THE PLOT THICKENS AND SECRECY ABOUNDS

By Harold G. LeBoeuf

The purpose of this article is to expand on the previous one entitled MSSRS. MICELI AND MARSHALL ARE AT IT AGAIN, due to additional information I have along with photographic evidence which serves to support what the “Daring Duo” are really up to.

You will recall that Miceli stated that The Windsor Heritage Committee requested that a report be authored “dealing with the details of the gate and the entrances to the park from Devonshire, Richmond, Chilver and the main gate on Niagara.” Miceli doesn’t say to whom the request for this report was sent, nor has he produced a copy of said request. Neither does he state whether the request was in writing, or simply a verbal request. Was the request sent to Miceli at the Dept. of Parks, or to Marshall and the Board of Willistead Manor, or to both? If it was a verbal request by the Committee, who from the Committee communicated the request and to whom did the individual speak to? The Heritage Committee has been involved with the E. Chandler Walker property for approximately forty years. Surely it has sufficient information on file in its own records to know the answer to the request. Frankly, any reasonable person walking around the perimeter of the park could provide the details being requested. Any member of the Committee could do the same. Therefore, if the request was actually made by the Committee, specifically for what purpose and why did it want the information? On the other hand, perhaps The Heritage Committee didn’t make such a request in the first place. Perhaps this is yet another instance whereby Mssrs. Miceli and Marshall have concocted a further plan to control their intended commercialization of the Willistead Park and Manor. But they will produce a copy of the request. Won’t they?

Miceli has stated that the report has been completed and we have now learned that he has said that it will be presented to The Heritage Committee for its approval at the November meeting of the Committee. Miceli also refuses to produce a copy of the report until it is presented to the Committee as it is his practice not to release such things to the public in advance. In fairness, the following is an excerpt from an open communication between Miceli and Howard Weeks who is a hopeful candidate to become the Councillor for Ward 4. In other words, another politician:

Howard Weeks 4:14pm Sep 10 A response from Mr. Miceli : Thank You Howard. The report is scheduled to go to the November Heritage Committee meeting. It is not our practice to release the report to the public before the members of the committee receive it so at the present time I cannot accommodate your request. Perhaps you can make an appointment to come see me and we can discuss the report and I can answer your questions. My Response: Hi John, I would appreciate the opportunity to meet with you to discuss the report. Just let me know when and where. Howard

“Come see me and we can discuss the report.” 

Miceli states that he can’t release the report to the public but he is willing to discuss it with Weeks. Is not Weeks just a member of the public? Since Miceli is apparently prepared to give special status to a candidate running for Ward 4, is he also prepared to extend such confidence to the other candidates running in the Ward who, like Weeks, are simply members of the public vying for the same position? Do not the other candidates have the same interest in matters affecting Willistead, and are they not entitled to the same deference as Miceli is prepared to extend to Weeks? If Miceli doesn’t want the public to know what is in the report but is willing to discuss it with Weeks, will this budding politician release in detail everything that he learns from the report to the public or will he, too, decide that the secrecy should prevail until the Committee meeting? My bet is that he won’t release a factual thing from the report other than “politician speak” as Miceli has already done: “Our plan is to add a pedestrian gate on Niagara which was part of the original gates to the Manor.” I still want to see the proof he has for that statement because, believe me, I can find no evidence of such a gate, and even if I could, what is the sudden misplaced desire on the part of the Committee or the Daring Duo to restore Willistead to its original appearance and condition? Miceli and Marshall want to add a gate alright, but it isn’t solely because there might have originally been one, and it certainly isn’t because The Heritage Committee wants to restore the original condition of the Manor and its grounds. We have already seen proof of that in what the Committee allowed the Daring Duo to do with the asphalt roadways.

Here is what I believe the Duo wants authorization for, and what they have already set into motion to accomplish it. To refresh your memory, here is a photograph of the existing conditions where they want to install the gate.

Proposed location for new pedestrian gate.

Please note the following about this proposed site:

1. A gravel bed has already been laid to accommodate an asphalt or concrete pad which would lead pedestrians from the southern Niagara sidewalk into the park and directly back to the existing driveway, a distance of perhaps twenty feet (Why not let them continue to use the driveway as they have for decades?). I have used a probe in numerous places in this gravel bed to determine whether or not there is evidence of any pre-existing bed. There is not;
2. No evidence is seen of an existing column to the right of this photo which would have been necessary to support what Miceli states existed in the past. All other existing gates in the park have “concrete” columns or a rectangular open frame iron column which matches the fencing.
3. New electrical conduit has been installed tapping into the existing electrical power used to operate the lamps situated on top of the main column. Also installed is a remote sensor at the top of the conduit which apparently is intended to activate/de-activate the electricity to a GFCI protected receptacle, said receptacle being of the type approved by the Hydro Dept. to accommodate 220-240 volts of electricity. A special plug is required to access this receptacle which has one prong shaped in the form of the letter “T” lying on its side. That does not mean the circuit is actually wired for that much voltage, and it probably is not since I can’t believe that the main lamps on top of the columns operate on 220-240 volts of electricity. It was probably done to prevent the public from attempting to get free electricity. However, I am certain that Miceli or Weeks will advise us as to the nature of the circuit and what it is intended for (or will they?).
4. The two existing columns on the left are approximately sixteen inches apart or sixty-seven centimeters. Between them is a small section of fencing which is obviously original. All of the bolts have been removed from that section of fencing and the panel is simply held in place by its friction fit to the two columns. You can easily remove that panel and put it back. I know because I did it and I have the photographic evidence.

