]

RED BULL

JOHN FAIRLEY: Red Bull Races I hear is coming in June. Is that true?

MAYOR FRANCIS: Well we’re still working on it. We’re not there yet. There’s a, we hope, we’ve made some progress but we’re not there yet.

JOHN FAIRLEY: How much is it going to cost us?

MAYOR FRANCIS: Well we’re not there yet and we’ll, we still have a lot of discussions. Obviously an event of this nature is a significant event and with it comes a cost, so we, we’re in discussions with them and we’re trying to see what we can do.

[If Roger Penske thought it inappropriate to run the Grande Prix in Detroit this year, I wonder what makes Eddie believe that he will find sponsorship of the air race for the millions involved.]

THIRD TERM

JOHN FAIRLEY: Okay. Alright. You gonna run as Mayor or you’re done?

MAYOR FRANCIS: Well I’ve still got two years to go.

JOHN FAIRLEY: Are you going to be…

MAYOR FRANCIS: I’ve got two years to go…

JOHN FAIRLEY: ..continuing?

MAYOR FRANCIS: …and we’ll talk. We’ll see.

JOHN FAIRLEY: Well you said on the show you weren’t. It’s a two-year term,

MAYOR FRANCIS: I’ve still got two years to go.

JOHN FAIRLEY: Okay.

MAYOR FRANCIS: My focus is the next two years.

[Please, someone, anyone, get your campaign team together and start gearing up for the next election. Eddie is going to run for a third term. Where else could he get paid this well! Or, is he playing the Mike Hurst game and will not run but will hold everyone off until the last possible second? The only way that he can control the Councillors for the next two years is if they believe that he may be the Mayor again.

Where is that Chicken Suit again!]

Francis Failures Continue

Now that you have read yesterday what the newspapers have said over the past few days, let us do a bit of analysis.

You have no choice but to read this stuff and weep for our City. I’m not trying to be mean. I did not write these articles. It is the Mayor who was quoted, not I. Do you see anything to be positive about? Do you see a plan in action? Or rather do you see a Mayor who has no idea what he is doing and whose sole function appears to be to talk a good game without performing. It is quite easy to do with Toronto media or the Canadian Press who really have no idea about what has gone on here.

Of course, no one can blame our Mayor for the collapse of the Big Three or the economic devastation caused by the financial meltdown. However, the articles make it clear that there were issues of economic diversification years ago:

• “Four or five years ago when manufacturing and automotive started to decline, we felt the impact immediately.”

A slight rewriting of history here because, according to our Mayor, the problem before was supposedly cyclical not structural. We had been through these ups and downs with the car industry before so what was everybody getting so excited about.

Wasn’t that why we had the report prepared with respect to a joint City/County Development Commission? That revolving door, rudderless organization is a disgrace that has not accomplished much over the past several years that it has been in existence other than waste money. Terrific, they finally accomplish something before the end of the year… a few more call-centre jobs.

• "There's no question that without a leader at the head of the commission, it presents a number of challenges for us in attracting investment to the region," said Nelson Santos, warden of Essex County and mayor of Kingsville. "I know that the existing staff is working hard and working overtime to pick up the slack but, with all due respect, it's not the same as having an executive director or a vice-president in place…”

Is there absolutely no sense of urgency?

When you read the newspaper articles, does what is being proposed sound familiar? It should. What does the Mayor talk about… plans that have been around for months and months and months and for which little has been accomplished. It actually would be nice if the Mayor spoke to “senior research and policy adviser entrusted with the task of getting the shuttle service off the ground.” While the Mayor claims:

• “We have been working with Saskatchewan and we're close to finalizing a program."

his policy adviser states

• “We're working with Saskatchewan officials on how we can make it happen. We're still at the very beginning."

It would be nice if they got their act together don't you think.

Back in July, “Mayor Seeks Information About Windsorites Travelling West.” There were FIVE questions to be answered and, according to the article, 69 responses. Incredibly, it has taken all this time to try to figure out what those responses mean. With the oil prices tanking in Western Canada, there is probably now no point in people going out there even if they were going to go out in the first place. Failure.

