"This Is No Way To Run A City"

It is, dear reader, as plain as the nose on your face. We have pulled back the curtain and seen who the Wizard of Oz really is.

It does not matter what the issue is any more----the border, the CUPE strike, infrastructure spending, the canal, the Tunnel deal, the sale of Enwin----Windsorites have a common problem in each of these matters. That problem is: Mayor Eddie Francis!

We have a serious leadership vacuum that has burst out for the world to see. Eddie cannot juggle all of the balls in the air any longer. There are too many of them. He has dropped the first one and the others are sure to come crashing down around him.

Who will lead this City in its time of economic difficulty? To whom do we turn now to help us gain our prosperity back? Who at the Senior Levels will take our Mayor seriously after he has been seriously wounded by his own ridiculous flouting of democracy? Which business person would invest in this City with a Mayor like Eddie who has antagonized his colleagues in such a manner.

Councillor Jones and I do not see eye to eye on many subjects. But I do agree with him 110% and respect him for saying that

• "Sometimes leaving money on the table may be a better opportunity than doing the wrong thing."

If there is money lost to which Windsor would have been entitled, then there is only one preson to blame. It is the Mayor who for weeks could have been leading a discussion into what we should be doing, as other cities have done, rather than hiding everything until the last possible time on the last day to have decisions made so that he could force through what he wanted.

It is a disgraceful and despicable action by an immature Mayor who uses "Council" so he cannot be fingered if something goes wrong but who will never share the glory if something works out. For someone who overuses the word "Council" so much, he has proven himself incapable of working as a team player. So much for what Governor Granholm's husband tried to teach the Mayor and Council before about getting along! Another waste of taxpayer money.

By now, the vast majority of Windsorites have either seen this A-Channel News Video or read the Windsor Star story about the latest City Hall disgrace. The news has spread like wildfire. We now have aboslute proof of the contempt that this Mayor has for his colleagues and for citizens. We do not count at all in Eddie’s world.

Watch Councillor Halberstadt's face. It is the face of a person who has finally understood what our Mayor has become from the time he was first elected and who has had enough. Welcome to the phonebooth Councillor. Bring along a few colleagues too.

I made a bet with one of my inside moles after the Wednesday meeting that the canal was not dead and that the Feds had already seen the canal project. It was not that I was so smart. I knew that Eddie would never take "NO" for an answer. More importantly, I kept hearing that Eddie said the Feds wanted "signature projects." I knew he had been dealing with the Feds already:

• "...Watson practically guaranteeing Ottawa’s approval should Windsor submit a marina-canal application...
  
  He said his reason for wanting to meet with the local politicians Friday was to point out that more than half of a preliminary list of Windsor projects submitted Wednesday — $96 million of a $182 million total — were “questionable” in terms of meeting Ottawa’s funding approval criteria."

How would Watson, one of the most insignificant of all Conservative members, a backbencher, know any of this unless he heard this from a Senior member of the Government or a Senior bureaucrat? Please, none of this would have been finalized in only 2 days!

Watson apparently claimed that his relationship with the Mayor, if he had to give a grade, would be "A+." What a transformation. What it says to me is that there is a lot more going on than we even know now.

What deal has been struck between Eddie and the Feds such that money would be available for Eddie's pet projects of the airport and canal? Obviously neither Councillors nor citizens know that answer and do not know if it is a good deal or if we have been sold out.

It is clear now that Eddie and the Feds made that deal when Minister Baird was in town a few weeks ago. It is clearly more than just Brighton Beach.

By now, everyone knows that Eddie gave the canal plans to the Feds 6 weeks ago. I was told that this information came out as a result of a brilliant cross-examination of Watson by Halberstadt who literally exploded in anger when the information was finally disclosed by Watson. Even when Eddie I was told tried to answer for Watson, Alan would have none of it and was relentless in his questioning!

