Wearing Too Many Hats

Is Eddie Francis speaking as Mayor about the Bridge Co.'s proposal respecting the Tunnel or as Chair of the Windsor Tunnel Commission or both?

Fortunately for Windsor, the Bridge remained open when the Tunnel's operations had to close down because of the DTE problems. The Mayor should contact himself immediately as the WTC Chair and demand of himself how this could happen since it severely prejudiced the City and what steps was he going to take to make sure this never happened again!

I mention this because of what the Mayor is quoted as saying in the Star today. So sayeth the Mayor/WTC Chair about the Ambassador Bridge's proposal re the Tunnel: "This will close down traffic in the tunnel, destroy business in both city centres and affect large numbers of commuters who work or attend school."

Let's look at each point:

1) "This will close down traffic in the tunnel"
Saying that will happen does not mean that will happen. I do not understand the point. A Tunnel outage that is reported across North America and suggestions that people get subsidized NEXUS cards to beat backups will damage traffic a lot more. Frankly, if the Bridge Co. builds 200 booths and the Tunnel remains with the much fewer boths, who would ever take a chance again and use the Tunnel for fear of being caught in a back-up.

2)"Destroy business in both city centres"
That is a big fear on the Windsor side especially. Again, my view is that the issues for someone crossing the border are the speed in which they can get across (as Casino Windsor understood in their radio ads directed to US visitors) and the lack of backups. Most US visitors will be coming via the interstate system and a simple sign "To Canada" is all that they would need. Once they clear Customs, a sign "To Downtown" or "To the West End" would take them to their desired location and without stopping. I do not find this confusing. Frankly, I would find it more confusing now to see signs saying to the Tunnel or to the Bridge if I were a tourist and did not know which one would take me to downtown quicker.

3)"affect large numbers of commuters who work or attend school"
This is a myth that is constantly told. The Bridge Co. proposal still maintains a downtown exit for commuters.

One point that needs repeating. The Tunnel Plaza Master Planning project under Phase 1 of the Border Agreement was "suspended" in early 2005 and changes to the roadway are unlikely before 2007. If we have such a mess, then why is the project suspended? The WTC Chair should ask the Mayor that forthwith!

Windsor Ballet Alternative

As I am sure everyone knows, about the only time Windsor gets media coverage is when there is talk about booze (from the good old days), strippers and gambling at the Casino.

Well the border has given us a bit more coverage. Now we got some national attention in the US (over 150 media outlets carried the story as of 6:15 AM this morning) and we can thank DTE Energy and the Detroit/Windsor Tunnel for that. Here are some excerpts from the story:

• CBS News
  
  Power Outage Affects Parts of Detroit
  
  DETROIT, Nov. 29, 2005
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  
  (AP) A power outage Tuesday affected a large area of Detroit's east side and shut down a tunnel connecting the city with Canada.
  
  Officials at the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel informed Canadian authorities that it closed at 11:57 a.m., said Danny Yen of the Canada Border Services Agency. The Ambassador Bridge, the other crossing connecting Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, was not affected by the outage.
  
  It was caused by a problem at an electrical station that feeds several substations, said Len Singer, a spokesman for DTE Energy Co.

I guess we are lucky that the Bridge did not have power problems or if they did, they had backup generators so that traffic could continue or imagine the back-ups. My recollection is that when we had the big blackout, the Tunnel was closed down for a period of time but the Bridge was not.

One of the troubling aspects from the perspective of the City's ownership of the Tunnel however is the Free Press headline "Partial blackout in Detroit shuts down tunnel." If you were coming into Canada, which crossing would you use?

Not only now do we have to fight back-ups but power outages as well to convince people to come over here.

Name That Mayor Contest

Well readers, it is time again for another contest. Who is the Mayor that is being referred to in this article from a leading newspaper. [A few changes were made to mask the City's identity so it would not be that easy]


Dear Mr. Mayor:

If an election were held tomorrow, I'd probably vote for you again. Reluctantly. And mainly because it's hard to give up on the dream.

I'm not alone. Many in this city are still stuck on the promise of a modern, 21st century city we thought you'd usher in following that exultant election night two years ago.

The possibilities seemed endless. You'd inherited a city bursting with energy and expectations, a town aching to achieve greatness, a populace willing to be led. From the intelligentsia to the hoi polloi, rarely has the City been so ready for a renaissance.

This was our gift to you. The only acknowledgement required was that you lead with boldness.

But instead of inspiring us with grand schemes or simple glimpses of what we are about to achieve, you've sedated us, preoccupied as you are with being a navel-gazing policy wonk — "getting it right," you say.

That's not why we elected you, sir. We elected you to be mayor, chief magistrate, the repository and reflection of our hurts and our dreams; the one to sing with us, weep with us, pray with us, dream with us.

You've spent so much time looking at the entrails of city hall — a landscape we thought you knew from being in the belly of the beast — that you miss opportunities to be mayor.

When your name is mentioned, sir, people's eyes don't light up the way they did a year ago.

The flash of delight and anticipation has been replaced by resignation that you just might be a go-easy, status quo kind of guy more suited to a job as an insurance salesman than big-city mayor.

But, oh, how you look the part, and still. And how you sound the part. You're gifted, smart, articulate. Only, you just aren't playing the part. And it has deflated our hopes and threatens to eclipse the dream.

Why haven't you outlined your vision of how to meet the city's great challenges? We must tackle transit growth, services for children, and ugly, dirty streets. So where are the goals, benchmarks we must reach.

We don't know. We sit and wait and despair at your inaction and underachievement. You are busy doing important things. But they are not things that capture our imagination or engage us or call us to sacrifice or act for a grand cause.

This sense of unrealized potential explains a recent poll that put your approval rating at only "X" per cent. "X" per cent, sir! With no opposition, no alternative, just you against yourself. "Y's" approval was in the mid-80s at this time in his first term.

Many are asking why? And the answer most frequently given is you are poorly advised, have no advice at all, or, worse, ignore the advice you get.

All three are crippling. All three point to your office administration, the men and women who are supposed to do your heavy lifting, build the political alliances, design the policy positions, manage the political minefields, give you savvy advice, watch your back, and communicate your message and vision.

Sir, by all accounts, your office staff is weak and ineffective. Wonderful people, they are too out of their depth to enable the mayor we expect, and too overmatched to deliver the city you must.

You'll bristle at this. You say your crew is efficient and effective. With respect, sir, you can't be that deluded.

Too many people have told you the opposite — from internal to external sources, from councillors who are your allies to those who are not, from the diligent city builders to those just trying to navigate the system.

You need to blow up your office staff and start again. Begin with a chief of staff instead of the chief-by-committee approach that observers say has been disastrous.

You are no longer a ward councillor, Mr. Mayor. You are running a government more complex than some provinces. And you are supposed to be the one to tend to every emergency and unforeseen crisis and still be the symbolic glad-handing, ribbon-cutting, baby-hugging everyman's mayor.

To play the role, you need a chief of staff, almost a surrogate, backed up by a strong team. You can't continue to be the smartest person in your office — not if you want to build a great city. You need a peer, someone with the leadership, stature, moxie and savvy to challenge you, advise you and lead in the political management of big-city, top-tier government caught in tremendous global and domestic competition.

...you are now the establishment candidate.

Somehow, that's not what we thought we were getting.

Somehow, we hope you find your way, and soon, before we give up on the dream.

Sincerely, in search of a mayor, not a manager

Driving Transport Minister Lapierre

What do I know about roads and traffic. I have an LL.M not a P.Eng. But it is like "Art." I know what like and what I do not like (Oh no, Councillor Cassivi will ask me for a definition) And I do NOT like driving on the E C Row.

We know that E C Row needs to be expanded to meet community purposes. We know that E C Row will need a ton of money to repair it as it falls apart. We know we want to keep Montreal-to-Tijuana trucks off of that road. We know that Cansult spent a good part of their report on Schwartz talking about E C Row leading everyone to believe that the Feds want it for international truck traffic.

Transport Minister LaPierre laid it out directly in his letter in the Star:

• "It mystifies me how a study of an independent engineer to provide advice on the feasibility of Sam Schwartz’s truck bypass proposal has been misrepresented as the federal government supporting international truck traffic on E.C. Row Expressway....Nothing could be further from the truth...The prime minister and I recognize that E.C. Row is owned by ... the taxpayers of Windsor...It is therefore up to the city to determine the future of E.C. Row. If the city decides some day to expand this expressway, then that decision will be solely within the purview of the Windsor City Council and presumably it will be funded out of the City of Windsor capital budget."

