Fooling All The People All The Time

It is true that you may fool all of the people some of the time;
you can even fool some of the people all of the time;
but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time."
President Abraham Lincoln

Does the Mayor believe that everyone in this City is completely stupid and takes what he says at face value all of the time? That is what I find so annoying about him. Here is the latest example of it from a quote in the Star:

• "Meanwhile, the city of Windsor's tunnel commission has been opposed to adding more commercial vehicles at the tunnel and has remained at odds with DCTC over its truck plans. The city owns the Canadian side of the tunnel.
  
  "From the tunnel commission's perspective, we want the tunnel to be commuter- and car-friendly," said Mayor Eddie Francis, chairman of the tunnel commission. "We are focused on that."

Wow, that is a big switch. Here is what Eddie said in the Windsor Star 03-09-2004

• "Mayor Eddie Francis told the commission the falling numbers and crippling traffic jams on downtown streets in Windsor show how the city must move forward along with senior levels of government to improve traffic flow on the Windsor side.
  
  He said improvements should include developing commercial truck processing capabilities and improvements to traffic processing on the Windsor plaza."

In the Windsor Star 03-13-2004, the Mayor said

• "Dedicated lanes for trucks, commuters and tourists are among ideas for an expanded plaza which could accommodate lineups, he said, without impacting normal city traffic.
  
  Expanding the plaza across Goyeau Street and on to city property such as the former police station, plus obtaining the Burger King and other properties, would allow better access to toll booths for U.S.-bound traffic, he said.
  
  "We've got to find a way to improve the situation going back to the States for both industry and for commuters and tourists," Francis said.

Now I know that the Tunnel truck volumes are low compared with the Bridge but my recollection is that the truck revenue is a substantial part of the Tunnel income. Why would that be given up at a time when the Mayor wants to do a deal on the Tunnel and needs to show high income potential?

So let's take a look at what the Tunnel Plaza Improvements include today as proposed and see how closely it fits in with what the Mayor wanted in 2004. You will see how much it meets his requirements:

1. Alternatives 1A and 2E were rejected because of issues including truck issues
2. The preferred alternatives "include on-site Canada-bound truck secondary inspection area"
3. The preferred alternatives show truck Customs lanes. truck dock and truck parking
4. A possible truck only lane into the US

With all of the noise about getting vehicles off of City streets, we are not being told how the Tunnel Plaza is being expanded on the Canadian side and the reasons for it.

Our attention is being diverted away from what is really important and what the Tunnel improvements are all about. Just like with the infamous Agenda Item #5

Once the Senior Levels commit to paying for the changes, then action will be started on the other side but after DCTC is no longer involved with Windsor ie when their deal expires in 2007. The Tunnel Plans will not be completed until 2009 with final construction in 2011. Remember that DCTC had plans for the Detroit side including the expansion of truck traffic that would cost only a fraction of the $30 million that Eddie wants that would get trucks THROUGH the Tunnel and off City streets ie not building a parking lot as Eddie is supporting.

I wonder if the thought is thanks for the ideas DCTC but the cities can do it on our own. We do not need you.

Windsor and Detroit are doing some negotiating over the Tunnel right now. That will make an interesting story for a BLOG another time.

I wonder if, in the end, Eddie agrees with the phrase attributed to PT Barnum considering how he treats his electorate: "There's a sucker born every minute...and two to take 'em."