The Capitol Theatre Is Doomed; Long Live The Armouries

Who needs an absurd mind's eye canal vision when you can have this vision instead.

It's New Year's eve. Out with the old, in with the new.

Remember this quote:

• "The city and a bankruptcy trustee are embroiled in a protracted legal fight that has left artists and community theatre groups wondering whether the city wants the theatre to close so Caesars Windsor faces no downtown competition. Last week, Mayor Eddie Francis said the landmark might not even remain a theatre.
  
  "I'm concerned for the future of the Capitol in light of Mayor Francis' comments when he seemed to express the sentiment that the Capitol's days might be numbered," said Ward 3 Coun. Alan Halberstadt, who attended the rally.
  
  "He hasn't spoken to council as a body about that, so I don't know where he's getting that from."

In early December, Edgar (aka Eddie) informed us that that Council would bring an application to have the Bankruptcy Trustee's appeal respecting the Capitol ownership dismissed so the City would finally control the Capitol. After all, $1.8M of taxpayer dollars has to be protected.

And if the only way to salvage that money is to savage the Capitol by selling it, say for a parking lot, and having it torn down, so be it.

After my BLOG "Chuck Mady Must Sue," I got quite a reaction. I am interested to see that EllisDon might sue now too so Mady could just go along for the ride and not be the Number 1 Bad Guy.

However, right after the BLOG was posted, a loyal reader called me and asked if I heard the rumour about the University considering moving part of the campus to the Palace area downtown and being involved with the Armouries. The Palace interestingly enough is owned by Mady and he does have plans for expansion that could encompass the Armouries as I had Blogged before "SHOULD MAESTROS BE SEEN AND NOT HEARD," and "MASSIVE DOWNTOWN REDEVELOPMENT."

Naturally, I followed up and two good sources told me that they had heard of such discussions but a third who really ought to know said:

• "No one told me!"

I just figured he was being coy. He was not going to be accused of being a Leakor.

However, I came up with a great scheme to help me in my Mayoral campaign if I decided to run. Moreover, Chuck Mady can pay me big bucks as a fee for giving him the idea and helping him to carry it out.

I have to tell you about it right now since it does involve re-invigorating the downtown and turning it into an educational and cultural wonderland that will attract the young entrepreneurs here in droves. After all, I have to tell you about it quickly so I get the praise since we know that:

1. --"Windsor's battered downtown is getting a much-needed vote of confidence from larger-than-life London developer Shmuel Farhi, who has been opening his wallet to scoop up properties here and hopes to make an announcement in February of his plans for the core area."
   
2. --"As mayor of Canada’s unemployment capital, Francis is itching to announce early in the new year success on three “files” the city has been pursuing, each involving non-government investments with the potential to inject large numbers of new jobs into Windsor.
   
   He said the projects would help diversify Windsor’s economy"
   
3. --The new CEO of the Undevelopment Commission starts in February and you know there will be a contest between him and Edgar to announce who brings in the first new jobs since they are both superstars. Edgar has to ry and scoop him via the Star as was done inititially with the Sutherland call centre until Sandra's role was revealed.

Now I figured that the Capitol could still go to St. Clair since they got the Salvation Army building or if money was needed, it could be sold to Mr. Farhi and he could threaten to tear it down and turn it into a parking lot.

Who cares if it is part of our past history. Heritage, shmeritage.

He got control of the Capitol Theatre in London and I thought he tore down most of it. Its facade was "saved" as the building was leased to the City of London for 20 years as offices for the Planning Dept. Why not do the same here?

• "Restoration a Capitol idea
  The Capitol Theatre and the Bowles building have been beautifully restored
  
  The Capitol Theatre and Bowles building, once thought to be too derelict to restore, have made majestic comebacks on London's Dundas Street, breathing new life into a block of core buildings between Clarence and Richmond streets that badly need a new draw.
  
  Their comeback -- with their inviting grey limestone and large windows -- is owed in large part to London developer Shmuel Farhi and the City of London who came together with an idea that would save the buildings.
  
  The $4-million development will soon house the city's planning department in 2010 in its open, airy spaces.
  
  Farhi is excited about the results and admitted while the cost was high, it was a great investment in "giving back to the community" and "bringing more people to Dundas Street..."
  
  The Capitol was built in 1920 and was known as the Allen. It had a long lobby with mirrored walls that led to a large theatre. But after the years of neglect, it became a Dundas Street eyesore with a sign on its marquee that said R.I.P.
  
  The movie theatre was demolished to make way for parking and Farhi, after he bought the property in 2006, initially planned to raze the whole thing.
  
  The Bowles building was added in 1928, and was a restaurant and a jewelry store.
  
  In 2008, an architect determined the facade was worth saving after the large sign out front was removed to reveal the ornate stonework. City council later agreed to enter a 20-year lease with Farhi for civic offices."

If Chuck will only listen to me, he now has terrific leverage over the City. He better sue so that Edgar will beg the Feds and Province for big bucks to help him out of a big jam and arrive at a settlement with Chuck.

There would be terrific outrage if the Capitol would be lost so a mind's eye vision is needed immediately as a replacement. We need to pretend again with another vision for the revitalization of downtown. What could be better than turning the Armouries into a symphomy hall for the WSO and turning the Palace into a music school for the University! Heck, Mr. Farhi could even contribute $25,000 for a feasibility study.

With the Capitol gone so that it cannot provide any competition to the Casino or any other site, this concept would shut everyone up until the idea died after the election!

You see what I mean. I need this for my campaign before Edgar grabs it for one of his big announcement for re-election purposes

Think I am fooling. The Star reported

• "In January, the city will take delivery of a new cultural master plan which some hope will drive the community to a new era of pride and prosperity.
  
  The study, the first of its kind in more than two decades, follows years of foot-dragging from decision-makers, pie-in-the-sky schemes and infighting which have strangled the city's potential for growth.
  
  At least that's how Mayor Eddie Francis sees it.
  
  "Trying to find common ground between the city's arts groups has been frustrating, to say the least," said Francis, who is banking on the master plan to turn the tide in the arts community.
  
  "I made a point of sitting down with many arts groups after getting elected," Francis said. "I basically begged them to come together to work in a collaborative and co-ordinated way. But I had very little success."

So if they cannot work together, then there is little opposition to what Edgar can propose. You know what artists are like anyway. Since he needs $1.8 M, he can scrap the Capitol.

Does that explain why Edgar (aka Eddie) has little interest in the Capitol.

• "While specific details in the report won't be made public until city council reviews it, probably in January, people like the mayor are lining up with their wish lists of what it may contain.
  
  "I would hope," Francis said, "it provides a very clear, cogent, strategic plan with significant deliverables that at the end of the day add to the quality of life for the residents."
  
  In a difficult economy, a cultural master plan, said Francis, is as crucial to the lifeblood of a community as an economic development strategy.
  
  "We know that jobs follow people. And people will be drawn to a community where there is a variety of opportunities and amenities. Culture and the arts are significant in enriching a community and defining its sense of place."

Wow, what an election platform plank that I can "borrow" from him!

And the WSO Needs report re the Armouries spelled it out perfectly too so I can already discuss how to pretend to carry it out in great detail and with little real thought:

• "The local market lacked a space well suited for unamplified music. Relative to comparable communities there was a lack of large and mid-size spaces for use by the University
  
  "Webb Management Services concluded that user demand for a new concert venue was not sufficient to justify renovation of the Windsor Armouries for one user, specifically the Windsor Symphony Orchestra. The Symphony’s programming would utilize performance space less than a quarter of the year. There was some demand from arts groups for performance space. However, this demand existed primarily for a venue with less than 1,000 seats. Additional external demand was also difficult to predict, as many arts groups cited interest in using a reopened Capitol Theatre...
  
  To that end, there is potential for the Armouries to be transformed into a performance venue, if steps are taken to bring on additional project partners. Key uses and users that might play a critical role in the makeover of the Windsor Armouries were identified by interviews, an examination of relevant trends across North America, and the needs of the Windsor Symphony Orchestra.
  
  There is great potential for school districts to become engaged as partners in the project. However, interviews with staff and leadership from both school districts indicate declining enrollment, a lack of financial resources, and adequate arts facilities, leading to little interest in this project. But there remains a tremendous opportunity to create a venue that serves Essex schools and music organizations as a home for the teaching and performance of music, starting with the expansion of the Symphony’s very successful education programs.
  
  Similarly, the Windsor Armouries also represents a tremendous opportunity to collaborate with the University of Windsor. Initial University feedback regarding the Windsor Armouries concept suggested that facilities are too large and far from campus. However, new education and performance facilities at the Windsor Armouries could provide the University with a satellite urban campus and raise the profile of the Music Department while leveraging the University’s teaching and student resources. More recent discussions between University leadership and the Windsor Symphony suggest that prospects for this partnership might be improving...
  
  The other interesting feature of the chart is all of these of these markets have major universities. Yet it is only the University of Windsor that lacks a large or even mid-size hall for the performing arts. The proposed Niagara Centre for the Arts is a downtown development partnership between the City of St. Catharines and Brock University...
  
  The Windsor Armouries also represents a tremendous opportunity to partner with the University of Windsor. Tentative University feedback regarding the Windsor Armouries concept maintains that facilities are too large and far from campus. However, the University leadership transition might alter current initiatives and long-term plans. New facilities such as the Windsor Armouries could provide the University with a satellite urban campus and raise the profile of the Music Department while leveraging the University’s teaching and student resources. Appended to this report are examples of partnerships between Universities and professional Symphonies including the Dalhousie Arts Centre at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and the University Centre at the University of Victoria in Victoria, British Columbia...
  
  Our greatest challenge through this study has been the status of other key facilities. The Capitol Theatre is closed and Chrysler Hall has been in a state of flux with staff and policy changes. Both of these buildings must find their way, determining what programs make sense, how and by whom they should be operated and how then they can be financially sustained. Until that happens, it is difficult to make the case to add the Windsor Armouries into the mix...
  
  Anecdotal information obtained from interviews indicates that many local arts organizations are unsatisfied with the management and expense of renting existing facilities. The bankruptcy of the Capitol Theatre affected several local arts groups, forcing the cancellation of shows and a loss of revenue. The Capitol’s booking policy is limiting, and requires users to have a backup venue in case facilities become unavailable...
  
  Local facilities are limiting to Windsor-Essex arts groups. Most importantly, none of Windsor’s largescale performance venues are appropriate for unamplified live music. There is presently a need for affordable, flexible, community oriented performing arts facilities. This conclusion is somewhat influenced by the current situation at the Capitol Theatre."

So Chuck just listen to me. You have the City right where you want them as the low bidder on the 400 Building who was royally screwed as the Audit Report points out. Sue and Edgar will settle and take the Palace building off of your hands and force the University there. They owe it to him after the Engineering Building fiasco. It will all work out perfectly. I can get a big fee and take all of the credit for the concept too in my election campaign.

I suspect that John Morris Russell, conductor of the WSO, suspected this all along. He had it all figured out in advance like a master chess player. [BLOG: April 14, 2009 "New Concert Hall Or Else"]. He is the Maestro after all.

BLOGExclusive: BLOGMEISTER Reconsiders Running For Mayor

I know, I know, I know.

So what if I am available now on short notice to deliver a speech to community groups on local politics. As the BLOGMeister of course.

I absolutely, positively promised never ever to run for municipal political office in Windsor. My family would commit me if I dared do so.

However, if Edgar (aka Eddie) can consider breaking his solemn oath of not running for more than two terms thereby becoming a typical politician, then why can’t I change my mind also?

Honest, I have had lots of phone calls over the last few days begging me to run for Mayor. The A.B.E. movement is looking for a person around whom they can form a coalition. No, no, no… not that ABE as in Taqtaq, Edgar’s former campaign manager whose family runs the Duty Free shop at the City-owned Tunnel and leases space to the Mayor’s spouse, but that A.B.E. as in: Anybody But Edgar.

Look, it is not that hard a job. I have been telling people that I believe that I could solve most of Windsor’s problems within a month or two after taking office. It is only a town of 200,000 people for heaven’s sake. What would I do for the rest of the four-year term?

The Eminence Greasie has obviously been pretty active over the past few months getting the E-Machine up to speed. How else to explain the Henderson column begging Edgar to break his promise and to save us with a third term with him as Mayor. And then the Star story “Do you think Francis should break an earlier promise not to run for a third term?”

If that is not a pollster’s question, then I do not know what is!

Obviously, if I’m going to run, I have to announce early in the new year to scare off any other possible competitors so that it would be to a 2 person race between Edgar and myself.

As for the Windsor Star, I know how to handle them. The first time they do not interview me or attend one of my press conferences or speeches, I will merely file a complaint with the Press Council. There is an election precedent against the Star that I can use to ensure that I get fair coverage.

My campaign would be a simple one: CHANGE. My campaign slogan would be something along the line of “Windsorites, can you spare some CHANGE.” All of my billboards and campaign literature would show the equivalent of soup kitchen lineups in front of the unemployment office, or maybe a photo of the empty shops on our main street, to get the message across.

The Star story was nothing more than a trial balloon at no cost to the E-Machine campaign funds since it was to test the strength of the anti-CUPE message as Edgar’s claim to fame. Why else would the comments be put in at the end of the story from the CUPE leaders. Watch out PETU! Mini-Gord told you that you are the new devil.