So what the Minister is really saying is play ball with us and we'll give you the money for E C Row and if you do not, then Windsor pay for expansion yourself!

I had no idea how to resolve this mess. But I knew to whom to talk! And talk he did:

• "EC Row is by modern design standards a substandard urban freeway.
  
  It has little in the way of redemptive qualities when compared to other modern and URBAN freeways running through 21st century cities; it is above grade thus amplifying the noise and visual pollution, the interchanges are too close together, there is no contiguous service roadway system, it requires difficult weaving movements to get on and off and no two interchanges are designed the same. And now the pavement is in distress and the roadway is reaching capacity as far as being able to handle regional east-west traffic. There is no lighting east of Central. If you go beyond Lauzon Parkway the freeway ends in a SIGNALIZED intersection at Banwell and has another two signalized intersections at Lesperance and Manning. This goes beyond dumb design – this is dangerous. Long queues of traffic are seen all the time on the expressway on the east end.
  
  Clearly, EC Row has to be reconstructed and expanded in the next 10 to 15 years if the region is to continue growing economically and population wise. EC Row is essential to local industry and commerce and will be essential to any planned industrial developments east of the airport, or even to possible inter-modal facilities there. Right now it is one infrastructure advantage we have over London (which has no expressway) or Kitchener-Waterloo (Highway 7 and 8 are plugged solid through the cities).
  
  But we should not settle for simply “widening” the freeway as was discussed in the Cansult report or the IBI Group Regional transportation plan. In fact, simply widening the freeway may only exacerbate the bad qualities of the existing roadway. Instead we should insist on a properly reconstructed EC Row, from Manning to Ojibway; a below grade freeway with the cross-streets like Walker, Dougall and Howard going OVER EC Row rather than under, with a comprehensive service road system that allows redundancy for east-west traffic in the event of an accident and with superior interchange lay-outs such as Single Point Urban Interchanges (SPUI’s) that will be able to move Windsor and region residents off and on EC Row better and more safely. Such a freeway would address capacity issues for the next 40 years, reduce air and noise pollution and improve safety.
  
  The cost for such a project would more than likely be in excess of $500 million. But the cost of fixing EC Row and fixing right, compared to the economic, health and safety benefits of a freeway as described above would be worth four or five times its cost.
  
  Absolutely nobody wants international truck traffic using EC Row as a route between the 401 and the border. And now that the DRIC has removed EC Row from consideration as cross-border route perhaps it might not be taboo any longer to discuss the future of this important transportation route from a regional perspective. It is going to take 7 years of an accelerated EA program to decide on a new border crossing. Can we afford to wait too much longer to initiate what will also be a 5 year plus study on EC Row?”

Whew, I guess I asked for it. Now I knew what he thought about E C Row but $500 million....how were we going to pay for that I asked. The answer was easy!

• "Just do what the Americans are doing now. Don't you remember what the News Herald news story said: examine the need for redundancy in the infrastructure leading to the Ambassador Bridge. We need to provide redundancy in the road network so a breakdown on the way to the (Ambassador Bridge) does not shut the border crossings down."
  
  If there are no improvements to EC Row, all will be negative for the region. Why not then go to the Senior Levels and say that you might entertain officially allowing EC Row as a redundant or emergency route if the Feds come in and pay for improvements to the corridor. Make it part of the border route and use the Federal/Provincial monies to pay for it all.
  
  Beat Lapierre at his own game! Call his bluff and Dwight's too. Remember Dwight likes being Finance Minister and to continue, he needs to be re-elected. Call him on his Gong Show $500 million!
  
  After all is said and done, we get a route for international traffic on the edge of the city, a rebuilt EC Row and the Feds/Industry get a transportation system with redundancy to the border in the event of an accident or incident.
  
  All I suggest is a little bit of horse trading with the Feds and MTO. The money is there. And the benefit to Windsor/Essex County with a beefed up EC Row would be enourmous. However, are your civic leaders up to the challenge and will they actually learn how to protect properly the City's interests this time and not give it away like they did with the Phase 1 Agreement "

I forgot to ask my friend....if the new Cabana Road is built with four lanes as was proposed (notwithstanding that citizens apparently only wanted a three lane road) will we have our cross city truck expressway to Huron Church? We'll talk about that another time I am sure

DRIC, Science Centre, Keg And Council

Wow the performance was fantastic last night. Everyone played exactly the role one expected of them. From the tough questioning Mayor/lawyer to the "I wish I could vote for your proposal but I cannot" Budgeteers to the "quality of life" spenders to the "why don't you listen to us" Councillors.

Some thoughts on what I saw.

Like it or not and regadless where some Councillors wanted part of the road to go, it is still headed to the Ambassador Bridge ultimately. It was clear that the Ambassador Gateway plaza is the plaza of choice on the US side. It was also confirmed that the Bridge cost would grow significantly if it were to be made "diagonal" from, say Prospect.

Since the crossing is not going to destroy Sandwich, will the rally by the Ward 2 Councillors be called off or does Brian Masse still need it so he can declare he actually did something on the border!

I don't usually like how Dave Wake of the Ontario Ministry of Transportation answers border questions but he was good last night. He shot Councillor Valentinis down in flames when he demonstrated how DRIC listened to the Community by supporting the Ojibway crossing, rejecting DRTP, rejecting the Twinned Bridge, rejecting the use of E C Row and preserving Ojibway nature Reserve.

I thought Councillor Valentinis was on thin ice also talking about homes backing on to the suggested corridor. If that is a problem, one cannot blame DRIC but must direct the attention on the Windsor Councillors who allowed residences to be built on the corridor to the Ambassador Bridge for the last 75 years!

I thought one comment deserved an answer---why did DRIC listen to all of the other communities on both sides of the border and not Windsor. The answer is very simple. The other cities and towns focused on the problem: the long-term solution. In Windsor, our Mayor and Council forgot why they were elected and rallied for a billion dollar short-term dream that was dead the moment Schwartz revealed it. Our Council is to blame NOT DRIC if Windsor is short-changed. It is a bit late in the day to complain and to try to divert attention away from Council's mistakes and poor strategy.

It again demonstrates how badly the Mayor and Council mismanaged the broder file---from having the PM, Premier and US Ambassador onside and having a seat at the table to being ignored by the bureaucrats!

Had Council gathered the active and vocal support of its citizens as was done in the Downriver and County communities instead of acting in secret, then perhaps someone might have listened to us.

On the vote to give a "grant" to the Science Centre or not, Ward 1 is lucky to have a choice in the next election between Santa Claus and Scrooge!

I wonder if Councillor Zuk's motion after the Border discussion is "legal" or not? It seems to be in violation of the Procedural By-law that the Mayor likes to enforce since the rules did not seem to be followed. I guess it has to be "ratified" which would give residents a chance to speak. That will NEVER happen.

We learned that the Tunnel Plaza Master Planning project under Phase 1 of the Border Agreement was "suspended" in early 2005 and changes to the roadway are unlikely before 2007. OOOOOOOps, don't say it too loudly but the Bridge Co.'s Tunnel deal would have solved many of the road problems without spending millions. Is that why the project is still "suspended?"

PS....re the Keg and Canderel and parking....Do you think the Keg will still go into Canderel if Chrysler may move to Toronto? Will that garage be the third one to go broke?

What A Nerve!

No wonder the big border rally has been moved up from the spring, as the two Ward 2 Councillors originally proposed, until some time soon. We may have a federal election and it looks like Brian Masse may need all of the help that he can get.

Did you read his quote in the Star today? His top priority will be the border. "We have an obligation to look for options with minimal impact."

Well Brian, the NDP leader, Mr. Layton, did not rank the border very highly when he laid out his conditions for supporting the Liberal minority government a few months ago. In fact, he never mentioned it at all.

Your Party held the balance of power in Government and what did you accomplish for this area, especially on the border issue? Your power is so minimal that one of the alternatives being seriously considered is destroying Sandwich!

You cannot hide behind the fact that your Party was not in power. You had the chance to do something for the region and failed.

Tell me again why you should be re-elected!

You Can't Fight City Hall

I am starting to develop a complex to be honest.

I wanted to have a coffee with a fellow in town who had sent me a fascinating comment on a BLOG I had written. He refused initially to meet. He was afraid to be seen with me in public since it might get back to City Hall he said and could impact his business negatively. To be direct, I could not believe what I had just heard. We did meet finally several weeks later and in public too.

