and another Welcome

To WE Speak's newest member - Kikipotamus the Hobo (points for originality in the name!)

If you're interested in joining the blogroll, see the details here.

The Three D's of Water Utility Communications

Provincial Edition

Today's Letter to the Editor from Ontario Municipal Water Association President Diane Gagner nicely mirrors our local utilities approach to communication - divert, deflect and distract.

First up we have the bogeyman/red herring Walkerton Inquiry. None of the issues or questions being raised has anything to do with the Walkerton Inquiry other than Chair Ken Lewenza's continuous attempts to use it as justification for the price increase.

Next up is an Ontario Water Board. I certainly don't remember Chris Schnurr or anyone else even mentioning a Water Board. Not once, not ever. Regardless, we're treated to a lecture on how the Energy Board caused an increase in rates of 10 to 15 percent.

The OMWA describes their mission on the homepage of their site - "OMWA's mission is to act as the voice of Ontario's public water supply authorities and their customers on policy, legislative and regulatory issues"

Good for them. Unfortunately, none of the questions being raised in Windsor relate to "policy, legislative or regulatory" issues, unless things like raising Councillor's salaries by $16,000 to $17,000 a year through utility board meetings is an OMWA policy related matter. Maybe the OMWA has been relying on information from the "authorities" side a little too much and ignoring the "customer" part of their mission statement.

While not related to the letter, something else occurred to me last night. The Municipal Audit was championed as being the best alternative because the Auditor General wouldn't be able to act any sooner than eight weeks. By my count, we're into our 6th week now and I haven't heard anything on when the Municipal Audit will be starting, who will be conducting it and what the terms of reference are. Tick, tick, tick. If you actually see any local Liberal Cabinet Ministers campaigning over the next several days ask them how things are going. Better yet - ask them if they care.

PS - absolutely loved today's political cartoon. Haven't laughed that hard in a long time.

Fortress Enwin

Windsor Star reporter and blogger Don McArthur running into brick walls at everyone's favourite local utility - the Windsor Utilities Commission. The WUC is refusing to release audit and finance committee minutes

There have been nine audit and finance committee meetings this year and six were held last year, according to de Vries.There were no audit and finance committee meetings held the two years prior. There were seven general meetings in 2004, six in 2005, five in 2006 and four so far this year, according to de Vries. Each of those general meetings was preceded by an in-camera meeting.

The additional $17,000 that Councillors have been receiving each year from Enwin/WUC is looking more and more like a back-door pay increase. No messy public meetings or minutes to deal with. Why hold a public discussion on the issue when you can accomplish what you want in secret.

New blogs

Welcome to the two newest blogs on the WE Speak blogroll - Windsor Visuals
Images & Photonews from Windsor, Essex County & Lower Southwestern Ontario and LEFT-RIGHT? UP-OR-DOWN?

WE Speak and the Windsor/Essex blogging community continues to grow. If you're interested in joining the blogroll, see the details here.

Pardon me?

Light blogging this week, but this one couldn't be passd up:

Lost your job yet? Bumper sticker politics

I've never heard the leaders of Honda or Toyota workers demand that 35 million Canadians collectively reduce their wealth and buying power by devaluing their national currency just so an exclusive group can export more vehicles and get richer at the expense of the rest of the country. The CAW has made that demand almost daily for the past year. Even as a member of that union, I think currency devaluation to favour a tiny minority is a monstrously stupid idea.

Around Town Tuesday - Sep 25th

1. The Battle of the Festivals on Facebook. Books are kicking the hell out of Film.

BookFest Windsor 2007 - Friday, November 2 at 7:30pm - 82 members

Windsor International Film Festival - Wednesday November 7th - 20 members.

2. Don McArthur's on a tear this week. Keep it up!

3. A loss to the Art World, especially to an artistically challenged person such as myself. Growing up in Guelph, I always liked Ken's work. He will be sorely missed. He often donated his work to causes/special occasions in the area.

