Dwight Duncan's Distress

Sandra Pupatello is having a major problem these days. Is she having the last laugh as Dwight is getting his legs kicked out from under him?

How does she show sympathy for the travails of her colleague, the Finance Minister, as her career is sky-rocketing as his is collapsing around him! How does she hide her glee at her career boost after all of the slings and arrows she has suffered taking the hits for Spanky in the media and the insult that she is being ignored by the Premier?

It must be nice for her working in the trenches dutifully for the Government without a complaint to see her stock rise as she becomes the powerhouse in Windsor as the star of Dwight Duncan is sinking fast.

Poor Dwight:

1. Ontario deficit $6.4B higher than expected
   
   Ontario's deficit last fiscal year was much higher than the Liberal government predicted six months ago, officials said Friday.
   
   The province suffered the largest drop in corporate tax revenue in recent history, and instead of a $3.9-billion deficit, the province is now $6.4-billion in the red.
   
   That number is expected to soar even higher in 2009-2010.
   
   The government predicts an $18.5-billion deficit this fiscal year, a number that could grow when after fall update later next month.
   



2. Top ministers okayed untendered eHealth contract
   
   Senior cabinet ministers rubberstamped a $30 million untendered contract with IBM for eHealth Ontario because government officials feared the funding was at risk if they put the work out for a competitive bid, according to secret documents obtained by the Star.
   
   Premier Dalton McGuinty's Liberal government has steadfastly refused to release the 63-page contract with its 132 pages in background documents. Opposition and media attempts to gain a glimpse at the inner workings of eHealth through freedom-of-information requests have so far been thwarted...
   
   The IBM contract was approved last November by the management board of cabinet, an influential committee that oversees ministries' annual spending plans and is in charge of human resources, government real estate and information technology.
   
   Finance Minister Dwight Duncan chairs the committee, which includes minister without portfolio Gerry Phillips, Deputy Premier George Smitherman, Government Services Minister Harinder Takhar, Government House Leader Monique Smith, Citizenship Minister Michael Chan, and Consumer Services Minister Ted McMeekin.
   
   



3. Mr. Peter Shurman (PC Opposition question at Queen's Park) : My question is for the finance minister. The McGuinty Liberals spent $430 million and climbing for a Windsor casino expansion project that wasn't supposed to cost more than $400 million. You spent $80 million more on building the Windsor Energy Centre, which wasn't supposed to be built at all. Now the public accounts show us that "to fund current operations and the continuing negative cash flow at Caesars," you have Ontario taxpayers on the hook for at least another $212 million. Here I thought the house wasn't supposed to lose. What are the profits the Windsor casino has generated since you attended its $2.3-million opening spectacle in June 2008?

Pshaw, that is nickel and dime stuff. A few miilion dollars of taxpayer money here, a few hundred million there. Let's get to the big, juicy stuff, the DRIC Road.

Do you think a letter such as this to the Opposition critic, ccing the media would have any impact:

1. Subject: For shame--Dwight's biggest boondoggle
   
   "The loss to taxpayers is approaching a half-billion dollars. Aside from Windsor-Tecumseh, is there anywhere else in the province of Ontario where you, Minister, would actually consider building a money-losing casino and a matching energy centre?"
   
   I saw your questions of the Finance Minister, Dwight Duncan, in Hansard.
   
   Windsor Casino----a mere pittance
   An energy building----pennies on the dollar in comparison.
   
   A half billion dollars...small time cash.
   
   You missed the biggest of them all----the AFP for the Detroit River International Crossing road in Windsor Ontario!
   
   We are not talking millions here but extra BILLIONS out of taxpayers pockets at a time when the deficit has almost doubled.
   
   Below are just three BLOGs I wrote outlining how much money the Ontario Government will waste on this project by taking money from taxpayers. And it will all be buried in MTO's budget so no one will ever discover it. It is worse than Highway 407.
   
   No one knows the real costs yet....just estimates of $1.6B based on "guidelines" when everyone knows the cost will be dramatically higher. It is a MegaProject running amok.
   
   They will be giving obscene profits to private industry using the AFP approach (ie a public private partnership) rather than building the road using the more traditional financing method.
   
   Of course the P3 concept is virtually dead with the economic meltdown but not to the Finance Minister (You might want to take a look at what OMERS have asked for re small pension plans and it may give you a hint since they have lots of cash to offer out on a guaranteed deal at a high rate of return http://windsorcityon.blogspot.com/2009/04/drtp-paid-its-dues-but-for-what.html )
   
   
   

• 1) http://windsorcityon.blogspot.com/2009/09/stories-of-interest.html "FINAL DRIC ROAD COST POOL"
  
  
• 2) http://windsorcityon.blogspot.com/2009/02/will-ontarios-transportation-ministry.html "Will Ontario's Transportation Ministry Be Closed"
  
  
• 3) http://windsorcityon.blogspot.com/2009/07/sale-of-century.html "SALE OF THE CENTURY"
  
  If you have any questions, I would be pleased to answer them."

Seriously, do you think anyone will follow up on this? Do you think anyone cares? Neither do I.

Heck, Dwight has come out of worse jams than this before and survived magnificently. Want to bet that he does so again! Already, his Gong Show Partner resigned taking the hit for E-Health.

Don't smile too broadly Sandra.

Mini-Gord Makes It All Better

Junior has to be laughing out loud now. Mini-Gord is turning into his biggest helper.

And for him to go after another Star writer to suggest the Star's reporter and fact-checkers have no idea what they are doing on the managers leaving story is just too funny. Heck if a Star Columnist has doubts about his own newspaper then I do not feel so bad when I go after them.

Classic.

Expect an Editorial soon to come down on the side of one writer or the other. That will make the Star look even more ridiculous than it already is. My 2 cents offer to buy it might be too high.

I am sure that you are no longer wondering why Junior has not yet dropped his CUPE strike bombshell. That is the Report that he mentioned that he will be disclosing giving his version of what happened during the strike and the consequences.

You must have suspected as I did that what he is doing is sitting back and waiting for his foes to say stupid things over the next week or so that he can use against them. No wonder that story is supposed to die out. Not even an Anne Jarvis viewpoint either. She had to write about Windsor pizzas in England instead.

However, the story could not die. Eddie had to lash out. Again. Whenever he is blamed. You see, it is never his fault.

Junior is right in what he is doing. Mini-Gord's column on Tuesday gave him so much ammunition that it is not funny. There is one line in particular---I won't mention it now but I will later when appropriate---that absolutely destroys the concocted version of the Strike being a massive victory for the Mayor, the fiscally responsible Members of Council and taxpayers.

In fact, I can see Edgar (aka Eddie) choosing not to run again for family reasons just like his buddy Mayor David Miller in Toronto. I could also see some other Councillors running for the hills to get away from the criticism or at least to Mt. Francis.

In mini-Gord's column, he tries to demonstrate that things aren't so bad here after all. Sure managers have left the City, so what. That seems to be the argument being used.

As one example that is to show everything is fine, he writes:

• "The so-called "high turnover" list includes three former executives of the city-county development commission, which isn't under the city's direct control. It's a separate legal entity."

Wow, I am re-assured because of that legal nicety!

Three Senior Executives leaving from a key organization for the re-development of the City and region and everything is fine. As if no one in that business field outside of Windsor has heard of the turmoil here. No wonder no one has been hired to be the CEO. Who would come here in the first place.

I like the fun with figures too. Start off with 2,200 employees and then 400 managers to do calculations. Do NOT talk about the number of SENIOR Managers since that would tell the true tale when percentages are made.

Mini-Gord is so flippant about golden handshakes:

• "That's what happens when highly paid people are removed during reorgs. Under law, anybody with an employment contract gets the same treatment, from hockey players to salespeople. You pay them or you get sued -- and end up paying more."

Except Batagello told us:

• "Except for last month’s controversial payment to John Skorobohacz, who was given $275,000 when he left, in nearly all cases the severance for those senior workers has not been made public.
  
  Among others believed to have received settlements were former development commission heads Paul Bondy, Roman Dzus and Matthew Fischer, tourism’s Elizabeth Hamel, social service boss Susan Ellis and Enwin Utilities CEO Roy Fritz.
  
  Former CAO Dennis Perlin, building commissioner Ed Link, public works director Gord Harding and parks commissioner Lloyd Burridge were also given severances, but asked to work them off in another capacity.
  
  If Skorobohacz’s severance is any indication, taxpayers have been on the hook for hundreds of thousands of dollars as managers headed for the door."

