You do have to have some sympathy for the Mayor. He had a grand vision for himself and for Windsor. The border crossing issue would do marvellous things for us both. Instead, he totally blew it for himself and for us! Whoever his strategists were, if in fact he had any, allowed him to overplay his hand. He had nowhere to go but down and down he went.
From a position where Eddie had the PM, the Premier and the US Ambassador eating out of his hand, now they all but ignore him. From a place at the table, he was forced to "snub" them. $80 million or so in projects in limbo. $200 million plus doing nothing for Windsorites. A route to the border that DRIC decided on being imposed on us. Windsor begging them not to destroy the Sandwich Community.
His grand concept of owning and operating the Tunnel (with or without the City of Detroit) perhaps even being a proponent for a new crossing...like visions of sugar-plums dancing in his head at Christmas time. Instead faced down by a smart Bridge Co. protecting their business, who out-manoeuvered the "Young Entrepreneur of the Year." No wonder Gord Henderson admitted: "I’m in awe of Moroun and his hired hands. These folks are the masters. They’re always two or three cunning moves ahead of the other players…"
When Eddie had a chance to partner with the Bridge Co., and they begged him to do so in a series of advertisements in the Star, he ignored them. The best he could say about their intermediate term, 200 booth solution was "The commission feels (the bridge plan) doesn't make any sense." Why partner with a company proposing to redevelop South West Detroit. Why form an alliance with a Company that would enter into a public/private partnership if the Bloomberg story is right. Why deal with a Company that would improve the Tunnel's operations.
Oh and his border strategy: rally for the billion-dollar short-term Schwartz dream that fell apart within days of its release, and concede the long-term decision-making to DRIC. After all, he was only elected to develop a long-term solution for the City.
Instead of asking Windsorites for help when the Senior Levels reacted negatively, he did not share that information with us. The proponent at election time for open and transparent government could only have his Plan endorsed in secret, afraid to even have a formal Council Resolution introduced! And when it did come forward, in the infamous Agenda Item #5, the matter was deferred because of the fear of the consequences when almost every citizen's group in the City opposed it.
His waste of time and money trying to promote the Schwartz Proposal was revealed finally as nothing more than a "starting point" when the Feds finally had enough and called his bluff with the Cansult report. And with that, one wonders why anything he says will be taken seriously again!
And was it Eddie who made the admission....of course not. His mentor had to fall on the sword in public, in a TV interview, protecting his colleague. His mentor also was forced to ask the question publically at Council in the presence of DRIC about why no one listend to the City of Windsor. They listened to the communities in Detroit. They had power while Windsor did not. At least the DRIC members had the courtesy not to give the answer.
It is a sad story not only for the City but for the Mayor's future. What has it come down to now....CODA, CODA, CODA. Another new buzz word. We received a hint of what it is on the Face-to-Face interview when Eddie talked about roads in Windsor. We no longer have a position on the border crossing.
What is CODA? It was explained to me in the following way:
From a position where Eddie had the PM, the Premier and the US Ambassador eating out of his hand, now they all but ignore him. From a place at the table, he was forced to "snub" them. $80 million or so in projects in limbo. $200 million plus doing nothing for Windsorites. A route to the border that DRIC decided on being imposed on us. Windsor begging them not to destroy the Sandwich Community.
His grand concept of owning and operating the Tunnel (with or without the City of Detroit) perhaps even being a proponent for a new crossing...like visions of sugar-plums dancing in his head at Christmas time. Instead faced down by a smart Bridge Co. protecting their business, who out-manoeuvered the "Young Entrepreneur of the Year." No wonder Gord Henderson admitted: "I’m in awe of Moroun and his hired hands. These folks are the masters. They’re always two or three cunning moves ahead of the other players…"
When Eddie had a chance to partner with the Bridge Co., and they begged him to do so in a series of advertisements in the Star, he ignored them. The best he could say about their intermediate term, 200 booth solution was "The commission feels (the bridge plan) doesn't make any sense." Why partner with a company proposing to redevelop South West Detroit. Why form an alliance with a Company that would enter into a public/private partnership if the Bloomberg story is right. Why deal with a Company that would improve the Tunnel's operations.
Oh and his border strategy: rally for the billion-dollar short-term Schwartz dream that fell apart within days of its release, and concede the long-term decision-making to DRIC. After all, he was only elected to develop a long-term solution for the City.
Instead of asking Windsorites for help when the Senior Levels reacted negatively, he did not share that information with us. The proponent at election time for open and transparent government could only have his Plan endorsed in secret, afraid to even have a formal Council Resolution introduced! And when it did come forward, in the infamous Agenda Item #5, the matter was deferred because of the fear of the consequences when almost every citizen's group in the City opposed it.
His waste of time and money trying to promote the Schwartz Proposal was revealed finally as nothing more than a "starting point" when the Feds finally had enough and called his bluff with the Cansult report. And with that, one wonders why anything he says will be taken seriously again!
And was it Eddie who made the admission....of course not. His mentor had to fall on the sword in public, in a TV interview, protecting his colleague. His mentor also was forced to ask the question publically at Council in the presence of DRIC about why no one listend to the City of Windsor. They listened to the communities in Detroit. They had power while Windsor did not. At least the DRIC members had the courtesy not to give the answer.
It is a sad story not only for the City but for the Mayor's future. What has it come down to now....CODA, CODA, CODA. Another new buzz word. We received a hint of what it is on the Face-to-Face interview when Eddie talked about roads in Windsor. We no longer have a position on the border crossing.
What is CODA? It was explained to me in the following way:
- "CODA stands for Conditions of Design Acceptance.
CODA has nothing to do with whether the bridge is public or private. It has nothing to do with bridge location. Its purpose is to proactively propose what the City would be willing to accept in terms of route designs. The City needs to be able to say what it is for, instead of just stating what it is against.
The City would not be fighting DRIC but instead would be trying to push them in a direction more favourable to Windsorites. This would be consistent in keeping with the principle of coming up with locally derived solutions for the community and trying to dissuade the DRIC from imposing on Windsor the cheapest solution."
Now the cries of Councillor Valentinis and the Mayor at the Council meeting when DRIC was in attendance about agricultural and vacant land make sense. Mere posturing again for public consumption when they know we have NO bargaining position. Imagine the people on Talbot Road trusting this Council!
"Oh please do not build a road that way DRIC engineers," Council and the Mayor will plead, "but listen to Gridlock Sam, whom we are going to hire again, and build it his way." As if they will really listen!
How the mighty have fallen. From being a decision-maker re the border, Windsor can now only offer engineering advice on how a road to the border should be built! That is the legacy of Eddie Francis as our Mayor on the border.
The tragedy is that it did not have to end this way.
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