Hello Mister Chips

I am too predictable now. Here is what a reader wrote to me the other day:

"Ed.....

No comment on the tentative Cleary deal?

Let me guess.....A bad deal for the city if the college approves it and the mayor's fault if they don't....."

Why would I comment in advance on something I knew was going to happen no matter what, as you shall see. Eddie had to have a deal done as he has to do so on the arena as well. (Oh I heard a rumour about a big Raceway announcement in 3 or 4 weeks). He has the "quality of life" and tunnelling all locked up for the border too. He has told us how well off financially we are. So now he is well-positioned for the November election. It's what politicians do isn't it? Why my reader was so shocked at me I do not know.

I must admit, if I were a Board member at St. Clair College, I would be mad as hell. I had just been given the details of the deal on Tuesday night and "approval of the pact won't be sought until the board's next meeting later this month, Strasser said, adding that he wanted to give members time to digest the numbers." Now the I and the other board members would be put under intense pressure to approve this deal, whether it is good or bad, or face the wrath of citizens. Very unprofessional in my opinion.

Why would President Strasser open himself to such criticism. Why would the College wait for 2 weeks? Remember, many a true word is said in jest. As he said in the Star

• "The city got a really good deal on this," college president John Strasser said when asked to comment on the details of the agreement.
  
  "I've got to go back and renegotiate," he quipped."

And he will now that he has the City by the....well you know. That will be for blaming the College and making them look foolish for pulling out on the Income and Security Building deal. The City has to start to learn not to "snub" or "blame." It is costing us a fortune.

If you want my take on this, it is all a big farce anyway. Oh it's a good idea that we have an "urban campus." It may even do some of the things that have been advertised about the deal. But we are being sold a dream. Again. The truth is being hidden from us. Again. It will cost taxpayers millions. Again. It is to serve another agenda. Again.

This has nothing to do with the urban village or moving St. Clair downtown. It has nothing to do with the economic revitalization of downtown. In fact, it is part of the destruction of the downtown as we know it that started with the imposition of the interim control by-law. It was all part of chasing Beztak out of town, buying time with an initial Raceway offer and talking about an East End Megacomplex. It is all part of a process to turn our downtown into a sleazy Yonge Street with a bunch of kiddie bars and where no retailer would think of opening up a shop no matter how hard the DWBIA tries to fix it up. [Just ask them about the City's new streetscaping plan. It outlined only 2 of downtowns shortest blocks with portions already complete. At that rate, it will take years to complete].

There is no interest in our downtown with its huge office vacancy rate. It is a write-off now. Let it die and build up a new core with the Tunnel Plaza and Casino the new focus. It is all part of shifting the downtown farther east to the Casino lands one step at a time.

It all started within months of Eddie becoming Mayor. Here is what the Windsor Star reported in January, 2004--the start of the new Council:

• "The city's involvement in the convention business could be on the chopping block if consultants recommend Casino Windsor expand to include a convention facility.
  
  That was the message Mayor Eddie Francis gave the chairman of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Commission Tuesday. Stanley Sadinsky and Francis met to "get acquainted" and discuss common issues.
  
  Francis said he was impressed with Sadinsky.
  
  "I like him. I find him open and pleasant and we had a great discussion," said Francis. "I wanted him to understand that we also have a commitment to improvements in the city and the future of the casino."
  
  Francis said topics discussed included improving access to the tunnel and the marketing expert's report and recommendations for the casino, due in late February.
  
  "If one of those recommendations is that the casino develop a convention centre, then it may not make sense for the city to be in the convention business," said Francis, referring to the Cleary International Centre.
  
  "We want to be partners with the casino, not compete with them or duplicate services they offer. I made it clear that city council will work with the province to do whatever we can to turn things around."
  
  

And if you really wanted to know what the plans of the City are, well our good buddy Gord told us about 18 months ago:

• "With a new convention/entertainment centre in the works, Windsor could jettison plans for a multi-use facility on the Western Super Anchor site and make that property available for uses that could include a trendy urban village being promoted by a U.S. developer. The city, which has budgeted $15 million for an arena, could then build an arena for the Spitfires at a location that would have ample parking. It would also enable the city to push ahead with plans to unload its Cleary International Centre albatross."
  
  

And about 14 months ago:

• "I'm told a council majority wants a multi-pad development with lots of parking at Windsor Raceway that could involve the Jebb Group, including Gretzky, and a prominent local developer. The argument is that the Casino Windsor expansion, with its massive convention centre and entertainment theatre, has made a downtown arena superfluous.
  
  A raceway site, along with the track, slots and the new Ambassador golf course, would create a leisure hub and boost Windsor's take from raceway slots revenues.
  
  Raceway proponents will meet stiff resistance from those, including former education minister Dave Cooke and Ray Chu, head of the City Centre Business Association (CCBA), who believe a downtown arena, perhaps built by an American developer along with upscale housing, is integral to the area's revival.
  
  But what if there was a better use of the site than as an underutilized hockey arena? I've spoken with CCBA board members who believe a downtown University of Windsor or St. Clair College campus, with the money-losing Cleary thrown in, would be a godsend for downtown while making those schools more appealing to prospective students."
  
  

There you have it. It all has to do with giving the Casino the significant share of the entertainment market and the control of the convention business. They build us a new addition, we agree not to compete with them and delay and perhaps kill the building of a new arena in the downtown or elsewhere. It all has to do with moving retail east to the Casino area. It all has to do with building a new downtown and to enhance the value of the Tunnel so Eddie can lease it out. And the justification for doing all of this is students downtown and the prosperity it will bring.

As Gord said in his Thursday

• "the dream is back. In spades. Instead of a convention facility that has community embarrassment written all over it, Windsor will boast a downtown college campus, a hospitality and culinary arts centre, that will fit like a glove with its casino, restaurant and hotel industries."
  
  

Urban village, urban campus, urban shmurban.