4. Hmmm..... $200,000 in union dues to pay to name a rink after a living person. Makes it easy to remember why I don't care for unions right after governments. Yet another organization that you're forced to give your money to with little or no realistic say in how it's spent. It may not be a popular opinion - but it's mine.

5. Beautiful night shot at Blog Windsor. One of these days I have to learn how to do more with my camera than point and shoot.

6. Nik Nanos and SES Research deliver the latest poll numbers on Canada's great multicultural experiment. It's a lot more surprising that many would guess. News Release and complete data set available. Pretty even male/female split. Difference comes in the over/under 35 category. Income figures show the middle class solidly against.

Blogging light this week

With the Provincial Election campaign raging on and business staying busy, time is very short this week. Regularly scheduled blogging will continue as time permits, but will most likely be spotty. I'll still be reading and tracking things.

Secrecy prevails

It's not often I like an editorial from the Toronto Star, but this one certainly qualifies as an exception. The editorial is a follow-up to yesterday's post on problems with Access to Information.

Great wall of secrecy

Openness should be the rule when official information is requested. Exceptions should be made, and information withheld, only in rare circumstances, such as when state secrets are legitimately at stake, or a person's right to privacy is threatened. That isn't happening now, as many bureaucrats insist on blocking the release of public records.

Existing access to information laws appear sufficient to protect the public's interest. What needs to change is the attitude of unco-operative officials. The data they collect belongs to all Canadians, not the agencies that strive to keep it hidden.

Windsor is no stranger to this "great wall" mentality. The only way to break down these walls is to continue to speak up. Write letters to the editor. Email or write your City Councillor, MPP or MP. Explain your concerns and demand action. File Freedom of Information Requests and if you are turned down, appeal the decision to the highest level possible. Each successful appeal helps improve access for others in the future.

Freedom of Information

Why am I not surprised?

Delay, denial and stonewalling still clog FOI system

A request for sewage-treatment records in Hamilton inspired a city staff worker to curtly declare that she couldn't let a member of the public see the documents. The reporter was told to file a formal information request. In Windsor, a reporter was bluntly told: “Those records are not given out to the public.”

Hopefully the Star will be doing a story on this some time in the future. This is a worthwhile project conducted each year by the media across Canada. It highlights how woefully inadequate our Freedom of Information legislation is and how poorly governments at all levels treat the public's access to information their tax dollars pay for.

We're #18 !

In the GreenApple Canada Smart Transportation Rankings.

While multi-modal strategies remain nothing more than buzzwords, other cities in Canada are moving forward. Windsor suffers in the rankings due to air quality issues that are mostly out of our control, but they are not the only thing dragging us down.

The report focused on four areas:

• Transportation policy such as public transit infrastructure, expenditure and transit ridership
• Air quality measures such as ozone and carbon dioxide emission levels;
• Public policies such as anti-idling laws and trip reduction programs; and
• Technology adaptation such as the total number of hybrid or alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs) in the public transit and municipal fleets.

Complete report in .pdf format.


(click on picture for full size)

Shadow Poll #15 - Results

Not much doubt with this poll.

Check out Alan Halberstadt's post on the Via Italia race and it's upcoming 50th Anniversary. A local event well worth sponsoring.

Best Before Date long past

Because every other Windsor City initiated project has come in on time, under budget and operated without a deficit, it's hard to understand Gord Henderson's cynicism in this article:

On schedule. And on budget. Brister’s eyes glitter as he delivers those words. Combative by nature, he’s clearly driven by determination to deliver the goods and silence the critics, as in shove it down their whiny throats.

Being vocal, asking questions and demanding accountability of our elected representatives is now defined as being "whiny" and deserving of having something shoved down our throats.

If you lift up Gord Henderson's ear and find the "Best Before" date, you'll now find that it's long past, leaving the readers of Windsor with nothing more than curdled milk, spoiled meat and a nasty odour in place of insightful commentary and critique.