Why else did the Star publish Giovanni Miceli’s letter? He is the new Jim Wood/Jean Fox.

In reading the Star Forum comments, the vast majority of the people who wrote there were opposed to our Mayor. However, the ones who supported him primarily did so because of his tough stand supposedly against CUPE. I say supposedly because the Star has refused to report the story that Edgar and the hardliners lost during the strike and cost taxpayers much more money than if they had settled earlier all along the lines proposed by the so-called pro–Union Councillors.

I would have to get CUPE onside very quickly to end the Edgar myth so that all Edgar would have to run on would be his failed mind’s eye visions. He is STILL talking about Greenlink even now if you can believe it. I would have to get rid of the notion of the specific so-called win by the “inspired leadership” of our Mayor. I would do so by doing the following:

• 1. Ensure that CUPE continued on with its bad faith complaint aggressively so that the real story of the strike comes out and so that CUPE members got some of their back-pay. There go those $72 cheques.
  
  2. Convince CUPE to use some of their wage settlement money to set up a PRB fund for workers to demonstrate that PRB’s could have been achieved for union workers and still have a strike settlement at a much lower cost than Edgar achieved by being so “combative.” Moreover, it would show that there was a way of funding those benefits rather than having an unfunded PRB fund as we have now. That would demonstrate easily that there was no need for a 101-day strike.

I’m not sure however that my family really would be that understanding so I have an alternative Plan “B” in my backpocket.

What I am going to do is start a grass-roots “Draft Brister for Mayor” movement so that he will run for mayor. Gord and Mini-Gord are so supportive and want him to do so. With his ego, and with Edgar not announcing that he is running until late in the day, Brister will have to run if Marra announces since he probably thinks that he could win.

He would be suckered in and could NOT back off and then run as a Councillor. He would look like a fool and coward and would lose. Why else is a supposed WFCU audit being considered, even a limited one on sole sourcing, so that the results come out and crucify Brister right before the election.

In the end, I do not see anyone other than Bill Marra running against Edgar assuming that Edgar is going to run in the first place. I really doubt that Edgar will run because even he understands that no one wants him back as Mayor. Mind you, where can he get a job that pays him so well for doing so little and failing at what he does? I do not know.

I expect Marra to be able to beat Edgar easily even with a third candidate such as Brister running supposedly to split the vote so Edgar can slip in up the middle.

In that way, Windsor is rid of both Edgar and the Councillor formerly known as Councillor Budget at one time.

Hmmmm, what a great Plan "B" after all. That is not such a bad outcome either is it. And I don’t have to appear on the rubber chicken circuit.

A Waste Of 7 Years

Seven years. How prophetic:

"And there shall arise after them seven years of famine;

and all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt;

and the famine shall consume the land"

It is a disaster of bibilical proportion in the Windsor-Detroit region. How else to describe the lack of action on the border file since December of 2002 when the Joint Management Committee's first report came out. Unfortunately, with Canada's opposition to the Bridge Company and its desire to prevent them moving forward--just get confirmation from Governor Granholm--we should not expect 7 years of abundance to come now with lawsuits flying between the parties.

Look at what we lost: the opportunity for thousands of jobs during the worst economic crisis in this area since the Depression to tide us over as politicians and bureaucrats played their asinine games:

• "Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich., reported the highest unemployment rate in October, 16.7 percent."
  
  
• "Officially, Detroit's unemployment rate is just under 30 percent. But the city's mayor and local leaders are suggesting a far more disturbing figure -- the actual jobless rate, they say, is closer to 50 percent."
  
  
• "Windsor's unemployment rate, still the highest in the country at 13.5 per cent, continued its downward trend in November, falling for the fourth consecutive month, according to figures released this morning by Statistics Canada.
  
  Since the rate hit a 25-year high of 15.2 per cent in July, it has fallen by 1.7 percentage points in the past four months.
  
  The drop, however, is largely attributable to a decrease in the labour force, or the number of people actively seeking work, which fell in November by 1,100 people compared to the previous month."

Here is the real tragedy. The border is so fundamental to this region and we are doing nothing to improve it. We are doing nothing to build on our huge advantage: location, location, location.

As reported in Todays Trucking:

• "DOT report: Ontario trade gateways vital to NAFTA
  12/23/2009
  
  WASHINGTON -- Three busy Ontario-U.S. land border crossings rank in the top 10 leading international freight transportation gateways south of the border.
  
  The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics released "America’s Freight Transportation Gateways 2009," a data profile of the nation’s leading international freight transportation gateways in 2008 and trends in movement of goods through these seaports, airports and land border crossings since 1990.
  
  U.S. freight gateways handled more than $3.4 trillion (in current dollars) of international merchandise trade in 2008, an increase of 9 percent from 2007. The highlights the top 25 freight gateways, which are led by the Los Angeles seaport.
  
  The Detroit-Windsor, Ont. border was the busiest land border gateway by value for imports and exports; and the fifth leading gateway when compared with all U.S. land, air, and sea freight gateways."

And all we have received are lies about the need for a DRIC crossing because of traffic doubling that have caused our economic famine. And stalling, inaction and the blocking of a private enterprise solution for political reasons.

Once again, the Star missed the point of the story "Windsor-Detroit border still busiest, most valuable" and failed to enlighten its readers. Oh it did report:

• "The study found that 1,510,000 trucks entered the U.S. via the Detroit gateway in 2008 — which is actually a decline compared to 2007 figures

However, here are some startling figures and graphs from the US which it did NOT report. Try and justify the need for a DRIC bridge if you can now (Double-click the graph for a better image):

TRAFFIC VOLUMES BACK TO 1997/1998 AND PROBABLY WORSE IN 2009

TRAFFIC SINKING SINCE 2006

Here is the tragedy for Michigan as the US DOT wrote and for which the only person to be blamed is Governor Granholm for allowing Canada to help ruin her State as she fiddled:

• "Detroit, Michigan—Land Gateway
  
  Detroit was the nation's busiest land border gateway by value for imports and exports transported across the border by highways, railroads, and pipelines in 2008. Its land ports were the fifth leading gateway when compared with all U.S. land, air, and sea freight gateways.
  
  In 2008, merchandise trade passing through Detroit ($120 billion) accounted for 15 percent of the value of U.S. total land trade. These freight shipments accounted for 18 percent of all U.S. land exports and 12 percent of land imports. Detroit was a major gateway for both exports and imports, with outbound shipments accounting for 55 percent of the value of freight handled by its land ports and inbound shipments accounting for 45 percent in 2008 (table 1).
  
  Trucking was by far the most heavily used mode of transportation for freight passing through Detroit, accounting for 84 percent of the value ($101 billion) of total land trade in 2008, down from 91 percent in 2000. Rail accounted for 15 percent in 2008, up from 9 percent in 2000 (table 2). By weight, trucking also accounted for the largest share of land imports tonnage (see insert table).
  
  Detroit is an international gateway that serves almost every state. In 2008, about 74 percent of the value of truck freight passing through Detroit originated or terminated outside Michigan. Nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of imports that passed through Detroit by truck, and 81 percent of truck exports, were to and from other states. The top three states served by Detroit's land transportation facilities were Michigan, Ohio, and California, accounting for 48 percent of the merchandise trade transported through Detroit.
  
  Thousands of commercial trucks cross daily into the United States from Canada via the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel and the Ambassador Bridge. The tunnel and bridge handled more than 1.5 million incoming truck crossings in 2008, down 15 percent from about 1.8 million crossings in 2007 (figure 1). These trucks carried about 1.5 million containers into the United States from Canada in 2008. By comparison, about 210,000 rail containers from Canada crossed into the United States at Detroit in 2008, continuing a decline that began in 2000.
  
  The recent national economic downturn, the decline in production by the Big Three automakers (General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler), and the overall slowdown in heavy manufacturing activities are likely to continue to influence freight traffic at Detroit's land facilities and in the freight transportation corridors they serve.

Will 2010 finally bring a resolution and allow us to start on the road to recovery? Don't count on it!

Chuck Mady Must Sue

Most smart business people won't do it. And Chuck Mady is smart. Yet, there are millions of dollars of legal damages at stake.

Why waste time and money tied up for years in the court system when you can be out there making money. Paying huge amounts in legal fees and depending on the whim of a particular judge on a particular day is a crap-shoot and not the way to run one's life or business. Yet, there are millions of dollars of legal damages at stake.

As the 400 Audit on the Furniture tenders also said:

• "One of the practical issues which any bidder must consider before commencing an action for a breach of the “bidding contract” is the cost of bringing an action weighed against the potential for recovery... Pure legal costs apart, a prospective supplier to any large customer does not help its cause by suing its existing or prospective client."

Yet, there are millions of dollars of legal damages at stake.

Oh they are afraid of Chuck. As the Furniture audit said:

• "The issue is one of risk management. The City will have to assess the likelihood that any of the bidders will take action against the City. If the assessment is that there is no serious chance of a bidder taking action (keeping in mind that only one bidder can recover substantial damages), then the report may be made public, from a purely legal perspective. If the City is concerned that one or more bidders will bring an action against the City, then the City may consider either redactions from the report or preserving the report as an in camera document."

Why else was there so little emphasis on Mady and so much on EllisDon and Vindella. Why do you think the matter was kept out of the public view until so late in 2009. The thought was that the limitation period for an action would have expired by now and preclude a lawsuit.

• "Correspondence between the City and EllisDon demonstrates that EllisDon was aware of its legal rights. The City is fortunate not to have been sued by EllisDon when it was passed over in favour of Vindella. Such legal proceedings would have imposed significant costs on the City in terms of legal expenses and potential damage claims, not to mention the political and reputational cost to the City. Had EllisDon sued the City (before the limitations period had expired), it is possible that the three Council members on the RFP working committee, who acted without written Council authority in over-riding the staff and assisting Vindella over their objections, may have been named as individual defendants."
• Unless there is something we do not know, any claim by EllisDon for a breach of the “bidding contract” expired six years after its recognition that it had a claim. At some point prior to October 30th, 2002 – when EllisDon wrote to the then-Mayor – it recognized it had a claim. We believe any claim which EllisDon might be able to make on this RFP is now, in all likelihood, statute barred as being beyond the limitation period.

However, every so often a man must do what a man must do: SUE. When you are screwed not once, but twice, then it become a matter of principle.

In my opinion Chuck must sue.

In my opinion, he has a strong case to make that the limitation period on his claim did not start until the report was made public. In fact, a strong argument can be made that the City deliberately held back the audit to prevent him from knowing the truth until it was too late. Only then would he know how badly he was mistreated.

Just read this from P 108:

• There was material financial information that appears to have not been reported to Council. Further, it is unclear who in Administration had knowledge of this information. According to project documentation, given fair presentation of financial facts, Mady was the lowest priced proposal at this time. We identified an undated financial document within the Project Management files in which someone in Administration had summarized the following results:
  
  - “On the RFP assessment matrix, Mady scored second to EllisDon while Mady’s price was lower than all prices. Notwithstanding, Mady’s proposal was not short listed.”
  - “Vindella’s original price per sq. ft. was identified as $182.50. Mady’s was $164.00.” After adjustments: “Vindella’s overall price is $154.00 per sq. ft.” “Now Mady’s price is $157.00 per sq. ft.”
  - “Keep in mind this is for a 10 storey building. If we adjust for the difference in cost between a 4 storey [Vindella] and a 10 storey [Mady] building …makes Mady’s final price $126.00 per sq. ft.
  - Even if this adjustment were not made, Mady’s final price was $157.00 per sq. ft. with a huge score advantage in the assessment matrix over the Vindella proposal which was $154.00 per sq. ft.”
  - If Mady had the opportunity to revise his proposal to a 4 storey building, it is reasonable to assume that his price would have come in much less than the $154.00 per sq. ft. of Vindella. Mady was given no opportunity to submit an additional proposal while Vindella was given that opportunity.”
  
  As a result of the omission of material financial data, Vindella – not Mady – may have been selected as the winner on price and the proponent to move on in the RFP process to compete in negotiations with EllisDon."

Here though is the real reason Chuck should sue. You probably forgot this. It came from Gord:

• "Kiss $20M goodbye
  
  An incensed Chuck Mady, Windsor's most prominent developer, is questioning the wisdom of doing business here following city council's rejection of a proposal he says could have saved taxpayers $20 million.
  
  Council, at a March 4 in-camera meeting, rejected a Mady Development Corporation offer to sell its 11-storey, 70,000-square-foot headquarters at 500 Ouellette Ave. for less than $8 million. Instead it voted 5-3 to proceed with a new $27-million social services office tower behind City Hall.
  
  Mady said he was floored to learn council wasn't interested in saving $20 million that could be used for roads and sewers and instead opted to get into the office development game in a city with a 21.5-per-cent office vacancy rate.
  
  "The thing that bothers me most is that the city is getting into the developer/landlord office building business. If they're in, I want out. Very simply, I want out because I can't compete with the public pocketbook," fumed Mady. He's building a $75-million condo tower in downtown Toronto where he says there's a refreshing, big-city attitude to development.
  
  "Why wouldn't you want to save $20 million? Boy. That does a lot of roads and sewers in this city," said Mady. "They should not be competing with the private sector. It just sends out a negative message and Windsor doesn't have a good reputation outside our community to begin with."
  