Let’s look at what else the Mayor talked about…he has grabbed on the idea of Windsor becoming a retirement community. Terrific except for the fact that he’s telling the world that Windsor is dying so who would want to move here. And until such time as we get over our shortage of doctors, 200 or so who are needed already, I doubt if too many seniors are going to come here. With stories of horrible roads and sewers that have been in the media recently, increasing taxes and a shrinking tax base… the Casino reassessment being the latest example… this is hardly the place for Seniors to come especially if they are on fixed incomes. With “a little seed money,” we can hardly compete against some of the major retirement communities in North America and elsewhere. Failure.

Now we are going to be a hub for agricultural products at the airport to be distributed across North America. Whatever happened to the start-up German onion importers that Eddie went to see twice in Europe? So what exactly are we doing: exporting to Europe, exporting to the United States, importing from Europe to distribute to the United States or all or none of the above? Failure.

Remember how supportive the Mayor was of the University’s Engineering Complex. NOT!

Of course you cannot forget his assertion that unless the University did it his way and located the Complex downtown, there would be no contribution from the City. Can you please tell me why “the research and development capacity that we have in the city is one of the best kept secrets in the country...." Why hasn’t our Mayor ensured that R&D is not a secret?

That it is a secret is no doubt true from a study prepared for the Development Commission:

• “A. Sandy Munro, CEO of Munro & Associates, Inc., on a fact-finding mission to Europe was shocked to find how far Windsor Essex had fallen off European companies’ radar. Many had been led to believe that the core of the MTDM business in Canada was in Toronto, Winnipeg and Montreal. Senior staff in 5 of the largest European companies (EADS, Volkswagen, BMW, Mercedes and Thales) had never even heard of Windsor, or the capabilities of the MTDM industry here. These companies have been outsourcing key work for the past 5 years to locations other than China and India demonstrating enormous lost opportunities for our region.
  
  The Region and the industry as a result of these findings must either move to raise its profile, or face irrelevance as a Global Supply Source.”

Wow, even consultants go to Europe at our expense. Oh I forgot, Windsor being an R&D centre is something that Dennison DesRosiers has been talking about and therefore not something that the Mayor can support. Failure.

The Mayor is still talking about creation of jobs. Exactly how many have been created recently? He can talk all he wants about the DRIC process and that there will not be a shovel in the ground until who knows when but he knows as well as everyone else that his stalling on full tunneling, Greenlink, Son of Greenlink and Greenlink: the Next Generation has caused this City untold grief. How dare he say

• “we need to continue to focus our efforts on creating jobs here, but we also need to be realistic in our assessment of the economic situation and challenges we are facing.”

To be realistic would have been working with the Senior Levels and the Ambassador Bridge Company years ago so that their projects could have started instead of threatening lawsuits or appearing in US Coast Guard hearings. That would have been the way he could have minimized difficulties as we were moving away from the automobile industry.

Seriously, what other City is fighting not to get billions of dollars in investments. Has City Hall been inhaling Tunnel exhaust for too long. Failure.

Our tourist industry…” a new convention centre, casino and arena…” not too shabby until one looks at the border crossing numbers and sees the number of vehicles and buses that are not coming to Windsor this year. And what are we doing about it? Have the City and County figured out yet how they are going to partner on increasing tourism? Failure.

To be honest, I do not understand why all these parts suppliers are moaning and groaning and even some of them are going out of business. Haven’t they heard, we are in the aerospace business. No, I do not mean promoting the Red Bull air race although we don’t have the millions of dollars needed yet for sponsorship at a time when Detroit is pulling out of its Grand Prix for economic reasons. I mean the aerospace industry. We have succeeded according to our Mayor

• “There is also an attempt to transition existing automotive infrastructure to meet changing market demands…
  
  "Parts suppliers that once used to supply strictly 100 per cent the automotive industry ... those parts suppliers are now transitioned and are now supplying the aerospace industry."

I went to the Development Commission site to see how many firms are actually involved in the aerospace business at least according to the Commission. Searching the word “aerospace” on their database, I found four companies.