I wonder if the citizens of Windsor would be cheerleading as much as Gord if they knew back in October of last year they were about to be screwed over for three years of WUC rate freezes designed to re-elect our current crop of Councillors.

If we have to spend $650 million over the next 30 years on water and sewers to avoid a catastrophic collapse of our water systems, what would $67 million do for that same system if spent over the next two or three years?

Whiny? Toxic?

Boy, City Hall, Council and friends are rolling out all the big guns these days. Express an opinion contrary to the acceptable norm in Windsor these days and you now risk being labelled "failed", "irrelevant" , "whiny", "toxic", "blind mice", "a minority" and any other derogatory term they can dredge up.

To Gord Henderson, Ken Lewenza, Mayor Francis, Fulvio Valentinis and anyone else who wishes to continue throwing insults instead of answers, please continue. You are hardening peoples resolve in Windsor better than the hottest fire can temper steel.

By the way

Something I noticed on Windsor City Blog yesterday:

Duncan: “Unlike Mr. Schnurr and his Conservative friends, we don’t believe the provincial government should just go in for the purposes of beating up municipalities. They’re elected officials at the municipal level, ah, by unanimous resolution, they have as I understand it, they’ve asked us and we’ve complied with their request.”

If Dwight Duncan or anyone else in this city is under the illusion that this WUC protest is somehow organized along partisan Conservative lines or restricted to "failed" Council candidates they are making the worst read of a situation that they've ever made in their careers.

While I myself readily identify with conservative policies (although I tend to lean much more to the Libertarian side of things these days), if blowhards like Duncan and Lewenza actually stop talking long enough to evaluate things, they'd be shocked to see the breadth and depth of the disgust resonating throughout Windsor on this subject. In fact, they may well have hit on the one issue that Windsorites can unite on regardless of their political stripe or leanings.

In the old "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" world of Windsor politics, they might soon find a few hundred people clawing instead of scratching.

Their choice.

Update: Chris Schnurr with more on Dwight Duncan and Ken Lewenza - the "champions of Windsor".

Amazing

I can't believe the Windsor Star actually ran an article on the Ward Fund Lottery system in Windsor. The city's best known, worst kept secret that no one actually talks about.

A couple of details that they left out of the article:

1. Councillors don't actually have to agree on the expenditures. If they disagree, the $27,000 per ward is split between the two, to spend as they wish. ($1125.00 dollars per month is a nice amount to give out each and every month leading up to your next election campaign. That's 48 groups you can keep happy over a four year term)

"Moved by Councillor Zuk, seconded by Councillor Lewenza,
M106-2006 That the Ward Fund policy (M73-2005) BE AMENDED to include a provision that in the event that the respective ward councillors cannot agree on the use of their ward fund, that the funds be split 50-50, and to be used at their own discretion, and that the details of how the monies are spent continue to be reported on a public agenda.
Carried."

2. The only criteria for spending the funds is "Monies must be spent on identifiable projects or undertakings having a specific purpose and objective." These expenditures must then be reported on a public agenda, but don't expect them to be actually discussed. That's it.

Think back to last year when the city's CUPE local was raising funds to help Brentwood and was looking for City Council to match their fundraising efforts. Their request was voted down due to the fact that it might set a bad precedent for future requests. Why didn't Councillors offer up $500.00 per ward towards a good cause? Could it be because that would be $500.00 dollars less pork to spread around their ward, demonstrating that they didn't care about their ward? (Care about their Ward with your tax dollars, mind you)

These funds can be carried over year to year and spent as Councillors desire, with little or no oversight or evalutation. The criteria is so open ended it is little more than ward pork barreling for the lucky. I don't dispute that the recipients are valid, but that the process is deeply flawed and open to abuse. The "Olde Sandwich Towne Festival" benefits from the largesse of Ward Two Councillors Jones and Postma ($5,000.00) while Festival Epicure almost died this year from lack of sponsorship, initiated by the last minute withdrawal of the Windsor controlled Tunnel Corporation.