I guess I am too naive after all. Sure I criticize the Mayor and Council, where deserved, but I thought that my message would be seen as a positive one as well. I try to give a helpful solution to a problem that is reasonable and practical even if not popular and that might even help them get re-elected. Surely as public figures, their skins are not that thin.

What prompted this remark? I wanted to make a Presentation to the Council Operating Budget Committee on the OMERS matter since I believe that I have a better alternative than continually pouring money into OMERS. After all, the City issued a press release which stated:

• "Our City Council is doing its utmost to minimize the effect of increasing costs on the local taxpayer while maintaining effective services,” said Mayor Eddie Francis, “and here is a draft bill that public employers weren’t consulted on that could hike local taxes by as much as 2.1 per cent without the Government of Ontario understanding the real consequences."
  

I had phoned a person at Administration to ask how I could appear and was told that Councillors would be asked. I emailed and faxed the Committee Chair, Councillor Brister, what I should do and he sent my request to Administration for review. Catch-22?

Imagine then my thoughts when one of the Councillors wrote to me about a different way to appear and concluded: "I can make a motion that you be heard... although I cannot guarantee that Council will vote to do so. You are no doubt aware Ed that you are not a favoured person among Councillors. I don't mind you at all no matter what you say about Council, but that's just me."

And then I got a response from Administration (not the Committee Chair) that blew me away!

I thought I would provide a copy of the exchange of emails between myself and the City for your edification:

• Nov 24--my email to Councillor Brister
  
• I trust that you received my fax which I sent yesterday formally requesting that I appear in front of your Committee with respect to OMERS. The tax hike mentioned below makes this even more critical.
  
  Windsor Star--City raps pension proposal
  
  The average Windsor homeowner would see a $40 tax hike next year to cover increased pension benefits for city employees under proposed changes to the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS), Mayor Eddie Francis warned Wednesday.
  
  November 24--Councillor Brister's reply
  
  Thanks for the e-mail. Public consultation has been included in as an important part of the .MZBB process. As such, I have forwarded your e-mail to Administration for review.
  
  November 24---my reply to Councillor Brister
  
  Thanks for your note.
  
  I do not know what .MZBB means I am sorry
  
  I was told by Administration and by one of your Colleagues to contact you about appearing. That is why I sent the fax. Looks like it is a Catch-22 right now.
  
  November 24--email from Onorio Colucci, the Acting Treasurer
  
  Thank you for your email which Councilor Brister forwarded to my attention. Firstly MZBB represents modified zero based budgeting.
  
  With respect to your request to appear before the Operating Budget Committee, two dates were set by City Council for public consultation, one on June 21st and the second the week of January 23rd, prior to council's budget deliberations. In order to ensure that the process is fair to everyone, and in compliance with Council's direction to administration and the Operating Budget Committee, your presentation should be made at the Council meeting the week of January 23rd. Having said that, please feel free to forward a written submission to my attention and I will certainly make it available to the Committee. I should also add that the issue of the rising costs of the OMERS plan has been taken very seriously by both administration and Council. In fact the CAO made a presentation to the Standing Committee on the OMERS bill this week outlining the very serious concerns that this municipality has with the proposed legislation.
  
  November 27---my email to the Acting Treasurer
  
  I read the press release on the City's website and saw the following:
  
  "Our City Council is doing its utmost to minimize the effect of increasing costs on the local taxpayer while maintaining effective services,” said Mayor Eddie Francis, “and here is a draft bill that public employers weren’t consulted on that could hike local taxes by as much as 2.1 per cent without the Government of Ontario understanding the real consequences."
  
  I also had read that the per household increase on the tax bill was about $40, a considerable amount considering that City employees would also have to pay out an equivalent amount in total as their contribution.
  
  As you may recall, in June, at the Budget meeting, I made Council aware that I was working on a proposal with a major Canadian Financial Institution that I thought would eliminate the uncertainty around the OMERS approach and would be advantageous in a number of ways for both the City and its employees. I took some comfort that my concept would be taken seriously since Councillor Valentinis had the courtesy to say that my idea was the only Presentation that was going to save the City money!
  
  It is rather disturbing to read now from your email that there is little interest in hearing what I have to say until the end of January, clearly at a time when the budget process for next year has been completed. It must mean that Council has already decided that it can do nothing other than ask taxpayers and employees to pay out more money in increased taxes and contributions. That, in my respectful opinion, is hardly "doing its utmost to minimize the effect of increasing costs on the local taxpayer."
  
  I assume as well that if I am to present at Council along with other concerned citizens, then I am limited to 5 minutes under the City's Procedural By-law. To be fair, a matter that is so technically complicated legally and financially cannot be presented properly in such a short period of time. Both I and a representative of the Financial Institution would need considerably longer just to introduce the topic given the radically different approach we are suggesting.
  
  As far as putting it in writing as you suggested so that it can be passed on to Councillors, it hardly makes sense to do that as well given all the questions which may arise and which would require an answer to make the proposal understandable. Moreover, consideration would need to be given as to how it could be implemented and what action steps were required since it is not a simple answer.
  
  Accordingly, I would appreciate if you would ask Committee members if they would be prepared to allow my colleague and I the opportunity to present to the Committee while it is still in deliberations for the next fiscal year.

What will the end result be? I don't know frankly. If Windsor is not interested in saving its taxpayers and its employees money, then I am sure that there are others who are.

If I am reading to much into this ie be quiet and less negative if you want to get anywhere at City Hall, then I am just reacting to what I have been told by third parties above and by what I have read.

If anyone thinks that being "unpopular" with the powers that be will shut me up, then remember what I wrote in a recent BLOG about retirees!

Turkey Leftovers

The Americans have just finished Thanksgiving. I, like them, have some leftovers to finish off . Here goes:

I like Lewenza's reasoning

I grow some tomatoes in my garden, not a lot mind you, but enough to make some bruschetta or to put in a salad. I also pay out some money for charities when the neighbour's kids come by to sell me a chocolate bar or some cookie dough to raise money for their school.

Accordingly, using Ken Senior's logic, I should have my property re-assessed as "agricultural" or at the least have my property taxes reduced so I can continue buying these sweets!

Is this the logic used when CAW 444 negotiates with Chrysler or the Casino? It will be hilarious to watch Councillors squirming too. I wonder if the Mayor will vote.

MDOT's Gloria Jeff

Gloria Jeff is director of the Michigan Department of Transportation and a key player in the border crossing game. I first met her when my colleague and I did a Presentation to Detroit City Council on the border some time ago. (Sheeeeeeeeesh, we can meet their Council and our Council still has not done so).

Her introductory remarks were fascinating since she told Council straight out that IF there was going to be another crossing other than at the Ambassador Bridge, someone would have to come up with several hundred milion dollars to replicate what was done at the Ambassador Gateway project.

WWJ reported on Saturday that Jeff may be leaving her job. I had heard rumours before about her and Governor Granholm not getting along. According to WWJ, The Governor's Office apparently said to ask Jeff if she was going.

What does it mean for the border? My view---the Governor is going to be a lot more hands on than before. She made the announcement killing 8 of the routes after all, not Ms Jeff thereby scooping the process! And she knows that she is in a financial crisis especially over roads. (eg Detroit News: Granholm, GOP spar over what's best for Michigan roads...Governor puts focus on fixing existing roads; Republicans say failure to build stifles growth)

Do you really think the Governor is going to spend all of that money on NEW international border infrastructure when Michigan roads need improvement.

Poor Sandra Pupatello

She's between a rock and a hard place.

She has to be perceived as helping Sandwich since it is part of her Constituency, yet she has to appear "neutral" or she can be accused of prejudicing the Bi-national process. (Perhaps that is why the rumoured Sandra/Dwight press conference about the border BEFORE the recent announcement never took place)

"Trust DRIC' is what Sandra supposedly said at a recent meeting in Sandwich. Sure sounds a lot like what Susan Whelan had to say as a Cabinet member when the JMC proposal was first disclosed and she had to take the heat politically for their fiasco.

Now perhaps Sandra knows how Susan must have felt and remembers what happened to her at the last election! Sandra better find a way out soon or....

West Side Logic

I wonder if the rumours are true that Mary Ann Cuderman is going to run for Council in Ward 2 on her "Save Sandwich" platform. (No, not that kind of sandwich from her bakery!)

She is getting almost as much press as Councillor STOPDRTP did before he announced that he was going to run, (although he has been very silent over the past 2 years on what got him elected.) Using the border keeps her name in front of constituents more than the elected Councillors---not a bad strategy.

