At this point you can mark me as cautiously optimistic on the position of the Windsor Auditor General. Congratulations to the Audit Commitee for moving forward with this. By no means am I convinced that we'll see this position up and running anytime soon, but progress is being made.
Hopefully I can help the decision makers in one regard. If Max Zalev decides that he really must be part of the selection committee, I'll file the Conflict of Interest complaint myself. The fact that he's even the Audit Chair now stretches the bounds of credibility, but is not necessarily surprising if you actually start looking at the names on the city's various boards and "arms length" organizations. Although it might not sound appropriate, incestuous is the first term that comes to mind.
On an unrelated note, I wanted to make a quick comment on the suggestion floated yesterday, to bolster the Canal plan, that the Windsor Port Authority members have some sway with the current Conservative government regarding the project. I thought it was so funny I cancelled my tickets for Martin Short's upcoming perfomance at the Casino. A man can only handle so much comedy in one month.
I see that the Windsor Cheerleader (TM) is waving his pom poms again. A feasibility study funded by the private sector? Great.
The continued political posturing of the Mayor using the Windsor Cheerleader (TM) and others? Go blow.
Here's an idea. We can save a boatload of money by getting rid of our City Councillors and letting the Mayor rule by decree. They're nothing more than rubber stamps for Eddie's grand legacy anyways. Once that's done the Mayor and the Windsor Cheerleader(TM) can continue their mutal self-gratification society.
Seeing how cash strapped Transit Windsor is these days I thought I'd help them out with their campaign to purchase hybrid buses for Windsor. The Windsor Cheerleader (TM) has already chimed in so I didn't want to get left behind.
My campaign pays appropriate homage to the 1970's, which apparently is the last time any significant changes where made to Transit Windsor before our current saviours came upon the scene.
One of the easiest savings in the upcoming 2009 budget deliberations should be the City of Windsor Legal Department. We might as well be rid of it. Time after time, issue after issue this Mayor and Council continue to hire outside lawyers at considerable cost to provide "expert" advice, which generally means political cover prior to Council making or not making an actual decision.
If the occupants of our current legal department are not experts in things like municipal government or local planning, then the question that has to be asked is why do we have them? If, as I suspect, they are experts in municipal related fields, the question then becomes why do we continue to spend ever increasing amounts of taxpayer funds on outside firms?
If this current Council eliminated all the outside legal advice, consultants, pollsters, marketing firms and actually began receiving advice from the staff that we pay for, Windsorites would stand to save millions of dollars per year. A consistent theme in many emails I receive from City of Windsor employees is the frustration at watching Council waste this money on outside experts when the requisite talent already resides within City Hall.
We pay top dollar for our local civic employees. Let them do their job. Council should demand balanced reports designed to present all sides of an issue instead of advocating a pre-determined position. Armed with this information, Council then needs to make the decisions they were elected to.
Lead, follow or get the hell out of the way. As things stand now, it certainly seems like the majority of Council's current occupants have already opted for the "get the hell out of the way" option. Many voters would agree and will be happy to oblige them come November 2010.
Outside aid called for blight backlog
City hires expert to advise on unsightly abandoned property
Sarah Sacheli, Windsor Star
Published: Thursday, July 24, 2008
Francis said he approached Makuch, of Toronto law firm Cassels Brock, before writing a report to council recommending his services be enlisted.
"I just said to him, 'Here's the problem.'" In a letter back to the city and included in a report adopted by council in May, Makuch said he would study all municipal and provincial legislation and outline the pros and cons of alternative courses of action.
"The problem is a very interesting and difficult one because planning and property standards bylaws and legislation generally address what uses are permitted and how to ensure buildings are safe when used. The legislations and bylaws do not on their face appear to directed to the problem of non-use and the blight which results," Makuch wrote.
Makuch, whose response is expected this month, is expected to bill the city $50,000 to $75,000.
1. Why is the Mayor announcing this? Isn't Councillor Postma the Chair of Transit Windsor?
2. Why is this being announced now? "Windsor Mayor Eddie Francis said with the high cost of fuel and rising greenhouse gas emissions he is optimistic that city council will approve the switch to hybrid for the buses to be delivered in May."
