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Your Ideas For Windsor
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March 2009
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Written by Windsor Shadow
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Wednesday, 18 March 2009 22:37 |
The state of democracy at the University of Windsor:
U of W student vote faces appeals
... During the campaign, Francescone was sanctioned for gathering signatures for a tuition petition to be presented to the board of governors.
... Loew, a fourth-year business administration major, was sanctioned for having two posters too close together.
Candidates also were forbidden from speaking with the media and prevented from talking about any organizations where they had worked during the campaign.
When the student newspaper The Lance was about to go to press with profiles of the candidates, the candidates were told they’d be disqualified and taken off the ballot if their names appeared in the paper.
Francescone said that only about 25 students came to the debates, so The Lance serves to educate students about the election.
The Lance normally prints two pages of profiles on the candidates running for the executive positions, said Ryan Rogers, editor in chief of the weekly student paper.
Gooch said candidates are forbidden from having contact with the media so as to prevent unfair press coverage.
“The only way to have contact with a media source is if they allow equal coverage with candidates,” Gooch said. “A student might have a best friend that works at the paper and have an article about them.”
Welcome to the University of Windsor's socialist utopia.
Cross posted to Blue Blogging Soapbox
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 18 March 2009 22:51 |
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Written by Windsor Shadow
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Tuesday, 17 March 2009 03:16 |
Beat someone to death with a baseball bat and you'll probably be convicted of murder or manslaughter and face anywhere from 10 to 25 years in jail
Kill someone with a 2000 lb car and if you serve 1 year in jail, you're hard done by.
Any wonder why people continue to be killed by drunk drivers?
As far as I'm concerned the choice to pick up that bat and kill someone is no different than the choice someone makes to drink and then drive. Until society begins to judge the two acts equally, many more senseless deaths will happen.
I really don't care if you're sorry, remorseful or traumatized by your drunken actions, at the end of the day, you had a choice and you made it. It's time society starts demanding that people accept responsibility for the choices they've made.
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Written by Windsor Shadow
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Monday, 16 March 2009 03:26 |
1. Buy Canadian - I wonder if the Nitro passes the 50% Canadian test? It certainly won't give Ken any street cred on the environment with his NDP buddies.
2. Some wise advice for artists. It's not hard, mostly free and there's lots of help in the community. Stay tuned for more Tech Nights at Phog. Future sessions will be focusing on 1 or 2 specific items per evening.
3. Since the WEDC Board set the precedent by resigning, will our Council resign once people realize that we still haven't managed to find an Auditor-General yet for the City? One can always hope!
4. Windsor's other Mayor offers a dose of reality.
5. Beard and Moustache fun at Phog on St. Patrick's Day - prizes involved!
6. Ever wondered what the 100 km meal is all about? Here's your chance to find out.
7. All quiet on the WUC front lately. I guess they're waiting for their new communication department to help out.
8. City Council Funnies: Rain Barrel Report (.pdf) - we can ban bottled water to salve people's conscience, but we can't muster the political will to totally eliminate downspout connections to take the stress off a stretched and strained sewer system. Instead of a "user-pay" system of water billing that would quickly encourage people to remove downspout connections, we utilize fixed rated charges and levies that act as a dis-incentive. The icing on the cake is we then have to create a program using more tax dollars to encourage disconnection. The only thing "disconnected" in this whole situation is our City Council.
"Continuing to use the rain barrels as an incentive for downspout disconnection is strongly recommended. By continuing with this program, the City of Windsor will continue to promote water conservation as well as increase the downspout disconnection rate in high priority areas.
The benefits of the Rain Barrel Pilot Program included increased disconnection rates within the pilot area and increased awareness of water conservation throughout the community."
9. I'm looking forward to seeing what Councillor "Buy Canada" Lewenza has to say about this contract for coin operated binoculars in City Parks by an American company with American product.
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Last Updated on Monday, 16 March 2009 05:26 |
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Written by Windsor Shadow
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Saturday, 14 March 2009 05:47 |
A soft news story, and twopuff pieces on the Airport all in the same day's issue?
Meanwhile, the great columnist competition to replace the Windsor Cheerleader (TM) that was turning up the heat at City Hall seems to have gone on hiatus.
I wait for the other shoe to drop with great anticipation.
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Written by Windsor Shadow
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Tuesday, 10 March 2009 18:47 |
As the week becomes busier than I ever could have imagined, I wanted to make sure that if I only managed to post about one thing, it was this topic.
Competition today, let alone the future, relies on reliable, accurate and up to date information and not $150,000 dollar sole-sourced advertising contracts.
There probably is no better example in North America than the District of Columbia. Their Data Catalog "provides citizens with the access to 274 datasets from multiple agencies, a catalyst ensuring agencies operate as more responsive, better performing organizations"
The data available is simply stunning, along with what can be done with it. Data has been standardized in four formats and provided five ways:
 Text / CSV: Use this format for easy access to the data. Text/CSV files could be opened by most desktop spreadsheet applications (e.g. MS Excel).
 Atom feed: Better suited for consumption by automated programs capable of handling Atom files. Allows subscription to data feed for continuous updates.