Here are a few points though that you may not have considered:

1) The Mayor's Office emailed Councillors at around 11AM Friday that there was going to be a 3 PM meeting. Yet Dave Cooke was able to drive from Toronto to make that meeting and a team of consultants had the time to make plane reservations. Why did the Mayor wait until the last minute to tell Councillors! How much has that trip cost taxpayers? Such arrogance. Such contempt.

2) The Mayor compounded his disrespect of his colleagues by telling us that he did not provide information to Councillors on other matters either. He did not provide data about:

• "$22 million in airport upgrades and $60 million for an underground stormwater basin without similar information."

In other words, Council did not have information on about $130M worth of projects. But the Mayor did. Such arrogance. Such contempt.

3) No one knows what the private funders of the project know or do not know

4) Interestingly, Dave Cooke knew more than Councillors too which means that he too was "in the loop:"

• “Cooke expressed disappointment that the “transformational” development for the city, which had already received kudos from Ottawa bureaucrats,”

Perhaps if spent more time doing his job at the University helping it to transform itself….

5) As I posted previously, the Minutes of the Wednesday meeting are a revision of history. It did not reflect that Eddie lost on a 6-4 vote adding the canal at a cost of $44M to the infrastructure projects to be paid for by the Senior Levels. They will have to be revised to show that Eddie failed! Such arrogance. Such contempt.

6) The Friday meeting was adjourned and then restarted----who knows if the Procedural By-law was respected in that regard either. They had to wait for the Councillor formerly known as Councillor Budget to be contacted and to return since he had left the premises already. When he finally returned, the Mayor expected him to introduce a Motion to Reconsider. He did not do so and the Councillors were finally allowed to leave.

7) Several of the Councillors were considering walking out when the canal issue was raised but did not do so because their absence would have meant that the canal project would have been approved by the remaining Councillors.

8) It would not appear that the Mayor has shared the plans of the canal with his colleagues yet. Such arrogance. Such contempt.

If you want to understand Eddie Francis, the most telling comment about him to me occurred when the CAW union members rejected their leadership’s recommendation to accept the Casino offer several years ago. I still remember him being shocked that the union members did not understand “the investment opportunity” that they might be losing by continuing the strike. He had no regard to the fact that what was important to them were the bread and butter issues!

Here is what I mean in regard to Eddie and the canal deal that tells me that he is out of touch with what this City needs at this time:

• “While ignoring the canal project, council approved adding a $60-million item for a waterfront underground retention treatment basin to end sewage overflows into the Detroit River, an item for which the city was already in the process of seeking senior government funding.
  
  “Other cities are putting forward massive projects with vision. Today, here, instead of such vision, we have a receptor sewer project … how does that diversify our economy,” Francis said after the meeting.”

He does not understand that we are tired of his failed VISIONS and are more interested in the bread and butter issue that make this City a place where one can live. Roads and sewers are what is important to people, not spending money so that he can try to create a legacy for himself at taxpayer expense and further his career so that he can move out of here into the big-time when his mayoral term ends.

It is March, 2003 all over again. Eddie Francis has become Mike Hurst. What is ironic is that Eddie lead Council against Hurst. He clearly has not learned from history as it is repeating itself. From that March meeting until he left office, Hurst never won a vote on Council in which he was interested. He generally lost 7-3 every time.

Will that happen to Eddie? Yes, unless he changes dramatically, something it seems he is incapable of doing as he attacked Council on Eh-channel and in the Star article.

His Council can no longer trust him. I do not know how they can work with him if he continues to carry on in this manner. Who can believe a word that he says now. What other deals are there out there that no one knows about and that are lurking in the shadows to surprise us all one day.

Friday is the day that the Mayor of Casterbridge arrived in Windsor in the guise of Eddie Francis. Given his potential and our hopes for him in 2003, it is a shame watching as he self-destructs.

MORE BREAKINGBLOGnews: Whatever Happened to the Canal Vote

Here are the Minutes provided to me by Council Services for the In Camera Meeting on the border followed by the Special Council meeting immediately thereafter held on Wednesday, April 29.