Ten people with a nice severance package of a year or more given their seniority. What are we looking at, one or two million dollars?

I loved one example given to disprove:

• "But did 30 people really leave the city's employ against their will since Eddie Francis became Windsor's tyrannical mayor, as some critics claim?"

Mini-Gord talks about

• "The heavily padded list of supposed casualties includes former public works commission John Tofflemire, who resigned without any pressure whatsoever to take a job in Leamington, where he could take over the family farm."

He better do some homework first. I Blogged at the time:

• "It is no surprise: John Tofflemire is leaving his job. I wonder what the rumour mill at City Hall will churn out about why he really is going."

Did mini-Gord interview him to ask why he left? Did he ask him about the "illness" story that was being spread around as one of the justifications? I mentioned it to John when I met him after he left. Surprisingly, he was still alive at the time too! As I wrote back in 2007:

• "From what I hear from my inside moles, morale is quite low still at City Hall. However, if you want a good-paying job and want to live here, then if you are a public servant, you "grin and bear it."
  
  It gets somewhat concerning however when people like John Tofflemire and Brenda Andreatta decide to pack up and go."

Want to know a different perspective about why John really left? Check out part of this Halberstadt column in Biz-X:
And then mini-Gord has the nerve to mention Alfie Morgan who was once Edgar's biggest booster and who now says in a very politically correct manner in the Battagello story:

• "Retired university business Prof. Alfie Morgan, who took a turn as acting CAO in 2004, said it is unusual to have such high turnover at the top.
  
  The reason for the changes are tied with the political agenda of Windsor’s mayor and councillors, he said.
  
  “Every time they get someone willing to go with the agenda and it’s fine up to a point,” Morgan said.
  
  “Then time comes where that individual expresses a slight opinion that’s not well-received, conflict sets in and a mechanism for replacing the individual is set into motion.”
  
  There must be three distinct centres of power — administration, the mayor and city council — so a municipality gets the benefits of three perspectives instead of one, he said.
  
  “In Windsor, I don’t see the separation of power,” said Morgan, dating it back to former mayor Mike Hurst and continuing with Francis. “The people with power win and ones with less power lose.
  
  “If you are not with me, you are against me — they have to get out of that mindset. There can be tremendous psychological and financial cost to this. All this restructuring, there is a lot of money in that. There is also cost of mistakes unless it’s done with tremendous care.”

And just remember Alfie's outrage over small business. As I Blogged:

• "What I think is more interesting to read is his Thursday column “Drowning in red tape.” It was a tagteam event. Henderson and Alfie Morgan, former University professor, former Windsor CAO and now Chair of the small business task force appointed by Council in 2006 went after the Mayor in the strongest possible language for two people who were Eddie’s biggest supporters.
  
  What is it that provokes these kinds of impassioned outbursts against Eddie Francis? It really is rather simple. People become disappointed and disillusioned after finding out what the real Eddie Francis is all about. It just takes some people longer than others.
  
  Been there, done that."

It's getting tedious already but do you want to see again how Edgar functions as Mayor. It is just like with gangs, guns and drugs:

• problem identified
• talk, talk, talk
• nothing done
• money wasted
• years pass
• identify same problem again before an election
• talk, talk, talk.

There has been a nice "Blame Dennis Perlin" game played at City Hall for years because he wanted to make tough decisions. The Mayor disagreed with his approach and years later we are still studying the problem. Finally, Perlin has been given a voice here to give his side of the story in the Battagello piece:

• "Perlin looks at his time in Windsor with some frustration because he was unable to complete his vision for change.
  
  His controversial restructuring of personnel, which involved the shuffling of nearly every city department, was merely a first step, with governance policy and service delivery changes in Windsor next on his to-do list. But “(Francis) didn’t agree with the model put forward when he became mayor,” Perlin said.
  
  “What we had formed had a whole lot of staff and teams excited about how we were to change delivering services,” Perlin said. “We never got to that part. Windsor would have been better off to continue with that process.”

Mini-Gord tells us:

• "There were 17 names on one list of targets when the city reorganized its executive ranks in 2004."

So assuming salary and benefits per manager at say $125,000, Edgar has wasted, over 5 years of inaction, $10,625,000. Now THAT would have paid a lot of Post Retirement Benefits!

And now we have SDR which Dennis wanted to do years ago that will take forever.

Did you notice a very strange comment by mini-Gord at the end of his column? That's the usual place in Star stories where something big is placed. Was he trying to tell us something and to his colleague David Battagello that there is much more to write about at City Hall:

• "But there is a currency more important than cash in the halls of government: jobs. The more government jobs there are, the more positions in the bureaucracy can be promised to political supporters."

OK, I'll bite. Who are the political supporters who have jobs at City Hall? Who gave the goodies out? What is mini-Gord driving at? Is there a huge scandal waiting to break out? Does mini-Gord have the nerve to tell us and perhaps jeopardize his job? Naw, let Battagello take the hit instead. Then criticize him.

Nice try though. Mini-Gord did his best to try to salvage the unsalvageable. However, he does need to check things a bit more carefully. He can't make it so easy to go after City Hall.

Perhaps he should get some help from "the Wife" about that given her program at St. Clair.

Eddie's AMO Trip And Other Activities

Remember the Association of Municipalities of Ontario trip to Ottawa in mid-August. Perhaps it has more significance than we thought. It happened after the CUPE strike ended do not forget and after the near riot at the Caboto Club, the low point in the ex-CAO's 28 year career.

The Star told us on August 18 that:

• "A contingent of Windsor representatives including Mayor Eddie Francis was busy in Ottawa on Monday promoting the city and the region to municipalities across the province...
  
  Francis said his main purpose at the AMO conference was to introduce and familiarize attendees to Windsor and its region. The city is slated to be the location of next year's conference."

Well, accurate but narrow.

Whew, thank goodness the CUPE strike was over by then since guess which two people were part of the contingent and able to be in Ottawa: Edgar (aka Eddie) and Helga, our chief negotiator.

At the Federation of Canadian Municipalities meeting in June in Whistler BC, you may remember:

• "As Windsorites suffer through a long and bitter civic strike at home with seemingly no end in sight, the city is paying to have Coun. Percy Hatfield and CAO John Skorobohacz attend the event that begins with a meeting today of big city mayors and concludes Sunday after a thick agenda of workshops, gatherings and speeches by the likes of Prime Minister Stephen Harper and most opposition leaders.
  
  As a direct consequence of the FCM meeting, Windsor's city councillors won't be getting their weekly closed-door strike update Monday night because there's no weekly city council meeting.
  
  "Yes, there is a strike, yes, it's unfortunate ... (but) people are still working, people are still conducting the business of the city," said Mayor Eddie Francis.
  
  Francis added it was "absolutely" a good thing that Windsor is represented in Whistler...
  
  Francis said he was scheduled to attend the Whistler meeting but the Red Bull Air Race "and everything else" forced him to remain at home...
  
  Francis said he asked Hatfield, who is an FCM regional board member, to represent him at the big-city mayor's meeting."

But no one had to represent the Mayor in Ottawa. And "everything else" was no longer an issue. He had other business there too. No, it was not to talk to Stephen about a Cabinet position if he ran federally for the Conservatives.

You may wonder how I know these things. Easy, while Edgar attended AMO business primarily, he also attended another function there. The good part is that the transportation and hotel costs were already paid for:

• "August 17th, 2009
  
  LUNCH IN HONOUR OF HIS WORSHIP MAYOR EDDIE FRANCIS OF WINDSOR
  
  On Monday the 17th of August, the Ambassador of Lebanon Mr. Massoud Maalouf hosted a lunch in the embassy in honour of His Worship the Mayor of the city of Windsor Mr. Eddie Francis.
  
  The guests were prominent members of the Lebanese community in Ottawa and Montreal... Mayor Francis was accompanied by Ms. Helga Ridel, the General Manager of Corporate Services in the city of Windsor."
  
  

Terrific timing!

It's a shame that the Star did not report on such an important event especially if we are trying to attract new business here. Seriously, who needs the Undevelopment Commission or the Airport staff and Board and all of their costs when we have Edgar who can do it all and City business too at the same time.

I am certain that Edgar would tell us, if anyone asked, that this was an important reason for him to go there rather than to attend an AMO lunch:

• "Windsor is lobbying to be part of a new jet passenger service from Canada to the Middle East hub of Beirut, Lebanon, a route that at least three international airlines are interested in flying.
  
  Windsor Airport handles almost 11,000 annual passengers to Beirut, but those travellers must first fly to other cities to get to their final destination.
  
