Headlines In The News

I wonder what you think of these stories

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO

CITISTAT

It's budget time and we are facing a big tax increase. I have not forgotten about Citistat although the Mayor may have wished that I had!

Remember that was the big election platform issue that got Eddie elected the first time around. It was supposed to save us millions every year but seems to have disappeared off the face of the earth. Along with the savings too it seems.

Mayor O'Malley of Baltimore is now Governor O'Malley of Maryland and here is what he is doing with Citistat:

• "StateStat -- a variation of the acclaimed, statistics-based government management program that Gov. Martin O'Malley developed while mayor -- is coming with him to Annapolis, and with it, the sort of biweekly meetings that subjected Baltimore officials to stiff questioning over everything from rising overtime pay to unfilled potholes.
  
  Public policy experts and officials across the country have called O'Malley's development of CitiStat a shining example of government efficiency realized; workers have compared it to facing the Spanish Inquisition"

I wonder if John Tory might pick up on this to help him beat the Liberals. He can call it PROVSTAT! Or will the Liberals use it to stay in power. Both will never implement it, just like our Mayor did not, but it gets you elected. And to a politician, that is all that counts!

SUPPORTING "LOCAL" FESTIVALS

Do you remember what Eddie said when it looked like Festival Epicure was going to die:

• "Although Windsor’s popular Festival Epicure may be cancelled this summer due to lack of sponsorship, some residents and local businesses have expressed an interest in creating a “new and different” food festival, Mayor Eddie Francis said Sunday.
  
  Francis said he wasn’t “overly concerned” that the spirit of the successful food and drink festival won’t be revived in some other form since Epicure’s executive producer, Ken Brandes, announced Friday the late withdrawal of the event’s title sponsor, the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel.
  
  “I’ve received several indications from people who are interested in stepping in to do some type of similar festival,” Francis said.

Thanks to a loyal reader, I wonder if this was part of the PLAN for next year and a way to consolidate the Tunnel deal by chumming up with the Detroit Mayor. From the Detroit Free Press:

• "Detroit has started to deliver on the river - riverfront, that is - and at no time will that be clearer than during a new, outdoor six-day party this summer called “Detroit International River Days.”
  
  This afternoon, sunlight bounced off the meandering Detroit River and through the glass panes of the General Motors Wintergarden in the GM Renaissance Center, where city and nonprofit officials held a press conference to announce details of the festival.
  
  “This is a really, really great thing,” says Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick who spoke at the press event, along with Windsor Mayor Eddie Francis."

Oh and is Roger Penske involved too as the Chairman of Downtown Detroit Partnership? You remember, that Super Bowl, Grand Prix fellow. You know, those international events that have given us so much business and made us famous the world over. You know, the ones in which Eddie, I mean Windsor, was being "branded."

WHO NEEDS A PURCHASING BY-LAW ANYWAY

I think we are one step closer to regional amalgamation. The County is learning from Windsor how to do things.

I am sure that you saw this story. Sounds like Windsor and the East end arena doesn't it:

• "Town skirts tendering
  Water park project OK’d without competitive bids
  
  Amherstburg council decided to save time over money Monday by awarding a $250,000 contract without tendering the work.
  
  Following the recommendation of administration, a majority of council voted in favour of contracting Waterplay Manufacturing Ltd., DeAngelis Construction and HGS Consulting to build a new splash pad at Toddy Jones Park without a full tender process.
  
  According to a report presented to council, “The tendering process would significantly slow the project down...”
  
  Councillors Rick Fryer and Robert Pillon voted against the staff recommendation, saying the town should have tendered the project.
  
  “I feel like we're rushing into this,” Pillon said...
  
  “Normally I would suggest tendering,” said Coun. John Sutton. “We can waive it in this case.”
  
  Amherstburg’s purchasing policy requires that any spending greater than $25,000 be open to competitive bidding. This is to help promote competitiveness within suppliers of goods and services, as well as to ensure the town is getting the best deal for the taxpayer’s money. Council can vote to bypass the procedure, however, for “legitimate reasons,” said CAO Frank Pizzuto."

CAR 54 WHERE ARE YOU?

How many of you remember that old TV series?

There are a few police stories that gained a lot of publicity when the y first came out but seem to have disappeared. Where is the traditional media following up and getting us answers?

The first was a big story that the Star reported:

• "A Windsor police constable and a sergeant are being investigated after Chief Glenn Stannard received an anonymous tip alleging that a speeding ticket issued to a prominent city businessman was never processed."

We were not told who that businessman was and probably should not have been until the facts were known. It could have been a smear job!

Well it has been two months almost since the Chief said:

• "I don't like the facts that I see so far, but there are always two or three sides to a story so I need to, like any other investigation, wait until I get all the facts," Stannard said Friday. "We need to deal with this properly and quickly. We were on this right away. We're not wasting any time. We've got nothing to hide."

That was an interesting comment given the passage of time. Should the OPP be involved now if we do not get an answer soon?

Then drugs and taxis and the shooting near Councillor Postma's house. The Star reported as well:

• "the shooting victim... was apparently visiting the house and had just gotten out of a cab when someone shot him.
  
  "The shots came out of the cab," Berry said. "

Are residents safe taking cabs with this story still outstanding and the revelations at City Hall?

What is the Head of the Windsor Police Services Board, our Mayor, doing about this?

WAS BURGER KING BLINDSIDED AND WHY

With a unanimous PAC vote behind them and the concurrence of Administration it seemed, how could Burger King lose? Oh I can just hear what other developers and industrialists have to say about moving to Windsor after this fiasco at Council.

What great information did our City Hall/Border Star reporter tell us about what happened at Council on Monday when Burger King and I suspect Ms Doyle were surprised and shaken by the defeat to allow BK to move to the Top Hat site. I am still waiting for the Star story.

Several people told me that they saw the Mayor whispering to Mr. Tyagi before Mr. Tyagi told us that the move had nothing to do with the Tunnel Plaza Improvements. Then I do not understand the whole discussion about "grandfathering" what BK had at the old site. Why was that relevant and seemingly an exception to the Drive-Thru policy the City adopted.

What did the BK rep and whoever from Administration discuss in the "hall" where Eddie told them to go and talk after the BK defeat?

Where did Eddie disappear to right after the BK session for so long?

But the big mystery is why Eddie voted to make a tie vote which meant nothing since the Motion was defeated on a tie vote when the Motion had already been defeated by a 5-4 vote? Why didn't the Star ask the obvious question about why he voted and provide an answer?

Obviously, BK has to take some action. How much will that cost the City in legal fees before this is finished?

However, the more interesting aspect is what will come out at the hearings that no one wants us to know it seems! What will I find in my MFOIA records? This could turn out to be a juicy story by the time it is done. It will make for a tasty treat.