  Instead of considering the offer, council is charging ahead with plans, first approved in September, to erect a social services Taj Mahal behind City Hall with costly underground parking and Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC) as a tenant...
  
  David Mady, the company's Canadian president, said it's baffling that the city wouldn't investigate further a proposal to save city taxpayers "$20 million which is a good chunk of change" instead of piling up additional debt. "We just thought we had a no-brainer here."
  
  The younger Mady said the odd thing is that the city, which currently rents three floors of the refurbished Mady building for its social services department, poured about $2 million into renovating and upgrading its space. In addition, through the tunnel commission, it spent $3 million building an adjacent parking structure in partnership with the Mady company. It has a significant financial stake in this location. And yet it's fleeing Windsor's main street to spend big bucks enhancing its city hall square fantasies of grandeur.
  
  "Is this what they're supposed to be doing? Gutting the downtown core?" wondered the senior Mady...
  
  Twenty million dollars down the drain. Perhaps a lot more. It could only happen in a city governed by politicians who masquerade as big-shot developers with our tax dollars."

Chuck should sue since there are millions of dollars of legal damages at stake. But let us talk real life. He should sue out of principle and out of spite. It is a way to get his revenge on how he was treated in this case and on others like his garage. He will be able to have certain people under oath to make them squirm as he finds out the truth as they testify.

He deserves to learn the truth. And so do we!

If the Audit Committee will not act, then Chuck should.

Sole Sourcing The Arena And A Public Inquiry (Part 2)

I delivered this comment at a press conference back in October, 2006:

• "I read the Mayors comments on Saturday about the MFP settlement. He said:
  
  “Windsor has reached a final settlement with the former MFP, closing the books on one of the Municipality's most shameful chapters…
  
  "This should be something every Council across this Province and country remembers so they enforce the proper policies and vigilance to ensure this situation never happens again...
  
  …hopefully this is not one of those situations people ever forget about.
  
  It reinforces how public institutions have to be very vigilant in ensuring proper safeguards and protocols are there to ensure this never happens."
  
  IT WAS A EUREKA MOMENT FOR ME. I KNEW THEN WHAT THE ISSUE WAS: IN MY OPINION, THE ARENA IS THIS MAYOR’S AND THIS COUNCIL’S MFP AND CANDEREL."

Add in now the 400 Building and it looks as if we have fallen asleep instead of remaining vigilant. It happened once---shame on them. That it has happened again---shame on us.

What does one say if it happened a third time?

This time around, unlike with the 400 Building audit, if it can be demonstrated that sole sourcing of the arena was in violation of City By-laws, will the Audit Committee and Councillor Halberstadt in particular have the guts to act and to demand that a Public Inquiry be conducted on the $70M plus deal:

• "Rather than defending his conduct, ex Councillor Carlesimo should be thankful that the audit committee did not recommend to Council a full-blown Public Inquiry. Then he and the other members of the selection committee would have been put under oath and asked what conversations and associations they might have had with local contractor Oscar during the time this sordid mess was unraveling.

The Audit Committee wants to look at sole sourcing since

• "there is concern over that the city is too often streering around its purchasing bylaw by failing to put projects out to competitive bids."

As I pointed out last time, the relevant sole source provision was introduced into the Purchasing By-law when Edgar (aka Eddie) was Mayor in 2004. And wait until you see the "in the best interest of Windsor" clause too that was inserted under Edgar's regime! So much for protecting taxpayers from MFP-type deals since it was described as a P3. How much extra has that fiasco cost us?

The City need not steer around the By-law; it can drive one of Transit Windsor's new hybrid buses right through it if the transaction is structured properly. The on-again, off-again Tunnel deal or the privatization of Enwin or WUC are distinct possibilities as well if P3ed.

Others had been concerned about how the City contracted for this project at the time:

• "Meanwhile, the Windsor Construction Association is slamming city council for approving a $48-million arena project that will never be tendered.
  
  "It's a significant amount and they're basically bypassing the tendering bylaw," said Jim Lyons, executive director of the association that represents 380 local companies. "Our question is, 'Wait a minute, whoa, this is a (multimillion-dollar) project.'"
  
  Lyons said the association's president is polling its board members to see if they want to pursue further action, but he doubts the issue will go as far as the courts. "Our pockets aren't deep enough," he said. "(City officials) wanted this deal to happen and they got language to make it work."
  
  Lyons said he was inundated with calls and e-mails leading up to council's meeting Wednesday when the deal with the Collavino brothers' PCR firm was approved. Many companies in the construction industry won't publicly condemn the city because they rely on millions of dollars worth of municipal jobs, but they asked the association to intervene on their behalf."


• "The Windsor Construction Association accused city council Wednesday of financial irresponsibility and negligence when it awarded the $47.9-million east-end arena project to the Collavino family's PCR firm without tender...
  
  "We're concerned about the fact the city didn't follow proper procedure on a $50-million award," said executive director Jim Lyons.
  
  Lyons said the association's lawyer concluded that council "misused the language in their (purchasing) bylaw."
  
  Lyons said the bylaw states "sole source" means "the purchase of a good and/or service where there is only one available supplier of that good and/or service that meets the needs or requirements of the City of Windsor."
  
  "What process did the city of Windsor utilize to determine PCR was the sole supplier available to meet the needs or requirements of the city?" Lyons asked in a letter to the city."
  
  The association says the city's bylaw for sole sourcing a multimillion-dollar contract states it can be done when the purchase is "clearly in the best interest of the city..."
  
  Lyons said there's no documentation to suggest the PCR proposal was in the city's best interest. "Knowing full well that these questions will be difficult to verify as a result of not being properly undertaken, we believe that administration and council are acting financially irresponsible ... and we are confident that if investigated by the Ontario Municipal Affairs office, their findings would be consistent with ours."
  
  The association didn't realize the deal would be receiving final approval Monday night because it -- like many others in the city -- wasn't aware the issue was on the agenda.
  
  "There was no public notification to us," Lyons said. "But that seems to be the way this council wants to move forward. That's the atmosphere we're working with these days."

Unfortunately, the Association wimped out and did nothing through the court system and suffered as a result. They sounded like whiny babies who backed off when push came to shove.

It looks as if Angela Berry will have to take a look at the Arena in the context of sole sourcing. Let me help her save time and effort and help her write her report for the Audit Committee:

WINDSOR'S PURCHASING BY-LAW AND THE ARENA

Lack of or inadequate controls and/or failure to follow the controls in place were some of the main contributor’s to Windsor taxpayers having to pay out extra millions of dollars in unexpected payments in the MFP case. On October 14, the Mayor advised that the case had finally been settled:

• “Windsor has reached a final settlement with the former MFP, closing the books on one of the municipality's most shameful chapters.
  
  An agreement on the remaining 50 outstanding equipment leases with the financial leasing corporation now called Renasant Financial Partners Ltd. will see the city recoup a final $6 million, Mayor Eddie Francis announced on Friday.
  
  "We are extremely happy and proud that we have a conclusion to this dispute with MFP," he said.
  
  "This should be something every council across this province and country remembers so they enforce the proper policies and vigilance to ensure this situation never happens again...
  
  …hopefully this is not one of those situations people ever forget about.
  
  "It reinforces how public institutions have to be very vigilant in ensuring proper safeguards and protocols are there to ensure this never happens."
  
  The introduction in Windsor of a whistleblower hotline, new fraud policy and conflict of interest policies have been introduced in the wake of MFP, noted Onorio Colucci, the city's chief financial officer and treasurer.
  
  "We are a much different organization today," he said. "We think we have made dramatic improvements."

Is what Windsor’s officials say correct or has the process for the arena demonstrated that in spite of everything, the City is still at risk again with lack of or inadequate controls?

How did PCR become the contractor of choice? Where was the tender or RFP? Why couldn’t the two new proponents who sent “unsolicited” letters make their case to Council? They could not because the process is fatally flawed

In fact, could Council legally make the decision as they purported to do?

The initial Administration report talks about “sole source” purchasing as the basis of Council’s right to deal with PCR. Administration talks about 2 sections of the by-law for Council to rely upon.

SOLE SOURCE PURCHASE
32. (1) A Sole Source purchase may be used for the purchasing of goods and/or services for Contracts of any Contract value, in the following circumstances:

(g) Where goods are offered for sale by Tender, auction or negotiation such purchase will be deemed to be a Sole Source purchase and the CAO/City Manager may authorize the submission of a Bid or the conduct of negotiations where the CAO/City Manager determines the purchase to be clearly in the best interest of the City of Windsor;

(i) Where a public/private partnership exists

Clearly what has been proposed by PCR is not a public-private partnership but a design-build project. And this not an offer of goods but the building of an arena. That is considered a "service" not a "good" under the By-law.

Michael Duben, the city’s General Manager of Client Services, was quoted in the Windsor Star saying: “Windsor’s purchasing bylaw allows for single sourcing under special circumstances. “I think the bylaw allows itself to be waived,” if the city believes it has the best possible deal it could get.” He refused to answer my direct request where this provision was found although asked to do so. Is there such a Provision in the By-law since I could not find it?

Even the Mayor stated that “City council had the authority to waive the city’s tendering bylaw because they were certain the deal with the Collavinos [PCR] wouldn’t have been found anywhere else, Francis said.” Where is such Provision in the By-law?

As I pointed out yesterday, there were alternatives to the Collavino deal that the Mayor himself knew about and that he and Council ignored for whatever reason.

Moreover, Mr. Duben and Mr. Francis are both lawyers. They should know that the Municipal Act states:

• Section 271 (1) Before January 1, 2005, a municipality and a local board shall adopt policies with respect to its procurement of goods and services.

Where was the City Solicitor, Mr. Wilkki when this was taking place? Does his silence mean he agreed or was he ignored again as the complaint was made in the 400 Building audit:

• "the attitude that “we will seek your legal advice when we want it” rather than “be proactive and exercise your best judgment to help us to avoid going offside legally.”

Accordingly, it would not seem that the By-law could be “waived” since it is mandatory. If they and Council believed that what they were doing is waiving the By-law at the Council meeting, then the process may be flawed and the decision may be improper.

At the Council meeting a new provision was tried when the Purchasing Manager said there was a provision “where in the opinion of Council it was in the best interest of the City to do so.” Where is such provision? It is also peculiar that the City Solicitor was not called upon to express an opinion in a legal matter such as this.

The closest provision to this is the one that was introduced when Edgar became Mayor. It effectively allows for the complete ignoring of all checks and balances in the system. Watch out for the Transit Windsor bus about to hit the taxpayer pocketbook:

• Sec 5 (4) No provision of this by-law precludes the CAO/City Manager, General Manager, Department Head or the Manager of Purchasing and Risk Management from recommending an Award to Council where:
  (a) In the opinion of the CAO/City Manager, General Manager and/or Department Head, it is in the best interest of the City of Windsor to do so.
  
  (5) Council approval is required in accordance with Section 7 of this by-law.

No one in Administration has said that “it is in the best interest of the City of Windsor” to do a deal with PCR.” No one was asked since the City was mistaken as to what their authority was. Did the Purchasing Manager give incorrect information to Council?

In the initial Administration report, ten members of Administration signed it and stated that the “financial analysis is only one component that needs to be considered.” Administration asked for a 90 day due diligence period to review PCR’s proposal.

Shockingly, about two weeks later, an updated Report was filed at the very last minute signed by the CAO only recommending only that the PCR deal be approved. There is nothing in the Updated Report that states that the proposed transaction “is in the best interest of the City of Windsor” and absolutely no evidence is presented to support the Recommendation in the Report.

In fact, it can be argued that the failure of the other nine members of Administration to sign the Report means that they did not go along with the CAO. Or perhaps they did not even know about it.

Accordingly, the action of the Council to accept the PCR proposal may have been a nullity and in violation of the City’s Purchasing By-law

The City action may also be a violation of the following sections of the By-law:

PART II – PURPOSES, GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
3. The goals and objectives of the Purchasing By-law and each of the methods of purchasing authorized herein are:

(1) To provide the basic minimum requirements to ensure that Quotations are obtained, competitive purchasing is adhered to, and to continue to ensure that the City of Windsor obtains the Best Value of goods and/or services at the most economical cost.

(2) To the extent possible, ensure efficiency, openness, accountability and transparency in the administration of the purchasing function while protecting the financial interests of the municipality and respecting the competitive interests of those participating in the purchasing process.

(5) To ensure proper policies and procedures are in place to support the achievement of Council/Corporate goals and objectives.

8. The prescribed sections of this by-law maintain the integrity of the Bid Solicitation processes including protecting the interests of the City of Windsor, the public and persons participating in a purchasing process.

9. The Ontario Public Buyers Association’s (OPBA) “Code of Ethics for public purchasers is based upon the following tenets and members of the OPBA attempt to consistently practise their profession and deal with their day-to-day responsibilities according to these principles. Members are encouraged to display this statement in their departments as well as other locations in their agencies.”
(2) “Open and Honest Dealings With Everyone Who is Involved in the Purchasing Process. This includes all businesses with which this agency contracts or from which it purchases goods and/or services, as well as all members of our staff and of the public who utilize the services of the purchasing department.”
(3) “Fair and Impartial Award Recommendations for All Contracts and Tenders. This means that we do not extend preferential treatment to any vendor, including local companies. Not only is it against the law, it is not good business practice, since it limits fair and open competition for all vendors and is therefore a detriment to obtaining the best possible value for each tax dollar.”