Oh she will get her way. No one is really going through Sandwich but the question remains where will the new crossing go?

Paradoxically, she may be the person who does the most to build the Twinned Bridge, the last thing she wants to happen! Her strong support of the South Bridge, when it had little chance of success, and her disclosure of all of the problems at Prospect mean that there is only one place where the new crossing can logically go! After all, she can hardly support a bridge that destroys Delray when she rallies so strongly for the Sandwich community!

So wouldn't it be really ironic if Mary Ann, not the Mayor or Brian Masse or the two Ward Councillors today, finally sees the light and demands that negotiations immediately commence with the Bridge Co. She would demand an "enhancement" of the road to the Twinned Bridge to alleviate any negatives and that they spend money to redevelop Sandwich as in SW Detroit and create jobs.

Heck, I might even buy her famous brownies from her bakery if she did that!

This could work for Sandra too now that I think of it. (I vaguely remember some Provincial Liberals suggesting this idea quite some time ago too).

Let's see who becomes the border heroine: Sandra, Caroline or Mary Ann?

Sutts Strosberg Ads

My old law firm was never this nice!

They never ran a bunch of ads for me in the local press talking about my "long-standing commitment and dedication to our community" the way that the firm did for Werner Keller.

Cabana Road Truck Semi-Expressway

Remember Gord Henderson's column on the victory on Howard Avenue "Speaking of Cabana, foes of a similar plan for that primarily residential road were at council Monday night cheering on their Howard Avenue allies and feeding off the thrill of victory while girding for the city's next big street fight."

5 lanes were wanted initially, citizens wanted 3 so they compromised on 4! Yea right!

Anyway, here is the road that can be used for international trucks instead of E C Row when the new Huron Church route to the bridge is being built!

Canada South Science City

How will Councillor Brister vote on this matter? Darn Gord Henderson....he did not write a column on Saturday. Remember Councillor, "Pocketbook benefits... through increased tourism."

A Globe and Mail story says that "Anticipation is high in Toronto that the federal and provincial governments will announce within the next few weeks a commitment of at least $100-million to the capital costs of six cultural organizations."

That snub costs us again!

Is Chrysler moving its HQ?

The Company has done studies before like this I am sure as most companies do eg is it better for an oil company to stay in Ontario or to move its HQ out west where the oil is (and where taxes are lower too)? Is it better to move jobs to the US to consolidate operations there or to have more functions in Canada as a "cheaper" alternative...stuff like that!

Notice that the news story was written by Gord Henderson. Obviously, someone was very concerned that it was going to happen and to happen soon. Now that it was leaked, I would not expect it to happen for some time, probably not until after the next municipal election at least.

Who would want to have Chrysler leave town on his/her mayoral watch!

MFP, KPMG And Prejudice

As you will recall, dear reader, I am on a mission to try and recover some of the $68 million lost by the City in the MFP file settlement. Unfortunately, I cannot get 11 key people in the City interested. Obviously I am referring to the Mayor and Council.

I understand that they are acting like "corporate managers." Write off the bad debt and bury the file since every time it is mentioned people might blame them for the mess again. I know it is only money and the $68 million will be spread over a number of years BUT it is taxpayers who will suffer, not a company that gets tax write-offs.

I have asked before about why the City is not trying to get the $68 million back. Perhaps the City has already asked Counsel to give a legal opinion on issues I have raised (I even talked to George Wilkki, the City's solicitor about them the day after I fell at City Hall Square when we happened to meet.) No one has told me yet that what I am suggesting is without merit.

A Star Editorial has again prompted my demand for action by Council. In that Editorial the Star mentioned that KPMG was Essex County Council's auditor at the time that the MFP deal was signed.

But wait a minute....wasn't KPMG's forensic arm hired by Windsor's Counsel to investigate the MFP fiasco? Who were the City's auditors? According to an email from Onorio Colucci, Windsor's Acting Treasurer, it was KPMG for 2000 to the present.

The obvious action to consider these days in a matter like MFP, whether fair or not to the auditing firm, is to look at suing one's auditors for professional negligence. Unfortunately that is life. How then could KPMG Forensic be retained to look at a matter in which KPMG Auditing might be involved and in which it might potentially have a liability? Didn't anyone realize the potential conflict of interest? Didn't anyone care?

When one reads the KPMG forensic audit report as I have done, one is sickened by the mess that the City was in respecting leases. Did the City's auditors, KPMG, have a responsibility to point that out, did they and to whom?

Of course I am not suggesting that KPMG did anything wrong or was negligent...But it is an obvious matter that needs addressing and needs finality one way or the other in my opinion.

The other matter still outstanding is who released the KPMG Report improperly so that the City's case was badly weakened. Mr. Sutts, the City's lawyer, said "It would be extremely prejudicial to our case if it [the KPMG Report] was widely circulated." Shouldn't that person have a responsibility to pay as well since presumably the settlement was worse than otherwise could have been reached?

Simply, I would like to know the answers. It is only $68 million at stake of taxpayer money!

Danger Warning

Don Rogers, a 62-year-old retired city councillor from Kingston, Ont, (just a tad bit older than I am by the way) found out that a U.S. company processed his bank's credit cards. He felt it put his personal information at risk. Accordingly, to protest, he paid his $230 Visa bill in 985 installments -- often pennies at a time.

Rogers jokes that the moral of the story is:

Don't mess with a retiree -- "retired folks are dangerous. We have time on our hands"

Some New Thoughts On The Border

The News-Herald Newspapers has been the “Voice of the Downriver” area of Detroit for well over a century. I was sent a very interesting news story outlining information that I had never seen before. If one reads what is said carefully, it must mean that a decision has been made already and that we are truly going through another sham exercise with the Bi-national.

I really do not mind going to their CCG meetings where they try to make us believe that they have not decided anything yet--as long as they remember to serve those delicious strawberry tarts from TBQ's bakery instead of the stale cheese without crackers! Read the story carefully and then I will comment on it briefly afterwards.

• Border link in the future? Connector could cut through Melvindale
  
  By Bobby Ampezzan, The News-Herald
  
  PUBLISHED: November 20, 2005
  
  LANSING — Just when Downriver thought it was out, it could be back in.
  
  On Monday, the Detroit River International Crossing Project, a partnership of U.S. and Canadian government agencies examining the need for another border crossing in the area, announced that southwest Detroit would be the home of the third Detroit-Windsor border crossing.
  
  The partnership caused concern early this year when it announced a number of crossing locations Downriver. All of those proposed sites were eliminated by Gov. Jennifer Granholm last month.
  
  But a graphic on the partnership's Web site outlining the affected area also announces plans to examine the need for a freeway "connector" from I-75 to I-94 through Melvindale, along either Schaefer Highway or Outer Drive.
  
  According to Michigan Department of Transportation spokesman Ben Kohrman, the U.S. State Department has asked the partnership to examine the need for redundancy in the infrastructure leading to the Ambassador Bridge.
  
  We "need to provide redundancy in the road network so a breakdown on I-94 on the way to the (Ambassador Bridge) does not shut the border crossings down," Kohrman said Thursday.
  
  He added that the graphic is strictly conceptual, and, like the need for another border crossing, the study may yield a "no need" conclusion.
  
  "I've been telling (people in) Melvindale, you guys have I-94 and I-75," state Rep. Edward Clemente (D-Lincoln Park) said. "You guys should still be concerned."
  
  But Melvindale Mayor Andrew Luzod is receptive.
  
  He said Wednesday that while the business and home development along Outer Drive presents obstacles to a freeway infrastructure project, the Schaefer corridor is feasible.
  
  Outer Drive between the I-75 and I-94 interchanges winds through three cities: Allen Park, Melvindale and Lincoln Park. The Schaefer corridor involves fewer residential areas of Melvindale and Detroit, but runs perpendicular to the Ambassador Bridge.
  
  Both Luzod and Clemente said they had only heard about the freeway connector this week, and both officials promised to investigate. "

Now I have never heard the need for redundancy of the road system before. That is a new one on me. Redundancy for the bridge, sure, but for roads? It does make sense though.

But note that it is the road to the Ambassador Bridge that is being looked at! That can only mean that the Americans are serious about the Ambassador Gateway as the truck plaza on the other side. (After all, only about $200 million has been spent there which would have to be duplicated at another crossing.)