This announcement leaves people with the impression that this is all but a done deal, requiring only Council's rubber stamp. While it's quite possible there is a business case to be made for this decision, where is it? Long term fuel savings are only one aspect. What are the costs to train Transit Windsor's mechanics? What are the cost implications for parts? What is the life-cycle of these buses compared to traditional diesel? Those are just a couple of questions that come to mind. If you read to the end of the press release you can find two of the Mayor's trained seals pitching in with their thoughtful input.
I thought this was the Mayor that doesn't "do politics". The timing and staging of this announcement simply screams politics. At this stage, it's simply a proposal from Transit Windsor that must be approved by Council during budget deliberations. Other than lobbying Council through the media and trying to create public momentum for their project, what other reasons can be given for this non-announcement?
In the past the Mayor has raided Transit Windsor's budget to keep tax increases down in Windsor. Does this represent political payback?
The upcoming set of budget deliberations will probably be one of the most difficult in Windsor's recent history. With inflation set to rise, increased fuel costs and salary pressures nothing should be considered a done deal.
The latest Council Agenda would lead people to believe that Windsor City Council simply hasn't learned it's lesson yet when it comes to communicating with the public. The agenda item related to a Windsor Spitfires lease has no agenda number and is only available on the supplementary agenda.
Item -- Windsor Spitfires Lease of Pro Shop, Training Centre and Auxiliary Community Concession at the WFCU Centre (available on supplementary agenda)
Makes you wonder just what is in the lease that they don't want the public or press to know until the last possible second.
On a related note, I'm looking forward to the next update of Council's "Sunshine" report of in-camera versus public meetings.I think we should rename this the "Bunker Report" for the mentality displayed by this Council of sheep or possibly even the "Stick-It" report as a suggestion for where they can put their "Sunshine".
I popped down to the festival for a couple of hours on Friday night and hope to return Sunday. Huge crowds and great food! Three A Tasting's roasted lamb was outstanding and if you're really adventurous you can sample Teka's Spicy Salty Squid.
I was pleasantly surprised to see large green container recycling bins parked beside every garbage can in the Festival Plaza. This is a significant improvement over previous festivals this year. Great work to whoever made this happen.
Some excellent advice for charities, non-profits and other organizations. Ignoring social media and all the tools that come with it is to restrict your message and outreach.
Right now I'm digging the Broadway musical Passing Strange, the Neo-HooDoo contemporary art show at the Menil Collection, Lupe Fiasco's The Cool CD, and the Brave New Voices International Poetry Slam Festival starting July 15 in Washington, D.C.
Calling or e-mailing each friend about the stuff I like, however, is not efficient.
I grew up in Houston, went to school in the Boston and Chicago areas, lived and worked in North Carolina, traveled internationally and maintain friendships with people from all those times in my life even though they live all over the globe.
Phone numbers and e-mail addresses change too often to exclusively use old-school communication.
So I have a Facebook page that connects me to 190 (and counting) friends, colleagues and family members.
On that page, I post what's interesting to me and news alerts are sent to all my people letting them know I want them to check out something.
It works great when the people, nonprofits and companies producing the stuff I like have up-to-date technology on their Web sites that allow fans to easily post information and photos to their Facebook pages.
But too often that technology — RSS formatted feeds — is nowhere to be found, especially on the Web sites of nonprofits.
"This is the time for nonprofits to get into social media while there is not a lot of traffic there," said Monica Danna, a Houston-based blogger and marketing professional. "Early adopters get the most benefit."
A good local example is the Windsor International Film Festival. Their Facebook group now has 673 members. Without the need for cumbersome software or emails lists, WIFF can now quickly and easily contact hundreds of people who have expressed interest in their organization. They can mobilize for outings and events, fundraise and spread their message. Those 673 people represent a possible frontline group of ambassadors, organizers, advertisers or even sponsors.
London, July 4, 2008 - An exciting new initiative this summer aims to cut down on the amount of festival garbage ending up in landfill.
Visitors to Sunfest, the Home County Folk Festival and Ribfest will be introduced to this year's pilot project, which includes an emphasis on reducing, reusing and recycling. All of the three festivals will be featuring "Eco-Stations", specific locations throughout Victoria Park where waste can be separated into three different streams - recycling, organics for composting, and garbage to landfill. Volunteers will be on hand to assist and answer questions.
Also new this year, the City of London is installing three water fountains in Victoria Park to provide free accessible City water and reduce the reliance of festival visitors on single-use plastic water bottles.