One ended at 7:39 PM and the other started at 7:40 PM with the Procedural By-law game involving waiver of the Rules that disenfranchised Windsorites!

Try and find any mention of the 6-4 vote that turned down what the Mayor wanted re the Canal. As someone who was there wrote to me:

• "Wow! I guess the 20 minute debate and vote were all in my imagination!"

The Minutes are posted here:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/14842833/042909-Meetings

Windsor Democracy---Meet Until Eddie Gets His Way

**** Please be advised that Windsor City Council will be meeting on Friday, May 1, 2009 starting at 3:00 o'clock p.m. at Malden Park Visitors Centre.

The Agenda for this special meeting of Council will be as follows:

1. Federal / Provincial Infrastructure Funding.

Members of Council-

Please be advised that, during the meeting of City Council scheduled for this afternoon at 3:00, both the engineering and business case studies for the Canal project will be fully presented.

Best Regards-

Adelle

Adelle Ferguson
Senior Research and Policy Advisor
Mayor's Office

Council Contempt For Citizens

You may wonder why the Star’s City Hall Reporter did not tell us about this recent Council event by doing a story on it. From what I hear, there may be a shakeup at the Star and I am not certain who the City Hall Reporter is now.

If in fact there is a new person, that person clearly was not around when some of these events happened. Alternatively this could be a terrific new tactic to ensure that nothing negative about City Hall is ever published. Just don’t have a reporter present.

No disrespect to the members of the media who were there but they just don’t have the coverage of the Star.

It feels great to be almost over whatever illness I had over the last week or so. It does get somewhat disturbing thinking that I merely had a spring cold and then reading in the media about swine flu! Oh well, nothing has changed in this City while I was out of commission. Actually, it has gotten worse.

I don’t know if you’ve had the opportunity to read Councillor Halberstadt’s BLOG the other day but I wanted to build on what he had to say because he has not given you all the information that you should know about. I am sure that he does not dare do so for obvious reasons:

• “I cast opposing votes on two of the mayor's pet infrastructure stimulus projects that will be forwarded to the federal government… and some $44 million for Eddie's west waterfront marina-canal.
  
  The canal-marina was defeated on a 6-4 vote. I couldn't, in good conscience, vote for a project without seeing any details or a business plan. Dave Cooke turned over the documents to the mayor a number of weeks ago, but the plan has yet to be seen or vetted by Council or the public.
  
  Council, too often, is asked to make such decisions at the 11th hour, with procedural notice bylaws waived, shutting out any public input and pointing a gun to fatigued Councillors' head. This happened last night since stimulus applications have to be in on May 1. Council didn't see any of administration's candidate projects until late Monday night, after all regular business was dealt with, in the sweaty Walkerville room.”

Remember my BLOG Tuesday, March 31, 2009 “Manipulating Windsor Democracy.” It happened again!

• "More importantly, not one single Councillor objected to this procedure, to this denial of citizens' democratic right to appear as a delegation in front of Council to express an opinion.
  
  So much for democracy in Windsor. No member of the public was allowed to appear as a delegation to this matter because no one knew about it. No one was allowed to appear at Council to complain bitterly about what the Mayor and Council were doing, nor to support it either."

I wrote yesterday about the contempt shown to Council Postma with respect to the canal. It is even worse obviously. She claimed that

• “I have not received a report yet nor have I received any drawings or engineered specs…
  
  I cannot commit either way yet – I have no information.”

More than that, she was told:

• “I learned a report will be coming forward not only outlining the business case and engineered study but also incorporate all of the studies that have been done in that area.”

She promised:

• “Rest assured when I receive the report it will be shared with the residents well before council debates whether a Canal is worth while or not.”

Promises, promises.

It seems that not only Councillor Postma but Councillor Halberstadt and perhaps some of their colleagues as well were given very little information about the Mayor’s Canal Vision. But for Gord Henderson’s column they and Windsorites would know nothing about it.