The Ward Funds, as they are currently structured, are nothing more than political pork barrels to be given away at Councillor's whims. That's your tax dollars being given away each and every year with no input, no criteria and no oversight. Even worse, any unspent funds can be carried over each year, typically to be spent in the last year prior to an election.

Ever wonder why it's so difficult to defeat an incumbent in Windsor?

Welcome to Windsor municipal politics. In an age of concerns over healthy lifestyles and eating, pork fat still rules in Windsor.

Imagine the possibilities...

A Cruise Ship Terminal on Russell Street, revitalizing unused properties and feeding into Sandwich.

Who has the money to make it happen? The very person the City is intent on not talking to, working with or compromising in any way shape or form.

Instead, we the taxpayer will shell out millions for the "development" of Sandwich for little or no result. The City of Windsor as a property developer has a dismal record that doesn't show any signs of improving.

Worth talking about

Windsor Star blogger Don McArthur (Life on Tour) with a great blog on Chris Schnurr's press conference, agitated citizens, democracy and blogging in the Windsor area.

Well worth a read and certainly worth discussing and commenting on.

Around Town Tuesday - Sep 18th

1. Here's a simple answer for the Mayor - None!

The City of Windsor is planning a service-review to ensure services are being delivered as efficiently as possible. City Council will be asked tonight to approve the hiring of consultants to conduct the review. Mayor Eddie Francis says, among other things, they look at what businesses the City should be involved in and those it shouldn't.

2. Probably one of the area's leaders in diversification efforts yet we still can't seem to find any money for their stadium.

3. Ontario Votes 2007 - the Windsor Star's coverage of the election.

4. Ordinary people doing extraordinary things.

5. Quote of the week: From last night's Council meeting, regarding the interim control bylaw and a residents application to knock down a shed and replace it with a garage.

Councillor Caroline Postma "It was not the intent of the bylaw to stifle development"

Oops - too late. Fearless prediction - come January Council will extend the interim control bylaw, thereby not intending to stifle development for another year.

6. For those that enjoy reading blogs and the different perspective they offer, don't forget the Windsor Star blogs. A few comments always help, now and again. Note: City Beat seems to be missing from the Blog section.

7. In the " I had no idea " category - A Windsor connection in Afghanistan. Former member of the Windsor Regiment, University of Windsor graduate and current Chief of Intelligence for ISAF in Afghanistan - Brigadier General Jim Ferron

Provincial Election Information - County ridings

Essex

Liberal - Bruce Crozier

NDP - John Grima

PC - Richard Kniaziew


Chatham-Kent Essex

Liberal - Pat Hoy

NDP - Murray Gaudreau

PC - Doug Jackson

Quick Hits - Monday September 17th

1. Windsor Bloggers on the move:
WindsorEats.com has added some great new features to their site

International Metropolis blogger Andrew is now published along with his exhibition at the Art Gallery of Windsor. (.pdf description of exhibition)

Congrats to both!

2. Involve the people, control the process, shut them out and ...
Press Conference details

3. Council Communications - reminder letter for submissions for Ontario Medal for Good Citizenship dated July 2007, received September 2007 for a submission that ended Aug 2007. Bureaucracy at it's best. Better luck next year.

Public Meeting September 27th 7-8:30pm Optimist Community Centre - Presentation by Parks and Recreation on Optimist/Memorial Park playground upgrades and re-installation of toboggan hill.

First winners of the Council Ward Fund Lottery listed in this issue of Council Communications. Don't forget to get your tickets for the next round.

Election season is busy season. Any links for information - drop them in the comments.

New Shadow Poll

I forgot to post a new Shadow Poll the other day when #13 finished.

New poll posted in the sidebar. Vote away!