Silly me, I forgot that we had a consultants’ Report prepared, "Changing the Paradigm for the Machine, Tool, Die and Mould Industry in Windsor Essex" so that we could talk about all of this rather than achieving something. Those consultants are really smart people too compared with our foolish business people:

• “The first question we ask any client or company in trouble is, “What is the objective of your business?” If the answer is anything other than “make a profit,” then we know the company is in serious trouble. We have asked this question of a number of MTDM companies in Windsor Essex and never once received the “appropriate” answer even after coaching individuals several times.”

We are so dumb here and the consultants so smart I guess. Failure.

It is enough already. It is a new year which ought to be a time of hope for us and not despair. Realistically however what do we have look forward to under the Leadership that we have in this City? I do not blame the Mayor alone although he must bear the greatest measure of blame since he is the only full-time politician and acts as the City’s CEO. I blame the Council as well for allowing him to achieve so little. They are virtually invisible and play little role in this City, even the loopy ones.

I trust it now that you understand why I am so angry at Prime Minister Harper. He could have solved our problem but didn’t.

There is a step that our Mayor could take that would accomplish the same result. I will let you figure out, dear reader, what that step is.

Francis Failures (Part 1)

I promise that I will not vote for a Conservative Party candidate, and neither should you dear reader, while Stephen Harper is the Leader. After all, what he did to this City and to the Region is a disgrace.

No, no, no… I am not talking about what he has put us through with respect to the automobile industry and jobs before he finally decided to provide billions of dollars to the industry. I’m talking about something much more important.

He had the opportunity to save this region by giving our Mayor a new job and he blew it. When he had that 10 minute “personal” phone call with the Mayor, I am certain that the “reassurance” part of that call took all of about 30 seconds. The remainder of the time was in effect a job interview.

You still do not get it do you. Harper had 18 Senate appointments and he did not give one to Eddie Francis. If he had, then Francis would no longer be our Mayor. Instead we have to put up with him for another two years.

Oh I know, you think I am being nasty. It is the beginning of the new year and some of you may have hoped that perhaps I might be a little bit more gentle towards our Mayor. How can I be? It is a good thing that I have not written anything for a few days because after reading the Toronto Star articles on Windsor on Christmas Eve morning, and some others that I read, I was literally sick.

You know already that I believe that our Mayor has failed us especially on the Border file. I do not take seriously anything that he says with respect to Greenlink anymore after this quotation which I have posted several times already but is worthwhile to post one more time:

• "City council and the city of Windsor and myself would be the first to stand in support of this project if the province of Ontario guarantees 20,000 jobs will be in this community at the beginning of 2009."

This nonsense about quality of life is nothing more than nonsense after reading this quotation.

Our new Jewel, the arena… if it were not for Project Ice Track proposing to move to Tecumseh, it would still not be built. That may not be such a bad idea after reading this recently in the Star at a time when this City needs every penny it can get:

• “It has already been determined the capital budget of nearly $100 million -- separate from its operations budget -- will be consumed by a massive $31-million chunk designed to pay off much of the new $71.6-million east-end arena.”

Who needs roads and sewers in this City to be fixed up when we have an arena to pay for and perhaps a new canal system too? Imagine people wanting to move here and seeing the above photo that came out of the Star’s sister newspaper, the Vancouver Sun.

I'm going to take it easy on you today. There is a lot to read but it is mostly news articles that were reported about Windsor over the last couple of weeks during the holidays.You may have missed them. I will take an in-depth look at them in a second BLOG.

Take a look at these Toronto Star articles and read them for yourself. I am not being nasty. All I am doing is setting out exactly what our Mayor said. What it tells me is that he has absolutely no plan for this City and that all we will be doing for the next two years will move from crisis to crisis with no hope with him as our Leader.

That money for the glossy advertising booklet that was distributed across Canada extolling the virtues of Windsor was wasted. When someone does a search on the Internet about Windsor, they will not find references to the advertising booklet but rather references to the news articles. Who would want to come here after reading stories like these?

• “No light at the end of the tunnel for Windsor
  City staggers under weight of auto industry's collapse but some still cling to hope
  http://www.thestar.com/article/558056
  
  "It's pretty bleak."
  
  Painful words but ones that describe how this proud industrial city has been ravaged by the loss of thousands of auto-related jobs.
  
