Windsor Independent - January 2016

SHOPPING
FOR VOTES:
CITY COUNCIL
STYLE
BY JON LIEDTKE
City council has been hijacked.
It was hijacked before this
council was sworn in, and it
appears as if it will remain as such.
It was hijacked by greed, manipulation,
and a lack of concern for the basic tenets of
democracy.
When councillors approved the enhanced
capital budget, it signalled that the ‘Sunny Ways’
Canadians have been observing on the federal
scene will bypass the 401 entirely.
Blatant vote buying is taking place. The
mayor, with support of friendly councillors,
has continued a legacy set before him by his
predecessor of helping councillors geo-target
and ‘purchase’ votes from residents.
A simple look at the Mayor’s initiatives approved
in the enhanced capital budget is enough to turn
your stomach and fill your head with rage.
Of $10 million doled out - whether in sacks
of cash stamped with a money symbol or in
envelopes handed out in a dark alley - $6.1
million went directly to the mayor’s friendly
councillors for ward enrichments meant to
appease their constituents: $1.5 million went
to Hilary Payne (Ward 9), $1.1 million to Ed
Sleiman (Ward 5), $2.1 million to Paul Borrelli
(Ward 10), $600,000 to Fred Francis (Ward 1),
and $800,000 to Jo-Anne Gignac (Ward 6).
It should surprise no one that this group of
councillors received a wonderful Christmas
present: reelection, so long as they continue
to do exactly what has has been set out before
them.
In order to fend off rightful outrage at this
blatant abuse of democracy, and sound and
ethical business practices, the enhanced
capital budget also includes a $2 million arts
endowment, meant to unveil annual art pieces
throughout the city (hey, artists love art,
right? That should appease them), $400,000
to be divided equally among all councillors,
amounting to $40,000 each, and a mysterious
$1.5 million sum reserved for “environmentally
significant lands acquisition”, perhaps something
to appease those pesky environmentalists who
keep hammering on about very legitimate issues
that we just don’t have time for right now.
What we have is a municipal omnibus in this
enhanced capital budget - oppose one part of it,
and you oppose the whole thing.
I can just hear the talking point from the mayor
and friendly councillors: “You don’t think $2
million for artists is a good thing?”, they’ll say
slyly, almost with a Cheshire Cat grin, knowing
we’ve all been duped.
It’s time for something new.
We are past the point where we can allow our
citizens to be misled purposefully. What we
need is a new course. What we need, is a new
voice. What Windsor needs is accountability;
something we’ve been lacking.
This administration, much like the one before
it, is a failure. Not a failure in the sense that they
did not achieve their goals, but because, quite
frankly, they have; above and beyond.
A failure because they’re resorting to these types
of actions.
It’s not that they’re not nice people, and
assuredly, they have the best interests of their
constituents at the forefront of their mind.
But, is this the cost of zero-tax increases?
Having to gut our political morals and accept
that playing in the mud is the only way to get
things done?
Perhaps. For the time being, it appears the
answer is yes.
10 JANUARY 2016 Vol. 04 | Issue 01