  Mayor Eddie Francis said there is interest by Lebanon-based Middle East Airlines in a new Canadian route that would start in Windsor and make a stopover in Montreal, which handles an additional 30,000 annual passengers to Beirut.
  
  On his trip to Europe last week, Mayor Eddie Francis spent several days in Lebanon, where he met with that country's president and senior officials, including Lebanon's secretary-general of foreign affairs and emigrants."

Apparently,the Mayor "offered the Ambassador the Key of the City of Windsor as a token of friendship and appreciation and as a souvenir before the Ambassador's retirement by the end of this year."

I asked the Clerk's Office what the procedure was for awarding a Key and was told

• "Thank you for your email of earlier today regarding "Keys to the City".
  
  There is no official policy on record/file with regards to the awarding of Keys to the City. This is a protocol that is handled directly by the Office of Mayor, and as such, you may wish to contact that office directly in terms of their process and inventory of past recipients."

So I wrote to the Mayor's Office on October 2 and here was their response:

[BLANK]

Oh well, you can see the photos here and not in the pages of the newspaper.

Hmmmmm. You know what I wonder...had John told Edgar that he was resigning by then. If so, did Edgar have the chance to talk to Helga about taking the job during the trip? Did they negotiate the terms of her employment contract as they were going or coming back?

I wonder.

And thanks to a reader for the tip!

Is SDR At YQG Needed

As part of the renovations at the Airport, was a new revolving door installed?

Now that Edgar (aka Eddie) and Council are using SDR restructuring as their excuse for everything, the question needs to be asked why the airport operations are in the state they are.

Is the airport operation being examined as part of the SDR exercise and, accordingly, is any consideration being given about how effective YQG's GM, Federica Nazzani, has been to date? It is no knock against her because it seems she is trying.

However, does she have the skills and experience needed for the job? Has she been placed in an impossible position where she was doomed to fail right from the beginning?

Read on!

If Councillors Marra and Dilkens were slammed by Gord over their actions re Helga's appointment, then they, the Airport Board and Council ought to be slammed if they have not examined how much Ms Nazzani has accomplished to date.

As the Star Editors pointed out 2 years ago and as we saw recently when a Star Reporter was kicked out of an in camera meeting re the airport's future:

• "Instead of working with the proponents to address city concerns or issue a new RFP, council opted to continue operating the airport as a corporation and to create a new executive board with community, business and aviation representatives. While this might be a prudent approach, council needs to ensure the people appointed to this board place an emphasis on transparency, openness and the public's right to know about public money and public entities.
  
  The lack of details presented before councillors voted on the airport's future last week is emblematic of broader problems with this city and its arms-length corporations, which are not accountable to residents in any direct and meaningful way. Councillor Drew Dilkens expressed frustration with the lack of information he had to review before casting his vote on the airport and city residents share in that frustration."

How did Ms Nazzani get her job in the first place by the way? Was she the right person for it then and is she the right person for it now? Was there recruitment for the postion? Did she have an air industry or airport background? Why was she the best choice?

The Star told us that after Serco left:

• "An acting general manger has been put in place -- Federica Nazzani -- who has a local business background in property management and auditing."

No air industry experience there. Gord told us:

• "Federica Nazzani didn't blink an eye when she was asked by Mayor Eddie Francis to step into the breech and try to rescue a fast-sinking Windsor Airport.
  
  This 36-year-old dynamo, a chartered accountant with a track record in business valuation, corporate finance and financial investigation that belies her relative youth."

None there either.

True she is a Holy Names Grad as is Edgar but why would he want an inexperienced person in the industry involved if this is a key part of our future economic salvation? Why did he make the choice he did? If Serco an experienced operator with all of their connections could not make it, how could an inexperienced person make a success out of the airport?

To her credit, Ms Nazzani has admitted

• "her lack of aviation experience: "It's true I don't have that experience."

Here is what she has been doing

• "Nazzani told council she has been aggressively courting passenger airlines, cargo companies and potential investors to increase business at the local airport.
  
  "Opportunities are real, but we do need to pursue them," she said. "These airlines have the option to say no, but every time I've asked for a meeting I've got one. That's a certain success, that they are willing to talk to us."
  
  She suggested the airport might be better off concentrating on securing more freight business and developing its vacant land, possibly for warehousing or logistics use, because competition for passengers becomes so great that profits are slim for airlines."

She has been busy as Gord mentioned almost 2 years ago

• "Nazzani, a fast study and born salesperson, has been on the road repeatedly to pitch the city-formed company she runs...at airline industry conferences as far away as Frankfurt, Stockholm and London."

I heard she was in Asia recently too and she also went to Germany with Edgar to try to get the onion guys from Germany here.

What has she done:

• "The astonishing thing is that nobody has ever gone out and sold, as she is doing, the inherent advantages of this well-placed but grossly underutilized facility. Years and years have been lost to benign neglect. "They salivate when I talk about this," said Nazzani of her discussions with airline executives who were in the dark about YQG."

What has been her success with salivating executives?

How many airlines operate out of here now? How much cargo flies in and out of here since she became GM? Where are the investors to pay for feasibility studies and new facilitities for cargo?

Here is what the Star wrote a year ago:

• "More often than not the tarmac, check-in counters and baggage carrousel at Windsor Airport are empty.
  
  Every month municipal taxpayers spend another $27,000 to keep it running while city officials slowly try to right the listing operation.
  
  That is little comfort for Len Edwards, whose limousine business at the airport has dropped 75 per cent since the city took over a year ago.
  
  "Once the city took over it's been downhill. People there working don't know what they are doing or seem to care less," said the owner of Len's Personal Transportation.
  
  "Nobody is promoting the airport. If you stand still, nothing is going to happen. That's exactly what they are doing."
  
  Some business tenants of the airport property are also nervous about the future. They say their advice is being ignored and the turnaround plan is taking too long to take off."

A key indicator of her success or failure should be what Edgar said almost 18 months ago:

• "The second is business development -- attracting airlines, charters and new routes.
  
  "That business development is happening quicker than expected," Francis said."

Really Edgar? What evidence is there of that taking place? I can think of a few holy names to use as Lufthansa said in their Report on what she wanted to concentrate:

• "YQG is not being recognized as a cargo airport by either forwarders or shippers...
  
  44 interviews were conducted in Windsor, Toronto, Detroit, at a trade convention in Las Vegas and at other locations. The Lufthansa Consulting experts conducted interviews with airlines, shippers, forwarders, and government agencies...
  
  The development of air cargo business at Windsor International Airport is strongly dependent on the development of new air services to and from YQG..."

In fact, mini-Gord told us about Lufthansa who took on the assignment:

• "they hadn't known it existed before being hired to study it, which is disquieting"

Lufthansa told Council when delivering their report that YQG is:

• "Small and practically unknown to the greater airline world."

Even Edgar with a slap to Ms Nazzani's efforts said:

• "Francis said some of the freight forwarders -- those who are hired to handle cargo for customers -- contacted during the study weren't even aware Windsor's airport is open for business."

And this:

• "Key to Windsor’s success at grabbing a slice of the action will be what Francis called a “multi-pronged” approach that includes more marketing efforts...
  
  Authors of the Lufthansa study met with freight forwarders and logistics providers who were unaware of what Windsor Airport had to offer, which underscores the need for increased marketing, said Francis.
  
  A lot of people don’t even know Windsor Airport exists,” said Francis.
  
  “But when they’re told about Windsor Airport and where Windsor Airport is and its proximity to Detroit and the advantages here, they determine that there’s value here."

If no one still knows about YQG, how can anyone claim she has been successful in achieving any recognition for the airport even with all of her world-wide jaunts?

However, the latest news coming out of the airport is a disgrace. The lack of action has delayed until probably the 4th quarter the release of the City's annual report, well past the normal release date.

• "Airport records two years late
  
  Audited statements for 2007 and 2008 by the operator of Windsor Airport were not turned over to the city's external auditor KPMG until after the accounting firm raised concerns Thursday during the city's audit committee meeting...
  
  YQG claims of making a profit based on their books is different compared to findings of outside audited statements, said Halberstadt...
  
  "I was pleased to hear the information was made available to KPMG, but why the delay?" said Coun. Bill Marra, another audit committee member.
  
  "The information was not forthcoming and (KPMG) was waiting a lengthy period of time for it. This certainly seems unusual. The bottom line it's been resolved, but the auditors were concerned enough to identify it as an issue."
  
  Airport board member Coun. Drew Dilkens said they have been clueless over YQG audited statements of the last two years being incomplete and withheld."