The other interesting remark is the "no need" solution." I thought we were well past that possibility since volume projections showed this huge increase in traffic over the next 30 years. Obviously the Bridge Co.'s 200 booth proposal now has some legs since the Bi-national had claimed before that it was NOT going to look at it.

I wonder if some US Legislator woke up one morning and has asked the silly question about why we really need to spend $600 million or more of taxpayer money if the Bridge Co. is right and traffic can be handled at the Bridge for the next 20 years or more. Maybe the politician is thinking that the answer is to let THEM spend their $200 million and see what happens down the road ie. DO NOTHING NOW (other than protect the corridor for a new crossing if needed)

I am sure that the answer has been already made and that we all know what it is. However, I expect that those in Government are afraid to say it publicly for fear of the supposed backlash. So we have to go through more misery a step at a time and cause people not to sleep at night for a few more months.

An Auto Lesson For Windsor

Here is a very interesting story that may give us some hope that all is not lost in the auto industry for Windsor. We just need to look at the issue differently. Frankly, the R & D reputations of the University and St. Clair College can help us immensely to attract new business here if we play it smartly!

GM, Ford aside, U.S. auto industry is doing just fine
By Daniel Howes / The Detroit News

Here, in the epicenter of America's alleged automotive meltdown, grows the belief that the death of the American auto industry is nigh.

You hear it on radio, TV and from politicians. You see it in the newspapers and feel it in the community. It is, in short, pure gospel to the fatalists who equate the health of General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. -- and only GM and Ford -- with the American auto industry.

Except that it's not true. GM and Ford, in the throes of wrenching change, may be "the auto industry" to the industrial Midwest, Michigan and Metro Detroit. But out there on the fruited plain, far from Detroit's half-empty assembly plants, recurring retrenchments and tiresome labor-management battles, the auto industry in America goes by other names, too, and it's doing fine.

With each monthly sales report and each passing year, the painful reality is that the auto industry in America is less Detroit and more foreign-owned, less United Auto Workers and more non-union. The forces threatening to gut Detroit as we know it are not the entire auto industry's problems. They are Detroit's, and their fixes will be painful.

The Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor estimates that foreign-owned automakers and suppliers it dubs "the internationals" could account for nearly 40 percent of the nation's 1 million automotive jobs by 2010, up from 27 percent today.

As a whole, the industry could employ more people nationwide by 2012 than any time in history, but Detroit's -- and organized labor's -- share of that employment are likely to be at all-time lows.

Right now, the internationals employ roughly 250,000 across the country -- some 93,000 of them in and around assembly plants -- and produce nearly 5 million cars and trucks each year, double what they built a decade ago.

"Since 2000, they have been the only auto companies growing employment in the U.S. motor vehicle industry," says Sean McAlinden, the think tank's vice president for research. "Everyone else has declined."

He estimates that the internationals -- Toyota, Honda and Nissan of Japan, Hyundai and Kia of South Korea, BMW and Mercedes-Benz of Germany -- could, among them, add another eight to 10 assembly and parts plants in the United States over the next few years while GM and Ford are likely to cut almost as many, mostly in the Midwest.

No, the auto industry in America is not in decline. Its fastest growing chunk is booming and shifting the industry's employment base south. Overall, the industry is boosting its productivity faster than the nation's gross domestic product is growing, according to government statistics.

Scant comfort, that, because higher productivity typically means fewer jobs.

My Bags Are Packed And I Am Ready To Go

I wrote this BLOG about a month ago but just had not posted it. I still believe it to be very relevant, especially after the GM announcements of huge job cuts and plant closings. I guess my US friend whom I quoted was right after all!

Buzz Hargrove thinks the GM health deal won't affect Canada and Governor Granholm just came back from a trade mission to Japan.

I hope that Buzz is right, but I am not sure that he is. I am glad that the Governor took the lead again and that her trip means that some people have figured out that there is a need to be proactive. The automobile world is more than just the Big Three. After all, the objective is economic development for this region.

Buzz stated that "A deal between General Motors and the United Auto Workers to lower health care costs in the U.S. won't dissuade the company from investing in Canada... Hargrove hailed the deal as being positive for the overall health of GM and said it wouldn't affect spending in Canada."

A friend of mine in the US had a different view. Since his company works very closely with the Big Three, I take his viewpoint seriously.

He was greatly surprised that there was a health care deal. It suggested that GM's condition might be very bad and that the UAW had good reason to make concessions.

His view is that no matter what the so-called advantages are in Canada, that we should not expect more work to be placed here in preference to a US location. After all, GM has to please the much more important and larger UAW as a trade-off for their agreement. If there is a choice, Canada loses he believed.

Another reason can also be seen in the US attitude in general which I consider to be very practical. "The UAW said Monday that it agreed to the changes after an in-depth analysis of GM's financial situation. "GM had asked the UAW to help it lower its health care costs before its contract with the union expires in 2007, and both parties have been negotiating since the spring...We believe it is clearly in the best interests of UAW-GM active workers, retirees and their families," UAW President Ron Gettelfinger and chief GM negotiator Richard Shoemaker said.

You remember that Eddie was prepared to go to Japan to see if Windsor could get a new Honda plant. Well Eddie's Japan trip justification was dashed quickly. As the Honda rep said "I hope he enjoys Tokyo and attends the Tokyo International Auto show and has a wonderful time," Miller said of Francis' trip. "Because it ain't so," he said of the plant rumour."

It looks like Honda may have been Eddie's excuse. In reality, Governor Granholm's decisivie action on the border probably gave him a new role model to follow. After all, she lead a trade mission to Japan recently. Being the follower that he is, so would he! If the Governor of the Big Three state could go to Japan, then so could the Mayor of the Big Three city. Yesterday's front page Star story "Big 3's market share at new low More than 50% of cars sold are offshore makes" surely gave Eddie all the justification he now needs for an out-of-country trip to the Orient.

Eddie better get going soon if he is going to go.

Back in January 2003, Mitsubishi Motors Corp. president Rolf Eckrodt confirmed his company was looking for a second manufacturing facility in North America and was willing to look at Canadian locations. In January 2004, Nissan chief executive Carlos Ghosn said at an auto show in Detroit that the company would consider a new North American factory if its market share continues to improve. Audi has been a name for more than a decade for those considering sites for a new car plant. VW is looking for a new plant and "municipal economic development officers are already aware of their intentions and on the hunt for new investment." Hyundai Motor has opened its first manufacturing plant in the US, marking the start of an aggressive expansion in North America by South Korea's largest carmaker. Has anyone from the City approached the new Chinese auto companies for an alliance?

As for Toyota, here is an interesting comment I found to help out Eddie win a new plant for Windsor:

• Paul Krugman ("Why jobs head north," Views, July 26) oversimplifies the factors that go into the decision to build a new automobile plant.When a company like Toyota decides to build a $650 million plant, there are many criteria, such as infrastructure, access to highways and rail systems, utility costs, tax and regulatory climate and, yes, the cost of providing comprehensive benefits. The primary reason for the selection of the Ontario site was its proximity to our existing plant in the province, which will manage many administrative functions for the new plant. Toyota is growing its operations all over North America... We opened a plant in Huntsville, Alabama three years ago, and have expanded it twice. The work force there has been highly motivated, well trained and productive. Almost 30 percent of our hourly team members are college graduates, and 97 percent are high school graduates.*Dennis Cuneo, New York senior vice president,Toyota Motor North America

More importantly the Toronto Star reported:

• "A senior executive of Hino Motor Sales Canada Ltd. confirmed yesterday the Japanese parent company will probably decide in the next month whether to build a plant in Canada next year to assemble medium-duty trucks.
  
  "The parent company (Hino Motors Ltd.) is looking at its options right now and is committed to expanding in North America," said Axel Breuer, vice-president of Mississauga-based Hino Motor Sales. "But it would be inappropriate to comment until the parent gives the green light to the option it approves."

I wonder if Dennis DesRosiers will be invited to go along.

Sayonara Mayor-san.

Eddie's, and Council's, Last Stand

Don’t you just love the Windsor Star! Finally an editorial on the border. After all of this time.

In reading the tea leaves, I would expect that they have had a tough time figuring out what to say. I am sure they have figured out by now who the real winner is and hate it since they are opposed to anything the Bridge Co. does!

At least we know now what City Hall’s strategy is for the future. Let me explain.

I have been quite surprised by the lack of “official” comments from the Mayor’s Office about the decision of the Bi-national. The Gord Henderson column in the Star gave praise rightly to the Community rather than Council for what has been achieved to date.