You might wonder how a project costing $44 million and which could change the face of Windsor dramatically could be discussed without citizens knowing about it and not being given the opportunity to speak on it. Some people may like the idea and some people may say that it is a foolish waste of money when the City is in dire financial straits.

Anti-Democracy in action in Windsor is how citizens are kept out of the loop.

Remember how I Blogged about Councillor flip-flops yesterday. The Councillors did not have to worry about anybody accusing them of speaking out of all sides of their mouths because the public did not know about the meeting. They were nicely protected. We know that four Councillors supported what the Mayor wanted to do but we do not know which Councillors they were or why Councillors were for or against the spending of so much money. We know nothing about anything. We are kept in the dark.

As for an informed decision by Councillors, based on what Councillor Halberstadt claimed, do not make me laugh. I take Councillor Postma at her word too. She has to be furious for being embarrassed personally by what happened. How could she possibly keep her word? Imagine trying to explain what happened to her constituents. Sure she promised citizen involvement but now we see the reality in anti-Democratic Windsor.

Sit back and relax and let me tell you again about how Democracy is played in Windsor. It is a disgraceful exhibition because after all, only a few weeks ago the Mayor stated accurately but narrowly as we now know:

• “Francis said Thursday he will bring the study to council for approval sometime before the end of this month. "If council gives the go-ahead we could get a shovel in the ground this year," said Francis.
  
  The mayor would reveal little of the financial or engineering findings contained in the feasibility study, which has been conducted over the last six months by a committee led by former MPP Dave Cooke.”

"Sometime" before month-end turns out to be a mere few days before infrastrucutre lists have to be submitted.

But then again, back last July well before the feasability study had been completed, the Mayor had clearly made up his mind what should happen:

• “When you ask, 'Is this really going to happen?' Just watch us," said Francis.”

He also had said in PERSPECTIVE WINDSOR 2008 that:

• “…we’re planning a new canal and urban Village development.”

Heck even Gord was onside when his reader, Arthur, challenged him:

• "I am willing to put a bet on this marina -- say a bottle of whatever it is you drink. Let me know if you are interested," he concluded."

Let me fill in some of the blanks in Councillor Halberstadt’s BLOG, give you some of the background information and explain some of his cryptic comments:

•  Last Monday night at the Council meeting, Council discussed the capital budget process....specifically the need to identify projects for the Federal/Provincial infrastructure funding that is coming.
  


•  The deadline for submissions was May 1, only a few days later notwithstanding all of the time that was available to discuss the matter fully previously and in public rather than in the last possible minute
  


•  Many projects were included...
  


•  A Motion was made to include the Canal project....it failed.
  


•  A Motion was then made to include the canal pending approval by Council...ie Council had to see it and approve it first prior to making the submission for funding...which incidentally is today!
  


•  I suspect that the Canal Study was not presented to Councillors for them to review before or at this Meeting from what Councillor Halberstadt has said
  


•  On Wednesday, only two days later, an in camera meeting was held to discuss the MoE Report on DRIC and to discuss how to deal with the more than 100 appeals on the Sandwich Heritage matter
  


•  By the way, David Estrin made a report about DRIC that was received as information (and as was stated on CBC Radio, legal action is still an option). However, Council decided not to retain Estrin to fight the appeals of Windsorites. The legal costs would be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars to do so and this is a planning matter, not an environmental matter. It should be interesting to see if the City’s Legal Department is given carriage of the matter or whether an outside lawyer is retained.
  


•  After the in camera meeting ended, and notwithstanding that few members of the public had knowledge I would expect that such a meeting was taking place, a Motion was passed to waive the Procedural Bylaw rules and immediately enter into a Public meeting of Council
  


•  Of course, no member of the Public would know about that meeting at all thereby ensuring that no member of the public could appear as a delegation to speak nor could a member of the public listen to what the Councilors and the Mayor had to say. No Star reporter was there either I was told.
  