There is no excuse for this. Ms. Nazzani must take responsibility as GM. We have been told that "she has held positions on the City of Windsor Audit Committee, WFCU Board, finance and tax committee with the Windsor and District Chamber of Commerce and on the Enwin Energy Board." She is no amateur in business.

Remember when I Blogged this about her vision for the airport:

• "Now the Airport… you know the one with one commercial airline that flies out of it on a regular basis on a scheduled service, with a few chartered flights thrown in for fun.
  
  Our Airport General Manager must be sniffing the dream vision too:
  
  “We have to be thinking big right from the start. The way I run those board meetings is we're putting a Fortune 500 company in place.... If we set the right processes and procedures in place, we'll get there."

Thinking Big is terrific. Delivering Little is not.

With an airport that potential customers know little about even now, audited reports not provided in a timely fashion and a Board seemingly out of the loop, will the Mayor as Chair of YQG one day use the Tyagi excuse that he gave that "SDR Restructuring" eliminated Nazzani’s position as GM of the airport?

I feel sorry for her. Ms. Nazzani may have to take the fall notwithstanding her best efforts.

Will it soon be time for a "Change agenda" at YQG.

The PM Toots His Horn At The Piano

Here is Stephen Harper softening his image by singing a Beatles song "With A Little Help From My Friends" at the National Arts Centre gala over the weekend in Ottawa.

Of course it was his loyal wife who arranged this all on her own as the Globe and Mail reported,

• "The decision was not based on lyrics or symbolism. “My husband loves the Beatles, the song was in his vocal range and that is about it,” Mrs. Harper said. “Also, it was playable by the band. Some of the Beatles' stuff uses lots of instruments and obviously it had to be something a small band could play.”

Naturally, I did not buy that silliness.

I asked a world-famous Canadian psychologist who works with troubled leaders in business and in other fields to analyse the song given his knowledge of Canadian politics as well. Here is what he said as he fisked the lyrics:

• "It is fascinating to me that he sang the song with with Yo-Yo Ma, the cellist.
  
  He was the perfect partner too. His name was symbolic of the ups and downs of Harper's political career in a way that clearly the PM and his wife never realized.
  
  
  "What would you think if I sang out of tune
  Would you stand up and walk out on me
  
  [Obviously about the PM’s video in the Soo where he attacked the Opposition and their reaction to it as they threatened to bring down his Government]
  
  Lend me your ears and I'll sing you a song
  and I'll try not to sing out of key
  
  [An appeal to friends, Canadians and countrymen... Harper’s promises to the NDP and Bloc to be a good boy to salvage his Government and his personal career ambitions]
  
  Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends
  
  [Yup, from the Governor General whom he appointed in 2005 and her advisors when he put her on the spot over the constitutional crisis when it looked like there might be an Opposition Coalition Government]
  
  Mm, I get high with a little help from my friends
  Mm, Gonna try with a little help from my friends
  
  [The NDP and Bloc commitment to keep him in power made him so happy]
  
  What do I do when my love is away
  Does it worry you to be alone
  
  [Concern finally for manufacturers who cannot get access to American markets and who are going out of business]
  
  How do you feel by the end of the day
  Are you sad because you're on your own
  
  [Obama’s snub of the PM over Buy American, the border, the DRIC bridge etc demonstrate that he has achieved little. He hopes no one notices.]
  
  Do you need anybody
  I need somebody to love
  
  [Members of his Party to allow him to remain as Leader for one more election especially]
  
  Could it be anybody
  I want somebody to love
  
  [Voters to give him a majority Government]
  
  
  Would you believe in a love at first sight
  Yes, I'm certain that it happens all the time
  
  [Yes, when he was first elected as Leader and then as PM]
  
  What do you see when you turn out the light
  I can't tell you, but I know it's mine
  
  [He sees Iggy’s face in his worst nightmare!]
  
  "Clearly, this man is in serious difficulty. He has lost his way and his supporters. He craves attention and will do anything to get it. A typical Canadian leader too. Why he is nothing more than a Bill Clinton wanna-be on the Arsenio Hall Show in 1992 playing the sax!"

Killing DRIC Too Slowly But Surely

Seriously, you have to have some sympathy for them, but not much. They should have done the deed years ago, not waited until $60M or so of taxpayer dollars were wasted. For what?

However, no politican would want to be the one whom others could point at and blame for the waste of so much money in these times of restraint.

The solution: let a consultant do it.

Michigan signalled they have had enough of DRIC finally. But no one was prepared to pay the political price for saying so. They were merely following what President Obama already had demonstrated after his snubs of Stephen Harper along with his and President Bush's ignoring of Stephen's entreaties to build the DRIC bridge.

No wonder Stephen hoped that the Congressional leaders would be the ones to help. As if they were going to fight the President over Canada!

Of course the MDOT people had to find the silver lining which just will antagonize the Legislators even more. They had to find something when

• "The budget proposal also bans activities that would commit the state to building a publicly owned bridge between Canada and the United States, which would be a second span besides the Ambassador Bridge. The owner of the Ambassador has his own plan to build a second span next to the Ambassador."

When the Michigan House and Senate cut the DRIC money request by 75% from $10M to $2.5M from the State, MDOT's Shreck could say to rub their faces in it:

• "the provisions of the proposal "weren't that bad."
  
  "The $2.5 million will allow us to leverage $10 million from the federal government," he said."

He just does not seem to get it does he?

However, the coup de grace was not mentioned in the traditional media but in an article in TollRoad News:

• "The language of the budget as passed yesterday:
  
  "Section 384 (1) The department may continue with preliminary legal, financial, traffic and revenue study, permitting, engineering, and other ancillary work for the Detroit River International Crossing (DRIC) so that it can solicit from the private sector, requests for proposals for public-private partnership to construct the bridge, plaza, and related infrastructure. The department shall submit proposals to the legislature by May 1, 2010. Those activities associated with the DRIC project shall not bind the state in any way to construction.
  
  "(2) The department shall submit an investment grade traffic study to the legislature by May 1, 2010 from a reputable traffic company with appropriate experience intended to provide a detailed traffic projection for the ensuing 10 years, taking into account projected infrastructure modifications, expansions and improvements announced.
  
  "(3) The department shall not expend more than $2.5 million from state transportation revenue sources for activities enumerated in this section.
  
  " (4) It is the intent of the legislature to fully adopt or reject authorizing legislation by the full legislative bodies by June 1, 2010 to:
  
  * Construct a new international crossing jointly and in agreement with Canada
  * Create an authorized tolling authority; and
  * Create a public private partnership"

What is important:

1) the use of the money is strictly limited: only for the purpose of soliciting from the private sector, requests for proposals for public-private partnership. NOTHING ELSE.

2) Everything must be done by May 1, 2010.

3) An investment trade traffic study must be done

• covering the next 1o years
• taking into account infrastructure modifications, expansions and improvements announced

4) Michigan will make a decision by June 1, 2010.

I really have no idea why Michigan has to do a study and neither it seems does Senator Cropsey who said in February 2009:

• "One of the key things that has to be done is to find out if we really need another international crossing there that the taxpayers or the government of Canada or whomever needs to put up. In order to determine that, one of the key things is to have an investment grade traffic study done. I’m surprised one hasn’t been done already. Then I found out not too long ago that a couple of years ago, Canada, evidently, commissioned an investment grade traffic study to be done. That was supposed to have been done a year ago. I’ve asked the department or one of the representatives from the department that if Canada is such a good neighbor and a good partner, where is the investment grade traffic study? I think the department told me that, well, they aren’t done with it yet or some other type of thing, after a year, supposedly, from what I understand, when the study should have been done.
  
  However, this is something the department is very well aware of. I have in my hand a letter in which it talks about the DRIC EPE/EIS Project. It was a letter dated July 9. It goes back to the invoice that was submitted by one of the contractors, I believe, on the study on the progress report for The Corradino Group from June 1 through June 30 of 2008. On June 2, The Corradino Group prepared for and participated in the following meetings: June 2 with Transport Canada on the investment grade traffic analysis, and on June 25, they also had a meeting with Transport Canada on the investment grade traffic analysis. It would seem like we should have an investment grade traffic analysis that the government of Canada has done, and I call upon the government of Canada, if they’re going to be a good partner, to give us a copy of the investment grade traffic analysis.
  
  Why haven’t they released it at this point? Is it because the investment grade traffic analysis will show the American taxpayers, the Michigan taxpayers, that perhaps it does not justify the building of a new DRIC bridge? I don’t know, but I have that question. I call upon the Michigan Department of Transportation to get us the investment grade traffic analysis as soon as possible. It would seem like a year after it was due that we would know where it is, what it is, and what it says."