The Editorial is an interesting one. No praise to the Mayor and Council since none is deserved by them. It is a totally different approach which builds on the only thing that can be done: be an irritant.

Why was it necessary to spend so much time on Sandwich’s past? We all know it. No one wants to destroy its past or its future. Ahhh the future…If I did not know any better I would have thought that our new urban village is going there! Or maybe now it is.

Remarkably, just the other day Councillor Jones wanted to “designate all of Sandwich Town as having historical significance” to prevent the building of a new bridge there. So the Star directly supports what Jones wants to do, without saying that, by setting out its history. That history is not for us by the way but presumably for the politicians and bureaucrats out of town who get the Star through their clipping services or online. Of course, who had the foresight to set up the Sandwich Development Commission a year ago as a bridge blocker---our fearless Mayor!

Finally the Star concludes by supporting the “isolated, industrial area” in the West End for the crossing. Notice also that there is not a negative word about the roadway to the border crossing selected. Again that is close to what the Bridge Co. wanted to do with the City’s WALTS suggestion. Clearly that is our new road to the crossing since even Brian Masse indirectly supports it. He's onside too now!

But then there is a big, big problem for the Star which they neglected to mention in their Editorial. If you were not careful though you would miss it.

There, buried on Page 13 if you can believe it, not Page, 2 or 3 or even 5 where border stories are usually positioned, is the story on the Detroit Council Resolution opposing a bridge through Delray! It is the Sandwich equivalent on the other side of the river from Prospect where the Star wants the crossing! It would be destroyed if the bridge goes through there! Check out my BLOG on November 2------“Environmental Justice And The Border.” How does one reconcile saving Sandwich and destroying Delray! The Star does not tell us because there is NO intention of putting a bridge there now.

In reality, the Mayor, Council and the Star know that the Bridge Co. has won. After all, the Ambassador Gateway is the preferred US plaza. That does not fit into the Mayor’s business model which I believe was to control both the Detroit Tunnel and the bridge, either a new one or the Ambassador Bridge. [That was the purpose of the infamous Agenda Item #5]. He wanted to out-Hurst Hurst.

The Bridge Co. in effect destroyed his main Plan with the 200 booth proposal and the deal with Kwame. So Eddie is now in his fall-back position---provide all kinds of roadblocks and irritants to the Bridge Co. by such things as the Sandwich Development Corporation (which he told the Ward 2 Councillors about minutes before he introduced it at the Sandwich Town Hall meeting I was told), favouring the Prospect corridor, designating Sandwich as “historical” and who knows what else until the Bridge co. blinks and begs the City to partner with them.

I hate to break the news to Eddie but if he had followed this alliance concept about 6 months ago when the Bridge Co. ran the series of ads asking the City to partner with them, then they might have done so. Now they can tell the City where to go since they no longer need Windsor’s approvals as they spend their money in SW Detroit building up its economic future as our auto jobs and perhaps even now the Chrysler HQ move out of Windsor.

Deep Throat's Masse Conquest

I finally got a copy of Brian Masse's Press Release and Letter to the PM and Premier.

To be blunt.....I was shocked and surprised. Had Deep Throat been speaking with him right after we had had our Erie Street "public" dinner? Was there any other reasonable explanation for what he wrote?

The purpose of the press conference was to publicize his letter to the Senior Level politicians in which he "requested [what a weak verb that is] the federal and provincial governments do all in their power to stop the Sandwich/Prince" crossing option." That was it!

I then read the letter which discussed this and suggested going to Ojibway without actually naming the corridor. Then the key sentence in the whole letter

• "In addition, it [the Ojibway corridor] has also been presented by the Committee in a way that recognizes the important environmental concerns for the Ojibway nature preserves." FULL STOP!

Not a word about the road to getting to that crossing. No direct support of it but no attack on it. Fascinating, the chosen road must now be acceptable to the MP for Windsor West. How different when the Bridge Co. was putting forward almost the exact route.

Here is another point that was brought to my attention that Brian might already know. The big sinkhole at Prospect!

• "A huge sinkhole on Feb. 19, 1954, ended brine mining operations by the Canadian Salt Company below riverfront land near Sandwich Street and Prospect Avenue, just off Ojibway Parkway.
  
  In a few hours, a hole more than 60 metres across and nearly eight metres deep formed.
  
  It swallowed parts of four buildings at the former Canadian Industries Ltd. (CIL) plant on the west end.
  
  The $6-million plant, which employed 300, shut down permanently two months later."
  
  [Read Marty Gervais'column in the Star about what happened on February 19, 1954]
  
  

So Brian gets it, finally.

1. NO to Brock for the votes for the upcoming election,
2. Support of the other crossing but not too strongly because of the sinkhole issue,
3. NO for a road going through Ojibway nature reserves
4. NO mention of the "diagonal" bridge or Ambassador Gateway project which the Americans want
5. NO mention of the WALTS Road that can and probably will be built for the 200 booths and the Twinned Bridge years from now.
6. After the election, that's when he gets tough on the Bridge Co. and and demands the "enhanced" WALTS Road.

That Deep Throat deserves a toast!

No Parking

It may be difficult to find a parking spot in Windsor these days. The parking garage behind the Hilton has just gone into receivership as has Mady's Garage on Wyandotte previously.

What would the two hotels (and other users) do if the garage is closed down? Where would their patrons park? Would there be enough space, for example, in the Canderel parking garage to allow hotel guests, Chrysler employees, other Canderel tenants and Keg customers all to have spaces? At the least, the extra traffic would help out the City's coffers. I guess with all of the unused land around the Western Super Anchor site, spaces could be found.

A Reader wrote to me offline about what was going on. Here are some excerpts:

• "I just read the Windsor Star and the article about Docherty’s garage going into receivership as well.
  
  You would think the idiots at ______________ [fill in the blank as you wish (LOL)] would see some connection between the only 2 private garages going under and a lack of business in downtown. Are they that clueless ... My God!! Bells should be going off!!!"

Who would buy the garages? A question that may have to be addressed is that if there are no buyers from the Receivers of the two garages will the City be forced into buying them if it means keeping them around until the good times eventually come back downtown, if they ever do. At least the price will be cheap since there cannot be many buyers for parking garages that cannot pay their bills!

I wonder how much parking there will be at the new Casino Complex. Isn't that where the new downtown is moving anyway, one step at a time?

Where's the Bacon Man? His ad ideas for the garages and parking meters are starting to look better and better!

Two Thumbs Down

I can truly say that the performance last night at City Hall was a disgrace. And I use the word “performance” as in theatrical deliberately because it certainly was not a proper Council meeting.

I cannot think of a meeting that was so poorly run and so confusing to an electorate. The sight of a Mayor running down to a Councillor’s seat to introduce a Motion, saying at the same time that he was going to show the Procedural By-law in action was farcical. I lost track but was he trying to introduce a motion to defer after a motion to defer had already been lost? I am not really sure since I turned off the TV in disgust.

Does anyone really know what happened with the Benson school issue after the referrals and deferrals? There seemed to be an issue with what Administration suggested since it did not seem to make sense? If so, why was it signed off and put on the Agenda in the first place? Isn’t the Mayor part of the agenda setting review group?

And then the pay equity debate. For heaven’s sake, it was only whether they should receive an information item and not re-opening the whole issue. Why didn’t someone raise a Motion for Reconsideration if they were so concerned about what they had unanimously agreed to a year before. Why were they ranting and raving as if they did not have proper advice before and if they did not have it, someone’s head should roll since it will cost the City millions! I loved it when, if anything got too touchy, the Mayor told the Councillor to be quiet since it was “legal.”

Councillor Valentinis, David Estrin came to Council a number of times so do not be too harsh about Mr. King being around to answer a few questions.

And is there some fund where contingency matters can be dealt with and if so, how much is in there? Has that money been ear-marked for something already that we just do not know about yet?

It is interesting also to watch the inter-personal dynamics at Council. They are getting worse weekly

When will Councillor Halberstadt finally blow up with Eddie trying to silence him? It is now twice in the last few weeks that things got testy between them when Alan dared question what the Mayor wanted to do.

And poor old Ken Junior. Will Eddie ever let him speak and say what he wants to say?

Joyce had better learn also to stop saying in interviews that Council works when everyone knows now the obvious---it does not. [A word of warning to Councillors---Be careful being inteviewed by Joe. He is asking questions now that Councillors may not want to answer.] I was half hoping Joyce would have used her famous Hurst Chair remark as Council was getting totally out of control.

I can hardly wait for next Monday. NOT!

