Happy Windsorites Gather to Celebrate the Mayor's staying OnWritten by Vander Doelen
Thursday, 10 January 2008
Re-posted here because it's so good.
Celebrating The Mayor's Hints He May Run Again In Windsor
You had to laugh at today's page one headline and story, Francis Hints At Third Term. Doesn't he read the Sound Offs here at The Windsor Star's web site?
The only crowd that will gather to celebrate another four years of Windsor's current administration will be carrying torches and pitchforks. We're about one tax or fee increase away from the scene above, (which is actually a photograph of "progressive" Parisians; their Marxists have much more savoir faire than Windsor's).
It's hard to know who is madder at Mayor Francis these days — his own citizens or the neighbours. Just as funny as today's headline was the story on CBC radio this morning about the idea of Windsor and its neighbouring governments meeting to have "talks" about regional government.
I laughed out loud while getting dressed, hearing Tecumseh Mayor Gary McNamara say that while the Essex County governments would not likely be willing to join Windsor, Windsor was free to amalgamate with them. Heh heh heh.
The city's dream of amalgamating with its suburbs might have made sense 15 years ago, when taxes and attitudes were roughly equal between the local communities. But that was long ago and far away. Now the idea is just a transparent attempt by Windsor to spread the ludicrously high cost of its services and its financial disasters over a larger number of tax serfs. Heck, if their own cops and firefighters won't live there to help pay the freight, why should the rest of us?
An amalgamation of city and county would also effectively silence those in the region who disagree with the increasingly absurd development stands being taken by Windsor's socialist city council — which is pretty much everybody who lives in a circle around the city.
You can't blame just the mayor for what ails Windsor. It's the fault of the entire leadership class -- all of city council, its MPs and MPPs, its public institutions and unions and movers and shakers and all the rich guys and the people who rode the gravy train without complaint, even though we could all see the headlight of the oncoming train.
We all knew this day was coming. We just hoped we'd get "the buyout" before it happened.
But Windsor's behaviour is becoming increasingly weird, isn't it? It claims to be Canada's Automotive Capital, yet it appears to hate most movement of cars and trucks and the roads and bridges which carry them.
Windsor's opposition to the widening of Manning Road this week was the latest form of this insanity -- but then, look at the city's own history of blocking infrastructure improvements. Its City Council shelved widening Cabana Road after 20 years of planning to do so; it shelved widening Dougall Road to the needed five lanes south of Norfolk; it shelved widening Howard; it shelved widening Riverside Drive to three lanes; it has neglected to even talk about widening Tecumseh Road to the needed five or seven lanes at its eastern reaches, at least two decades past the point where that was needed.
Now the place is gridlocked, and 18-wheeler trucks are wandering all over the residential arteries tring to find a way out? Surprise, surprise.
Windsor claims to be an international port, yet its civic leaders also oppose every single attempt made to improve transportation infrastructure -- unless they are done Windsor's way. And we know what way that is: 20 or 30 years late and 1,000 per cent over budget. And in the wrong place, built by somebody's cousin.
Windsor wants to be a transportation "hub," yet it shoots down every attempt to add spokes: no bridges, no rail tunnels, no trucks in tunnels, no widened roads, no nothin, nohow nowhere.
You have to laugh -- if only to avoid the alternative.
The only crowd that will gather to celebrate another four years of Windsor's current administration will be carrying torches and pitchforks. We're about one tax or fee increase away from the scene above, (which is actually a photograph of "progressive" Parisians; their Marxists have much more savoir faire than Windsor's).
It's hard to know who is madder at Mayor Francis these days — his own citizens or the neighbours. Just as funny as today's headline was the story on CBC radio this morning about the idea of Windsor and its neighbouring governments meeting to have "talks" about regional government.
I laughed out loud while getting dressed, hearing Tecumseh Mayor Gary McNamara say that while the Essex County governments would not likely be willing to join Windsor, Windsor was free to amalgamate with them. Heh heh heh.
The city's dream of amalgamating with its suburbs might have made sense 15 years ago, when taxes and attitudes were roughly equal between the local communities. But that was long ago and far away. Now the idea is just a transparent attempt by Windsor to spread the ludicrously high cost of its services and its financial disasters over a larger number of tax serfs. Heck, if their own cops and firefighters won't live there to help pay the freight, why should the rest of us?
An amalgamation of city and county would also effectively silence those in the region who disagree with the increasingly absurd development stands being taken by Windsor's socialist city council — which is pretty much everybody who lives in a circle around the city.
You can't blame just the mayor for what ails Windsor. It's the fault of the entire leadership class -- all of city council, its MPs and MPPs, its public institutions and unions and movers and shakers and all the rich guys and the people who rode the gravy train without complaint, even though we could all see the headlight of the oncoming train.
We all knew this day was coming. We just hoped we'd get "the buyout" before it happened.
But Windsor's behaviour is becoming increasingly weird, isn't it? It claims to be Canada's Automotive Capital, yet it appears to hate most movement of cars and trucks and the roads and bridges which carry them.
Windsor's opposition to the widening of Manning Road this week was the latest form of this insanity -- but then, look at the city's own history of blocking infrastructure improvements. Its City Council shelved widening Cabana Road after 20 years of planning to do so; it shelved widening Dougall Road to the needed five lanes south of Norfolk; it shelved widening Howard; it shelved widening Riverside Drive to three lanes; it has neglected to even talk about widening Tecumseh Road to the needed five or seven lanes at its eastern reaches, at least two decades past the point where that was needed.
Now the place is gridlocked, and 18-wheeler trucks are wandering all over the residential arteries tring to find a way out? Surprise, surprise.
Windsor claims to be an international port, yet its civic leaders also oppose every single attempt made to improve transportation infrastructure -- unless they are done Windsor's way. And we know what way that is: 20 or 30 years late and 1,000 per cent over budget. And in the wrong place, built by somebody's cousin.
Windsor wants to be a transportation "hub," yet it shoots down every attempt to add spokes: no bridges, no rail tunnels, no trucks in tunnels, no widened roads, no nothin, nohow nowhere.
You have to laugh -- if only to avoid the alternative.
Originally posted here:
Read this too:
http://windsorcityon.blogspot.com/2008/01/eddie-slams-his-council-colleagues.html
4 comments:
We can't afford another Eddie term. In fact if he were to resign now it would be for the better? Does he really think he is the champion of the border? It is his fault nothing is even getting done.
The Emperor's new clothes perhaps?
Eddie is just saying he will run again to scare council into doing what he says until he leaves. He would get slaughtered in an election.
Look at the councilors who support him. Lewenza ??? Please.....
Don't forget Brister...
Who's Brister ???
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