•  I do not know if all of the Councillors approved of the waiving of the Rules but obviously most of them did so
  


•  Why then was this Public meeting held
  


•  Its purpose it seems was to discuss the capital budget again... even though it had been discussed on the Monday
  


•  Specifically Council was going to discuss the list to submit for funding...again!
  


•  This time the list was shorter as the requirements of the program state that they will only consider projects that can be done by 2011.
  


•  Remarkably, there was a great emphasis about 'signature projects' which the Mayor claimed the Senior Levels were looking for.
  


•  Of course, this was a lead in to the canal project, again.
  


•  As the discussion took place, the Mayor requested that his Chief of Staff fetch the Canal Study and a riverfront study and he answered questions from Councilors based on the materials that were in front of him. He of course remained in possession of these volumes of documents
  


•  Unfortunately, Councillors were not given a copy of these studies and had no idea about what all of the details were. Only the Mayor knew
  


•  Here is the wrinkle though and a huge concern which was raised by Councillors. The canal project is estimated to cost in $44M, a significant percentage of any allotment received from the Senior Levels. If the canal was not approved by Council (who had never seen the Study yet) but approved for funding by the Senior Levels then Windsor had no recourse to request different projects to make up the $44M that was requested. In other words, Windsor would lose the opportunity to do other projects that we know need to be done!
  


•  Another motion was made to include the $44M in the request. The vote fortunately was 6-4 against doing so primarily because Council had not seen the canal study and there was a risk to the City to lose the funding of $44 million
  


•  Apparently, the canal deal is still not dead yet because there may be a further program from the Senior Levels later on in the year where money might be available
  


•  The 4 Members of Council who wanted to include the Canal were Councillors Lewenza, Valentinis, Gignac and Hatfield I am told.



•  I am glad to see that Councillor Dilkens did NOT flipflop and remained true to what he said that "we need to be prudent with our resources."

So that is how Council operates. Sure, Councillors did not go along with the Mayor to pursue the Canal Vision but the Councillors did go along with the anti-Democratic way in which the Procedural Bylaw was used to prevent the public from knowing what was going on and from participating in the Democratic process.

It would have been interesting to know how Councillors Gignac and Hatfield performed their flip-flops to approve the Canal vision after their negative comments with respect to the Armouries and the Art Gallery.

What a way to run a City. While it is not $75 million like the Tunnel deal, the amount of information given out by the Mayor was just as miniscule. Only he is to know and Councillors are there merely to rubber-stamp. After all, why should they know anything… it was private money used to finance the Study and not City money. Councillors therefore were completely irrelevant notwithstanding what they had been told previously. Councillors who voted to support the Mayor have to be ashamed of themselves for doing so without a detailed review.

I do not know how Councillors can look at themselves in the mirror any longer. Are they not ashamed of how they are abused? They are treated like Kindergarten children. I do not understand how the Councillors can truly believe that they are performing their function under the Municipal Act.

Do they not have any respect for the citizens of Windsor! How can they continually allow these procedural tricks to be played? More importantly, how can they vote in favour of them? It is beyond my comprehension.

Meetings are held it seems whenever that Mayor snaps his fingers. They are long and involved with him controlling the information. Why do Councilors permit this? I cannot believe that their families are pleased at them being away from home for so long. Then again, that’s the name of the game that the Mayor is playing. Approve what he wants to do so that you can leave quickly. If not, then you are required to attend after school with a detention.

I also cannot understand how the Councillors can sit there without any information. How can a $44 million decision be made in the last possible minute? That is absolutely irresponsible and not in the best interests of the citizens of Windsor.

Moreover, and I know this is a silly comment to make, don’t any of the Councillors or the Mayor want to hear what citizens have to say? After all, it is only our money.