The questions that need to be asked include:
 Was incorrect information given to Council about the By-law
 Why didn’t the City Solicitor or the Mayor who is a lawyer or Mr. Duben who is a lawyer correct the misinformation if it was given
 Did Mr. Duben and the Mayor also give incorrect information about “waiver”
 Why was “waiver” not mentioned in the Administration Report
 Why did the CAO only sign the Updated Report and not the other members of Administration who signed the initial Report.

If I am correct in my analysis, the provisions dealing with sole sourcing and "in the best interest of Windsor" were not applicable and waiver was never possible. The arrangement with PCR accordingly did not meet the requirements of the Purchasing By-law.

Ms. Berry has no choice but to so report to the Audit Committee.

The Audit Committee and Councillor Halberstadt (as well as Councillor Marra who is also on the Audit Committee and who would be given an election goodie on a silver platter) would have no choice but to call for a Public Inquiry!

Will There Be A "Draft" Dunbar-type Arena Audit (Part 1)

You know exactly what I mean. An audit on "sole sourcing" the arena which will be prepared but never released forever, or at least not until after the municipal election, overseen by outside lawyers and accountants and costing hundreds of thousands of dollars.

And mini-Gord will write again "So what's the big deal?" since the Mayor and Council should be congratulated and even forgiven if mistakes were made for building such a nice palace here rather than allowing an arena to be built in shudder Tecumseh.

Who needs a full-fledged report on the arena when a limited one works perfectly as a white-wash!

If Edgar (aka Eddie) is successful in killing, errrrrr restructuring, the "flawed" Audit Committee and there is no Auditor General in place, who can authorize one anyway.

Ignored words of wisdom from Edgar (aka Eddie) has and may cost us dearly in the future:

• "We need to revive the idea of public/private partnership for a new arena. It is the only realistic strategy available that will ensure that this project will become a reality.
  
  A multipurpose facility cannot be built by public nor the private sector interests acting alone. The synergy created by the private/public partnerships gives better service to the taxpayer, and allows a much needed multipurpose facility to be built in our city.
  
  A public/private partnership is the key to our arena’s ongoing success and viability. Council has already allocated the required money and land for this project – we need to aggressively seek a partner."

I have always been critical about the arena deal since it never made sense to me:

• Edgar broke his campaign promise
• It changed from a P3 downtown with the City at risk for no more than $15M to an arena where the City is at risk for who knows how much in spite of the "on time and under budget" mantra that Gord still spews
• How the Collavinos just appeared with their offer when almost invisible in other arena debates in the past and all of a sudden became the prime contractor
• How could an arena that was to cost $60M in 1999-2000 in Port Huron cost us only $48M in 2006
• How Project Ice Track was played and screwed
• How the Farhi site became the choice
• How environmental issues were never a major concern yet now we learn about the Wickes site
• The poor terms of the naming rights agreement and the arena agreement with the Spitfires.

The Collavinos are smart people. Why did they wait until September, 2006 to dust off their plans.

• "It's no secret Windsor has been looking for an arena for a long time," Renzo said Thursday.
  
  "I've had this idea for a while -- I never had a reason to bring it out until the council resolution...
  
  "They are confident such a project could not be done for less money because much of the pre-construction work has been taken from an arena project in Port Huron that was never finished. That development stopped midway through construction when the bank pulled the plug on the private developer who had hired the Collavino firm Renaissance Precast Industries to provide precast concrete forms."

Why didn't they act in 2002, when they knew Mostafa Afr's Port Huron arena project was dead:

• "2002 -- After tender comes in $10 million higher than expected, council shelves the $48.9-million development. Spitfires owner Steve Riolo agrees not to move team out of Windsor. The University of Windsor floats the idea of a 5,000-seat arena, 6,500-seat stadium as a joint city-school project."

Do you remember why we entered into the deal in the first place?

• "City council had the authority to waive the city's tendering bylaw because they were certain the deal with the Collavinos wouldn't have been found anywhere else, Francis said. The PCR proposal was based on work that had been completed for a Port Huron, Mich., arena project, stopped just after construction began because the private developer ran short of money.
  
  The architectural drawings are done and some of the mechanical and concrete precast work has been started, saving the city millions of dollars in startup costs.
  
  Francis defended the non-tendering process because the Collavinos themselves tendered it and came up with the price of $48 million. (The city report outlines a bottom line price of about $55 million once servicing and fit-up costs such as seats are included).
  
  He said those privately tendered prices won't be around forever and if council delayed the issue with unnecessary tenders, the costs could increase.
  
  "We would have had to start the process all over again," Francis said. "Who's going to come up with the drawings? That would take another year and council didn't want to go back to Square 1 and they didn't want to kill another year."

Of course, what due diligence was done to ensure this was true? Did the City ever look anywhere else? Edgar did not have to look far. He received a letter! Yet Council noted and filed two other competing offers, one of which offered the following:

• "The city also received a letter last week from the Toronto architectural group NORR, the company that designed and developed plans for the Western Super Anchor site downtown when city council decided it would proceed with an arena on its own.
  
  The city spent about $3 million for those drawings, which were subsequently shelved after council voted against a go-it-alone project because the price tag came in at $48 million.
  
  "They're just saying we're still here if you're interested," Francis said Tuesday of NORR's letter.
  
  The NORR group has partnered with Giffels, the company that is building the arena complex in LaSalle. The NORR/Giffels group is not suggesting a downtown site nor an east-end site, Francis said. "They're sending a letter saying, 'we'd like to be part of the proposal.' "

So the City had plans as an alternative to the PCR plans, plans which the City had already paid for.

Consider in addition this remarkable comment made in a non-Windsor Star publication by Collavino that blows Edgar's justification out of the water:

• "PCR dusts off cancelled plans and materials to build Windsor Family Credit Union Centre
  Collavino family turns Michigan’s loss into gain for new Windsor arena
  
  The $63 million project was dogged with some controversy when it was first awarded without tender...
  
  “We’d originally been working on a private arena in Port Huron (Michigan) and we’d gone back to the owner and suggested a change to precast from cast-in-place, saving him a whole bundle of money. We had probably 60 per cent of the pre-cast in the Detroit yard when his financing fell through,” says Paolo Collavino.
  
  In 2006, with the city looking for an arena, the company stepped forward with its already finished plans, hoping to salvage the pre-cast. They promised to deliver a four-pad centre with a 6,500-seat capacity main rink for about $55 million — a substantial discount...
  
  “I think we met the expectation of the city and met our own expectations,” says Collavino. “We really value-engineered it. Though I know some people got their underwear in a twist over it.”
  
  Though they couldn’t salvage the existing pre-cast which had become too weathered, they did grind it down and reused the materials."

It is remarkable because of the following statement made in October 4, 2006 as justification:

• "The Collavinos were hired to complete the precast concrete work in the project and say it could not possibly be done for less money since much of the preliminary work has already been done at the expense of the Port Huron developer. "
  
  Some of the components of the project are already available," Duben said. "This is a case where you can single source."

$55M? The Star's headline screamed "Council approves $48M arena plan." $63M project...it cost over $70M. I just don't get the numbers.

Arena plans were already around for which the City paid and the concrete materials could not be used as built. So much for the single source rationale.

Wow, am I ever re-assured by Councillor Valentinis who was the only Councillor involved from start to finish on the 400 Building construction project and who must take the hit for the fiasco it became, especially given his legal background:

• "Coun. Fulvio Valentinis, who was a member of the steering committee for both the 400 building and arena projects, described the difference between the two as “night and day.” Meetings, reports and plans were developed with much greater resources and personnel support on the WFCU project, he said.
  
  “It was much more structured, there was a chain of command, everyone knew exactly who had authority and who did what,” Valentinis said.
  
  “On the 400 project from word go it wasn’t 100 per cent clear on the roles of administration and councillors on the committee, so you ended up with a clash.”

Nothing like admitting that the 400 Building was a disaster of a project for which he must take ultimate responsibility as the only Councillor on the Committee throughout the whole project. Moreover, we learned little about why the 400 Building project was a disgrace until AFTER the arena was built so lessons were lost.

Here though is the shocker from Councillor Halberstadt's BLOG:

• "Only in Windsor can politicians who engage in activity that blatantly violate Common Law and the bylaws that govern the City of Windsor be hailed as heroes...


• Rather than defending his conduct, ex Councillor Carlesimo should be thankful that the audit committee did not recommend to Council a full-blown Public Inquiry. Then he and the other members of the selection committee would have been put under oath and asked what conversations and associations they might have had with local contractor Oscar during the time this sordid mess was unraveling."

And why didn't they do so one might ask? Where was Councillor Halberstadt demanding one or does he only do so when it does not count---in his BLOGs?

Anyway, it looks like the Arena might be looked at next. BUT is it going to be a narrow audit that does not look into some of the matters and more that I raised back in 2006 when I asked for a public inquiry on the arena:

• "The city’s audit committee will examine a pattern of sole-sourcing major projects when it looks at the construction of the $71-million WFCU Centre.
  
  Angela Berry, the city’s lead internal auditor, said there is concern over that the city is too often streering around its purchasing bylaw by failing to put projects out to competitive bids.
  
  “There is merit to sole-sourcing when it needs to be done, but the purchasing bylaw is the best method to achieve value for money for the city,” she said. “It will not fit every scenario, but (waiving it) should be the exception, not the rule.”

If so, this is nothing but a whitewash before the next election!

I was amused by the Edgar's (aka Eddie) comments because I do not accept what he said.

• "Even though the city sole-sourced the arena project, it was approved through a bylaw and resolution of council, said Mayor Eddie Francis.
  
  “The community was aware it was sole sourced and the proper steps were taken,” he said."

In fact, if there is a sole-source problem in Windsor, then he is directly responsible for it!

BY-LAW NUMBER 9-2000 passed in January, 2000 had no provision in it dealing with sole sourcing. When Edgar became Mayor, PURCHASING BY-LAW NUMBER 400-2004 was passed on December 13, 2004. It added a new section that is relevant for our purposes:

• SOLE SOURCE PURCHASE
  
  32. (1) A Sole Source purchase may be used for the purchasing of goods and/or services for Contracts of any Contract value, in the following circumstances:
  
  (i) Where a public/private partnership exists.

In passing, remember MFP. It was a P3 that the City entered into and we hired Price Waterhouse Ccoopers to design protections to ensure that an event such as that could never happen again. Section 32 (i) was the perfect end-run around the work done by PWC!

Let me save Ms. Berry some time and effort and help her when looking at the arena as a sole source project. But that comes in Part 2!

Page 3 Regrets

Not wishing to be sexist but the Sun newspaper readers in England get the Page 3 girls. We get mini-Gord. Who is better served by the media!

Bloggers like mini-Gord. Without him, it would be so much more difficult to write BLOGs. Notwithstanding how much he helps me, I just cannot take him seriously any more.

If his column is meant as comic relief, then it succeeds brilliantly. If it is meant to be a serious commentary on what is going on in Windsor, then it has failed!

I have absolutely no respect for a columnist who is still protecting a corrupt member of City Council who has committed what I believe to be an offence by failing to name him/her. I have even less respect for an Editorial Board who would allow him to do so. A "source" is not being protected; a criminal is and should have been removed forthwith from Council!

I wonder if "The Wife" will deal with this type of situation with the first students who enter her new St. Clair College Journalism School at the downtown site that the City sold to St. Clair for a dollar.

Take his column on PETU. Please.

Here is the big joke:

• "The struggle, which pits the combative Mayor Eddie Francis and a cost-conscious city council against the Professional Employees Trade Union took an unexpected turn last week when PETU flatly turned down council's last contract proposal.
  
  Council wasn't expecting that. And it's safe to say PETU wasn't expecting council to refuse to negotiate any further -- effectively flipping them a big, fat bird just before Christmas.
  
  But what the heck did they expect from a council which faced down CUPE and won? The same taxpayers who forced council to see that strike through to the end are still unemployed, still broke and still fiercely opposed to anything that might lead to higher taxes."

Mini-Gord still refuses to read the facts that Councillor Lewenza pointed out in his Ward meeting and continues to spread the story that "council which faced down CUPE and won." He refuses to report to his readers, as do Gord and the Star as well, how much more the settlement cost taxpayers than could have been achieved early on.

COUNCIL LOST AND SO DID TAXPAYERS!

How can they tell the truth now after all? It is too late. They are in too deep. They are forced to continue to spread the misinformation.

It would prove beyond any doubt that it was the pro-Union Councillors not the Mayor and his band of merry hardliners who had the interests of both taxpayers and CUPE at heart and who would have satisified both without the need for a bitter and divisive 101-day political war.

The "inspired leadership" of our "combative" Mayor would have been dislosed as a myth necessitating that he follow the path of Mayor Miller in Toronto and tell us now that he will not run for Mayor for family reasons!

Edgar failed with the CUPE strike as he failed with PETU by forcing them to unionize in the first place and failed in the Firefighters arbitration which mini-Gord ranted about in his column "Taxpayers getting hosed."