 XML: Better suited for consumption by automated programs capable of handling raw XML files.
 ESRI: Used for consumption by ESRI-compatible mapping applications. Most datasets in ESRI format are updated on a monthly or quarterly basis as they are not "operational" in nature.
 KML:Used to display geospatial data in Google Earth, Google Maps, and similar applications.
Competition for cities is no longer about who can create the nicest brochure or pay the most for a magazine ad. Washington's visionary Chief Technology Officer Vivek Kundra has helped break down bureaucratic barriers. No longer are public servants gatekeepers, spending millions of taxpayers dollars to prevent them from seeing information they already paid for (sound familiar?).
Apps for Democracy was a highly successful contest launched in 2008, building on the data available in DC's Data Catalog.
Apps for Democracy will feature 60 cash prizes from $2000 to $100 dollars for a total of $20,000 in prizes. Developers and designers will compete by creating web applications, widgets, Google Maps mash-ups, iPhone apps, Facebook apps, and other digital utilities that visualize OCTO’s Data Catalog, which provides real-time data from multiple agencies to citizens — a catalyst ensuring agencies operate as more responsive, better performing organizations.
The winning submissions in this contest are now featured as part of Washington's new Digital Public Square. One of the award winners ILive.at demonstrates just what is possible when public data is truly public. The ILive.at site has a default address in the search window when you visit the site. Just click on GO. For $20,000 in prize money, Kundra has delivered applications that would have cost tens of millions of dollars in the traditional bureaucratic development process.
Will this solve all of Washington DC's problems? No, obviously not, but the government has taken the first major step. They can now more effectivley focus on the services they are supposed to be delivering and how best to improve them. They're learning how to leverage open source software, access free resources and break out of the bureaucratic mindset.
Let's look at Windsor in comparison. A city that can't manage to provide a single RSS feed for the simplest of data like Press Releases or Agendas. Supplementary Agendas have become a favourite under the radar tool for local politicians, as they're not even available to the public. They're the equivalent of releasing bad news Friday afternoon at 3:00 pm just before a holiday. Reports are presented as scanned images in .pdf format. Virtually useless in terms of data conversion. Just think of the process. A report or set of minutes is prepared in digital format, printed, signed and then scanned back into digital as an image. While I'm sure the clerks involved in this process are happy to be employed, the waste of time and resources is astounding. We spend hundreds of thousands of dollars preparing and delivering glossy guides and booklets but to find the digital equivalent requires a modern day Sherlock Holmes. We can't even manage a monthly, quarterly or even yearly email newsletter to communicate with citizens. A recent question regarding live-streaming Council meetings resulted in a report with a $60,000 dollar price tag for something that Phog Lounge does for free two or three nights per week. While our Development Commission implodes, farmers are paying $100 dollars a piece to be included in a new local food map. While this is a worthwile endeavour, I have one piece of advice for the Essex Ag. Federation. Put some money aside ($1000 bucks) and run a contest for the best mashup using the data you've collected. The results will astound you. Reach out to the technical and creative community in Essex County. The resources available are limitless.
PS. In case you're wondering what Washington DC's innovative CTO is up to, Vivek Kundra is the new Chief Information Officer in President Barack Obama's administration.
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 10 March 2009 22:15 |
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Written by Windsor Shadow
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Sunday, 08 March 2009 07:08 |
Stay tuned, I've got several good ones percolating in my brain this morning. Although I've got a mound of work taller than the 400 Building to do, I need a break now and again. There's nothing like a good rant to release some frustration and allow me to focus back on the task at hand.
Upcoming Topics:
1. Bottled water bans in municipalities
2. Open government
3. Buy Canada Policy
4. Water Rates (you had to know that one was going to be in there!)
Update: looks like I underestimated my work load and over estimated the time I'd have available. We'll have to make this Rant Week instead of Rant Day.
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Last Updated on Monday, 09 March 2009 02:48 |
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Written by Windsor Shadow
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Friday, 06 March 2009 12:29 |
By the Windsor Utilities Commission
Chapter 43
"We've got to get back with the right strategy. I don't believe it's time to be messing around with the rate structure. But we know each year that infrastructure gets older."
In two years, nobody at the WUC can figure out how to increase water rates while at the same time reducing fixed charges and keeping revenue relatively stable? Things are only going to get more difficult for the commission and City Council. Gone are the feeble excuses like "no one else in the province is dealing with their water problems, Windsor is the first".
It means making difficult decisions. It means explaining to the public that yes your rates are going to continue to go up, but you will actually have an opportunity to save. Come up with a five or ten year plan to increase water and sewer rates while reducing fixed charges. Ensure that development charges properly reflect not only new service but the maintenance of installed infrastructure.
We spent three years before the last increase ignoring a problem and we're destined to spend the remainder of council's term doing the same. I'm looking forward to more speeches from Councillor Lewnenza at next Monday's Council meeting telling us we just don't understand. We've been misinformed. Probably the biggest group of people in Windsor who don't understand are the 10 Councillors and Mayor who sit in Council Chambers each week. Maybe they'll have an inkling after November 2010.