  People are walking away from their homes, foods banks are rushing to meet the ever-increasing demand and personal bankruptcies are on the rise…
  
  Many fear the situation is only going to get worse over the next year as the employment insurance benefits and buyout packages run their course. The unemployment rate is about 10 per cent, the highest in Ontario, but still nowhere near the 18.2 per cent high during the recession of the early 1980s…
  
  Decision-makers are seriously talking publicly about marketing Windsor, with its moderate climate and easy access to the U.S., as a retirement destination. An added attraction is property prices, which are among the lowest in the country, second only to New Brunswick…
  
  But even the normally upbeat Eddie Francis, mayor of Canada's most southerly city, seems a bit darkened by events. He fears the global downturn, combined with the struggling auto industry, could deliver a death blow to Windsor.
  
  This city of almost 200,000 has felt the satisfaction of boom and the sting of bust before. There were always better days ahead…
  
  For years, people warned Windsor to diversify and not rely so heavily on this cyclical industry, but that's easier said than done when plants are working at full capacity and workers, making $30-plus an hour, can't put in enough overtime.”


• “Windsor looks at ways to reinvent itself
  http://www.thestar.com/article/558055
  
  WINDSOR, Ont.–Saskatchewan needs workers and Windsor says don't look any further.
  
  A regular air shuttle between the booming prairie province and this auto town is just one of the many ideas being bounced around by Mayor Eddie Francis and others here to try to cope with a very iffy manufacturing future…
  
  "That will allow them to keep their families here and the kids can stay in school and the dollars stay here in the economy," Francis said, adding that, "We have been working with Saskatchewan and we're close to finalizing a program."
  
  Windsor also appears serious about marketing itself as a retirement location offering cheap housing, water recreation and a moderate climate.
  
  With a little seed money from the private sector, a group of business and community-minded folks are now working on a plan to convince Torontonians, among others, to sell their homes and transplant themselves and their bundles of cash to Canada's most southerly city, where a decent home sells for $150,000…
  
  The mayor is also talking about working with Essex County and the agricultural sector to make Windsor an international hub for distributing perishables throughout North America, similar to how Frankfurt, Germany became the hub for the European market.
  
  "We have one of the largest agricultural businesses, exporting $1.5 billion annually from Windsor-Essex to North America ... and there is no reason we can't build the facilities at our airport so it becomes the clearing point for all food products destined for the U.S.," Francis said.
  
  The University of Windsor is also proving to be a bright spot. It now has a satellite medical school and will soon have a new engineering school. It is host for the Network of Centres of Excellence for the Automobile of the 21st Century or AUTO21, funded by universities, industry and government.
  
  Francis says "the research and development capacity that we have in the city is one of the best kept secrets in the country...."

Here is some more for you to read, this time from our Star:

• “Alberta bound
  Laid-off workers head west for greener pastures
  
  These days, a fuzzy image on a computer monitor is the only way seven-month-old Madison Freeland-Main gets to see her dad, Bill…
  
  The Freeland-Main's dilemma -- continue living apart or uproot the entire family -- is facing a growing number of jobless Windsorites desperately seeking work in the healthier economies of Western Canada.
  
  Alberta isn't the only destination for job seekers. Other provinces, such as Saskatchewan and British Columbia, are attracting the growing ranks of Windsor's unemployed -- a trend that is depleting the local economy's pool of skilled workers and reversing several years of population growth…
  
  The troubling trend prompted Windsor Mayor Eddie Francis to propose a commuter service that would shuttle workers to and from Western Canada.
  
  After talks with politicians from Saskatchewan, Francis's office launched a survey to determine the number of residents already travelling to work out of province and who else might be interested, as well as their job skills. "The preliminary results are confirming what we expected," says Francis. "There are a number of people in the automotive industry and manufacturing that have skills that companies are looking for. Most have indicated that the shuttle was a good way for them to keep their family here. The interesting thing -- most recognized it was a way to get through the transition."
  
  Adelle Ferguson, a senior research and policy adviser entrusted with the task of getting the shuttle service off the ground, says the survey drew about 69 responses. "It's not a huge number," she admits. "But there was consistent interest in the possibility of the service. We're working with Saskatchewan officials on how we can make it happen. We're still at the very beginning."
  