Mini-Gord just cannot see the connection or chooses not to:

• "So as of this week, the Ontario Labour Relations Board has two bitter City of Windsor disputes in front of it: The bad-faith bargaining charges filed by CUPE during its summer strike, and the PETU dispute."

It may seem odd to mini-Gord that when Edgar is combative--Greenlink, CUPE, PETU, Firefighters--the City loses badly and expensively. When he seems not to be involved--WUC, Enwin, CUPE at the end, Transit Windsor--matters are resolved amicably and inexpensively.

His columns on labour relations do nothing more than try to give Edgar a "win" for the next municipal election. Clearly, they are setting up another CUPE-like war with PETU to try to salvage Edgar's sinking political career.

But it is his two 400 Building columns that absolutely destroy any credibility that he might have.

First:

• "400 audit much ado about nothing
  
  Nobody stole anything, and nobody screwed up any aspect of the project.
  
  So what's the big deal?
  
  Why has this project been so controversial for so long? Why have critics been demanding audits since 2005 and why did they take four years?
  
  And finally, why will it cost taxpayers more than $600,000 in audit fees to prove a building was only $686,000 over budget?
  
  The answers to most of those questions will remain a mystery, buried in the bitter relationships between people who have mostly departed from the city's employ (quit, fired, or lost the last election)...
  
  The weird aspect of this report, to my mind, is that had council executed this project in a manner that would have satisfied the auditors, a local contractor would have lost and taxpayers might have had to pay millions more for the building.
  
  I'd bet most taxpayers prefer the outcome that actually occurred. The part they won't like is how much it cost them to find out why the building was over budget."

Second:

• "Taxpayers dodge a bullet
  
  The more you read of the auditor's report on how 400 City Hall Square got built, the luckier the outcome seems for Windsor taxpayers.
  
  As I wrote Tuesday, the massively detailed KPMG audit released Monday proves taxpayers should be relieved the $32- million project turned out as well as it did.
  
  The building is magnificent, there was relatively little waste for a government project of that size, and nobody stole anything that we know of.
  
  Past that -- man, what a mess. The building was completed in 2005 only after a three-year war of wills between a city council operating under misguided intentions and a small group of self-serving administrators.
  
  The RFP, the tender and the contract award were all disasters that could have erupted into taxpayer nightmares. Windsor narrowly escaped being tied up in court or an inquiry for years, costing taxpayers millions. The city might still be sued..."

What a change in attitude. Was the Editorial Board that embarrassed or did mini-Gord actually read the Report finally?

I was going to go through the Report in more detail but Councillor Halberstadt in his BLOG did a very good column on how badly the project was handled. Read it for yourself "Pistol Pete's Audit Conclusion Scary"
http://www.alanhalberstadt.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogsection&id=8&Itemid=87

Then you can wonder why a Judicial inquiry has not been called for by now. It must be the old boy's network at play:

• "Rather than defending his conduct, ex Councillor Carlesimo should be thankful that the audit committee did not recommend to Council a full-blown Public Inquiry."

Oh mini-Gord does not go the whole way; he cannot completely destroy his own credibility by setting out the obvious as Councillor Halberstadt has done. So he points out the mess and then tries to defend it, using language like "taxpayers should be relieved," "Council deserved to win," "I think taxpayers should cut him some slack on this issue" and "the source of the obsession was understandable. And forgivable."

He now has swallowed both of his feet. He can say in one column that no ciminal act was committed: "Nobody stole anything" yet flip flop and then say in another:

• "councillors broke the law to get their way, and they're not allowed to do that. Municipal bylaws and provincial laws govern how contracts must be awarded."

Oh what the heck, now I understand mini-Gord's philosophy. If breaching the law can be "forgiven" in the 400 Building fiasco, so can mini-Gord and the Star be "forgiven" for not disclosing who on Council is corrupt.

What a newspaper we have in this town. Bring on the girls!

Friendship (The Epilogue)

I trust that you enjoyed reading my 5-Part Series on "Friendship" in Windsor. In a separate BLOG, below, I am putting all five individual BLOGS together for easier reading for you, dear reader.

I wrote about friends, friendships and business associates and the seeming new issue of how that fits in with conflict of interest. The question arises when and under what circumstances does a member of Council need to recuse himself/herself if a "friend" issue comes up.

It makes it plain, if you read the BLOGs all at once, to understand the issue much better and what the consequences can be to our City. It also provides an approach to solve the problem.

I did not just want to write the BLOGs and leave it. Accordingly, I have completed a "COMPLAINT OF VIOLATION OF CODE OF CONDUCT" and submitted it to the Integrity Commissioner for a decision. It arises out of the actions of a member of Council (not Councillor Jones). He has already acknowledged receipt of it.

• The Windsor media reported:
  
  "Appointed to the job last year, Basse said any investigation can reveal new information that requires separate inquiry. "I can’t ignore it," he said.
  
  "integrity commissioner Earl Basse informed council behind closed doors Monday night that he’s looking into hundreds of phone calls allegedly made by a councillor to a union leader during the civic strike, the news was being reported.
  
  The Star has learned from a number of sources that the phone log in question lists calls made on Coun. Ron Jones’s cellphone to CUPE Local 543 president Jean Fox."
  
  My understanding is that the question is whether Councillor Jones should have recused himself during the CUPE strike because of his "friendship" with the Head of one of the striking Windsor CUPE locals.
  
  The Mayor confirmed the point stating:
  
  ""The issue in front of us is discussions that were taking place with the head of CUPE in the middle of negotiations. That is an important distinction to be drawn here."
  
  In other words, mere “friendship” in itself may not be a concern but “friendship” with more such as dealing with the City can result in disqualification from participation in a matter whether it is a strike or a business deal.
  
  As you know Windsor's Code of Conduct states:"
  
  IX. IMPROPER USE OF INFLUENCE:
  
  No member of Council shall use the influence of her or his office for any purpose other than for the exercise of her or his official duties.
  
  Examples of prohibited conduct are the use of one’s status as a member of Council to improperly influence the decision of another person to the private advantage of oneself, or one’s parents, children or spouse, staff members, friends, or associates, business or otherwise."
  
  In addition, BELLAMY INQUIRY RECOMMENDATIONS are incorporated by reference and shall form part of this Code of Conduct
  
  "INCORPORATION OF BELLAMY INQUIRY RECOMMENDATIONS
  
  The recommendations made by Madame Justice Bellamy with respect to Ethics as a result of the "City of Toronto External Contracts Inquiry" as set out in Appendix B to this Code of Conduct [Should it be "SCHEDULE "C" instead] are hereby incorporated by reference and shall form part of this Code of Conduct
  
  Included are these provision:
  
  1. The City should expand its current code of conduct for councillors and its conflict of interest policy for staff to include broader ethical considerations.
  
  2. The codes of conduct should go beyond the minimum standards of behaviour and set out the highest ideals and values toward which all public servants should be working.
  
  21. Councillors and staff should be made aware that it is unacceptable for them to act on a matter in which they have either a real or an apparent conflict of interest.
  
  22. Councillors and staff should take steps to avoid as best they can both real and apparent conflicts of interest. For assistance, they should seek the guidance of the office of the integrity commissioner.
  
  Preferential Treatment
  
  30. Elected officials and staff should take all necessary steps to avoid preferential treatment or the appearance of preferential treatment for friends or family.
  
  The standard expected of a member of Windsor Council is very high and goes not only to real conflicts but apparent ones and the appearance of preferential treatment. "Friends" are included in this definition as well which is the basis I assume of the Jones investigation...
  
  I am not suggesting any illegal activities, any pay-offs, graft, under the table deals or bribes. Rather it is the very narrow matter; it is the issue of being a "friend" or perhaps a "business associate" that you have raised as confirmed by the Mayor. You may receive some guidance from a recent US Supreme Court decision as set out in Part 5 of my BLOG that seems quite applicable to the high standard expected of a Windsor Member of Council as well as the actions of a Judge in that case who recused himself"
  
  "Maynard withdrawing from Supreme Court case after vacation photos with Blankenship released
  
  "It is not enough to do justice - justice also must satisfy the appearance of justice," Maynard wrote in a brief memo filed today with the court.
  
  He added, "I have decided to voluntarily recuse myself from this case. I will recuse myself despite the fact I have no doubt in my own mind and firmly believe I have been and would be fair and impartial in this case. I know that for a certainty."
  
  Controversy erupted this month over Maynard's majority vote in the court's 3-2 decision that excused Massey from a $50 million verdict after photos surfaced showing the chief justice and Blankenship allegedly vacationing together in the Monte Carlo area...
  
  At least three of the photos show the men posing and smiling at seaside locations and sitting at an outdoor restaurant...
  
  In his memo released today, Maynard said he worries that the controversy that the photos have caused is the sole reason he's stepping aside.
  
  "Above all else, I am very concerned about how the public views this court," Maynard wrote. "Without question, the judicial branch of state government should always be held in the highest public confidence and trust. The mere appearance of impropriety, regardless of whether it is supported by fact, can compromise the public confidence in the courts. For that reason - and that reason alone - I will recuse myself from this case."

Do I expect a quick answer. Hardly, considering how long the complaint about Edgar (aka Eddie) and Kwame took to be resolved and that a Complaint from Chris Schnurr has not been dealt with yet since earlier this year.

In addition, Mr. Basse as the new Hamilton Integrity Commissioner has a new task it seems:

• "Whitehead conduct to be investigated
  
  Emma Reilly
  The Hamilton Spectator
  
  Councillor Terry Whitehead's conduct will be investigated by the city's new integrity commissioner, council ruled yesterday.
  
  Whitehead's former assistant filed a complaint against the mountain councillor last week, alleging she had been mistreated. The woman, who has declined to comment on the issue, now works in the city's community services department. The decision came at last night's council meeting after a closed-door discussion on the issue."

I doubt if the matter will be completed before after the next municipal election. Perhaps I will be wrong.

In the meantime, members of Council who may be in such a conflict are able now on their own to take the honourable steps to resolve the matter. Let us see if that happens

Friendship--The Five Part Series

Friendship (Part I of A Five Part Series)

Did you feel the earth shake? In one momentous moment everything has changed in Windsor.

To be honest, it is the first optimistic moment I have had in a very long time.

Perhaps the border file will finally end and we can get our economy moving after so many years of hollow threats, mind's eye visions, inaction and stalling.

Perhaps we will look at proper priorities for this town of 200,000 and not grand visions and schemes to make us something we can never be but which sound terrific and prevent us from solving our real problems.

Just look at Annie's column today. First Henderson justifying Edgar (aka Eddie) breaking his two-term promise on Saturday and now this:

• "Revealing hidden beauty
  
  The ugly towers, pipes and belts of Zalev Brothers scrapyard -- as Mayor Eddie Francis said, it looks like a bomb went off in the heart of Windsor.
  
  But it could be one of the most interesting places in the city.
  
  In some unusual and fascinating projects around the world, old industrial and transportation eyesores -- viaducts, street car repair yards, brick factories and iron mills -- and their detritus are being remade into new and inventive kinds of community and cultural hubs, from parks to museums.
  
  They honour urban history while becoming part of the new economy."

Vote for Edgar and our brownfields can be transformed like those in Dusseldorf, New York or Toronto. How many times will we hear the word "world-class" during the lead-up to the election next year?

We may finally have new leadership in this City to move us forward. Not next year but soon, almost immediately. And if it happens, it will not happen through the ballot box nor through a coup d'état.

We will owe it all to our Integrity Commissioner, Mr. Basse and certain leakors on Council whoever they may be. And most especially to our Mayor who has crystalized the matter in a way I never thought possible.

Of course, I am speaking about the leaked Report that Mr. Basse presented to Council, under what authority I still do not know but it no longer matters, that since Councillor Ron Jones and CUPE’s President Jean Fox were "friends," then the question was whether Jones should have recused himself from any involvement in the CUPE strike whatsoever.

"Friendship" became an issue for conflict of interest all of a sudden.

Then our Mayor confirmed it by helpfully chipping in during a TV interview:

• "The issue in front of us is discussions that were taking place with the head of CUPE in the middle of negotiations. That is an important distinction to be drawn here."

As I Blogged:

• “Oh my. A Pandora's box has just been opened by the Mayor not just with this but in other situations.”

Clearly, what the Mayor is saying that mere “friendship” in itself may not be a concern but “friendship” with more such as dealing with the City can result in disqualification from participation in a matter whether it is a strike or a business deal. That is the “important distinction” with a big difference that may impact this City, and the Mayor, dramatically.

Frankly, it makes Windsor even more like Toronto whose conflicts policy states:

• "A conflict may occur when an interest benefits any member of the employee's family, friends or business associates."

Aren't Edgar (aka Eddie) and Mr. Basse suggesting that our rules go this far too now?

A nice exercise will be defining what a friend or business associate means.

Before anyone starts getting all excited, I am not the one who has made this an issue. Nor did Gord's "smear artists, conspiracy theorists, tire slashers, child harassers and professional moaners." The Integrity Commissioner as confirmed by the Mayor did.

I am not suggesting any improprieties. No illegal activities, no pay-offs, graft, under the table deals or bribes. Nope, it is a very narrow matter; it is the issue of being a "friend" or perhaps a "business associate" too that has now reared its head so we need to look at this concept carefully.

