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Your Ideas For Windsor
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September 2009
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Written by Windsor Shadow
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Wednesday, 23 September 2009 10:09 |
 September Bloggers Meet
September 23rd, 7:00 pm - ?
Black Kettle Bistro
357 Ouellette
Everyone's welcome. Come on out and meet area bloggers and talk about whatever's on your mind.
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 23 September 2009 10:16 |
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Written by Windsor Shadow
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Monday, 21 September 2009 02:41 |
Monday's City Council meeting will determine the fate of Our Lady of the Rosary Church and Rectory, 2879 Riverside Drive East.
In the crucial area of Riverside and Drouillard, this is a gem that we can ill afford to lose.
I will be at City Council speaking on behalf of Citizfaction and our next campaign.
Stay tuned!
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Last Updated on Monday, 21 September 2009 03:24 |
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Written by Windsor Shadow
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Wednesday, 16 September 2009 17:05 |
It's bad enough that Kayne West embarassed himself and insulted singer Taylor Swift, but now he's picking on the Windsor Shadow.
Rumour has it that he's also been seen lurking around Windsor Eats.
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Written by Windsor Shadow
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Wednesday, 16 September 2009 11:30 |
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Details of the union-sponsored event reveal that the bands will take a two-minute union-mandated break in the middle of each song, followed by a half hour break after playing the first 45 minutes. The time taken up by audience applause and cheering...
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 16 September 2009 04:34 |
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Written by Windsor Shadow
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Wednesday, 16 September 2009 02:52 |
 Dwight Duncan, Sandra Pupatello and Jeff Watson - where are you?
With the highest unemployment rate in the country and both legislatures in summer recess, you can't come up with one date where you each have two or three hours to spare for your respective ridings? You can also throw Brian Masse and Joe Comartin into the mix regarding this issue. Considering what's at stake for the future of Windsor and Essex County, this isn't a partisan government/opposition issue. I expect each and every one of our elected officials at all levels to be doing their utmost on the single largest issue to affect this region in the last 30 or 40 years.
Instead, what do we get? Photo-ops, sound-bites, press releases and warmed over mushed peas served up as pablum to the unwashed masses who don't know any better.
And they wonder why voting rates in Canada are in a race to the bottom with popularity ratings for used car salesmen, lawyers and funeral directors.
PS. My apologies to Used Car Salesmen, Lawyers and Funeral Directors for lumping you in with such a disreputable group.
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 16 September 2009 03:09 |
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Written by Windsor Shadow
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Wednesday, 16 September 2009 02:26 |
The reaction to the Mayor's announcement of a shakeup in senior management at Windsor City Hall
(BTW, can you tell yet that an election year is coming? Note and file all the bluster and bluff you see now for when you read about your next 86% Windsor Utilities bill increase AFTER the next election!)
H/T to the Windsor Star for the screen grab pic used in this post.
PS. Add up what we're going to be paying in severance over the next year (not to mention legal fees, consultants and outside reports) and tell me again why it's the fault of senior levels of government why we can't afford to fund local programs. Add up the entire cost of the 400 Building Audit debacle alone and you could fund this program for a full year.
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 16 September 2009 02:45 |
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Written by Windsor Shadow
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Monday, 14 September 2009 12:24 |
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It looks like the Windsor Star's Live Streaming of City Council meetings is going to continue. You can watch it on their LiveStream page , on the Windsor Star site itself (Look for it in the left hand sidebar) or right here on the Shadow. |
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Written by Windsor Shadow
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Monday, 14 September 2009 03:28 |
 Last Friday I blogged about the hiring (or lack thereof) of the Windsor Auditor General. My prediction was that it wasn't going to happen until 2010. It seems like I was wrong - sort of.
As I was reviewing this weeks Council Communications for Monday's City Council meeting I came across the minutes for the Audit Committee from April 7th of this year. Anyone reading those minutes would certainly come away with the impression that an Auditor General had already been hired. Interesting, eh?
In a series of motions at the April meeting the Audit Committee received a report from HR regarding the A-G position, approved a term of office of 5 years, directed the Executive Directory of Human Resources to "finalize her process regarding the Auditor General position", authorized the Executive Director to "sign the contract regarding the Auditor General position" and finally a vote of thanks to the Executive Director of Human Resources and the department "for their assistance in selecting the candidate for the Auditor General position".
