Funniest Corrections, Clarifications Ever By The Star

This is so hilarious I cannot stop laughing. The Star claimed first on their cell phone story:

• "The mayor didn't return The Star's call seeking comment Friday."

If true, that would have been a hoot. Imagine, a Mayor with a cell phone not responding to a reporter's question about cell phones.

However, the Star did publish a correction:

• "A story about city council's use of cellphones on A1 Saturday incorrectly said Mayor Eddie Francis could not be reached for comment. The mayor was reached Friday."

If that is true, then did someone at the Star try to embarrass the Mayor? How could such a mistake be made? Or perhaps, after the story was written, did someone then try to reach the Mayor at that time to get a comment so that a correction could be made subsequently?

Don't you wish that we knew the answer. It sounds pretty juicy to me given the Mayor's relationship with the Star.

However the interesting part of a Correction is how long it was and all the details it gave. Why, it was almost a news story in itself.

What a little whiny baby the Mayor sounds like.

• "If he doesn't want to talk to me ... he's not calling me, not emailing me, not coming into the office. He's clearly saying, 'Hey, we're done.'"

And then this brilliant comment from the Mayor of a City and how he deals with his Councillors:

• "While Francis agreed that strike issues led to the breakdown, he said it was Lewenza's choice to allow those issues to affect personal relationships. "I'm able to put that behind me, and I'm able to move on. Coun. Lewenza, unfortunately, has been unable to move on."

What an immature comment. They do not have to be friends but the Edgar (aka Eddie) is obliged to deal with him as a Council member as the Head of Council. He has to make the move or else this Council can be torn apart.

Except, dear reader, there is more to it than that. As you will read in mini-Gord's column on Tuesday, if the information that an inside mole gave me is true that he and the Mayor have been on the phone all day, there is a major breakdown between the Mayor and Councillor Lewenza as Head of the Windsor Utilities Commission. You will be able to read about it first in the Messenger (except for my BLOG readers) before the special Council meeting so Edgar's position gets out there first

The Commission through the Councillor specifically asked to be on the Council agenda on June 14 to discuss an item upon which the Commission needed a decision by the end of the month. I don't know all the gory details of that but it doesn't matter. The Councillor wanted a public meeting so that those people who attended WUC information meetings on the water rate increase would have their chance to let the Mayor and Councillors know what they thought the rate increase should be.

Our Mayor wants to keep the rates low in a move that smacks of political opportunism that we've seen him pull before that resulted in an 86% rate increase. The Councillor has a different perspective and several different alternatives to offer Council so that the Commission can properly finance itself without the need of going out and borrowing huge sums of money for which interest would have to be paid.

In an action that confirms Councillor Halberstadt's need for a second pair of eyes for agenda setting to take it out of the Mayor's control, as you know it was not put on the June 14 agenda. Instead, a special meeting is to take place on June 24, naturally without any television coverage so that the only information that the members of the public will get will be the news as the Windsor Star wants to present it. Naturally, there is an in-camera meeting first and nothing yet for the public to read!

Guess whose story will be told and praised if there is a conflict between the Mayor and Councillor Lewenza.

My understanding is that Councillor Lewenza has now said that he does not want Thurday's meeting to take place because of the lack of public coverage.

Presumably, it could take place on June 28 except guess who's not going to be there because he is off in Bahrain I'm told. Another inside source has also told me that the Children's Games are Windsor's for the asking so I do not understand, if true, why the Mayor feels the need to go overseas. Couldn't he just send a fax or make a cell phone call?

Oh my what a silly question to ask. He is going there all by himself we are told. Naturally if the games are announced for Windsor, who gets all the credit?

No wonder our Mayor is acting so childish and playing such games. He's preparing himself for his trip and for the big Monopoly announcement today.