I can just hear the Clerk's voice now booming over the microphone before a delegation speaks at Council as part of the Proceduaral By-law:

• "Are you now or have you ever been a "friend" or "business associate"of a Member of Council?"

Let us ask some obvious "friend" or "business associate" questions. Let’s think of some "friendship” and "business associate" possibilities with Edgar since he spoke on the matter and some big blockbuster potential deals since he has now made this an issue. As such, since he is so involved in virtually everything, we have to consider most of all of the major Windsor projects.

Consider the Miller Canfield firm where Edgar articled because this issue involved a member of that firm before. How would they fit in with this expanded definition? Remember the fuss over Michael Duben who was at the firm when Edgar articled there:

• "Top candidate' was hired:
  
  City officials deny new senior bureaucrat got job because of links to the mayor
  
  Although Windsor's newest senior bureaucrat worked in the same law firm as Mayor Eddie Francis and was hired without an advertised national search, several councillors and the city's top civil servant say Michael Duben got the job on his merits alone...
  
  Duben said the only contact he had about the job was with Skorobohacz.
  
  "Eddie was quite surprised. I wouldn't put Eddie in that situation," Duben said of discussions with Skorobohacz...
  
  "I knew full well the mayor had articled with him," Skorobohacz said of Duben, a labour lawyer who also has represented developers and property owners dealing with the city...
  
  Skorobohacz said he did not discuss hiring Duben with Francis before meeting with councillors about it. Several councillors said the mayor expressed discomfort because of his personal relationship with Duben.
  
  "Eddie felt a little uncomfortable about the discussion," Lewenza said. "Eddie did not play a role in the discussion. He really took a hands-off approach."
  
  Added Ward 3 Councillor Al Halberstadt: "Eddie expressed a bit of fear that it would be seen as him going out and getting Duben."

Clearly, the issue was in some people's minds as far back as 2004, even after Edgar was long gone from the firm, because of a "personal relationship."

Is this still an issue? For example, a question that can be asked is whether Edgar is a “friend” or "business associate" of lawyer Jeff Slopen who is a Principal at Miller Canfield where Edgar articled. I have no idea if they are or are not. I mean to cast absolutely no negative aspertions against Mr. Slopen. It is an issue for a Member of Council to determine, not the friend. It's a real issue though.

I think it important to ask Edgar to confirm what the relationship is. Edgar had declared a pecuniary interest in the past when he articled at the firm and even afterwards, clearly for a different reason than friendship but probably as a "business associate" out an abundance of caution:

• "Councillor Francis discloses an interest and abstains from voting on Planning Advisory Committee Item No. 3, being the application by Mid-South Land Developments Corporation to rezone the west side of Prado Place between Ontario and Raymond and the east side of Thompson Boulevard between Ontario and Raymond, to permit 8 single unit dwellings each, as the applicant is represented by the Miller Canfield Law Firm, where he recently completed his articles of clerkship "

I must admit I do not recall if he ever disclosed an interest in the border file when Mich-Can was involved since Edgar articled for Miller Canfield, the Mich-Can lawyers.

Since Mr. Slopen is also the lawyer for the owner of the Zalev lands and there are now discussions about buying or expropriating the property, if Mr. Slopen is a "friend" or "business associate" must Edgar now recuse himself and no longer be involved? Look at what has been said in the past so you can understand what Mr. Basse may have to deal with:

• "Hamilton's model is exactly what we need to see happen here," said Windsor Mayor Eddie Francis. "It would allow us to identify the sites and bundle some of them as a package for developers."
  
  Francis said the city will need to seek government grants.
  
  "Our first step should be to establish a committee led by council but also including interested citizens to see if there is any interest on Zalev's behalf to discuss their site and its future," said Francis. "From my understanding, there is some willingness on the company's behalf to do that."
  
  Windsor lawyer Jeffrey Slopen, who represents Zalev, was unavailable for comment but has said in the past his client was open to discussions. "
  


• "Zalev denies causing recent 'putrid' odours
  
  But the metal recycler said through lawyer Jeffrey Slopen that Zalev has not operated its hot briquette plant since Oct. 31 and could not be the source of the odours Dilkens said he noticed.
  
  Slopen, in a letter to council, said other industries could be the source of the odours."
  


• "Zalev lawyer Jeffrey Slopen said the company is unaware of any current issues but would be willing to attend a meeting if invited.
  
  "We're trying to be a good corporate citizen," said Slopen, noting the company has responded to concerns of nearby residents in recent years. "Our view is that we aren't aware of any issues with the Ministry of the Environment."
  
  Brister asked city administration on Monday about the possibility of the city expropriating the Zalev property and building another east-west artery between Howard and Dougall avenues.
  
  "There has to be a municipal use to expropriate that land," said Brister."

What is the difference between the Jones-Fox relationship and the Edgar-Slopen one if they are friends or business associates?

What about with London’s Mr. Farhi? Are he and Edgar friends? Here is how they met according to the Star in November, 2006:

• “Francis and Farhi met for the first time about a year ago at a wedding in London.
  
  Farhi contacted Francis shortly afterward to hear first-hand about the mayor's plans for Windsor.
  
  "A week later, he calls and says, 'Meet me at the Lear plant. I just bought it,'" Francis said.
  
  Farhi arrived in Windsor by helicopter and told the mayor he liked what he'd heard the week before about where the city was heading. "He's made that very clear to us, he wants to invest in Windsor," Francis said.
  
  About one month ago, Farhi was the one to get a call. It was the City of Windsor, wanting to know if he was interested in doing a deal with his land next to Lear.
  
  "I was very taken by their honesty, very taken by them coming and asking me to help" in the revitalization of downtown.
  
  He says he took "14 seconds" to say yes. "If it takes me more than 14 seconds to make a decision, it's a bad decision."

I recall Edgar being asked by John Fairley on Face-To-Face about whose wedding it was but Edgar declined to answer.

In passing, the issue for some reason was raised in a recent Henderson column where he went after "tortured souls and conspiracy theorists who hate Eddie Francis with a passion" over the issue. I have no idea who these people are other than as a strawman that can conveniently be raised. Actually, the issue arose because Edgar for years allowed it to be one, not because of anything else. But remarkably, note this comment by Mr. Fahri as quoted by Gord. Was it just an expression of language used or their relationship:

• "I cornered Francis outside and asked about the rumour. He chuckled and called Farhi over.
  
  Did you know, he asked, that we're cousins? Fahri roared and gave Francis a crushing bear hug. "If you and I are cousins, my friend, there can indeed be peace in the Middle East," he cackled."

Don't blame me, blame Gord who gave us the quote. He knew exactly what he was writing too because he would be absolutely aware of the "friend" issue over Jones and Fox. Could this be the Sheriff giving us a big hint by directing the "enemies" of Edgar to read this statement?

We may need Mr. Basse to look into their relationship and also what the two gentlemen talked about since a few months before they met, we learned:

• "Mayor Eddie Francis and council took the arena plunge over the weekend and promised to do what has eluded a generation of political predecessors -- replace Ontario hockey's most ancient forum.
  
  Council voted 8-2 Saturday to start looking for a replacement for Windsor's 80-year-old arena, known by fans and cynics alike as the Barn...
  
  "We're now committed. I have faith this council is different," Francis said following council arena resolutions No. 106 and 107...
  
  A second resolution, passed without opposition, gives Francis authority to meet immediately with Windsor Raceway management to conduct "exploratory discussions" on its latest proposal to host the site of a new municipal ice arena.
  
  While the raceway is currently the only proposal on the table, council's motion also gives the mayor a green light to respond to "others as they may come forward."

Depending on what answer is given, should Edgar have had no involvement with the Arena and lands issues and should have no ongoing role? Should Edgar recuse himself now with the canal as well since Mr.Farhi has contributed money to the study and owns a key piece of property downtown right next to where it can go?

Do you understand where this can take us if Mr. Basse is correct in his analysis! Who knows where this "friends" and "business associate" concepts can lead us.

But let us deal with someone who is without question Eddie’s “friend.” But THAT is for another BLOG.

Friendship (Part 2)

We have been talking about friends, friendship and business associates and the seeming new issue of how that fits in with conflict of interest. The question then arises whether a member of Council needs to recuse himself/herself if a "friend" issue comes up.

Clearly, as I Blogged previously, Mayor Francis seems to think it is a big deal. So do the Integrity Commissioner and those anonymous Leakors who tried to discredit Councillor Jones.

Let us now deal with a real friend of Edgar (aka Eddie) not someone who may or may not be. What I will be dealing with is all public information, something that anyone could have found using the Internet.

The City Clerk provided this specific answer to me when Edgar declared an interest in a Tunnel matter but did NOT state the general nature thereof:

• From: Ed Arditti
  Sent: February 6, 2008 10:48 AM
  To: Galvin, Mark
  Subject: Declaration of Pecuniary Interest
  Importance: High
  
  I noticed that the Mayor declared a pecuniary interest twice with respect to matters involving the Duty Free Shop at Windsor Tunnel Commission meetings. However, the Minutes did not disclose the general nature thereof as is required by law.
  
  Accordingly, as Acting Executive Director, would you please let me know "the general nature thereof" as is required by the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act.
  


• ----- Original Message -----
  From: Critchley, Valerie
  To: arditti@sympatico.ca
  Sent: Tuesday, February 12, 2008 12:40 PM
  Subject: FW: Declaration of Pecuniary Interest
  
  Good Afternoon:
  
  Thank-you for your inquiry which has been directed to me for response.
  
  I can advise that the Mayor has always been cautious to take the high ground with respect to any possibility of an actual or perceived conflict of interest and has always chosen to excuse himself from any discussion or voting on any matter related to the Duty Free Shop. The basis of his caution is his personal acquaintance with Abe Taqtaq, his former campaign manager. Also, while the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act excludes matters that are remote and insignificant, the Mayor has also noted that his spouse is a tenant in a building that Mr. Taqtaq has an interest in.
  
  I trust this answers your inquiry and remain,
  
  Yours Truly,
  
  Valerie Critchley
  City Clerk
  Corporation of the City of Windsor

The gentleman mentioned is Abe Taqtaq.

What a nice choice of words "personal acquaintance." Whatever that means, as you shall see, dear reader, it is much closer than that. And we'll talk about that building where Edgar's spouse is a tenant subsequently. Just keep on reading.

You will note the reference to Mr. Taqtaq being Edgar’s former campaign manager. Here is what Edgar said about his campaign team after he successfully won his first term as Mayor:

Respecting the Tunnel Duty Free Shop, I saw this

• “Marwan Taqtaq
  (BS '65) For the past 21 years, Taqtaq has operated the Windsor Tunnel Duty Free Shop on the US-Canadian border. He recently participated in building a community medical center.”


• Abe Taqtaq is vice president and general manager at Windsor-Detroit Tunnel Duty Free.

It is this position that may have caused and may cause Edgar significant "friendship" issues.

Edgar has not always taken this perspective in dealing with matters involving the Taqtaq interests. Consider this involving Coltaq Developments in which the Taqtaqs were involved:

No pecuniary interest declared by Edgar on this matter and he must have voted too. Note that he did declare a pecuniary interest in matters involving Miller Canfield when he was working there as an articling student.

On another occasion in August, 2003, we saw this where Edgar actually introduced a Motion respecting Coltaq. Obviously, he did not declare a pecuniary interest:

At the time, here is what was going on about those lands:

• "Windsor Star 06-02-2003
  
  Route debate delays plans; Critics say land tied up unfairly
  
  Deputy Mayor Gary McNamara is upset that a "set to go" 351-home subdivision has been tied up because of its location within an "opportunity corridor" that years from now may become the route to a new border crossing.
  
  The Coltaq Developments subdivision is the largest the town has seen in years, on farm fields bordered by Highway 401, Highway 3 and Outer Boulevard. It went through all the regulatory hoops more than four years, but then ran up against Ministry of Transportation concerns that halted its final approval by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs.
  
  "This property is at a key location that (if the subdivision was allowed to proceed) would significantly reduce the viability of several corridors," a Transportation Ministry spokesman said recently."

And then this:

• "Windsor Star 08-06-2003
  
  Developers angered by delay; Subdivision in limbo because land is within one of five possible border routes
  
  Investors who have been trying for five years to get a 350-home subdivision built are upset the City of Windsor is opposing the project.
  
  On Aug. 20, when an Ontario Municipal Board hearing starts, Tecumseh will be supporting the Coltaq Developments plan for its 85 acres bordering Highway 3, Outer Drive and Howard Avenue.
  
  Windsor will be siding with the Ministry of Transportation, which doesn't want the subdivision developed now because the land is within one of five transportation corridors which may be chosen as the route from the 401 to a new border crossing...
  
  If the government wants to prevent the land from being developed, it should expropriate it and pay a fair price, said Abe Taqtaq, a partner in Coltaq with contractor Mario Collavino."

All's well that ends well. It would seem that the Motion making Windsor neutral might have been helpful since the Province bought the land

• "08-20-2003
  
  Province to purchase land; 85 acres in potential border corridor will be bought and not frozen to development
  
  The province has agreed to buy 85 acres of prime subdivision land located within one of five possible border crossing corridors.
  
  The agreement, which is still not finalized, makes an Ontario Municipal Board hearing, scheduled to start today in Tecumseh, unnecessary. Lawyers for the developer and the province are expected to ask for an adjournment...
  
