A Few More Scratchings

Here are a few more items of interest that you may have missed. Even if you have read about these matters, I may have a different perspective for you that I hope you will consider

THE LAWSUIT SCAPEGOAT

I thought I had it all figured out. I saw that the City was looking for a new Chief Building Official. That is the role that Mario Sonego played. As you may recall, he was front and centre in the decision that was made not to allow the Junction to receive a licence so that people could dance to music at the location. That is the subject matter now of a $1.5M lawsuit involving the City of Windsor, including a claim for punitive damages and bad faith!

When I saw that they were recruiting for a replacement, I wondered if Mr. Sonego was leaving town. If he was no longer working for the City, then our Mayor, who will undoubtedly be examined by the Junction's lawyer, Claudio Martini, could have offered up a settlement by blaming everything on the Chief Building Official who was no longer around.

Wasn't blaming the past and those that were around then the tactic tried before with respect to WUC or the fleet audit as examples?

No such luck however. If the lawsuit goes forward, Mr. Martini gets to have his fun while the Mayor will learn what it is like to be a witness rather than a Perry Mason. It looks like Mr. Sonego has a new City job and a recruitment company has been hired to find a replacement for him.

You may wonder why a recruitment company is needed and that a replacement could not have been found for him internally. Who knows, maybe there was no proper succession planning in place in that Department or perhaps everyone left since there seems to be such poor morale at City Hall.

I am told that he will be filling the position of City Engineer. Wasn't that positon held by Mario Iatonna who left in November, 2005. Does it mean that it took so long to find a replacement for Mr. Iatonna?

If true, it is no wonder that the CAO approved a recommendation to hire an outside recruitment agency. After all, it will only cost us $39,150 in recruitment fees.

I wonder how many Library books that would have purchased.

LIBRARY BOARD BEATS CITY HALL

I hear that there was a big dispute as to when the term of the Library Board ended. The Members of the Board had received a letter from the City saying:

• "that City Council adopted a report of the Striking Committee which appointed you as a member of the Windsor Public Library Board for the term ending November 30, 2008."

How could such a letter have been drafted? Section 10 (3) of the Public Libraries Act states:

• "A board member shall hold office for a term concurrent with the term of the appointing council."

The City backed off. In case you are wondering, the Chair of the Striking Committe is our lawyer Mayor so he would understand the black letter law of the statute:


SMEAR CAMPAIGN IS STARTING

I wonder if the Star Editorial cartoon the other day may signal the beginning of a smear campaign directed towards the Owner of the Ambassador Bridge personally. I have heard rumblings of that along with outrageous claims that have no basis in fact.

It would not surprise me considering that some of his opponents may be that desperate that they will do anything to discredit him. After all, I'm still waiting to find a valid reason that someone can give for the spending of billions of dollars of taxpayer money for a new DRIC bridge.

So if they can't beat him on logic or on the facts, they may as well try and discredit him as a last ditch effort.

In the end though, the smear tactics won't work either. If you remember the polls that I've posted before, it was surprising how many people were supportive of the Bridge Company. What counts for most people is whether the border crossing works as this Today's Trucking Online poll demonstrates:

IT IS ALL THE FAULT OF THE WHINERS AND NAYSAYERS

• "Swiss and German cities dominate ranking of best cities in the world. A report by Mercer Consulting 10 June 2008:
  
  Zurich, Vienna and Geneva are the best cities in the world as far as quality of live is concerned, says Mercer Consulting in a survey published in June 2008. Vancouver (Canada) and Auckland (New Zealand) are placed fourth and fifth respectively, followed by three German cities: Düsseldorf, Munich and Frankfurt. Tokyo, London and Madrid are all outside the top 25. Overall, Baghdad is, not surprisingly, the lowest ranking city in the survey."

I guess our Economic Development People better drag out that award as North America’s leading small City of the Future from fDi Magazine to show at the Exhibition in London in June for whatever good it has done us so far.