Now Transport Canada's Sean O'Dell really has to be embarrassed as new numbers come out every month mocking his traffic comments. His Minister and Canada's Finance Minister have to be red in the face as well. The economy is even worse now for our border crossing and for Michigan:

• "NAFTA surface trade drops for seventh straight month
  
  WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Surface trade between Canada, the US and Mexico was down a whopping 28% in July, compared to the same month last year, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) of the US Department of Transportation. NAFTA surface trade dropped for the seventh consecutive month to $51.5 billion, with a year-to-year decline of greater than 27%...
  
  US-Canada surface transportation trade totalled $31.0 billion in July, down 33.8% compared to July 2008. The value of imports carried by truck was 29.0% lower in July 2009 compared to July 2008, while the value of exports carried by truck was 24.3% lower during this period.
  
  Interestingly, Illinois knocked Michigan out of its usual top spot among US states to lead trade with Canada in July with $3.1 billion. Michigan came in second with $2.7 billion in surface trade value."

Frankly, there is no need to spend money on a study. With numbers like this, I can just see investors pounding the doors down to throw money here into a DRIC bridge. NOT!

I can tell you the results now of the Michigan Investment Grade Traffic study, or rather, I can tell you what others have already said that will be confirmed at a cost of more hundreds of thousands of dollars:

• Senator Cropsey told us about in his Detroit Free Press article that "If DRIC cannot accurately predict traffic levels from 2004-08, then its 30-year projections are completely baseless. Even with these inflated traffic projections, MDOT testified before my committee that a new span would not be needed until between 2025-35. This gives us plenty of time to address border bridge capacity in the future if the situation warrants it.
• Nonetheless, it is believed (by Joe Corradino, the US DRIC consultant)) that the market won’t support three bridges.
• Stuedle said construction on the bridge needs to begin somewhere between 2015 and 2030 depending on traffic flow.
• The DRIC consultant stated that the Ambassador Gateway project at the existing bridge, on its own, can handle twice the volume at the Bridge now without another bridge
• MTO's Bruce McCuaig in 2004 before traffic crashed said "the throughput capacity of the Ambassador Bridge does not reach capacity according to the work that has been done to date for 10 years to 15 years...the physically capacity is there, if we can move the traffic through the plazas and through the roads for the next 10 years physically on that bridge."
• He also said "there are a variety of things that need to be done in this interim period. More specifically, there are border process and plaza improvements that we can do in the shorter term and medium term to help bridge us, if I could use that word, to the time at which new capacity comes on stream in terms of a new border crossing."
• My understanding of the Canadian Government hidden investment grade traffic surveys is that there are no problems in the short and medium term justifying the need for a new bridge. No wonder the 2 studies have been hidden
• Canada's Transport Minister Baird has conceded Canada's postion when he changed his tune from the need for capacity issues now to those in the future, up to 40 years from now:
  
  
• The Corradino Group Inc., URS Canada Inc., the US and Canadian DRIC consultants and a Michigan Department of Transportation employee stated prior to March 2003 "The initial feasibility study concluded that at least four additional lanes for roadway traffic will be needed by 2030 and that six lanes should be constructed to accommodate traffic through at least 2050. " The 6 lanes would be achieved by the Ambassador Bridge Enhancement project.
• If we take the existing traffic and even assume that it would increase to the 1999 levels within the next 10 years, there is no way a DRIC bridge is needed when one looks at the "announced" infrastructure projects including the improved truck ferry service , improved Tunnel operations with the new plaza, a proposed passenger ferry for commuters and others, the DRTP rail Tunnel, the improved Blue Water Bridge operation with their new plaza, a new bridge in Buffalo/Fort Erie, increased marine traffic via Highway H2O never mind the Enhancement Project Bridge. All the crossings could go broke since there was not enough business.
• DRIC consultants stated that the DRIC Bridge had to take huge amounts of business away from the Ambassador Bridge, the Tunnel and the Blue Water Bridge to survive and that will not happen in a competitive environment where the other crossings' tolls are lower. The DRIC tolls for trucks may be 3 times higher than that of the Ambassador Bridge.
• Someone needs to explain where new traffic will be coming from given the automobile industry woes, both domestic and foreign since they are the biggest users of the Bridge and tourist traffic is declining
• DRIC did not take into account in a serious way the move to have customs away from the border to reduce border thickening nor the increased use of and the technological innovations to make border traffic flow more smoothly.

I read an interesting comment prepared by one traffic consultant on one of these investment grade traffic studies which ought to give everyone pause considering that DRIC has not been right yet on their projections:

• "Whilst we can make 'best estimates' of future traffic levels, even with the most sophisticated forecasting techniques, the future cannot be predicted with certainty. The uncertainty is compounded by the fact that different demand modelling methodologies can also lead to different forecasts even with the same input assumptions."

Who could have conceived of 9/11 and its impact on the border, the bankruptcy of General Motors and the economic meltdown of the world's financial system.

Remember also the Danish Professor and MegaProjects running amok. "Truth and Lies About Megaprojects"

http://flyvbjerg.plan.aau.dk/Publications2007/InauguralTUD21PRINT72dpi.pdf

• "Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of forecasting for megaprojects, that is, very large infrastructure investment projects costing typically more than several hundred million dollars. One truth about megaprojects - which I will document below - is that forecasters misinform and sometimes even lie about projected costs, benefits, and risks. This results in cost overruns, benefit shortfalls, and the mismanagement of risk to a degree that often jeopardizes project viability."

I go back to my BLOG August 29, 2008 "Cropsey 2 The Sequel: The Cow Bridge" when I wrote about how the "cow bridge" became the #1 border crossing between Canada and the US! And without spending billions of taxpayer dollars. I BLOGGED:

• "Just think about that and fast-forward 80 years until today. That same Bridge that could be used by cows is now the major border crossing between Canada and the United States carrying by far more traffic than any other bridge and yet is only at about 50% capacity. I have Blogged before about how many studies have said that the Bridge would be jam packed by this date and yet it still can handle millions of vehicles more without any problem."

Who would have thunk it! It is time to put DRIC out of its misery. And ours!

No Stamps Required

No stamps are needed if you email your notes to me. So what's holding you back?

1)

Windsor is a city in turmoil. I believe that Windsor city Council is becoming more and more out of touch with the general population. Citizens are plagued by some poor decision making and too many secret meetings where public access (including good Star reporters) is denied... Some Councilors have been known to be downright callous and arrogant as the recent CUPE strike has shown. I feel Windsor really needs a catalyst to stimulate and bring the community together as opposed to attempting to drive a wedge between the myriad of interest groups that comprise the city.

To begin this healing, I feel that the Windsor Star needs to clean up some of its trashy anti-union opinions that they are attempting to ingrain on the people of Essex County. The Stars attempt to do this is frequently very obvious to me.

Most of the Star’s reporting is factual, though I feel that journalists such as Gord Henderson and Chris Vander Doelen accompanied by cartoonist Mike Graston, and their boss, Marty Beneteau leave much to be desired as ‘Opinion Shapers’. The Star Editorial management and opinion writers seem to take pride in assuming the worst and attempting to make it sound like fact. They have little good to say about the working men and women who, through union participation, contribute multi- millions of dollars and energy to the city and county.

I sincerely believe that the Star ‘Opinion Shapers’ have done their utmost to turn worker against worker and pit citizen against citizen to accomplish their goal of weakening worker’s rights and community solidarity through innuendo and exclusion.

In my opinion, the Star belittled the CUPE workers and obviously support the contracting out of their jobs. Though, I feel the Star’s short sighted attack on decent jobs is destined to kick our local economy in the groin. Take a minute and think. With contracting out comes greatly reduced wages and benefits which add to the downward spiral that our economy is suffering. That will equate to more people seeking benefits and services and less money to spend. With less money in our area, small businesses will also suffer along with the charities that depend upon the generousity of our community.

One would have to be pretty thick headed to think otherwise. What would be the outcome if unions did not or could not afford to participate in our United Way or other worthy campaigns? Would the Star then have more negative garbage to heap on unions and workers?. I feel the Stars negatives outweigh their positives as their senior staff seem to enjoy attacking the solidarity of our community... Their attitude needs to change!

I believe the Windsor Star has an arrogance in their management because they don’t have any competition, which causes me to wonder just how long decent citizens will continue to put up with the Star’s media dogs who think of themselves as opinion shapers?