  The Ministry of Transportation office that deals with media inquiries was closed on Tuesday because of the government's energy conservation measures. Abe Taqtaq, general manager of developer Coltaq Developments, said he hasn't received anything in writing about the agreement.
  
  "I'd love to make a comment, but I can't until I get something in writing," he said.
  
  Coltaq has reported spending about $2-million buying and planning the subdivision on the parcel of land bordering Highway 3, Outer Drive and Howard Avenue."

Someone may want to follow up to see if Coltaq or its principals or related organizations made contributions to the Mayor's campaigns too and where their office was said to be located. That can be a concern too if there is an "exceptional case" as you shall see subsequently in another BLOG.

In case you think the name Collavino is familiar, it is. PCR Contractors, a Collavino company, built the East end arena. I am sure you remember this:

• "09-22-2006
  
  New arena proposal challenges Ice Track: Family, Killer Bs offer 6,500-seat, $50M idea
  
  A prominent Windsor construction family has teamed up with a Toronto architectural firm to propose a 6,500-seat arena and three ancillary ice pads in a taxpayer-funded project that will cost less than $50 million.
  
  Brothers Paolo and Renzo Collavino, whose father was co-founder of the Collavino construction company, are behind the project, which was quietly submitted to city officials back in August.
  
  The Collavinos, acting as general contractors through their firm PCR, would be responsible for building the arena using plans provided by Brisbin Brook Beynon Architects (known locally as the Killer Bs). The city would own and operate the facility. No location was announced.
  
  "It's no secret Windsor has been looking for an arena for a long time," Renzo said Thursday. "I've had this idea for a while -- I never had a reason to bring it out until the council resolution."

The Taqtaqs and Collavino through PCR have had other business relationships together too. Take a look at these photos which were Collavino projects.

Those buildings will have an interesting role to play in the "friendship" debate as you shall see in subsequent BLOGs.

Friendship (Part 3)

Merely being a friend or business associate of someone can now potentially give rise to an investigation by the Integrity Commissioner resulting in a member of Council being forced to recuse him/herself from being involved in some key matters in Windsor.

It seems that our Mayor seems to support that proposition given his remarks respecting Councillor Jones' friendship with Jean Fox during the CUPE negotiations.

Accordingly, if a Member of Council is in a position where a friend might somehow be involved in a relationship that could give rise to a conflict, it would seem that the Mayor would agree that the Member ought not to be involved. I assume that it includes himself too.

But what are the rules around this? Does the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act apply even though does it not mention "friends?" Is the language broad enough to cover this:

• "When present at meeting at which matter considered
  
  5. (1) Where a member, either on his or her own behalf or while acting for, by, with or through another, has any pecuniary interest, direct or indirect, in any matter and is present at a meeting of the council or local board at which the matter is the subject of consideration, the member,
  
  (a) shall, prior to any consideration of the matter at the meeting, disclose the interest and the general nature thereof;
  
  (b) shall not take part in the discussion of, or vote on any question in respect of the matter; and
  
  (c) shall not attempt in any way whether before, during or after the meeting to influence the voting on any such question."

I believe that is broad enough to cover the kind of relationships we have been talking about. Let's assume it does. Even if it may not, Edgar and the City Clerk have made it so. Remember this comment from the City Clerk:

• "Also, while the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act excludes matters that are remote and insignificant, the Mayor has also noted that his spouse is a tenant in a building that Mr. Taqtaq has an interest in."

I am not so sure that I agree with the City Clerk about remoteness and it being insignificant. Moreover, there is another section that is important and is applicable:

• "3. For the purposes of this Act, the pecuniary interest, direct or indirect, of a parent or the spouse or any child of the member shall, if known to the member, be deemed to be also the pecuniary interest of the member.

I showed you a photo of a building that Collavino's PCR built in a plaza on Dougall:

• "Constructed two new buildings to house existing and new tenants, and prepared the site for demoliton of the existing structure for construction of an additional building."

The owner of the lands when the buildings were built was a company owned by the Taqtaq family. That Company was an amalgamated company. Mario Collavino was an officer and director of one of the companies amalgamating into the new Company but I do not know his role in the new Company, if any.

A unit in one of the buildings is occupied by the Mayor's spouse, Michelle Prince, where she runs her chiropractic clinic.

How did Ms Prince get there? She left her space on Howard Avenue and moved there.

Here are her new premises and you can tell who the leasing person was too at the Plaza:

Note that Mr. Taqtaq's phone number is that of the Tunnel Duty Free Shop. It is the same phone number as this building right across from the Tunnel that was for rent too that I Blogged about before:

As we can see, Edgar's spouse has an interest in the lands as a tenant. Edgar is deemed to have a "pecuniary interest" in it too.

Do not forget that not only is Edgar the Mayor but the Head of the Windsor Tunnel Commission as well. The Duty Free Shop rents space at the Tunnel from the City.

What do we have but Edgar and Abe Taqtaq being friends, having a business relationship as Landlord/Tenant through Edgar's wife and a relationship at the Tunnel.

What does this all mean? Keep on reading the next Part of my BLOG.

Friendship (Part 4)

Have you been reading each of the previous parts of the series so that everything is fitting into a context, dear reader? We are almost at the conclusion. Just two more parts.

We are looking at the concept of "friendship" and what impact it has on Members of Council and how Windsor is governed.

We have seen that it seems to be a big concern now thanks to the Integrity Commissioner and the Mayor. That question raised about Members of Council and major players in town needs to be dealt with in order to get clarification ASAP.

Given, Edgar's seeming confirmation of the issue, I decided to take a look at his particular situation and discussed the building in Dougall Plaza in the last BLOG.

Now let us take a look at the Tunnel where Edgar is the head of the Tunnel Commission and where the Taqtaq family leases their Store. However, the issue is much broader than a mere lease at the Tunnel as you shall see.

To be fair, when issues involving the Duty Free Shop have arisen, the Mayor has declared an interest at Commission meetings.

He was modest at first and did not disclose the "general nature thereof" so that is why I contacted the City Clerk for an explanation in the first place. It surprised me since the Mayor, as a lawyer, clearly knew the rules and has acted out of an abundance of caution both, it would appear, from what the City Clerk said and from his practice at Council:

No explanation given here.

Then he opened up more:

Former campaign manager is the reason given, or rather, "a member of his former campaign" without mentioning the person's name or title. Should the explanation have been broader? To include his spouse's situation as well perhaps?

Note, do you think as worded this declaration of pecuniary interest by Edgar fits right into the "friend" or "business associate" category? If so, then it explains why Edgar could easily make the remark he did respecting the Jones/Fox issue. He viewed it that way for himself already for quite a period of time.

But what do you think of this when Edgar was a Councillor:

Perhaps Edgar and Mr. Taqtaq were not friends then but how could Edgar participate and introduce a Motion to help obtain what Mr. Taqtaq wanted if they were?

Moreover, did the request to "abandon a standard" create a huge liability on the City if something went wrong? How could the City argue that it was acting in a reasonable manner by abandoning what the association said should be done? Hmmm, I wonder if this action concerned Mr. Sutts so that it was easier for him to suggest that the Tunnel be placed into a subsidiary company to limit the City's liability.

The reason I raise this is because the only major Agreement that the Three Levels ever agreed to on the border file shockingly did NOT deal with the Ambassador Bridge where the trucks were backed up but only dealt with the Tunnel. Phase One of the Let's Get Windsor-Essex Moving Strategy included only:

• "Windsor, Ontario, March 11, 2004 - The Governments of Canada, Ontario and Windsor today announced new measures that are part of a joint $300 million federal-provincial investment to help improve the Windsor Gateway, Canada's busiest border crossing.
  
  Today's agreement identifies five initial project investments, including:
  
  •Improvements to the Windsor-Detroit Tunnel Plaza in order to provide for more effective traffic management, including the implementation of the NEXUS program;"

At the time, the decision to focus on the Tunnel made little sense to me. And the agreement was signed within months of Edgar becoming Mayor too.

The improvements are very important to the Taqtaq family because business was hurting at the Tunnel obviously with the reduced number of visitors:

• "Traffic at the Windsor-Detroit tunnel remains in a slump, and the border crossing's retail duty-free store is feeling the impact.
  
  It's been this way for months, and while the list of reasons seems as long as the tie-ups some days, Marwan Taqtaq, who operates the Windsor Tunnel Duty Free Shop with his family and staff, remains optimistic.
  
  The pending redesign of the tunnel plaza is expected to provide better store access for vehicles."

The City has set aside $10M of taxpayer money for their share of the Tunnel improvements but we know now that more money is needed but we are not sure exactly why. I have speculated, and obviously with the number of years that have gone by with no action, more money is needed for expropriation since owners have sat in limbo.

I don't recall the City setting aside that kind of money for the Tunnel's border competitor, the Ambassador Bridge, to improve their operation as part of the Strategy. There never was a Phase II Agreement which presumably would have dealt with the Bridge.

As I have Blogged:

• "Notwithstanding his assertion that “We're a public utility” in relation to the Tunnel, he is also the business competitor of the Ambassador Bridge. Does this competitive side of the Mayor help explain why we still have a border mess on Huron Church road? Why would he fix up that road when Goyeau is a mess and the Tunnel Plaza improvements are far from being done as both Dev Tyagi and Abe TaqTaq have told us recently."
  
  
• "This was one of the projects for which the City wanted money. I thought we had set aside the funds years ago when the Phase 1 Agreement was signed with the Senior Levels. Each level was to put up $10M for the project
  
  Where are the City funds now? What happened to them? Do we have the money available for our share? If not, is the whole deal dead since the Senior Levels would not put their $20M into a project that cannot pay for itself.
  
  By the way, we do know that the costs of the project have increased dramatically above the $30M mark. We were told that at Council a long time ago by Mr. Tyagi. I speculated that it was due to increased expropriation costs as well as increased construction costs.
  
  Is this why the City has done little for years on this project: no more money. If so, why is Eddie wasting millions on trying to do a deal with Detroit if we cannot afford to improve the access to the Tunnel."

Mr. Taqtaq has to be extremely interested in the expropriations as well since we were told by the Star:

• "Closing a portion of Goyeau Street to all but tunnel-bound traffic is being considered by the Windsor Tunnel Commission as a solution to the traffic tie-ups at Goyeau and Wyandotte Street East. The closure, which would affect Goyeau between Park Street and Wyandotte, would allow an expansion of the tunnel plaza and reduce the congestion during morning rush hour and at other peak crossing times.
  
  "The status quo simply isn't working," said Mayor Eddie Francis, who is chairman of the commission. "We don't want people to panic because it may not be feasible, but we have to find an alternative to a situation which has become intolerable for our citizens, for commuters and for tourists."
  
  The commission has requested a report from the traffic engineering department on the impact of closing the street and what it would do to traffic patterns in the immediate vicinity.
  
  Along the stretch of Goyeau being considered, the only building not owned by either the city or the Windsor Tunnel Duty Free Shop is a Burger King franchise opposite the tunnel entrance."

Go back up and look at the Council Minute of July 24, 2002. Isn't what the Mayor is talking about exactly what Mr. Taqtaq was requesting years before. Of interest, that request was not included at the time when Councillor Francis as he then was introduced his Motion.

Here is a rather astounding fact that I found in a Tunnel Commission Minute also:

I do not know if the property involved was the Duty Free Shop but presumably it had to be on the Tunnel's property and it claims that the Mayor's wife was a tenant there. Frankly, without knowing exactly which building is involved, it is hard to be able t0 comment about what the impact is on our discussion.

Remember that I wrote before a BLOG about the Windsor Mayors' [plural ie not just this Mayor] inherent conflict of interest over being Mayor and also being head of the Tunnel Commission. [BLOG October 25, 2005 "Windsor Mayors' Conflict Of Interest"]

• "In other words, is there an inherent Conflict of Interest built in when the Mayor and Councillors are both a Tunnel Commission Chair or member and when they are also a member of City Council. On the one hand the Mayor can say from a Windsor-wide perspective : "We see the tunnel as a public utility while the DCTC sees it more as a profit-generating private operation." On the other hand when the Bridge takes away Tunnel traffic, he says as a true competitor "our traffic has gone to the bridge and we have to do a better job of convincing people that the tunnel should be their crossing of choice."

Obviously the Bridge and City are competitors here but are the homes on Indian Road, the various by-laws the subject of OMB appeals, the Sandwich Community and so on all part of this as well? What about the US$75M deal proposed by Edgar with Detroit for Windsor to control their half of the Tunnel, how does that fit in with all of this friendship concept?

Remember the outrageous sum that the City received when Brighton Beach was sold to the Feds at a sum that seemed overly generous, $34M as opposed to around $5-$6M: As the Star reported:

• "City council will use $6 million from the deal to pay off its legal costs for Toronto lawyer David Estrin and others incurred during the last five years of the border road debate, with the rest of the money being directed toward the city's capital budget and replenishing municipal reserves, said Mayor Eddie Francis...
  
  The mayor said the transaction is another indication of council's support for the Brighton Beach location for the next Windsor- Detroit bridge. The city has opposed a twin span proposal by Ambassador Bridge owner Matty Moroun."