Perhaps I’m being too harsh and too hard. Perhaps the Councillors have finally had enough. The Mayor clearly must have been concerned on the DRIC matter because he did not ask for a vote again to confirm the previous Resolution to permit the commencement of a lawsuit for judicial review. Did he suspect that he would lose on that vote?

I am surprised that our legal weapon of mass destruction was not retained to handle the Heritage appeals. I wonder if the Bridge Company lawsuit to remove Estrin had any impact. In any event, not retaining him is a slap to him because, as far as I am concerned, the Heritage matter is part of the City’s strategy against the Bridge Company.

I am astounded that the Mayor lost on the vote to include the Canal. This really is his first big loss. I know it may be a month or so late but is this the beginning of the end of our Mayor’s control over Council. Is this March, 2003 all over again when Mike Hurst lost a vote over the border file and never won another one while he was still Mayor?

I hope it is.

I wish that Windsorites could have seen which Councillor was the leader in this matter. Or was there more than one as in 2003?

Oh well, Arthur may be happy at least. It looks as if he may win his bottle of Scapa, a single malt whisky from Scapa Flow, from Gord after all.

More Council Stories

Perhaps now, dear reader, you will understand after reading these stories why I focus on the Mayor so much. I have little time for dealing with this Council, just about the worst I have ever seen!

DISSING COUNCILLOR MOM

All of the Councillors are completely irrelevant in the scheme of things in Windsor politics!

Why am I saying this? Here is what the Councillor Postma wrote in her BLOG:

• “I was in Ottawa last week with CUTA (Canadian Urban Transit Association) for advocacy days on the Hill (I will blog about CUTA at a later date). When I returned I kept hearing buzz in the community regarding the Canal project proposed in the City Centre West area. I am confused. I have not received a report yet nor have I received any drawings or engineered specs. I understand The Star wrote an article about the project so I decided to ask the Mayor about it.
  
  Thursday at the Mayor’s regularly scheduled bull-pen sessions I learned a report will be coming forward not only outlining the business case and engineered study but also incorporate all of the studies that have been done in that area (CRIP Central Riverfront Implementation Plan, City Centre West Community Improvement Plan). I was also assured that the homes would not be negatively affected.
  
  I can’t wait to see it, learn more about it and include the residents that live in that area for feedback. Rest assured when I receive the report it will be shared with the residents well before council debates whether a Canal is worth while or not. I cannot commit either way yet – I have no information.”

However, Gord did have information that he revealed in his Saturday Star column:

• “The canal, modelled on successful waterway projects in San Antonio, Texas and, especially, the Bricktown Canal District of thriving Oklahoma City, could provide that reason.
  
  The marina proposal, by the way, has been radically altered. Initially slated for the Caron Avenue cut, that site has been ruled out, for technical reasons, as "prohibitively" expensive.
  
  Instead a transient marina with 35 to 40 berths would be built on the riverfront west of Dieppe Gardens for about $11 million, which includes significant work that must be done whether the marina proceeds or not.
  
  The 630-metre canal would carry an initial price tag of $37 million. Extending from the foot of the Caron cut to west of the art gallery at Riverside Drive, it would sit about five metres below ground level.
  
  A Riverside Drive underpass, "open, well-lit and pedestrian friendly," would connect the canal with the riverfront and could feature an elevated boardwalk or pier linking it to the marina.
  
  The shallow canal, boasting walkways, attractive bridges, extensive landscaping and water features like waterfalls and fountains, would act as the spine of an urban village anchored by attractions that could include a children's hidden garden or theme park.”

As far as I know, only 2 people knew all the details:

• “Cooke said Thursday he was not at liberty to talk about the findings, since the report belonged to the mayor.
  
  A business case, engineering conclusions and five-page letter of observations were turned over to the mayor, he said.
  
  "I can't talk about contents of the report," Cooke said.
  
  "My way of handling this is to turn it in and then it belongs to the person who commissions the report. If (Francis) wants us to make comments, we will at a later time.
  
