Integrity Commish Snub Pleases Edgar

Poor Ms. Critchley. Now she knows what the expression falling on the sword means. This has NOT been a good week for her.

Get rid of the Commish, he snubbed Council! Eliminating the Office is what this is really all about.

They should have listened to Councillor Halberstadt when he said it would open up a Pandora's box

• "Our financial woes aside, I really do not believe we need an Integrity Commissioner. There are no crooks sitting around the Council table that I have ever detected, and I am inclined to agree with the recent Windsor Star editiorial that the commissioner will be primarily there to kick around political footballs as various Councillors, members of administration and the public try to use him to discredit people they don't like.
  
  It has been suggested that any new comissioner will be known as SAC (the Silence Alan Commissioner), given the fact that Coun. Ken Lewenza and Mr. Skorobohacz have expressed eagerness to target this blog, and my outspokenness on the 400 Building Audit, respectively, when the commissioner is appointed."

I think that Edgar learned that early on considering the Commish's Report on the complaint about him meeting with Kwame.

Geez, what's Edgar (aka Eddie) so upset about? He needs to stop fuming so much. It is not good for his health, that and fighting with Alan at Council over unanswered 400 Building questions.

The guy's contract expired after all. He ought not to work for nothing should he? It's a day's trip considering he lives a few hundred KM away. Heck, he is starting a new job in Hamilton too so he is busy.

• "I'm in limbo -- I haven't heard one way or the other," Earl Basse told The Star"

Given Edgar's views on out of town CUPE arbitrators who live 4-500 Km away, I do not understand why Council did not retain a local person.

I am available now for instance. I understand City Hall machinations. All I do now mostly is write BLOGs so I need another part-time task to keep me occupied that will help me pay the bills in my semi-retirement. If I cannot be Mayor, how about checking me out to be the new Commish if there is a desire to have one.

I have undertaken major investigations in my career, especially one involving white collar crime where I managed a hundred professionals world-wide. If they had hired me given my significant and relevant legal and municipal background, well I would have made an appearance, even at no charge. It's only a 15 minute drive from my house to City Hall.

I must admit though, I would have played nice considering that the Commish made $40K or so last year working on just a few files. I would have attended one last meeting to be decent about it.

I wonder if that fee includes the Jones file. If he was not entitled legally to start that up on his own, will he have to give some money back? Now that would be interesting to watch. I wonder if he will tell us that he was authorized by someone to move forward so he will NOT give any back!

If you wondered why there was such a misunderstanding and confusion with the Furniture audit and what the City sent to Eagle, consider this:

• "Neither Francis nor Critchley, however, could say Monday whether Basse remains Windsor’s integrity commissioner."

Wow, that is unbelievable! If they don't know, who does? Frankly, if he is NOT the Commish, why would he ever come?

Watch the Star video and see how Ms. Critchley has difficulty remembering exactly how he was invited to come to Windsor for the meeting. Perhaps an email or call saying would you come on such and such a day is a concept too hard for City Hall to grasp.

• "I didn't realize I was expected to be there ... had I known, I would have been there," he said. "There was a miscommunication there."

But then again, it appears that the Lead Auditor did not get a copy of the letter that Mr. Fields had which Ms. Critchley was able to find in a few minute search during Council on Monday. It must have slipped her mind to provide it. Shades of the 11 box 400 Building fiasco.

And you thought there was no amnesia disease pandemic at City Hall due to inhaling unscrubbed Tunnel exhuast fumes.

However, I do not think that Edgar is all that unhappy. Doesn't this so-called snub play into his hands?

Jones has been smeared already so who cares what the Report says or whether it will ever see the light of day if it was not legally proper. Everyone assumes that Jones was the leak so City Hall is protected. And, more importantly, I know of at least two complainst filed with the Commish against Edgar.

If there is no Commish, then there is no one to do reports on Edgar, which hardly seems fair. If Drew Dilkens is right, as he said on Eh-Channel, that there is no need to appoint a new Commish then Edgar is home-free. At the least, there is a need for an Integrity Commissioner to complete all of the files that were outstanding as at December 31. Want to bet that never happens!

That sound was not a fume, dear reader, but a burst of laughter!