  "We have all of our family here. There's nothing out west for us besides work," says Freeland-Main. "If the mayor gets his air shuttle service off the ground, I'd be the first in line to commute…"
  
  Francis describes his plan as a temporary measure designed to ease both the city and workers through an economic slump that isn't going to turn around anytime soon.
  
  "It's only one element of a broader perspective in terms of economic development here," he says. "Obviously, we need to continue to focus our efforts on creating jobs here, but we also need to be realistic in our assessment of the economic situation and challenges we are facing. The economic challenge we are facing clearly indicates that we are going through a transition. So, we either lose these people for good, as we know is happening. They're moving out west. They're relocating their entire families. Or, we provide this program and keep these people and their skill set."
  
  An air shuttle makes sense for residents who face steeper housing costs out west while trying to sell their homes here, says Francis.”

Take a look at this interesting Canadian Press story:

• “Many auto workers looking to leave increasingly uncertain sector once and for all
  
  TORONTO — After 30 years of working in the manufacturing and auto parts industries, John Knelsen has seen the situation go from bad to worse.
  
  Now that Knelsen has been laid off for a sixth time due to plant closures and slowdowns, the 48-year-old just feels lost.
  
  "What they're telling me is I have to go out and find where there are jobs, but where do I begin?" he said from his home in St. Catharines, Ont.
  
  "I've worked in a plant since 1978. I don't know any different…"
  
  At the southern tip of Ontario, Windsor is no stranger to auto industry malaise. As the so-called Automotive Capital of Canada, the city has a presence from Chrysler, Ford and GM (though that plant is slated for closure).
  
  In the region of 350,000 people, about 43,000 of them are employed by the auto industry.
  "Four or five years ago when manufacturing and automotive started to decline, we felt the impact immediately," Mayor Eddie Francis said.
  
  "We as a city generally tend to set the trend for the rest of the country. Excuse the adage, but we're well known to be the canary in a coal mine."
  
  If true, the example of Windsor holds some promise for other auto communities.
  
  The city has started to diversify its economy, with the building of a new convention centre, casino and arena. There is also an attempt to transition existing automotive infrastructure to meet changing market demands.
  
  "What we're trying to do now is ensure that the automotive footprint is maintained," Francis said.
  
  "Parts suppliers that once used to supply strictly 100 per cent the automotive industry ... those parts suppliers are now transitioned and are now supplying the aerospace industry."

That is enough for now. Did you become as disgusted as I did? It should get you in the mood about what we have to look forward to in 2009. In the next blog I will analyze what the stories say.

For those of you who have been loyal readers of this BLOG, a lot of what was written about should sound eerily familiar. Needless to say, the one common theme amongst all of the stories is a lack of leadership role at the top.

More about that next time.

Wanted To Buy: Dunbar 400 Building Report

A creative member of the public posted this actual ad in the Windsor Star on Saturday!

Since the City's Audit Committee is stonewalling the release of the Report, even though the Mayor and Senior Administrators apparently have seen parts of it, it has come down to this with a Municipal Government that claims to be open and transparent.

If one cannot get the Dunbar Report as a citizen, then in Windsor, it appears that this is what one must do!

SHAME!

Star Protects Eddie's Sensibilities

How kind and generous of the Windsor Star not to publish anything in the Saturday Star about DRIC filing its Environmental Assessment report even though the information was distributed early in the morning on Friday, January 2 when I got it.

It might have ruined Eddie's weekend!

In this way it appears, since the Mayor as well as most people in Windsor get their news information from the Star, we are spared a few more days of angst about what is going on with the border file. Mind you, CKLW did post something about this on their website on Friday. I assume that was done to give Lisa Williams extra time to prepare her hard-hitting questions for the Mayor on the CKLW interview show on Tuesday morning.

The Mayor must be livid. I wonder if he expected the filing or thought that DRIC was going to negotiate more with him. There is a rumour that another Greenlink proposal was put forward by the Mayor, Greenlink: the Next Generation, but that it too was rejected. If true, it would be fascinating to see what was proposed this time around.