So what gives? Why haven't we heard an announcement about this? Has it really taken more than six months to negotiate a contract, with no resolution in sight? Have we or have we not decided on a final candidate for this position? If we have, what is the delay in finalizing the hire?
Further on in the minutes, the committee talks about receiving a report from the office of the Auditor General. Interesting since the office exists in name only, with no staff. The only current purpose of the office seems to be shielding Part II of the 400 Building Audit along with the originial "draft" audit conducted by former City Auditor Mike Dunbar.
If a candidate has actually been approved, then it's time to move forward and announce the hiring and begin setting up the office. Other than pure Windsor politics at it's best, what other reason is there for the delay?
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Last Updated on Monday, 14 September 2009 06:13 |
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Written by Windsor Shadow
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Friday, 11 September 2009 00:57 |
For a city with the nation's highest unemployment rate our local politicians and board members certainly have a difficult time filling jobs that pay in excess of $100,000 a year.
Well known is the long and agonizing search for a new head of the Windsor Essex Development commission. A recent Windsor Star article had the new board reviewing 26 candidates and hopefully narrowing that list down to six finalists over the next 6 weeks. That would put the start of the final stage sometime in October. Add in another month for final interviews and we might get an early Christmas present in the form of a new Development Commission CEO.
Next up is the search for a Windsor Auditor General. Given the angst generated by the overly long search for the Development Commission CEO, it's hard to understand why this one has flown under the radar for so long. The Audit committee approved the position posting more than a year ago, in July of 2008. Although I expressed cautious optimism at the time, I still wasn't convinced that the City was in any hurry to fill this position. It was initially stated that the search was expected to take 3 to 6 months.
Much like the initial rejection of the 10 ward boundary system by City Council I suspect that there is a large degree of self-interest at play in delaying the hiring of an Auditor General. Even if they announced a hire in the next month you can assume that the first several months would be spent establishing the office and hiring staff. Next up would be developing an audit plan and then beginning the actual audits. Given the complexities of audits of this nature, we would be lucky to see anything reported on prior to August or September of next year. With the next Municipal Election set for November of 2010, that's not necessarily a bad thing from the view of our current Council incumbents. Every month that the hiring is delayed means we are less likely to see any audits at all prior to the 2010 Municipal Election. You can also add Part II of the 400 Building Audit and the initial 400 Building Audit conducted by former City Auditor Michael Dunbar. These documents have been "moved" to the office of the Windsor Auditor General in order to shield them from release to the public. The only person who can release these documents is the Auditor General. The longer we go without one, the longer the documents remain secret.
Last up is the search for the head of the new Tourism Board. In contrast to the two previous positions, Councillor Dilkens is expecting the search to take approximately one month. A cynic might observe that since there are less politics involved in this hiring that there is no impediment to proceeding with a quick hire. Why else would the Tourism Board be able to accomplish in one or two months what the others haven't been able to do in over a year?
Predictions
1. Tourism Board CEO - October 2009
2. WEDC CEO - December 2009
3. Auditor General - March 2010
Can these predicted timelines be changed? Yes, but only if you get involved. Start asking questions of your local Councillors. Call them or send them an email.Call or email the Mayor's office and ask questions. Write a Letter to the Editor of the Windsor Star. Blog about it. Educate yourself about the issues and get involved. City Council is content with making the decisions they do, or not making any decisions, based on the general indifference of their constituents. When people begin speaking up, Council begins taking notice, especially with an election year approaching.
Time to turn up the heat.
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Last Updated on Friday, 11 September 2009 02:46 |
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Written by Windsor Shadow
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Friday, 04 September 2009 11:04 |
Chris Schnurr blogged about this article the other day. I've been rather busy with work lately, but I didn't want to let this one pass by.
I found the board's administration report, as detailed by the article, rather bizzare.
More trustees required? Why? The boundaries are changing, not the population. Currently the Public Board elects four Trustees representing a combined Wards 1,2 and 3 and two Trustees for a combined Wards 4 and 5. The Catholic Board elects one Trustee each in Wards 2, 3 and 4.
Seeking a legal opinion is simply a waste of time and money. If the Board is contemplating a legal challenge of some sort, they're not going to get very far. Rather than wasting money on legal fees the Board would be far better served if they hired Dr. Williams to assist them in redistributing their Trustees. He has all of the data at hand and is well versed with the issues. Provide him with the relevant school data and let him get to work.
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