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Written by Windsor Shadow
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Tuesday, 03 March 2009 09:35 |
Last night was certainly a long enough Council meeting. If I had enough time, I'd be able to write at least 10 different blogs on the contents (or lack thereof) of last nights meeting. Unfortunately, time is tight so I'd like to focus on Councillor Ken Lewenza's statement last night. Many people may have missed it because it came at the end of part two of last night's marathon session. It was rather funny watching Lewenza trying to correct "misinformation" out there about the focus group or lack of a focus group, without actually saying it was misinformation. The Mayor even jumped in with his own two cents, informing Council that no decisions have been made yet.
What's hilarious, is that this all stems from the interview Councillor Lewenza did with Monica Wolfson. Is Councillor Lewenza now saying he was mis-quoted or that Monica somehow got it wrong? This was the same interview where Lewenza managed to contradict himself and back-off regarding the focus group, all within the space of two paragraphs.
If there is any "misinformation" going on, the fault this time as it was during the last fiasco, lays squarely at the door of the WUC and Councillor Lewenza. What's become obvious now is that the focus group idea was Lewnenza's ham-fisted attempt at floating a trial ballon. To say that it went over like a lead ballon would be putting it mildly. What is very evident is that Councillor Lewenza and the WUC board still haven't learned their lessons in communications and don't appear to be able to rectify the problem anytime soon. It appears that they are still clinging to the delusion that communications problems with the last increase were the fault of everyone but themselves. This doesn't bode well for the future.
There is no doubt that there are difficult decisions to be made about water rates, our water system, infrastructure and planning. These decisions can't be made in a vacuum and shouldn't be made behind closed doors. Now is the time for an open, frank and forthright discussion of all the issues within the community before the final decision is taken, not after.
PS. I'm working on getting a clip of Councillor Lewnenza's statement from last night's meeting.
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 03 March 2009 10:00 |
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Written by Windsor Shadow
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Monday, 02 March 2009 05:53 |
Hey - Councillor's Ken, Ron, Dave and Percy - as much as you say you don't pay attention to blogs, you all seem to exude a certain amount of anger, frustration and confusion whenever discussing them. If they're all irrelevant, not worth reading, sources of disinformation, publicity seeking and ignored by the general community then why all the anger and negativity directed their way? Despite the criticism, this medium continues to grow and thrive. I'd like to welcome the newest bloggers in the area to WE Speak. Cheaper than a focus group and representing a wide array of Windsor/Essex county citizens, you couldn't ask for a better sounding board for the price - FREE!
No Soap for Sale
Thoughts of a CU Comms Girl
Natural Mom's Blog
Mom Biz Coach
SherryMcCourt.com Blog
My Ward 2
Washing Machine
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Written by Windsor Shadow
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Monday, 02 March 2009 05:14 |
While Windsor Mayor Eddie Francis and County Warden Nelson Santos settle into their new chairs at the Windsor Essex Development Commission I don't want them to get any sense of complacency that their actions have delayed or deflected public scrutiny of this taxpayer funded institution.
I've been a frequent blogger and critic on many issues over the last several years but haven't been able to translate that criticism into action as often as I'd like to. Tomorrow that changes, for what it's worth. Below is the text of my Freedom of Information Request that I will be filing with the City of Windsor on Tuesday morning. I certainly don't expect an answer any time soon, if at all, but that doesn't mean that the questions shouldn't be asked.
Details of Request: Windsor Essex Development Commission: Any/all contracts, temporary employments or direct employment for the period January 2006 to present for the classification of Public Relations, Media Relations, Research, Consulting and any related fields. Any and all related commission minutes related to the voting of any contracts, temporary employments or direct employment for the period January 2006 to present for the classification of Public Relations, Media Relations, Research, Consulting and any related fields, specifically any documentation of voting records and declarations of conflict of interest.
This request is only seeking the details of persons/companies or corporations employed and terms of service and not remuneration or any other benefits of contract or employment. Who has been hired for media related duties at the Windsor Essex Development Commision since 2006, for what term of employment and under what authorization? If a recorded vote was not registered within the minutes of the Commission, then a roll of Commissioners attending at the meeting where employment/contracting was authorized would be acceptable along with any declaration of conflict of intereste, if any. |
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Last Updated on Monday, 02 March 2009 06:34 |
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Written by Windsor Shadow
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Saturday, 28 February 2009 17:44 |
Welcome to Windsor's newest blogger My Ward 2 by Caroline Postma.
That gurgling sound you hear is Windsor's new Three Blind Mice choking. (choose your own three!)
Congratulations to Councillor Postma. Her first post lists some pretty good reasons why many politicians today should be embracing social media instead of running away from it. Councillor Postma joins many other Mayors and Councillors in Canada who see value in blogging as a method of communicating with their constitutents.
I've added Caroline's blog to WE Speak and Muniblogs.
Now that the barrier's been broken and another Councillor has joined Alan Halberstadt in blogging, the $64,000 dollar question is; who's next ?
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Last Updated on Saturday, 28 February 2009 20:15 |
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Election Countdown
left until the 2010 Windsor Municipal Election
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