Effectively, DRIC called Eddie's bluff! Given what Eddie said about the Premier prejudicing the DRIC process, he does not have a year of options but rather must commence his lawsuit immediately.

Given how much our Mayor would love to be a witness in a lawsuit and is eager to be cross-examined, I doubt that will happen. Lots of talk from the City but little action. The Mayor and Councillors can read the polls and know that there is no stomach in this City for a lawsuit that will delay thousands of jobs being created and also could result in the Senior Levels leaving town.

I have also posted the DRIC backgrounder that you can view at the following site:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/9692004/DRIC-Backgrounder

Tales From Two Cities

An easy way to get you back into reading BLOGs after the holidays. A couple of newspaper articles that have application in Windsor.

• Rust Belt realities: Pittsburgh needs new leaders, new ideas and new citizens
  
  The current recession provides a new opportunity for Pittsburgh's elite to feel good about itself. With other boom economies from Phoenix to Miami on the skids -- and other old Rust Belt cities like Detroit, Cleveland and Buffalo even more down on their luck -- the slow-growth achievements of the Pittsburgh region may seem rather impressive.
  
  Yet at the same time, the downturn also poses longer-term challenges for which the local leadership is likely to have no answers.
  
  In large part, Pittsburgh's "success," such as it is, has been based on what may be called a "legacy economy," essentially funded by the residues of its rich entrepreneurial past. This includes the hospitals, universities and nonprofits whose endowments have underwritten the expansion of medical services and education, which have emerged as among the region's few growth sectors.
  
  The other great advantage Pittsburgh has -- as do potentially other shrinking Rust Belt burgs -- is lower housing prices. That's the good news. But the lack of a great surge in housing prices during the real estate "bubble" also testifies to the region's general lack of overall attractiveness and its languid job market.
  
  The current national economic meltdown now changes these realities, and in ways that may not allow Pittsburgh and other slow-growth burgs as much comfort as they might wish.
  
  For one thing, the "legacy" economy is almost certain to start shrinking as the portfolio investments of universities, hospitals and nonprofits begin to erode. After all, these institutions rode the boom elsewhere for a long time; they now will reap the consequences of that dependence.
  
  Perhaps even more important, the great housing advantage seems certain to weaken as a net positive. As prices in Florida, Arizona and even California begin to decline, Rust Belt residents who've been thinking of moving to warm weather, more dynamic economies and lively entrepreneurial environments will now have their chance.
  
  To thrive, Pittsburgh simply cannot rely on being somewhere that is a good place to go to school, get sick or die. It needs to offer restless, entrepreneurial people an opportunity to succeed and do something new.
  
  As local blogger Jim Russell notes, the real problem with his hometown is not that people leave, but that others do not come to replace them. People always leave places, but exciting locales -- Los Angeles, New York, Seattle, Houston or San Francisco -- also attract large numbers of new people. The immigrants, many of them seeking the "main chance," are generally the people who shake things up and bring new energy to places.
  
  Who seeks their "main chance" in Pittsburgh? Certainly not foreign immigrants, who are staying away in droves. Metropolitan Pittsburgh has one of the lowest percentages of foreign-born residents in the nation. Even Detroit, with its sizable Arab population, has some sort of ethnic vibe.
  
  In the short run, some might argue, not having immigrants relieves the stress on schools and eases potential social tensions. Yet in the America that is emerging, these newcomers represent arguably the most dynamic new element and harbingers of the future. By 2000, one in five American children already were the progeny of immigrants, mostly Asian or Latino; by 2015 they will make up as much as one-third of American kids.
  
  Rather than compliment itself on not exhausting itself by running too fast, the Pittsburgh region should think about producing enough of a pulse to attract immigrants and aggressive young people. A place that reassures itself on the basis of its stable, homogeneous and rapidly aging population seems doomed to achieve little better than self-satisfied stagnation.
  
  City leaders may be proud to see Pittsburgh hailed in the media -- most recently by USA Today and the Cleveland Plain Dealer -- as a poster child for urban "renaissance," yet these glowing accounts are clearly not inspiring many people to settle there.
  