2) "Who needs senior administrators when the Mayor can micromanage everything from the newsroom of the Windsor Star?"

3)
google adsense, as im sure you know, picks up on the content of your site to decide what ads would best be shown....here is a screen capture of a page on the windsor star site yesterday.

zoom in on the "ads by google"

just thought it was rather humorous.

4) Hey Ed... the title you have chosen for the sitcom "The Marriage Bureau..Windsor Style" is much too long for a marquee. Let's shorten the name to "Screwed" which will bring more meaning to each episode especially when referring to the Mayor and Council.

I've purchased my Orville Redenback and am awaiting the premier episode which I assume will be seen on the Comedy Network.

5) Still a year away until elections and Lowenza Jr. wants to take on everyone!
Pay per view live from City Hall Square!

If you thought nothing ever got done in city hall, just watch the next year.

6) [Re: The Truth Always Comes Out] Excellent blog, Edward. You certainly can put the words together in the right order. Here is council who were under the impression that the terms of Skorobohacz's resignation were a fait acompli because Edgar told them it was. They understood there to be an employment contract because that's what was told to them...

But here's the kicker. They turn around and do it again! They approve the appointment of Reidel without knowing of other candidates, without insisting on an outside search, and without seeing what her employment contract is. What's she being paid? What are her benefits? What's the end date of the contract? What options of renewal are there for either side? What about termination? Severance? Council knows none of this but confirms her nomination because they are told to.

Incredible.

7) if morale was lousy BEFORE, you ain't seen NUTHIN YET! (I pray to the creator that no one harms themself or others, but I'm afraid that push is coming to shove, especially now that th former CAO is taking a hike... he is NOT without empathy and respect for the staff.... more's the pity)

8) If Alan's theory is you have to offend people to get things done we have a few scenarios,

He likes what Edgar does.

Alan p.o.'s people but still doesn't seem to fix problems. Catch 22 here.

What ever happened to Postma? Is her computer that bad or is she?

Okay Postma is a stretch, but even she hasn't opened her mouth to the star lately.
We're overdue.

9) I like the insight you had on recent federal political moves,

I find the Essex riding to be pretty interesting because I have no clue which way its going to go,

Cheers and keep up the good work,

I currently live away from Windsor and where I used to get news from the Windsor Star, I have totally switched over to your blog

10) Sounds like the airport is a scapegoat.

City hall is looking for a diversion from the city audit of the new building downtown.

11) WHEN will the councillors GROW SOME BALLS????

12) If one looked for a replacement, wouldn't that replacement want to be able to do his own thing. When you hire from within, they already know whose boss and who pulls the strings.

13) Coming soon to YQG.....as soon as we pay for that runway upgrade!

The World's Biggest Airplane, the Antonov 225



14) There are calls still coming in asking for cheques. Apparently many required documents that applicants/clients swear that they brought in to the office, are not reaching their intended destination. So, over these past three weeks hundreds of people have been told to re-submit their documents. It’s been awful for the applicants, clients and the workers. Calgon take me away!

15) Lufthansa is in the air freight business. How can anyone take any report from them as fair and unbiased? The more options there are for freight hubs the lower cost they can negotiate with the many airports. It is in their best interest to get every airport to start accepting freight. Windsor is just a pawn in there plan to maximize profits for their main operations. Looks like Windsor’s mayor is once again looking for a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow that doesn’t exist. Should we be surpised?

16) The auto industry will take 5-7 years before it fully recovers
and it will never be the way it was due to the credit daze.
If you look at the total output now and see how long it took to get to it's peak,
it shows approximately 8 years.
We have gone back to 1996/97 figures in sales and manufacture.
Toss in automation.
Toss in Foreign competition.
Toss in aging population.

Doesn't look good for the "old school ways".

Dennis could probably sum it up better with his charts but don't look to the
auto industry to save other industries.

17) I can't tell you how sorry I am to read of John Skorobohacz's resignation. He is probably one of the most genuine and truly kind people I have met who work for the city. His sincerity and concern for the people who worked for him will be missed.

Having said all of this I am very surprised that it took him this long to leave. When you truly care for your staff, maybe you are too soft for this administration. With the Pit Bulls on council, maybe this was one man they could not push around. Good Luck John and God Bless, I hope in your next job the Mayor and council will appreciate much more.

18) I go into the high schools... I found it very interesting how some of these students had their own comments on the CUPE strike. But what was most interesting was how the ones who can now vote said they are going to vote just to get rid of Eddie Francis. Very interesting that he can not fool the youth as he has done to a lot of the adults in this city..

19) It just amazes me.

They want the airport to become a major cargo hub so bad they send the manager
overseas for business.

Yet there is a UPS company 1/4 mile from the runway on Rhodes Drive.
I thought they shipped a lot of air freight?
Sorry, it goes to London.

Maybe they should be working with people in their own back yard instead of going
to the other side of the world.

20) Brilliant writting today!

Keep up the good work,

More On The 200 Audit (Part 1)

I wrote the following BLOG just over a week ago but I did not have the opportunity to post it. I will show you in Part 2 what I was writing on Friday:

===========================================

Well, the 400 Building audit is only half-way done so what do you expect?

It's like the movie, Groundhog Day. We've seen the delay play itself out meeting after meeting, extending the time and the costs before taxpayers learn what went wrong , and what went right, with this project.

Or perhaps, it is more like the movie Saving Private Valentinis. After all, he was the Councillor who was involved in the project from start to finish and its biggest defender. If it turns out to be a mess, then he takes the blow and just before an election too.

So many audit stories all of a sudden too:

• "Audited statements for 2007 and 2008 by the operator of Windsor Airport were not turned over to the city's external auditor KPMG until after the accounting firm raised concerns Thursday during the city's audit committee meeting."
• "YQG claims of making a profit based on their books is different compared to findings of outside audited statements"
• The City's 2008 audited statements have been delayed considerably
• The 400 Building audit is delayed again for at least 60-90 days, partially because of that darn CUPE strike (yes, I know that the City's inside auditor is dealing with all of this garbage!) so that we might not get the fianl report until early 2010.
• "But the real issue remains Dunbar's report. Halberstadt says that Andrew Roman, a Toronto lawyer, has been asked to complete a briefing on Dunbar's findings for the next audit meeting.
  
  "We have instructed him to prepare a detailed memo with regard to the pros and cons of releasing it," said Halberstadt. "He's going to do that and we will make a decision at our next meeting."

The real issue that Councillor Halberstadt seems to be missing is getting the final report out. Did the Councillor forget that Mr. Roman has already answered the question before so there is nothing left to decide except when Mr. Dunbar's report will be released:

Remember that the Dunbar audit was turned over to the former CAO in December 2006. He has resigned and thus we cannot learn from him what happened if he chooses not to answer any questions about the subject unless there is a legal process in place to force him to do so or unless he vounteers.

How do you like this statement from Edgar which is so true but a real disgrace:

• Mayor Eddie Francis, chairman of the YQG board, countered Friday the delay should not be a surprise to anyone"

It does not matter to Edgar it seems that his fellow Board member, Councillor Dilkens, told us that the Airport Board has

• "been clueless over YQG audited statements of the last two years being incomplete and withheld."

Then we have the Mayor telling us this as he wants Councillors Halberstadt and Marra removed as members of the Audit Committee:

• "Two audit committee members are city councillors, prompting Mayor Eddie Francis to call the audit process "politicized."
  
  "It's taken up a lot of time and effort," he said.
  
  "The audit committee's there to serve as an independent function, as an independent oversight of the affairs of the corporation."

Edgar said on Eh-channel that he thinks other investigations into other City activities are politically motivated and are wasting resources. Frankly, I have NO idea what he is talking about on this issue. What else is being examined that we do not know about that is taking up so much Audit time?

How did the audit which is a normal activity all of a sudden become "politicized" and who is making it such. Hardly Councillors Marra and Halberstadt. They are looing like fools letting the process go on and on and on!

Also he wants Max Zalev out too since he is on Enwin but Max wants Councillors on it because they bring the municipal perspective.

Funny, I have not heard these complaints before when the Audit Committee was invisible on WUC as an example or not taking action on the 400 Building. Is it now political because of Councillor "Mayor in Waiting" and Councillor "Your Arrogance Has no bounds" who cannot be controlled since it is getting to re-election time

This is all of course utter nonesense but nothing more that the beginning of a demand to depoliticize the Committee and appoint "unbiased" citizens to the Committee after a very long vettign process of course. Just like with the WEDC CEO process.