  

Small section of fence just hanging there.   Top left bolts removed.

I have four such photos re the bolts.

Here is what I surmise that the Daring Duo wants The Heritage Committee to approve:

1. They want approval to finish the gateway bed with an appropriate material be it concrete or asphalt;
2. They want approval to move the smaller of the two columns to the right or easterly side of the intended entrance, and/or they seek the approval to move the existing column to the westerly limit of the proposed gateway, and to construct a new, similar column on the easterly side of the proposed new gateway;
3. They seek approval to have constructed a new gate using the materials from the existing fence that has been removed;
4. They seek approval for the installation of appropriate security mechanisms to permit the gate to be securely closed and to prevent access by the public except for when Art-in-the-Park or the Beer Tent Festival or other venues exist which require an admission fee to be paid (all part of their commercialization plans).
5. Whether or not they ultimately seek approval in the future for barbed wire to be installed atop the existing fencing around the entire park and security cameras and warning devices in case of an intruder remains to be seen.

And exactly how will Miceli and Marshall justify this additional gate? They may perceive the public so gullible (as they have in the all too nearby past) to say that the main purpose is to control vandalism in the park. How dare they! They didn’t see that as a viable reason for not installing the asphalt roadways all over the park; the attitude was come who may and the more the merrier. Do not be fooled. The sole purpose is to control access to this public park by the public when their pet money making ventures are being held and when they want to make even more money by charging an admission fee. The gateway will make a far more narrow entrance for people to be admitted to those events and, try as they may, no free-loading Windsorite will be able to sneak into those events without having paid the required admission charge.

Oh, but wait just a darn minute! The Committee meeting to which the report has been tabled will be held in November. Miceli will have abandoned his post on October 17^th, and will no longer be in the employ of the City of Windsor. Will he leave his new cushy job as CAO with the Town of Amherstburg to attend the meeting and make the presentation? I wouldn’t count on his return to face the music about the report and the questions it raises. And if he did, why on earth would he be given standing? He’s not even a Windsor resident. Yes, I know, he is one of the Daring Duo and instrumental in all of the secrecy surrounding the projects implemented in Willistead Park in the last couple of years. Personally, I would love the opportunity to cross-examine him if he makes the presentation; not just about the report but to whom he has been awarding the projects to on a “pay-as-you-go” basis (much more on that in a few weeks).

Now all of the asphalt in the park is complete (or is it?), and all of the large machinery and dump trucks are gone (or are they?). What else might Miceli’s report contain that his secret approach hasn’t alluded to?

There continues to exist two large portions of fencing which have not been replaced, nor has the gravel bases which were used by the heavy dump trucks to enter the park to discharge or pickup their loads. One is located on the mid-east side of the park on Kildare Road; the second is located on the west side of the park on Chilver Road. Here are the photographs of the two sections missing:

Easterly view of missing fence and gravel drive on Chilver.

Westerly view of missing fence and gravel drive on Devonshire.

Sections of fencing were removed from each of these sites to permit the ingress/egress of trucks and large equipment installing the drainage materials and ugly asphalt roadways, or as I prefer to call them, “The serpentine locks of Methuselah.” But one is to assume that all of the work in that regard has been completed because that is all Council approved. That being true, why is it that all of the gravel hasn’t been removed, the grass sod replaced in the park and boulevards, and why hasn’t the fencing been replaced? Could it possibly be that the Daring Duo, cloaked in all of their secrecy, also seeks approval to construct new driveways on both roads to permit more ingress/egress by automobiles into the park?

For those residents who have resided in the area for many years and prior to when public approval for expansion of the Manor’s parking lot was sought, you may have also attended the public meeting that was held in the Coachhouse. The City didn’t just seek public approval for expansion of the parking lot; it also sought public approval to install another driveway to permit vehicles to exit onto Chilver Road. The public outcry was deafening, so much so that the request to do so was abandoned and the City promised never to construct or seek permission to construct such a driveway again. That was then, and this is now. The principled persons of the time are no longer involved leaving Councillor Hillary Payne (he was one of the presenters) and Councillor Fulvio Valentinis (he is currently on The Heritage Committee). Therefore, given those facts, it is most highly unlikely that any promises made then will be kept or even admitted to (what happened to the detailed minutes that were made for that public meeting?). Although a lame duck, we probably still have to deal with Mayor Eddie and the other group of ten toadies who didn’t hesitate to approve the project for the “serpentine locks of Methuselah.” Perhaps they will say that the approval given then included everything that Miceli and Marshall have included in their secret report to be produced in November. Prove it!

This article could include so much more, but I have a deadline to meet for a report dealing with whom Miceli, Marshal, and the City of Windsor has been conducting business with, particularly, but not limited to, projects assigned by Miceli involving Jackson Park and Willistead Park.

It’s your Willistead Park, and it’s your Willistead Manor. Please don’t sit idly by and allow Miceli and Marshall to continue on with the commercialization of same. As the colourful lawyer, Jeffery Feiger says, “If you don’t stand for something, you end up standing for nothing.” Please stand up for something and let your view be amply expressed in the upcoming civic election.

Harold.