South Windsor Magazine Encore

OK Ok already........For those of you dumping on me for not including Pero's contact info because you want to place an ad here it is:

Pero Kovacevic at (519) 791-7910

Heritage Designation As A Political Tool

CKLW reported that "In an effort to prevent construction of a third border crossing in the Brock Street area of west Windsor, the Sandwich Town Development Commission may designate all of Sandwich Town as having historical significance. Commission member, Ron Jones, says 38 sites of historical significance have been identified."

If you lived in that area is the Councillor's proposal a good idea or is it overkill?

The City states that "Pursuant to Ontario Heritage Act, the City of Windsor has the authority to grant legal recognition to properties of historic and/or architectural importance by means of a heritage designation. This designation helps to ensure the protection of these properties so that future generations are able to recognize and appreciate them as symbols of our history and our civic pride."

Councillor Jones it seems wants to use this designation as a "political tool." Is that what the Heritage Act is to be used for and is it proper to use is that way?

Obviously there is a big concern in Sandwich that a new bridge will be proposed in that area some place and then get tied in by a "diagonal" bridge to the Ambassador Bridge Co.'s Gateway Plaza as the Americans want.

This "designation" must probably be helpful to a Masse re-election strategy since he has done little on the border even though his NDP caucus held the balance of power in Ottawa. The election possibility also must be the reason the big rally that was going to be held in the spring, if you can believe it, is now going to be held at month end with Big Labour supposedly promising to get the bodies out.

However, how would you like to wake up in the morning as a property owner in Sandwich and having this designation hitting you in the face. Like the Todd Lane or Riberdy Road residents getting up and learning that that their neighbourhood was now part of a truck route to the border.

If the plan is to "designate" all of Sandwich as a "heritage conservation districts," here is what the Ontario Ministry of Culture says are some of the consequences:

• "Ontario's Heritage Conservation Districts
  
  In many areas of Ontario, the built heritage extends beyond the individual buildings to include the spaces between the buildings, the surrounding natural and man-made landscape, roads, footpaths, fences, lighting, street furniture and other features which collectively contribute to the area's special character.
  
  Part V of the Ontario Heritage Act provides for the designation of heritage conservation districts. Following approval of a local designation by-law (and confirmation by the Ontario Municipal Board) any alterations, additions and demolition to property within a heritage conservation district requires a permit from the local municipality. The approval or denial of a permit will usually be determined in accordance with approved guidelines and district plan."

It should not be too surprising after all. Over a year ago, one of the purposes of the Sandwich Development Corporation that Eddie sprung out of the blue at a Ward 2 Town Hall meeting was to "empower" the Community to block the Bridge Co. rather than using zoning and by-laws as I recall he said at the time!

Check out Toronto's website for how designation will work in practice http://www.toronto.ca/heritage-preservation/pdf/queen_07_existingpolicy.pdf

If this is "'empowering," then it is also adding another layer of bureaucracy to the mix. But I guess that is what the game is all about.

South Windsor Magazine

I wonder if some of the monthlies like City Times or Windsor Life should start worrying. A new publication is coming out and targeting one of the most attractive areas for business.

STOPDRTP did a flyer distribution some time ago and we wanted to cover just the area surrounding the DRTP corridor. Using Canada Post was a possibility but that was too pricey for us when you included the cost of the flyer. Distribution by the Star was an alternative but the zones they covered were broader than we wanted.

I thought about that again because of my friend Pero Kovacevic. If I were a business in South Windsor or wanted to appeal to people living just in that area, where would I put my money to get the most bang for the buck.

Pero came to my place the other day to have a coffee. I had not seen him for awhile and was happy to see that he was well and as feisty as ever! He is an interesting man and a "Canadian by choice" as he puts it.

I met Pero as part of the South/West Windsor Ratepayers Corporation. He did the printing for a lot of the materials that our Group distributed. I expect that he took a beating on some of the jobs since cash was tight for us. (No we could not afford the billboards that our Opposition filled around the city or the glossy, multi-colour brochures).

I remember that we talked about a magazine that he wanted to publish but nothing really came of it. Or so I thought. When he called, he told me that he had seen me being interviewed on Face-to-Face and wondered if I would be willing to write an article for his new magazine. He actually had done it!

Of course I said "Yes" and he came over to tell me about it. The magazine is "SOUTH WINDSOR MAGAZINE." The first issue is to be distributed shortly. Its circulation is 15,000 copies to be distributed in South Windsor only. It sounded like a good deal for an advertiser---up to 50% off the rate card for those who got in early. Designing, printing and distributing an ad for an all-inclusive price of around $100-700, depending on size, seemed like an attractive offer to me!

But would anyone want to read it? That was answered by its press release and when I found out who the editor was:

I saw a draft of its press release and its content sounded intriguing:

• "Gusto" is the adjective most frequently used by advertisers in describing South Windsor Magazine, Windsor's newest monthly. Audacious and unacademic, filled with "lively learning," written with wit and erudition, South Windsor Magazine promises to meet with lay as well as academic approval.
  
  The 52-page monthly will differ somewhat in content and look from other Windsor publications. In its pages the editor and contributors will try to give a reflection of the diversity of man's high articulate response to the circumstances and situations in life, and to write of those who have, like Prometheus, brought fire and warmth to their fellow man.

Its editor, Michael Petrovich, has worked for the Montreal Star, Radio-Canada International, CBC, the Olympics Radio and Television Organization, and other organizations. He has worked as freelance writer for TV Times, TV Guide, TV Hebdo, trade, scholarly, and federal and provincial government publications and is the author of a number of books.

To judge for yourself what the magazine will be like and whether one should advertise in it or read it, let me provide part of the answer to the question I asked Pero about why he started the magazine. Expecting the mundane, here is what I received:

• "I'll try my best to answer your question. Why am I starting this new publication called South Windsor Magazine? There are many reasons, but I will briefly focus on only one, the most important of all.
  
  In 1990, I was diagnosed with colon cancer and did not know if I would live or not. Faced with such a predicament all I wished for at the time was that I have had printed my own book of poems so that my daughter would better understand who her father was when she grows up. Being fortunate, as I am, to have not just survived, but also cured myself of the ailment, I have learned to appreciate life and "time".
  
  A while ago, in an old newspaper, I have read that "time" by itself has no meaning and no purpose. For the human race, time is a journey we take in space. It is us, the human race, who give time meaning and purpose, by the way we use it.
  
  If we use it for creative and constructive purposes, purposes that better us as species and improve the world we live in, then we have used time wisely. Then we take our place among the stars of the universe.
  
  If, however, we use it for selfish and frivolous purposes, to glorify only one part of mankind at the expense of the rest, then we have wasted time foolishly. Then time has lost its purpose, and we have lost ourselves
  
  P.S. If you recognize yourself as one of the stars of the universe sky, it is only because you are one."

I will not wish Pero "good luck." He does not need it. He has obviously found his purpose.

Letters, He Sends Letters...Stacks And Stacks Of Letters

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Bits and Pieces

TOP HAT CLUB SITE

Councillor Joyce Zuk, in answering a question about that site from John Fairley on Face-To-Face, said that it was not available at the time for the bus terminal site when the City was looking. So I wondered what it could be used for now since the Club had closed.

I had a brilliant idea. I thought that it would be a great location for the Burger King restaurant! Their present location must have suffered after 9/11 and clearly it will be expropriated when the Tunnel plaza is built.

So why doesn't the City expropriate (or buy) the existing Burger King site, move Burger King over [Similar precedents have been set in other expropriations] and then Burger King could use the cash to buy and build at the Top Hat site. All one neat package!

Canderel Building

Not only is the City paying out good money for the two floors but it seems to be totally unsucessful in getting anyone to lease out the space. To induce real estate agents to show potential tenants the space and to rent it out, Administration is suggesting that the real estate agent commission be raised to a possible $105,000 or about twice what it was before.

Vacancy rate in Downtown Windsor

Administration estimates office space vacancy rate at between 30-35%

Buskers and Brister

I knew it would be too good to last. Councillor Brister would voted against the Buskers again. For Councillor Budget, it seems that "Pocketbook benefits... through increased tourism" should only be examined for those projects that Gord Henderson approves first.

Secrecy and In Camera at Council

A report about those subjects was on the agenda last week. Ironically, the Star reported the next day that in 2004, Council approved "behind closed doors" a pay equity plan that may now cost the City $7 million. Also "behind closed doors," Council directed Administration to negotiate with St. Clair College on a Cleary deal.