  "The mandate we had was to take a narrow look at the whole thing and determine what's feasible to do. Anything is feasible -- if you can send people to the moon, obviously you can do this."
  
  But cost will be the determining factor, Cooke said. "That's something the mayor may want to talk about when he releases the report," he said.”

So if it was not Dave Cooke, then who released the information to Gord?

The point is that Councillors do not get the information. They have to read about it in the Star. Councillor Mom should demand an apology publicly for being treated so rudely!

WARD BOUNDARY REVIEW

In light of the above and while Eddie Francis is Mayor, another option should be added to the list of possible choices: no Wards at all.

Let Eddie do everything and save the Councillor salaries. They serve no purpose whatsoever.

COUNCILLOR LOOPY’S LOOPS

He has to be an aerial acrobat par excellence to get himself out of this one. Councillor Loopy said the following after seeing the WSO’s proposal for refitting the Armouries into a Concert Hall:

• “But one city councillor familiar with the report thinks the orchestra needs to get its head out of the clouds.
  
  "You're still talking quite a chunk of money," said Ward 5's Percy Hatfield, who chairs the city's armouries reuse committee.
  
  "I don't think there's an appetite for getting involved in such a project when there are so many other areas that demand attention."

I wonder what he will say in order to suck up to the Mayor’s cloud in the sky Canal vision. I wonder what weird distinction he can make in order not to get the Mayor riled at him. He does not want to be scolded after all like a naughty kindergarten child by the Principal.

Does he have the guts to make similar remarks publicly at Council in the Mayor’s face

What a silly question to ask! When he can vote both ways on tearing and not tearing down abandoned homes, this will be nothing for him!

ARE THERE MORE INCONSISTENT COUNCILLORS

Will these two Councillors be forced to rationalize flip-flops too. Speaking of loaning money to the Art Gallery which was prepared to put up collateral, they said:

• “We can't afford to throw money at this," said Coun. Jo-Anne Gignac. "Our industrial tax base is disappearing, our residential taxpayers are losing their jobs. At the same time, we have a stream of people saying help us. Where are we going to get the money?"

Coun. Drew Dilkens also voted against the loan request.

• "People are speaking loud and clear that times are tough and we need to be prudent with our resources," he said.”

Hey I have it… I know an attraction we can have at the canal theme park. Instead of a Dolphin show on the water, we can have Councillors flipflopping all over the place as the Mayor feeds them tidbits for their re-election campaigns. I know which one would jump the highest too!

WHAT IS THAT WEIRD SOUND

That is the East End Arena sucking up all of our City's cash in these troubled times so that we have to take out a bank loan:

Note that we used "debt reduction" fund money to pay for the arena.

How To Fix Windsor

Still not 100% but my brain is starting to function a bit more clearly.

Heaven help us!

Thanks to the Mayor we now know what the solution is:

• "High unemployment rates come and go, but good weather and affordability will be Windsor’s forever.
  
  That’s the mayor’s take on a survey in the latest issue of MoneySense Magazine."

Don't you see. The Mayor and Council have NO control over the weather and affordability. It is out of their hands. Everything else that they touch results in disaster!

Why if they controlled the weather....it would constantly be like today:

• Rainy, gloomy, chilly and with thunderstorms.

Do you understand what I mean:

• "The unemployment rate, it is what it is. But it’s not always going to be like that,” said Francis"

In other words, our entrepreneurs will adjust to the market-place and will again create employment for our people. Instead, Eddie and Council are standing in the way of creating thousands of border related jobs. As was said on CBC Radio today:

• "DOUCETTE: The Mayor says Council still has not ruled out legal action."

If Eddie had to solve the problem of jobs, heaven help us. And as you know when the sun comes out soon, thank heaven for that!

BLOGbreakingnews--Council To Give Go-Ahead For DRIC Judicial Review

Imagine how I feel. I develop a cold/flu late in the afternoon a few days ago and go to bed to recover. I wake up the next morning to the news that there might be a swine flu outbreak. Nice!