Costs for a booth at the show start at £295 + VAT per square metre. That is about $600 per 1.2 square yard in terms I can understand! Here is the location of Windsor/Essex's booth that it seems we are sharing with the Turks and Caicos Islands Investment Agency if the Exhibitor list is correct. Guess where our WEDC Board will be holding their meeting in the cold of winter!

Some of the seminars include doing business in the Gulf States, Hong Kong and Mainland China, Eastern Europe, London, South Africa, India, Hungary, Montenegro, Lithuania. Macedonia, Latvia, Lancashire, Russia, Africa, Moldova, Netherlands, Slovakia, Baden-Württemberg, Shannon but nothing that I found about Windsor.

In case you happen to be in London for the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championship which starts on June 23, the FDI Expo runs on June 24 and 25.

HENDERSON KISSED OFF MAYOR'S COMMUTER PLAN

Why doesn't Gordon Henderson have the guts to say that Eddie's plan to send Windsorites out West for jobs and then have them commute home on weekends is the stupidest idea that he's ever heard of.

Well if he did that, then how could he be a cheerleader? He might have to say that Greenlink is a stupid idea too that is stalling off the economic development of this entire region and costing us thousands of jobs at a time when unemployment is so high.

Here is what Gord wrote recently:

• "It's never easy going down the road. It's never easy leaving friends and loved ones behind. But the choice facing laid-off Windsor Ford workers who have $34-an-hour jobs waiting for them in Oakville is surely a no-brainer.
  
  Stay here and collect pogey while beating the bushes for non-existent jobs? Or go to Oakville, with all the disruption and heartache that will entail, and continue to collect an envied paycheque and top-notch benefits...
  
  What will it be like for Windsorites in Oakville?...a Windsorite could feel quite at home in working-class Hamilton, just 20 kilometres from the Ford plant...A home that increases in value at a breathtaking pace.
  
  There are worse things in this world than moving to a new city, developing new friends and enjoying new experiences."

Geez, not a word about commuting every weekend since it is only "just three hours and 20 minutes (on a bad day) up the 401." Not a word about paying property taxes here.

And this column comes just after the Star story "Shuttling workers to Sask. could help both regions: Francis."

Gord just told you to give it up Eddie. Perhaps if one day Gord started treating Eddie Francis as if he was Mike Hurst and started examining what he was doing critically... naw, I must be dreaming to think that would happen.

WOULD $2 BILLION IN US FEDERAL MATCHING GRANTS HELP

That is what the Enhancement Project is worth to Michigan for use in their road system plus not spending money on a new bridge is not needed. If you saw this story in the Detroit News, you'll understand what I'm talking about:

• "State's already poorly maintained roads will crumble further as money dries up
  
  A new state report says one-quarter of the pavement on Michigan's main roads is in poor shape, and that percentage will reach nearly half in 10 years if the state doesn't come up with the money to fix the roads faster and maintain them better.
  
  "The most important roads in our state are deteriorating faster than we can keep them updated," said Carmine Palombo, transportation director of the Michigan Council of Governments.
  
  Palombo heads the state's Asset Management Council, a panel of 12 transportation and local officials whose inspectors, working on behalf of the Michigan Department of Transportation, determined that Michigan roadways are "getting significantly worse, with more miles in poor condition than in good condition..."
  
  In 2004, it would have cost $3.7 billion to bring all Michigan roads in poor condition up to good; today, that figure is $6.6 billion...
  
  "Transportation is critical to economic development. That's why it's always a good investment. But when money is short, those decisions are tough."

WHAT IS DRTP/DRRT UP TO NOW

It has to be something big. They must have a lot of cash this year that they did not have last year. How do I know... unlike last year when they shared the billing with the Ambassador Bridge Company as sponsors, this year

• "2008 marks the 14th annual Festival Epicure: A Celebration Of Food, Wine and Music presented by the Detroit River Tunnel Partnership."