“In recent years, we’ve certainly witnessed a heightened concern for our environment emerging around the world, and action begins here at home,” says Mayor Anne Marie DeCicco-Best. “As Londoners, we can all ensure a clean and healthy environment for future generations by actively reducing our waste - and these new eco-stations provide a great way do that.”
Another idea being tested at the Home County Folk Festival in July is bring-your-own picnic ware, and a dish lending and dishwashing service.
The Greening of the Festivals is a partnership between the City of London, the three major festivals and Waste Free World - a local group of engaged citizens. Along with the goal to introduce waste diversion to these three major London events, is the hope visitors will be encouraged to continue good environmental practices after they return home.
1. The City of Windsor's Press Release on the Detroit Grand Prix listed the City website and the VisitWindsor.ca as locations to visit for more information, unfortunately, the information wasn't there when the City issued the News Release. The City has now placed a link to the "comprehensive event info" where they said they would - in the News Note section on the front page of the City's website. The only problem is, the link for more comprehensive information takes you back to the same press release. I guess that's what they call circular thinking.
At least the City has made some attempt. As of this morning, I could not find any information on the visitwindsor.ca website. Even a search through the event database yielded no results.
2. The relentless march to establish a $220,000.00 dollar (2008 dollars) spin department at City Hall continues. The reasons outlined in the report for justifying this expenditure read more like a failure of the current administration to lead rather than justification for further expanding the bureaucracy. The fact that the City has five different logos in use and can't decide which one should be used by everyone or policies and strategies regarding media inquiries are not consistent across the corporation are several of the reasons listed for at least requiring an immediate appointment of an Executive-Director of Corporate Communications. My guess is that this position will be in the $75,0000.00 to $90,000.00 dollar range. If the City spent half as much time actually addressing the problems identified in the report as they have in studying this, there would be no need for this ridiculous expenditure.
3. When 211 was first approved (March 19th, 2007), administration was directed to negotiate an operating agreement with the County and the United Way of Windsor. Although the resolution authorizes the General Manager Corporate Services and the CAO to sign the agreement on behalf of the City, I have not seen the actual agreement come back before Council for their information. It's possible that it may have been dealt with at an in-camera meeting or that I may have missed it. I'll have to look into this one further.
4. A Letter to the Editor today with yet another example of the City's habit of do as I say, not as I do. While the Windsor Essex Environment Committee considers a 3 bag limit for Windsor, it seems we can't even recycle at our own festivals. Summer Fest had it all, except for recycle bins
There are two things I liked about yesterday's Windsor Star Editorial. First, they're actually encouraging citizens to pressure City Council for a change, although they're still using kid gloves when it comes to the Mayor. Secondly, Councillors Lewenza and Jones have been outed as the chair warmers they are:
Reaching conclusions on the project's success in the absence of all the information, with the knowledge an audit of that project lurks behind closed doors, seems an incredibly irresponsible thing to do. Just because Councillors Ron Jones and Ken Lewenza Jr. have no problem doing it doesn't mean taxpayers should wilfully wear blinders as well. You should demand the release of the draft audit and pressure councillors to do the same.
The audit committee has announced it will hire KPMG to examine the audit to ensure, in the words of committee chairman Max Zalev, that "the work is done properly." Regardless of what KPMG ultimately finds, you paid for that draft audit and you deserve to see it in its original and unedited form. It can be a first chapter and the report from KPMG an additional one.
If there are legal reasons for withholding any information, those reasons need to be specific and explained fully to taxpayers. If the draft audit is indeed incomplete, then its release can be accompanied with a disclaimer and additional documentation outlining any errors, omissions or inconsistencies. But it must be released
The City continues to use questionable accounting practices like including Federal contributions and the future sale of lands in order to try and reduce what they claim is the actual price of the building.
The two maxims of politics are in play here. Follow the money and it's never the actual issue or incident it's the cover-up that inevitably generates controversy.
Lost in all the confusion over the 400 building is the fact that Dunbar also completed other audits prior to his departure, which we still haven't seen. I believe one of them was on the new Huron Lodge.
There are two things I liked about yesterday's Windsor Star Editorial. First, they're actually encouraging citizens to pressure City Council for a change, although they're still using kid gloves when it comes to the Mayor. Secondly, Councillors Lewenza and Jones have been outed as the chair warmers they are: