When The Going Gets Tough...

...Eddie goes Lederhosening.

Where's the Mayor?

That's the big question that a number of people are asking today. Why has our Mayor chosen this week to fly off to Germany when there are so many important events that are taking place in Windsor? Couldn't his trip have been delayed a week or two? Was it really that vital that he go this week?

Who knows what the real story is but it is pretty clear that negotiations have been going on for some time with respect to the Ford plant. It is also pretty clear that there is a problem getting $30 million from the Federal Government. What did our Mayor do... did he partner with the Province and call up the Feds and demand action? Did he offer to go to Ottawa to meet with the Minister of Finance? Did he call up Jeff Watson and demand that he do something for the region? Did he get involved with the CAW rally in front of Watson's office? Nope... he was off in Germany.

I wonder if the Mayor knew that the Ford jobs were dead but didn't want to tell anyone in case he got blamed. His position will probably be that he had this feeling that the Feds might turn down the project so he went to Germany to try to find new jobs. I told you that he had a psychic as a consultant.

Mind you to be fair, Eddie did do something. Before he left he "sent a letter to federal Minister of Industry Jim Prentice." I'll bet it was a good one too.

Then there was the pre-budget meeting yesterday in Windsor with the Minister of Finance Dwight Duncan in town. The purpose of the meeting was

• "Provincial money for local interests will be the topic of discussion when Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan meets with a wide range of public and private sector groups for a pre-budget consultation in Windsor this afternoon."

The City Treasurer stated:

• "Colucci said the city wanted to make sure the concerns of municipalities were "front and center" to Duncan.
  
  "Municipalities face a lot of challenges these days. Especially municipalities in an economically challenged area, such as Windsor," Colucci said.

The Mayor knows all about these challenges and is such a great orator. I would have thought we had an interest to get some money in Windsor for the road to the border, to help our manufacturing industry, to help our tourist industry and so on.

Who should have been our spokesperson advocating that money needed to be poured into this City since we have one of the highest unemployment rates in Canada: the Mayor. Did Eddie deliver a speech designed to get money for the hardest-hit part of the Province. Nope... he was off in Germany.

Did you see Dwight on A-Channel news? Boy was he steamed at our Mayor. He let him have it right between the eyes on Manning Road and Lauzon saying that if he wanted anything done at the airport, he better fix up the road system. It seemed to me as well that he was blaming Eddie for the delays in getting anything done on the border. It was almost as tough a shot at someone in Windsor as his personal attack on WeACT's founder, Chris Schnurr.

I wonder if Dwight was angry because he hoped to be able to give Windsor some money if only the Mayor had made an impassioned plea for it. Now he probably can't do it and will take a beating from the electorate and the media as if it was his fault. If only Eddie had shown up and made the case for us. I guess Cabinet's position may well be that if Eddie didn't show up, perhaps things are not so bad here after all.

Seriously, how can Councillor Valentinis still wonder why this City is being taken for granted by the Senior Levels? How much longer will the Councillor sit by while the City is destroyed?How much more can this City take before the Councillor will act? It really all rests on his shoulders.

My information is that Councillors found out about this so-called massive German investment opportunity in camera on Monday. Apparently they were sworn to secrecy as well as could be expected. I can imagine their surprise when they saw the story plastered over the front page of the Windsor Star and on CKLW.

I don't understand that part of it at all. Why would the Mayor reveals something when he told his colleagues to keep it confidential? I know he likes the limelight but still.

I know several people who are involved in business development and here's what they wrote to me:

• 1) Any idea if this German food distributor investment the Mayor is blabbing about to all the media is a done deal yet? If not, he has breached what most politicians do when potential investors show interest in a location... the politicians just can't keep their mouths shut!
  
  
• 2) I was hoping you'd take a stab at this.
  
  Why would Fast Eddie go? The Commission was probably too busy trying to figure out the layout and wording of their up and coming brochures.
  
  The Development Commission Mission Statement as per website:
  "- to attract new business, capital investment and other assessment and employment creating enterprises"
  
  Ya! Maybe they were doing that.
  
  
• 3) The net developable area [at the airport] is unknown at this time since a significant amount of the land area is expected to be retained in a natural environment designation/zoning.
  
  Furthermore, there are huge constraints to development since servicing is minimal or non existent and the lands at the airport will require amendments to the City's Official Plan and Zoning By-law. The servicing costs will be in the multiples of millions of dollars and the planning changes are excruciatingly slow, especially if any objections/appeals necessitate OMB resolution. Also, there are airport zoning regulations that restrict height and use of exterior building materials and equipment to avoid any interference with air navigation systems and aircraft safety...
  
  Economic development is a percentage business. Many hurdles to go and many ifs to overcome to get to the promised land!

Here is the strangest part though. The City and the County pay over $1 million a year to set up an Economic Development Commission. I don't understand the need for this Commission now at all. The City should ask the County for the money instead since it looks like the Mayor has taken over their function.

Can't the Mayor delegate? Doesn't he trust the Gazelle Feeders to do their job? If he does not then why doesn't he recommend that they be fired now? Aren't they supposed to be the experts in this area, not him? Why does Eddie have to micromanage everything!

You know what I think... the Mayor knew that the situation with Ford was going to be rough. He knew that Dwight was coming to town and didn't want to be in a position where he would have to confront Dwight about Greenlink because he knew he would lose on that. He knew that he couldn't bully Harper or Duncan or the Premier.

What did he do instead? He left town with the excuse of flying to Germany to find his 50 jobs. What was important was that Eddie save his political neck. That was the Mayor's #1 priority.

Ach du Lieber Himmel, is this what leadership means in Windsor?