Ho, Ho, Ho...the Star even gets in on the subject. You think they are supporting taxpayers. Hardly. They are helping Edgar stall things off:

• "If the audit committee is unwilling to immediately release the Dunbar audit, the committee should be immediately dissolved and a separate investigation launched to explain how a group of officials who are responsible for ensuring transparency and accountability, instead seem to be accomplishing the opposite.

That should last until waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay after the next municipal election!

So what is this all about? What is the real story behind this? We know it is the old Edgar stall game but why?

As I BLOGGED before, it has nothing to do with the 400 Building but everything to do with the Arena. "11 Boxes As A Stalling Device" http://windsorcityon.blogspot.com/2009/02/11-boxes-as-stalling-device.html

With the 400 Audit going on forever, there is not time now to do an audit on that monumnet until after the election. No scandals if any can be made apparent until our new Mayor and Council have been put into office and then it is too late:

• "Have we all been played again? Was it was the stall and distract tactic once again. If so, I am so tired of it. I have been telling you about it, dear reader, with respect to the border file for so long so it should not come as a surprise to you if this happened all over again.
  
  Do you really think that there is anything substantially different in the Dunbar audit than there is in what was disclosed yesterday in the 200 Building audit i.e. Part One of the 400 Building audit? I would doubt it. My guess as well is that Mr. Dunbar probably saw most of what was in the 11 boxes of documents that surprisingly made an appearance that stalled off disclosure of the Audit Report until the City auditor was able to look at the materials.
  
  What is the difference after all between not having an audit come out in a timely fashion because all of a sudden 11 boxes are mysteriously produced and using full tunneling/Greenlinks to stall off the building of the road to the border until the Province has the money to do it...
  
  The really shocking revelation as far as he ought to be concerned is that no business case was presented to justify the project in the first place.
  
  'Prior to the project approval, we expected to find in place a comprehensive business case analysis for a supportable, validated, investment decision. It was anticipated that the business case documentation itself would have set out clear objectives, scope, expected outcomes, critical success factors, risk assessment and risk mitigating measures, an environmental assessment, strategic alignments. The expected business plan would have clearly analysed costs and benefits of the project to Council for decision-making purposes...'
  
  However, in Windsor, there are more things around than meet the eye. Nothing is as plain as it seems in this City for whatever reason.
  
  Just consider that the final draft of the Dunbar report was given to the CAO sometime in late 2006. That means most of the work had probably been completed by the fall of 2006. Now sit back and think, what else was taking place in the fall of 2006 that was historic for Windsor. What project could have meant the end of the careers of certain politicians in Windsor if it had not been started?
  
  Oh I think that you are almost there. It was a design/build project as well, just like the 400 Building. It was started before there was a signed contract. As part of the justification on price, certain other City buildings were to be sold. It was all rush, rush, rush and significant mistakes were made that will now cost us money. Of course, the extra costs will not be shown as part of the project because it is finished, including financing costs that will be charged to General Revenues. It is claimed as well that it was built on budget. And one more amusing point, just like the 400 Building, there is a huge issue with respect to parking.
  
  Now you know. I’m talking about the East End Arena. If the audit on the 400 Building had come out in the fall of 2006, someone could have asked questions about whether the arena was being constructed in a manner that was more satisfactory than the 400 Building fiasco. Wasn’t our last Municipal Election in the mid-November, 2006? Can you imagine as well the outcry that well could have cost some people their political careers. It might have meant that Project Ice Track would have been built instead in Tecumseh."
  
  Now the issue is delaying the audit on the Arena for an eternity or perhaps never having one in the first place because of the politicizing of the process."

So sit back and relax. This is politics too but we are deemed to be too stupid as mere citizens to understand it.

The Eminence Greasie is laughing again!

We Need A New Audit Committee (Part 2)

This is Part 2 of the BLOG "More on the 200 Audit"

Ho, ho, ho. I told you it would play itself out.

My sides hurt from laughing so hard.

What a perfect way to kill two birds with one stone. The Eminence Greasie deserves a huge bonus for this one I am sure that you will agree.

Why do you have that puzzled expression on your face, dear reader. You understand the distraction strategy by now don't you? You have been reading my BLOGs long enough to understand it haven't you.

First, whatever happened to the big story of the week---Ken Lewenza and the CUPE strike. Poof, gone, disappeared.

Poor Anne Jarvis. She did not get her chance to dump on Junior with more important events taking place. I am sure that Gord will have more vital concerns to deal with than why did Edgar (aka Eddie) do everything right during the CUPE strike and that Junior is merely trying to protect his failing poltiical career by winning friends amongst his Union buddies.

We need to quiet down this story before it gets legs and people start wondering if Junior is right if he is risking his career on it. Where there is smoke, there is fire after all.

Second---what took its place: the 400 Building audit.

Here is how it became the big story:

• Star headline "'It's unbelieveable' 400 building report will never be released, former auditor says"
  
• Lawyer who lives more than 4-500Km away from Windsor retained by the Audit Committee and gives the opinion that "detailed how audit information prepared by Dunbar — which he and the committee have labelled a “draft report” — cannot legally be released because it would be a violation of Ontario’s Municipal Act."
  
• Anne Jarvis column
  
• Star Editorial

Of course everyone is outraged as we should be. This is a stalling exercise almost as good as Schwartz and Greenlink! That has stalled the border file resolution for years.

But of course it fits into the pattern I described. I can hardly wait for Gord's outrage.

And the pièce de résistance, Edgar's demand either in the Star on Monday or at Council demanding a change to the Audit Committee function and new members. First a study by outside Accounting consultants and governance experts, then an Administration Report and then...oooops too late, the election is coming up. Leave it for the next Council to decide.

No 200 errrrr 400 Building Dunbar Audit risks, no East End Arena audit, no risk to existing Councillors, new and improved Audit committee, CUPE strike...what CUPE strike.

I love it!

Did You Read This

Some important news items you may have missed

WHY EDGAR (aka EDDIE) WILL NEVER GET IT

Remember the canal debate and this statement by the Mayor:

• "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."

Do you see what I mean, the nuts and bolts of running a City are of no interest to a Mayor who has mind's eye visions.

Here is what we learned recently and why that project was absolutely required:

• "Retention basin to stop sewage from entering river
  
  The city's engineering department and the university have announced details about the massive water retention basin that's expected to solve Windsor's long-standing sewage overflow problem.
  
  According to Greg St. Louis, a project administrator with the City of Windsor, the underground basin will be as large as a football field and located on the downtown riverfront...
  
  "This is the solution," St. Louis said. "It's very good for our environment and our city -- that's for sure."
  
  For years, environmental groups have criticized Windsor as one of the top polluters of the Great Lakes when it comes to raw sewage.
  
  According to the group Ecojustice, Windsor dumped 4.3 billion litres of untreated sewage and stormwater into the Detroit River from 2006 to 2007...
  
  St. Louis said overflows can happen up to 50 times a year. Asked how much of the effluent is untreated sewage, St. Louis said he doesn't have percentages, but the mixture does contain "whatever comes from someone's house."
  
  The project has a predicted cost of $60 million -- $40 million of which will be provided by the federal infrastructure stimulus plan...
  
  According to the environmental group Ecojustice, only two other Ontario communities scored worse than Windsor for polluting the Great Lakes with untreated sewage mixed with storm water."

Edgar just does not understand his role.

MORE GARBAGE

Actually, it is recyclables.

I heard that a study is being undertaken about the costs of collecting them. Presumably, the data is being collected to determine whether its collection should be outsourced.

I wonder if Council asked for this.

WILL THE DRIC ROAD BE DELAYED

If not now, it will be soon. Maybe Edgar will help out to stall off things with a nice judicial review lawsuit.

The reason for it...NO money to pay it off:

• "Yes, stimulus spending can and should help the ailing economy. But that doesn't mean it can't go hand-in-hand with prudent program spending and a commitment to long-term restraint. The alternative to this kind of careful fiscal planning is going to be larger than expected deficits -- and in Ontario, that's exactly what we are now seeing.
  
  Last week, the province announced that the deficit for the last fiscal year -- 2008-09 -- stands at $6.4 billion. That's $2.5 billion higher than originally predicted and a clear indicator of just how the recession has been eating away at revenues."

OTTAWA CITIZEN'S VIEW OF ITS ROLE

That paper is a sister one of the Windsor Star, being owned by Canwest.

Here is their view of their relationship with Government:

• "Newspapers are defenders of the public interest. Part of this role has traditionally involved taking adversarial relationship with government and the public sector. As journalists, we see ourselves as “speaking truth to power.”
  
