The Motor City Mini-Mouth (TM) roars:Blog sparks uproar
Lewenza says Halberstadt undermining border negotiations
This is the "leak" of confidential information that will single-handedly sabotage and undermine the position of the City of Windsor?
"City Council met privately last night and the night before to hash out its preliminary position on the DRIC blueprints. New York transportation guru Sam Schwartz, with a full team of technicians, is back in town and ready to engage in intense modelling with the provinces's engineers to hopefully find a compromise on the route's many nuances."Which part is the one that is so damaging? The fact that Sam Schwartz, author of the $500,000.00 Schwartz Report so widely derided and dismissed, is back in town with his $10,000.00 a minute team to strategize with City Council?
Quite frankly, if this Council wasn't consulting with someone, preparing various strategies and
Was Sam Schwartz's visit to Windsor classified as a 'City Secret', not to be revealed?
Would it be so difficult for the Mayor (as the lead on the issue) to issue a press release about the meetings -ie Transportation Consultant Sam Schwartz will be meeting with Windsor City Council over the next several days to consider
Instead the option chosen was the typical Windsor secret in-camera meeting with no notice other than "Border Issues" on the agenda published after the meetings were held. Trust us they say.
The designation of the Mayor as "lead" on this issue means he is the official spokesperson for the file, not that he's the only one allowed to speak on anything border related. Blindly and silently following other "leads" in the past is what delivered Windsor gems like the Candarel building and MFP fiasco.
"Yeah, I was surprised (at Halberstadt's blog), but it's not the first time where he has talked border and we have challenged him for it."I'm sure Councillor Halberstadt will be pleased to know that his fellow Councillor's read his blog with such fervour and attention to detail.
What were some of the other times Councillor Lewenza was referring to? Would one be Councillor Halberstadt's relentless push to have Council reveal exactly how much money they are spending on lawyers and consultants? How about the letter from the Mayor to the Federal Transport Minister that the Windsor Star seemed able to get a copy of before any City Councillor could? Or maybe this isn't border related at all. Could it have something to do with the $250,000.00 dollar Communication Department that Councillor Lewenza was in such favour of? Council's eating habits? There certainly seemed to be a lot of behind the scenes Council opinion floating around related to that issue. Multi-residential tax fairness is another issue Counicllor Halberstadt has been championing of late, much to the chagrin of most on Council.
Maybe Councillor Lewenza and others wouldn't be so surprised if while visiting Councillor Halberstadt's website they also took the time to review his campaign platform, still posted for all to see. The top three issues listed there certainly seem to relate to this situation.
A Grand Vision of Small SolutionsI realize it's shocking to many people for a politician today to actually attempt to accomplish what they pledged during a campaign.
• Urge the new Council to take a more conciliatory approach with the senior levels of government to find a solution to our border issues.
• End the reliance on expensive lawyers and consultants on the border file.
• Ask for an external Municipal Act expert to orient the new Council on methods to be open and transparent.
The mention of an Integrity Commissioner in the article would be a welcome addition to Windsor, although Councillor Lewenza might not wish to be so quick off the mark in questioning Councillor Halberstadt's integrity through an insinuation such as this.
I wonder how far back an Integrity Commissioner would be authorized to investigate? October of 2006 is certainly one occasion that springs to mind. We never did learn anything more about the mysterious note or classroom confrontations.
Why share an Integrity Commissioner with another municipality though, when you could give the position a secondary role of Lobbyist Registrar and really open the doors of Windsor City Hall to some well needed sunshine? If we're going to be considering options, let's get them all out on the table, as uncharacteristic as that may be for Windsor.
The question to continue asking yourselves is just what is it about Councillor Halberstadt's website that so threatens his fellow Councillors and the Mayor?
H/T to Alan for the inspiration for this blog title.
Update: Chris Schnurr also has a blog related to this issue. Looks like he wrote his prior to today's Star article being published.
