Friday, June 9, 2006

System Changes Needed


I wanted to post comments received from readers to my BLOG on Bill Marra yesterday as they came in but unfortunately my BLOGhost for the service, Google, had technical problems. It's not the first time either that Google has had a major one but surprisingly there has not been much publicity about their failures.

I know that Google wants to take over the Internet world and beat Microsoft (they now have a beta spreadsheet online) but first they should get their act together and make sure their servers work properly! Can you imagine the outcry if Microsoft had the problems that Google is having? What business would ever rely on them if they needed access to their work if the service was down for this long?

The lack of adverse publicity when things are going wrong must mean that the honeymoon for Google is still not over. Hmmmm Eddie and Google have a lot in common that way.

It is not the first time they have had a major break-down. Here is their notice this time around:


  • Blogger Status
    Thursday, June 08, 2006
    For many users, Blogger will have been extremely slow or down for most of the morning. We continue to work on fixes for this problem and hope to have it resolved as quickly as possible.

    Wednesday, June 07, 2006
    This morning, a hardware problem we had been struggling with over the past several days suddenly worsened. As a result, and to stave off future downtime, we have had to take Blogger down for an extended period of time as we address the problem. We will continue to update this blog and the homepage with more information.

    Update: We've brought up new hardware which has allowed us to restore the site. We try hard to avoid downtimes of this length and apologize for the inconvenience.”
Now that changes have been made, hopefully everything is back to normal. Hmmm another possible comparison with Windsor isn't it.

Here are some more of the comments I received:

  • I would love to see him run for mayor he would have my vote

  • I would like to see Bill Marra run for mayor. I would like to hear his views on the border and how he feels about protecting the Ojibway wilderness area.

  • He should not run for council. He should run for the Mayor's office.

  • If Bill ran, I would support him just like I did before

  • Someone should run against eddie and it should be someone familiar with city government so yeah, in that respect he should run.

  • GO FOR IT BILL WE ARE BEHIND YOU

  • Bill should go up against him in a very heated contest.

    If you look at the overall state of Windsor compared to 4 Years ago, absolutely no issues have been settled. Big issues. Not burned out bulbs in a street light.

    Business as usual is not a phrase coined today. Windsor has not had new development to jump up and proclaim as "relevant" This city is overtaxed and under advertised. We have seen very little drive towards diversification in our area.I can write a book on comments that customers from all over southern ontario have cited to stay away from here.

    None have given indications to set up here "because of the border proximity".

    Water parks, ice rinks, museums, science exhibits are springing up in other cities but we seem to be stuck, out of gas (no pun), and sit back on our ever widening butt and complain.

    Even the auto industry is outsourcing overseas and not keeping support local.(I can attest to that)

    We need a leader. Ralph Kline is retiring and not interested. That is the type we need now. I know the Mayor's office cannot do much on its own, however direction and focus is evidently needed.

    Eddie did state that at the beginning. I just can't stand a typical "lawyer"(in jest) response that tells you what you want to hear and completely evades a yes or no answer.

    Yes we need a jumpstart. Can Bill do it? Sure he could. With the right agendas.

  • Running for mayor is a hard, tough gig, especially when some local media loves the incumbent. Personally I like Bill and hope he does whatever he thinks best for him and his family.

    Would I want him as mayor? Of course. I voted for him in 2003 and would do so again. But if he wants to run for council in any ward I'd support him. We need councilors willing to stand up to bullies and we need them now.

    Good luck to him, whatever he chooses.

For a guy who has not been much in the public eye since the last election and since Council Close-up was cancelled by Cogeco last year, if Marra ran, there is no doubt that he would get a lot of positive support.

The question remains: will Bill run and, if so, for what? We should know soon if CKLW is right!

3 comments:

JoeBlog said...

A reader writes:

If Bill Marra can show leadership in this community I would say "Yes" This town needs some one to take control in a good way and show strong leadership with the City and council...it is long overdue.

We need a strong man like the strong woman in Mississauga the Mayor Hazel McCallion at 85 years of age and still going strong no BS with her.

Gettin City Hall back on track is a priority.

If Bill Marra is capable of showing good strong leadership not only on council but as a Mayor, (then add a good positive team in the Mayor's office) he will shine.

I think the people in Windsor are tired of BS and want a good positive change for the better.

We need good positive leadership, good positive thinking, good positive attitude. It is going to take a lot of work but this town has many good stories and good people the media could talk or write about. Pick up the Toronto Star, National Post , or Globe and Mail and read the good in depth stories that keeps Toronto and area hopping. Why can we not have the same here?

SOMEBODY HAS TO PICK UP THE STICK AND SAY ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. Leadership is a must for Windsor

Bill Marra start building a good positive team now

JoeBlog said...

A reader writes:

Not only would I support Bill for Mayor but I would also assist him if he ran for a council seat.

JoeBlog said...

A reader writes:

I'm not entirely sure which way Bill Marra should go if he is to run this fall. If we're going to see more of the same, I think he would be better suited to seek a council seat, rather than what I feel would be an unsuccessful attempt at the Mayor's chair.

Bill did the city a great service in exposing the MFP fiasco, and
continues to serve the community well with his involvement at the
hospital. He is well-respected by all and showed a great deal of class on election night.

However, rewind three years. My immediate memories are of the embarassing attack ads on Francis' age and the do-not-rock-the-boat platform complete with a no private sector involvement guarantee to appease the CAW. I feel Francis won because he had the "vision thing", and he was clear about where he wanted to go (at the time). I didn't see much besides the status quo from Marra, and throughout this term, apart from a few editorials in the paper, we haven't heard much from him or have any clearer idea how
he'd improve things.

One thing Bill truly has going for him is Francis' record. I truly like Eddie, but there have been major, major lapses in judgement (the border, and relations with Detroit among them), and an underwhelming record in office. Should Bill seek the mayor's chair once again, he'll need to present the vision, with workable solutions to the issues that he would like to address.

And he needs to start campaigning right away!