Naturally, if there was no DRIC Bridge, the City's land would not have been needed and never would have been sold. Was that one of the reasons why the City has been so aggressive against the Bridge Company? And all of that Estrin money for opposing the Bridge Co. is being re-imbursed in effect by the party blocking the Bridge Co. moving forward as confirmed by Governor Granholm.

Has the border file now become even more confused given the relationship amongst Edgar, his wife and Mr. Taqtaq?

Given all of this uncertainty and confusion, how can Council allow Edgar to be their main negotiator with the Senior Levels and the Voice of Council? How does the Mayor justify remaining in that position given his friendship and business relationship with the Duty Free Store owners who helped him get elected Mayor in the first place?

Clearly, we need a way to deal with these types of issues and a way to find an answer to all of this. And there is one. Just read the conclusion of the Series.

Friendship, The Conclusion (Part 5)

I trust that I, at least, have made you do some thinking over the last 5 days.

You will need to read right down to the end of this BLOG for you to appreciate how difficult a matter the friendship issue is and how it has been dealt with in other situations.

I will repeat again. Neither I nor any of Gord's "smear artists, conspiracy theorists, tire slashers, child harassers and professional moaners" brought up this controversy over friendship. The Integrity Commissioner as confirmed by the Mayor's statement did.

I am not suggesting any improprieties. No illegal activities, no pay-offs, graft, under the table deals or bribes. Nope, it is a very narrow matter; it is the issue of being a "friend" or perhaps a "business associate"that has now reared its head so we need to look at this concept carefully.

The friendship/business associate matter is not a legal concern for anyone except a member of Council. He/she has the legal responsibility to declare the pecuniary interest and follow what the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act requires.

Mr. Basse stirred up a hornet's nest as far as I am concerned with his still not released to the public Report on whether Councillor Jones should have recused himself and not been involved in anything to do with the CUPE matter due to his friendship with Jean Fox, the President of one of the CUPE locals.

I have spent some time looking at the Mayor and his friends and business relationships because of his key role in the City. More importantly, he confirmed the concern raised by the Integrity Commissioner about Councillor Jones and friendship

• "City councillor Ron Jones has hired a lawyer to defend his interests against allegations of wrongdoing that may emerge from an investigation into hundreds of cell phone calls to CUPE union president Jean Fox during the 101-day strike by municipal workers.
  
  Jones insisted repeatedly Saturday there has been nothing “inappropriate” in his relationship with Fox — either before, during or after the strike...
  
  His calls and friendship with Fox date back years and many of the calls occurred around his prostate cancer surgery in February, while others focused on supporting Fox while she obtained a restraining order in court against an anti-CUPE protester, Jones said."

However, our Mayor claimed as I Blogged previously:

• "The issue in front of us is discussions that were taking place with the head of CUPE in the middle of negotiations. That is an important distinction to be drawn here."

It would seem that the Mayor is of the opinion that even if the calls were purely "innocent," since there was an important City matter involved, that makes a big difference.

If Councillor Jones should have recused himself then from the CUPE strike matter because of "friendship," using Edgar's own logic, should the Mayor be required to do so on the border file, the Arena, the canal, the Zalev properties and so on? Clearly, if "friends" or "business associates" are involved in a City matter, using Edgar's perspective, what choice has he but to recuse himself and to permit new leadership from the City to take over.

As Gord wrote, perhaps this is exactly what Windsor needs, a "vanilla man" who, along with one or two other Councillors, would form an executive team who will not go to war against everyone but who might actually accomplish something:

• "And make no mistake. Marra is a nice man. Polite. Well-spoken. Amiable.
  
  Those are fine qualities, even if Coun. Alan Halberstadt described him as "a bit vanilla." But is that what Windsor needs in 2010 and beyond, a nice guy to manage the corner office and keep everyone placated, if not happy? Under normal circumstances, I would say yes. Maybe it's time for a healer and soother who won't ruffle too many feathers and can get along with Liberal friends at Queen's Park."

Do you understand now why in the first BLOG I mentioned about the earth shaking and why I was optimistic finally. We would have people in charge who would view our issues differently and who would actually try to achieve a solution rather than constantly being at odds with everyone to our economic detriment!

What are we to conclude from this discussion? I think it is simple. We need a stated case to a Judge or a judicial inquiry to detemine how far the conflicts of interest policy spreads in our political arena.

Will it be expensive to do? I would expect so unfortunately. Here is what the inquiry into the issues surrounding Mayor Hazel McCallion may cost:

• "But inquiry lawyer Will McDowell warned "a great deal remains unknown" about the issues and the commission's focus will evolve as new information emerges.
  
  The inquiry is now adjourned for preparatory investigative work.
  
  It is to resume no later than March 1.
  
  Its $2.5 million budget compares with the original Toronto Computer Leasing Inquiry into municipal corruption, which ran for 214 days, cost $20 million and had about 60 lawyers acting for the 22 parties.
  
  Cunningham said his inquiry will differ from such prominent ones as the Walkerton water scandal and Air India bombing.
  
  Those inquiries, he said, set out to determine what caused those tragedies and how they could have been prevented.
  
  "On the other hand, we set out to examine certain transactions and relationships," he said.
  
  "These may well be important matters, and they are certainly matters of contention."
  
  Cunningham framed the two broad areas to be investigated:
  
  The context, history and conduct of city business as it related to a purchase and sale of a 3.5-hectare parcel of land owned by OMERS that involved Peter McCallion and World Class Developments.
  
  (The deal involved private meetings between Mayor McCallion, the developer and OMERS, while zoning of the land was still before council. OMERS subsequently sold the land to the city, which in turn leased it to Sheridan College.)
  
  The circumstances surrounding an agreement that gave OMERS, a 10 per cent shareholder in Enersource, a controversial veto."

Friendship, business associates....does the Mayor now have to back out from a number of major transactions in this City? Given the Basse comments and Edgar's own words, Edgar (aka Eddie) has no alternative in my opinion but to recuse himself from some or all of the matters until the issues are clarified or risk negative comments from Windsorites during the entire election year until we know what the line is that should not be crossed.

Take a look at this story and see how something that is legal and innocent can take on an ugly and dirty side very easily:

• "Friends in high places
  
  In Canada, business influence appears at all levels of government. The biggest single donors to the election campaigns of municipal leaders are property developers. Is it because property developers as a group are more concerned about the democratic process than others? It might be. However, it seems likely that the donations are also made because municipal politicians control the zoning and development of land.
  
  That's why a group in London, Ontario is asking questions. George Sinclair of the Urban League of London thinks there's a "troubling" connection between donations made to candidates for city council and a subsequent vote.
  
  Prior to the November 2003 municipal election Shmuel Farhi, president of Farhi Holdings Corp., made total donations of around $5,000 to about a dozen candidates. Two weeks later, Council voted 10 to six to allow Mr. Farhi's company to demolish the former home of baseball legend George (Mooney) Gibson. Of the 10 who voted in favour of the demolition at least six received donations from Mr. Farhi. Of the six who voted against, only one accepted a donation from Mr. Farhi.
  
  The developer told the London Free Press that his sole motivation "is to help people who spend a lot of time and effort to make the municipality a better place to work and live." Mr. Farhi added that the timing of his contributions was "pure coincidence."

Would that defence work for Mr. Farhi today in Windsor given his "friend" comment about the Mayor? Could our Mayor claim that his and his wife's relationship with a "friend" and "business associate" when dealing with City matters are of little concern? It is not an easy question to answer.

Take a look at this story commenting on a US Supreme Court decision . It is based on the US Constitution but the reasoning could be very applicable here. It shows how friends and business associate questions can be dealt with in a logical fashion. Of course, what is reasonable to one may not be reasonable to another. But it is a start:

• "Judge Should Have Recused Himself in Case Involving Contributor, Court Rules
  
  The 5-4 ruling, authored by Justice Anthony Kennedy, is a victory for groups interested in curbing the influence of money on judicial elections.
  
  The Supreme Court ruled Monday that West Virginia's chief justice should have stepped down from a case involving his campaign's biggest financial supporter.
  
  The 5-4 ruling, authored by Justice Anthony Kennedy, is a victory for groups interested in curbing the influence of money on judicial elections.
  
  "In all the circumstances of this case, due process requires recusal," Kennedy wrote.
  
  Kennedy's opinion was joined by the court's more liberal justices.
  
  "There is a serious risk of actual bias when a person with a personal stake in a particular case had a significant and disproportionate influence in placing the judge on the case by raising funds or directing the judge's election campaign when the case was pending or imminent," Kennedy concluded.
  
  The case closely resembles the plot-line in novelist John Grisham's 2008 book "The Appeal."
  
  The case examined Justice Brent Benjamin's decision not to recuse himself from a $50 million lawsuit involving the man who spent millions of dollars to get him elected to the bench. The losing side in the West Virginia mining case before Benjamin argued he should have stepped aside for his "probability of bias" in the case, which involved Massey Coal.
  
  Massey's CEO spent $3 million in ads to help Benjamin's election.
  
  The Supreme Court had previously only recognized the need for recusals when judges have a personal financial interest or some other closely held personal connection to a case. Monday's opinion expands that reach."

Justice Anthony Kennedy speaking for the majority sets out the approach and how to handle matters:

• "Under our precedents there are objective standards that require recusal when "the probability of actual bias on the part of the judge or decisionmaker is too high to be constitutionally tolerable...
  
  Not every campaign contribution by a litigant or attorney creates a probability of bias that requires a judge's recusal, but this is an exceptional case...
  
  Much like determining whether a judge is actually biased, proving what ultimately drives the electorate to choose a particular candidate is a difficult endeavor, not likely to lend itself to a certain conclusion. This is particularly true where, as here, there is no procedure for judicial factfinding and the sole trier of fact is the one accused of bias. Due process requires an objective inquiry into whether the contributor's influence on the election under all the circumstances "would offer a possible temptation to the average . . . judge to ... lead him not to hold the balance nice, clear and true..."
  
  Although there is no allegation of a quid pro quo agreement, the fact remains that Blankenship's extraordinary contributions were made at a time when he had a vested stake in the outcome. Just as no man is allowed to be a judge in his own cause, similar fears of bias can arise when--without the consent of the other parties--a man chooses the judge in his own cause. And applying this principle to the judicial election process, there was here a serious, objective risk of actual bias that required Justice Benjamin's recusal...
  
  But, as we have indicated, that is just one step in the judicial process; objective standards may also require recusal whether or not actual bias exists or can be proved. Due process "may sometimes bar trial by judges who have no actual bias and who would do their very best to weigh the scales of justice equally between contending parties." The failure to consider objective standards requiring recusal is not consistent with the imperatives of due process. We find that Blankenship's significant and disproportionate influence--coupled with the temporal relationship between the election and the pending case--" ' "offer a possible temptation to the average ... judge to ... lead him not to hold the balance nice, clear and true." ' " On these extreme facts the probability of actual bias rises to an unconstitutional level.
  
  The Court was careful to distinguish the extreme facts of the cases before it from those interests that would not rise to a constitutional level."

What was intersting in this case also is that another judge recused himself because of friendship and some photographs:

• "Maynard withdrawing from Supreme Court case after vacation photos with Blankenship released
  
  State Supreme Court Chief Justice Elliott "Spike" Maynard will withdraw from the court's reconsideration of a decision that favored Massey Energy, a coal company run by his longtime friend Don Blankenship.
  
  "It is not enough to do justice - justice also must satisfy the appearance of justice," Maynard wrote in a brief memo filed today with the court.
  
  He added, "I have decided to voluntarily recuse myself from this case. I will recuse myself despite the fact I have no doubt in my own mind and firmly believe I have been and would be fair and impartial in this case. I know that for a certainty."
  
  Controversy erupted this month over Maynard's majority vote in the court's 3-2 decision that excused Massey from a $50 million verdict after photos surfaced showing the chief justice and Blankenship allegedly vacationing together in the Monte Carlo area...
  
  Caperton wanted Maynard off the case because of the justice's decades-long friendship with Blankenship. He also wanted Maynard to withdraw his majority vote from the decision...
  
  At least three of the photos show the men posing and smiling at seaside locations and sitting at an outdoor restaurant.
  
  It's unknown who took the photos, which were dated July 3-5, 2006 - a time when Massey had an appeal pending before the Supreme Court...
  
  In his memo released today, Maynard said he worries that the controversy that the photos have caused is the sole reason he's stepping aside.
  
  "Above all else, I am very concerned about how the public views this court," Maynard wrote. "Without question, the judicial branch of state government should always be held in the highest public confidence and trust. The mere appearance of impropriety, regardless of whether it is supported by fact, can compromise the public confidence in the courts. For that reason - and that reason alone - I will recuse myself from this case."

All this is very interesting you might think. Think about what I have written in the past 4 BLOGS and apply the facts to what the US Supreme Court said. Then if you think you have the correct answer, consider this photo in addition. It is of the Abe Taqtaq wedding party with Edgar as one of the important members of that party.

What is your answer now? What should be done on the many key areas in which the Mayor is involved? Should the Mayor at least on everything to do with the border continue to be the Voice of Council or recuse himself now because of the Taqtaq relationship. Or not!

In this instance you, dear reader, are the Chief Justice in the Court of Public Opinion in Windsor:

COURT CLERK: How say you. Is this one of those "exceptional cases or not? In this case YOU are the Judge"