  We believe that the newspaper plays a unique role in the media ecosystem in defending democracy, rooting out corruption, and looking out for the interests of the common man and woman."

I wonder if the Star's Publisher's Editorial group agrees with that perspective.

DOUBTING THOMAS ADDED TO STAR EDITORIAL BOARD

Speaking of that group, remember this:

• "The Windsor Star: The Windsor Star editorial opinions are developed and finalized in the Publisher’s Office. They are developed in a group setting by a group usually composed of Publisher Jim Venney, Editor-in-Chief Marty Beneteau, Editorial Page Editor John Coleman and Karen Hall."

Someone named Tom must have joined up recently. How else to explain this slam at Eddie's Cargo Village absurdity:

• "After reading the city-commissioned feasibility study into an air cargo development at Windsor International Airport, you can be forgiven for borrowing a line from an old Wendy's commercial by asking "Where's the beef?.."
  
  However, the report does not answer two obvious questions -- how many jobs could an air cargo development create and how much revenue could it generate for the local economy...
  
  There's no question that Windsor's economy -- hard hit by the slowdown in manufacturing -- is in dire need of diversification.
  
  And, there's no question that maximizing use of an underutilized airport could play an integral role in rejuvenating local economic prospects. However, substantially more key information is needed before more turning to taxpayers to cover the costs of yet, another consultant's report."

Can anyone else recall such an action? Was Eddie upset at this, at earning such a rebuke from the Messenger?

Was that a tear in Eddie's mind's eye or merely a grain of sand stuck there when he was looking at the vast and empty airport lands where the cargo village might go.

Never fear though, Tom will soon become "Thomas the Believer" after his colleagues have a long chat with him.

DRIC AS "IBG"

Now I understand how bureaucrats and politicians can support a gigantic, multi-billion dollar boondoggle known as DRIC that makes no sense. It is the IBG Phenominum. Here is how it is described in the world of finance. The principle is the same with DRIC except for the "sizable bonus" part:

• "Mr. Taleb warns that the system has grown riskier since last fall. The extensive government support that began after Lehman collapsed will lead investors to assume that governments will always prevent major banks from collapsing, he said.
  
  So investors will lend money to the financial industry on easy terms. In turn, financial institutions will use that cheap money to make risky loans and trades. The banks will keep the profits when their bets pay off, while taxpayers will swallow the losses when the bets go bad and threaten the system.
  
  Economists call the phenomenon moral hazard. Bankers have a different term: I.B.G. The phrase implies that by the time a deal goes sour, “I’ll be gone,” after having received a sizable bonus."
  
  A variation of this is IBG, YBG ("I'll be gone, you'll be gone").

WHERE ARE THEY NOW

What a nice condo apartment for sale in that big story in the Star a few weeks ago. Here is a better view of it in case you are interested http://tours.ilookabout.com/ToursV3/?ID=33491da2c5644ddc&Profile=1&Mode=TIV2

It has been marked down from $895,000.

Here's my problem though. Did you read the nice things they said about Windsor:

• "Retirement was the primary motive for the owners of this luxury condo to move to Windsor about five years ago. “Having lived in and around Toronto, Windsor offers a lot of big city amenities at a small-town price. It was and still is an undiscovered treasure,” the homeowner says.
  
  “I get to see more Blue Jays games and Maple Leafs games [because of Windsor’s proximity to Detroit] than I ever did in Toronto. My wife gets to enjoy the museums and high-end shopping in suburban Detroit. I think this will be even more attractive as the Canadian dollar continues to appreciate against the U.S. dollar. The availability of golfing and boating has just been the icing on the cake...
  
  “We were delighted because we finally found something that satisfied our needs. We were able to sell our home in Oakville at almost three times what we paid for our suite in The Glengarda and actually improved our lifestyle. In addition to high-end amenities common to Glengarda, the nearby attractions were a very important consideration for us,” the homeowner says."

If it is so perfect here, why are they selling? The story did not say.

More importantly, where are they going? That too was not mentioned. You know why don't you---if it was not another Windsor address, everyone else who was thinking of retiring might follow them to their new location instead of coming to Windsor.

A MONEY VOTE OF NON-CONFIDENCE IN A DRIC BRIDGE

Looks like an existing Windsor border crossing has the confidence of investors since it has an existing cash flow and does not depend on new business or cannibalizing the traffic of other crossings for success. And I do not mean the Tunnel.

Do you think Matty has not been terrorized by the Governments after all into selling cheaply and will build his new bridge regardless:

• "The private market generated an interesting mix of deals last month from a variety of sectors. Only two of the month’s nine deals came from the Energy & Utilities sector, a sector that has dominated the issuance landscape for most of the past year. In terms of geography, however, most of the deals came from domestic issuers, with only two coming from foreign issuers.
  
  Rounding out the month was a deal for Detroit International Bridge Co. via Citigroup. That deal was $200 million in size and saw interest from 20 investors."

The fact that the Company got this much money from shrewd investors at this time has to be a vote of non-confidence in a DRIC bridge ever being built from exactly the same people who would have to finance it.

Lewenza Is Right

Ooooo, Ooooo, Ooooo! I can hardly wait for Gord's Lewenza smear job on Saturday! Mini-Gord's attempt today was pathetic. We need to see a real pro do the job properly.

We can now make the assumption that Junior is right in what he is claiming even without reading what he has to say. After all, nothing like being discredited in the Star, the news source for Windsor, right.

If Junior is not right, then he is finished, and not just municipally, so much is riding on what he has to say and how he says it and when.

A real concern for him is how he gets his viewpoint out as well. Will he get a fair opportunity to present his case in the media? Perhaps he should challenge Edgar to a debate and watch him refuse just like the Councillor formerly known as Councillor Budget!

I am sure that you know already that David Miller is NOT running again for Mayor of Toronto. One of the reasons:

• "The once union-friendly Miller received widespread criticism for his handling of the summer’s six-week-long civic worker strike and for the first time during his run as mayor was not invited to take part in the Labour Day Parade."

To the dismay of some, the real facts about the results of Windsor's strike may now come out and be open to public review and scrutiny! We may see who the real winners and losers are. And who has been spinning the story and for what reason.

You see, as I have Blogged before, the media in Toronto actually told their citizens how bad the strike settlement was for taxpayers and how Miller had failed in what he had tried to achieve as his goal. He folded. He paid the political price too.

In Windsor, Edgar (aka Eddie) has been painted as a hero with the focus on PRBs, not the settlement itself or what the strike really cost Windsor. Frankly, there was no need to have one in the first place as the Minutes clearly indicate. The results were a huge CUPE win as I Blogged "July 27, 2009, "CUPE Strike: Little To Do With PRBs"

http://windsorcityon.blogspot.com/2009/07/cupe-strike-little-to-do-with-prbs.html

And that is the concern. If Lewenza's "facts" come out and if they are similar to those in Toronto, is Edgar finished? How could he possibly run again? Will he follow Miller's approach and not run for family reasons?

Mini-Gord went on the attack. Clearly, he did not read my BLOG on the Strike Minutes or else he would not have written:

• "Some of the votes were a little murky. But mostly it's crystal clear which councillors were willing to force taxpayers to pay gigantic sums to give CUPE what it wanted, and which councillors were resisting the union's siren call."

I suspect that Junior will reveal some details that will be shocking once the numbers are in. The anti-CUPE types may well be forced into hiding if what I suspect will be said is true.

The Casino betting room should be busy:

• "Start placing your bets now, because political careers are going to be made and broken in the next few months on the basis of how each councillor voted behind those closed doors."

I found this interesting as well as part of the tactic. If Edgar had anything to hide, why would he do this:

• "Mayor Eddie Francis didn't seem to be in any doubt about what the in-camera record would reveal to savvy voters: he countered Lewenza Jr.'s histrionics about openness by having the minutes compiled, photocopied and ready for release the minute the vote passed. Wham! There they were."

Edgar is counting on people NOT reading the Minutes and counting on the Star, the Messenger, for their information. The hope is that if Junior takes forever to issue his report or if it is sloppily done, then Edgar's bluff worked and he survives. Weeks of smearing will not hurt either.

Why else do you think that the Dunbar audit made the headlines again. Distract, distract, distract.

One problem for Edgar and his Messenger---Bloggers. We are "savvy voters" and we have readers and distribution abilities.

No wonder someone tried to smear me on the Star Forum 400 Audit today by using my name as author with an attack on Councillor Marra. I guess that I, as a Blogger, have more power and credibility than I thought.