Now which of my friends have just returned from Mexico!

A short BLOG today. I just do not have the energy to do much more than that. In addition, I just wonder if I am still too feverish so that I do not know if my thoughts are correct or not.

I heard that David Estrin is coming to town today to talk about the MoE's DRIC decision, not as reported, last Monday. I guess Estrin does not have to cross the picket line at City Hall to get to the Council Chambers now. The Mayor also does not have to be attacked at Council for spending money on outside lawyers to fight useless lawsuits rather than using the money for City purposes such as dealing with employees.

Expect that the Mayor and Council will give Estrin the go-ahead to start a lawsuit. But not without a fight. After all, a number of Councillors I hear are upset at what fighting the Sandwich by-laws may cost. That will be ugly. There is also the risk that the Senior Levels could pull out based on a BLOG that Chris Schnurr wrote some time ago.

However, the big concern is that a lawsuit may mean that the City will not have jobs for citizens who need them now. Judicial review could stall the process for years. A year before an election, that is political suicide.

What to do, what to do?

Simple if you are the Mayor (by the way, is it really necessary for the City to run the "garbage" ads so often. That must cost more than a few dollars):

• "Francis pitches 'unprecedented investments' in city projects
  
  Windsor is preparing its own multimillion-dollar jobs stimulus package — with or without grants from senior governments.
  
  City residents can anticipate “unprecedented investments” in municipal infrastructure, Mayor Eddie Francis told The Star Tuesday.
  
  The idea, to be discussed by council as part of next week’s 2009 budget debate, will focus on quickly launching a number of major infrastructure projects listed in the city’s five-year capital plan...
  
  Another big incentive to get things done now is to beat the construction rush for the coming new international bridge and border crossings. Once those megaprojects get underway, possibly by 2011 or 2012, Francis said construction costs for other area projects “could skyrocket” because of peak local demand for labour, materials and services."

You see, dear reader, our Mayor has boxed himself into a corner with the Province. He has no choice but to sue based on his health and quality of life arguments. Otherwise he will be viewed as a "WEAKLING" since he has threatened litigation so often.

Eddie understands the power of CIBPA and what they will achieve if he is not careful (he was around when STOPDRTP was so strong) so he has to buy them off as well as the construction industry who needs work desperately and who has money and people to support campaigns.

How to do it:

• 'unprecedented investments.'

Use taxpayer money just like the Senior Levels are doing for infrastructure projects. It works for them so why not for Eddie. Who would dare argue against it these days? Which Councillor would dare not be on Eddie's team now? He is virtually guaranteeeing himself a third term as Mayor and them re-election.

There Councillors, do not worry. I will create jobs so you can be elected. There Senior Levels, pull out if you dare since I am creating jobs even without your cash. There Windsorites, I will create jobs so "Trust Me" and go along with me as I spend more millions on useless lawsuits. There construction industry, keep your mouths shut or you will get no work at all.

It is all so brilliant except for one small, little thing:

• "Before approaching council, Francis said he wanted administration to “crunch the numbers” and see whether it was feasible...
  
  Council had delayed debating the city’s 2009 capital budget pending word on what might be coming from the senior governments, but Francis said it can’t wait any longer.
  
  “Without a doubt, that stimulus money is a necessary catalyst for projects we’d otherwise not do,” he said, adding whatever the final figure is, it will “just further enhance” what Windsor is now planning on its own."

Don't you get it....it's just another VISION, another headline. Divert attention and promise anything. It is the canal all over again.

It is not that We cannot wait. Eddie cannot! He has a career to protect. As Thatcher's speechwriter said

• "The decisions that really matter to political leaders are those to do with the getting and holding of power. Other decisions may turn out well or ill. They may cost billions of pounds or hundreds of lives, but for enlisted politicians those decisions are secondary. What matters to them is: will I still be here after this?"

As for me, I am going back to bed.