  Indeed, in a nation with the most vigorous demographics in the advanced industrial world, the City of Pittsburgh continues to suffer one of the most precipitous declines in population. Like the former East Germany, the town needs more coffins than cribs. Even the suburbs of Pittsburgh have been losing population.
  
  More worrisome, there seems no strategy -- or even an inclination of needing one -- to change this reality. Rather than stimulate the grassroots economy, the region for decades has sought to revive itself by spending billions on new stadia, arenas, convention centers and cultural facilities, sometimes in the process demolishing vibrant working-class neighborhoods or local business districts. Meanwhile, the roads and bridges of the city -- which continues to battle bankruptcy -- are in a constant state of disrepair.
  
  Every time I read about or visit Pittsburgh, the powers that be have a new project to prove to themselves that the city actually has a life. Most recently, it's a lame-brained scheme to create a 1.2-mile, $435 million (at least) transit tunnel under the Allegheny River to connect Downtown's heavily subsidized office towers to the North Shore's even more heavily taxpayer-funded pro sports stadiums and a future casino.
  
  Yet, in reality, Pittsburgh's "Tunnel to Nowhere" is simply part of the same old brain-dead development strategy that may impress visiting journalists or conventioneers but creates little in the way of good new jobs or long-term opportunities.
  
  You have to think about what the energetic people who come to a community really want -- things like economic opportunities, single-family houses and good schools for their kids. Who but speculators and city officials cares about luring the latest ESPN Zone or Planet Hollywood? These kinds of venues are simply commodities now, with no sense of place and available in any city of decent size willing to subsidize them.
  
  So what should the Pittsburgh region do differently?
  
  The first thing would be to consider using its scarce public funds to revive the old urban neighborhoods and leafy suburbs that constitute Pittsburgh's greatest competitive advantage. These are places that may attract students now, but to matter in the long term, some of these young people must stay after they graduate. This will be particularly critical as the current "echo boom" begins to fade and the now record-high number of students begins to drop.
  
  Second, the region should target growing small businesses. The era when Pittsburgh was a big-business town is all but over. In 1960, 22 Fortune 500 companies were headquartered there. Now it's roughly a third that number. High taxes, tiresome regulatory regimes and the enormous burden created by outsized city employee pensions have hit the small entrepreneur hardest. Addressing these issues is more important to them than new arts venues or jazz clubs.
  
  Finally, the city needs a shtick to call its own. It might look at its historic strengths as an innovative engineering city. Pittsburgh could look also to its hinterland, a region rich in beauty and resources, as part of its competitive advantage.
  
  All of these things could provide linchpins for a true renaissance -- one driven not by public relations and shiny new subsidized edifices, but by the energy of its people.
  
  That's what has always made for great cities -- and what will do so well after this current recession has passed into memory. Pittsburgh has the potential to catch the inevitable next wave that will emerge after the crisis, but only if it can get past its long-standing celebration of mediocrity."

Replace Toronto with Windsor

• City of lost opportunity
  Mediocre leadership, lack of vision, high costs have squandered Toronto's once-glittering prospects
  
  Twenty years ago Toronto was on the cusp of becoming a world class city. Since then it has squandered that potential. Today it's just another struggling North American city bracing for the onslaught of the worst recession in living memory.
  
  This lost chance at greatness didn't just slip away on its own. It is the result of accumulated underperformance on many fronts.
  
  First there is the mediocre political leadership that Torontonians have imposed on themselves since the mid-1980s. The last Metro chairman, Alan Tonks, was well-intentioned. But other than leading Metro toward amalgamation, he was ineffective in dealing with many of the core issues of his decade in power. He was followed by two terms of Mel Lastman (what were we thinking?) – eight years of confrontation, confusion and embarrassment.
  
  David Miller is probably the most competent mayor to lead Toronto in some time. He is burdened by the lack of vision, action and creativity of his predecessors, but his own track record is not much better. As a result, he is now desperately trying to rearrange the chairs on the deck of the Good Ship Toronto as it heads into an economic storm of major proportions.
  