Pay Equity

It must be getting closer to election time. How else to explain the actions of five "courageous" Councillors who "refused to endorse a status report on pay equity." Note also the Mayor did not break the tie to support them. Presumably, he knew he could not since it made no sense from a legal perspective.

All they did was defer the matter for a week to allow them to make some fearless quotes to make themselves look good. If they were so concerned about this where was the Group of Five a year ago. If they had wanted, they should have told Counsel to appeal the decision then and not granstand now.

I guess posturing over finances is better for their election brochures

MFP $68 million loss

Has Council received yet a legal opinion about how to recover some or all of this loss or has it decided that taxpayers can afford it? Has Councillor Lewenza done the math to determine how much this represents per household per year?

Medical Assistance required

According to the Toronto Star, the OMA is saying that "Ontario has become much worse since it first warned the doctor shortage problem represented a "looming crisis" in 1999. The year 2005 finds the province in the midst of a deepening physician resources crisis...Family medicine in particular has deteriorated into a dying specialty and requires urgent resuscitation."

It is clearly worse in this part of the Province. Council must take action on our behalf to allow foreign trained doctors to be admitted immediately into Ontatio. Even with more doctors being admitted into medical school, it will take years before they graduate.

At the least admit them as "physician assistants" and don't pay them as doctors if the issue is really one of money.

Take a look at my previous blog, "Is There A Doctor In The House?" for the Emergency Resolution that I believe Council must pass and on which it must take immediate action.

For Tunnel Lovers

Interesting numbers about the Chunnel. It seems the story is like the Big Dig in Boston.

From The Times: "The tunnel was meant to open in 1993 at a cost of £5 billion. In fact it limped into operation with a limited service in 1994 at £12 billion, and in its first year of operation lost £900m. Eurotunnel, the Anglo-French operating company, owes more than £6 billion.

Election Day, November 13, 2006

Will the 13th be unlucky for the Mayor and certain Councillors?

How To Make A Silk Purse Out Of A Sow’s Ear

MEMO TO: Eddie Francis and Council

FROM: WindsorCityBlog

Re: Your re-election strategy

I wondered why you were so silent on the border and did not celebrate the “victory” on Monday. Your friends at the Star have been conspicuously quiet as well.

Obviously, there was nothing on which you could claim victory. Thankfully, acknowledgement was given that it was the Windsor Community's efforts that resulted in the success and achieved the impossible. So far at least.

Your “Schwartz, Schwartz, Schwartz” strategy failed. You look like fools as it appears that the Bi-national bureaucrats and not our municipal elected representatives listened to the people! Ojibway Road was their solution put forward and they did not propose to use EC Row and the Ojibway nature reserve. You rallied for the short-term and ignored what you were elected to do. They ignored you, did their job and came up with a long-term answer. Sort of.

Clearly, you need a new strategist. Let me apply for the position.

How do we turn this re-election disaster into a "win" for you? How do we revise history so that you come out smelling like "roses" in the City of Roses?

You know the reality. Didn’t you discuss it Monday night in camera? You know as well as I do that the Bridge Co. has won, whether Ojibway is the final solution or the Twinned Bridge comes back.

Their 200 booth solution is going to be built first since we may never need another bridge. The proposal will require a road to the existing Bridge to be built almost immediately and the Bi-national has set out the only way it can work. After all, it is the WALTS way, the City’s proposal! The Bridge Co. does not need your input to move forward since it is an American side project. You will have to build that road or Huron Church will get too much truck traffic. It can be built so that it can branch off to a new Ojibway or Twinned Bridge site.

And you know as well as I do that they can build their Twinned Bridge regardless what the Bi-national says. The Bi-national and Transport Canada have conceded that already. The only question for them is WHEN they want to build the Twinned Bridge as they move through the EA process.

You also know now that the Americans want the Ambassador Gateway even if Ojibway is built. That is so absurd that someone must have been dreaming. The Bridge Co. owns the Plaza and is not going to share it and cannot be forced to do so. You also know that “public oversight” as MOT’s Wake calls it does not mean and can never mean public ownership.

So how do you get re-elected since you have lost credibility on a Plan that could never have worked anyway. Council bought into the Mayor’s short-term billion dollar dream and that was blown out of the water.

The Mayor has a big problem since he conceded decision-making to the Bi-national early on. Who cares what he may think now since he has admitted that he only plays a minor role. Who gave him permission to do that? I sure didn't vote for him to be a "bit player." His tactical mistake was rallying for the short-term for a year with hardly a word about the final answer and NOT asking Windsorites for help when he desperately needed it.

Councillors Postma and Jones are in big trouble since the corridor to the Bridge could destroy Sandwich. Councillor Brister, Mr. STOPDRTP, especially and Councillor Zuk are at risk for their silence and invisibility for the last 2 years in the community that had the largest voice in the border fight. As for the rest of you, your failure to be “open and transparent” on the border is so easy to use in an election brochure that you will have a tough time countering it.

You need help, big time. Let me plot the strategy for you:

1) SHUT UP ABOUT SCHWARTZ ALREADY! Talk about it one last time and then forget it. Every time you mention his name you cause people to remember that you failed. You have terminated his services so be quiet

2) I have no idea if Kwame will ever talk to Windsor again after the Mayor’s stupidity of badmouthing his proposed deal right before the election. I would suggest grovelling and perhaps buying him a big drink at the Super Bowl might work. And drop the idea of buying his Tunnel interest or messing up his deal. We look like we are trying to take advantage of their financial position. Remember, he's in charge for 4 more years!

3) Support the 200 booths, it is coming in whether you want it or not

4) Recognize that Ojibway is never going to happen---the Star stories already show the opposition to Prospect and the West Enders and Gridlock Sam’s man on the scene have killed the other site because of “salt mine risks.”

5) Careful about Ojibway too—the Delray Michigan residents are just starting up now. Just like STOPDRTP. How can you support Sandwich and destroy Delray? Makes you look like hypocrites doesn’t it? Remember, they have “Environmental Justice” on their side

6) A diagonal bridge as our “Signature Bridge,” to be the laughing stock of the world. Give me a break. Engineers and the US Coast Guard will kill the "diagonal" bridge idea if the extra costs do not.

7) Nice idea to talk about preserving Sandwich. That’s all the bargaining power you have left. Talk tough about that.

8) As for looking out for the people on Talbot Road, I am sure that they will not think that the Mayor or Councillors Brister and Zuk will be their champions after their hostility to them for years. But pretend to be concerned about their “quality of life” too. It will play well to the rest of the City especially to the winning STOPDRTP parts of Ward 1.

9) GRIN AND BEAR IT—THE TWINNED BRIDGE HAS WON. Your job is to get the Community to accept it and then declare victory. Ken Lewenza’s dad and/or Buzz Hargrove should be called in as advisors to show how that is done in union negotiations all the time. Let them teach you how to “beat up the Bridge Co.” and get positive publicity to make you heroes even though you have no negotiating position.

10) For “quality of life” the Talbot Road residents have to be moved from the corridor with better than adequate compensation for them to find a new home and to move. Depending on what the exact route is, some businesses on Huron Church may need financial help too. It gives you the chance to “talk tough” on this too to the Senior Levels since you know that their preference is to move the people out anyway.

11) Demand and get an “enhanced” Ring Road, probably including “tunnelling.” Tell Dwight to remember his $500 million promise and to start spending it. Co-opt the West Enders as you have been trying to do for a year anyway by getting them more involved in the process to build a proper road that minimizes the negative impact on Sandwich. But understand that you can never please all of them!

12) Talk to Matty Moroun…He is the only friend you have. He wanted to partner with the City (remember his ads but you rejected him). He is a businessman and wants his projects finished with the least possible problems. Trade off economic redevelopment of Sandwich as he is doing in SW Detroit, JOBS and maybe even tie it into an urban village as your price of co-operation.

13) You better get people off of building a new crossing prematurely. If there is no traffic then all the crossings including the Tunnel could go broke and there goes another $6 million a year in revenues lost.

14) Finally, remember that Granholm and Kwame are calling the shots. Once the US side got involved in the border issue, they were going to make the decisions. Windsor's partners are not in Toronto or Ottawa but across the river.

There it is on a silver platter laid out for you, a strategy to win re-election. You will at least have a chance if you follow to the letter what I have proposed. It is a year before the next municipal election. Let's agree to have this all wrapped up by next March so you can bask in the glory of your success for the months before the day the votes are cast.

Do I get the Strategist job?