  Toronto has a long history of over-promising and under-delivering. Grand announcements about megaprojects have usually ended in their implementation being stalled or shelved. The revitalization of the waterfront is a prime example. It has been promised in several forms – none of which has ever been delivered. Compare this with Chicago's experience. Its mayor took a political risk by pushing aside the city's waterfront airport and went on to create one of the most attractive waterfronts on the continent.
  
  How many major transit schemes have been announced and then abandoned over the last 20 years? Instead of a steady extension of the city's rapid transit network, Torontonians have settled for a couple of new subway stops, the Sheppard Line to nowhere and a few more streetcar lines. Real "world class" cities like Milan, Hong Kong, Tokyo and New York have found creative ways to make massive investments in expanding their subway systems that are lowering their congestion, pollution and energy consumption.
  
  This city has endured a long series of risk-averse and, therefore, results-averse councils. While other cities around the world have been experimenting with new ways to finance infrastructure, Miller and this council keep relying on the whims of other levels of government.
  
  In Paris, developers buried some of the roads along the Seine in return for air rights and density bonuses. (Could this work for portions of the Gardiner Expressway?) London's 118-kilometre east-west Crossrail Line is expected to bring $40 billion to the U.K.'s economy. It is being developed with private funds. Other great cities are already charging car owners who drive downtown. They invest that money in maintaining and expanding their transit systems. Miller's "Transit City Plan" is yet another watered-down version of what is really needed. Once again, this compromise depends for implementation on the largesse of other governments.
  
  Toronto has failed to obtain enough fiscal freedom from the province. Neither Tonks nor Lastman understood how to politically engage city ratepayers (who can be influential provincial and federal voters) in support of Toronto when it needed more attention and money from Queen's Park or Ottawa. They either went cap in hand or threatened financial catastrophe.
  
  Miller has been able to attract a portion of the federal gas tax, GST relief and to negotiate some limited additional taxing powers from the province. But this falls far short of the fiscal needs of Canada's largest city – particularly when it generates much more money every year in taxes for Ontario and Ottawa than it receives from them in services or funding.
  
  There is also the expensive and environmentally wasteful urban form that Metro and Toronto allowed to develop for decades. Much of the city is still low-density suburban sprawl. It is car dependant, and carries with it permanent high infrastructure, energy and servicing costs. This council's encouragement of high-density development where services already exists is a step in the right direction. But the planning mistakes of the past have put serious limitations on the city's future quality of life.
  
  Toronto was a big loser in the late '90s downloading fight with the province. When skilful city leadership was needed, it was largely missing. Mike Harris rammed a wide range of provincial programs down the city's throat without the money to fund them. The city failed to redirect its ratepayer outrage back at Harris. It relied instead on a failed battle of words. Toronto continues to stagger under this burden with little relief in sight from the province. After two years of study, Premier Dalton McGuinty's recently announced phased-in approach to uploading is a cruel joke.
  
  Like General Motors, Miller has allowed the city's cost structure to balloon out of control. The total compensation of many city workers (wages and fringe benefits) exceeds that of their counterparts in the private sector. Collective agreements have been negotiated that limit the use of best productivity practices. They discourage outsourcing where it's a cost-effective alternative. Toronto's unit costs are so high now that it is increasingly difficult to deliver services to ratepayers that are perceived as good value for their tax dollar.
  
  Miller's long-term waste management initiative – burying its garbage in a hole in the ground south of London instead of one in Michigan – is not the act of an environmentally responsible 21st-century city. He could have provided much-needed environmental leadership to other municipalities by supporting the processing of the city's garbage in its own backyard, using proven energy-from-waste technology.
  
  Some issues can only be tackled at the regional or GTA level. Transportation is one of them. The province's establishment of Metrolinx was needed. But Metrolinx will simply add another layer of bureaucracy without aggressive funding from the province. The promise of $50 billion over 25 years to implement its regional transportation plan is just another pipe dream unless Metrolinx also learns, as others have, how to attract significant private sector investment.
  
  There is no silver bullet to ease Toronto through the tough times that lie ahead. The last two decades have not prepared it for what is coming. One can only hope that the federal and Ontario governments understand the importance of investing heavily in Canada's biggest city, as part of their forthcoming economic recovery programs. But that will only constitute a short-term means of saving Toronto from itself.