Yet another planning session…
On Monday, there was yet another planning session for our Downtown. The outcome was unremarkable. There seems to be a growing understanding that downtown needs work among our council and, they seem to understand the things that need to be done. Sadly, our mayor doesn’t see it the same way.
IMO the mayor has made up his mind that Caesar’s Windsor is the future of downtown and if anyone else wants to be there, good luck. “The Red Carpet Starts Here” banners can be found as far out of downtown as Walker and County Road 42. This campaign implies that if you are coming into Windsor it must be to go to the casino and so just follow these signs and we’ll get you there, nice and easy. He knows that Caesar’s must do well to increase the shrinking dividend cheques that come from the OLG. He knows that a big chunk of the city budget depends on those OLG monies. The city may facilitate yet another planning session but don’t expect a dime toward any action plans.
The reality going forward is that Windsor is going to be a poorer city. The mayor and councilors don’t have to face the voters for two more years, if there was a good time to tell us how bad its going to be, now is the time. They can give us the worst case scenario and then campaign on their leadership in tough times that saved us from our worst nightmares. But, if the politicians don’t step up soon and tell us the truth, if they continue to keep their heads down and hope everything blows over by November, 2010, then we’re all in trouble.
Why do I think Windsor will be poorer? It starts with rising fuel prices. The big problem with higher fuel prices for the city is going to become apparent at budget time. A little bird told me the other day that City Hall is looking at a $7 million budget shortfall due to rapidly increasing fuel prices. The $7 million is figured at $1.30/liter gas, if gas and diesel go higher so will the cost overrun. That means the 2009 budget will have to address this shortfall and then find savings to adjust for higher fuel prices for the next year. Based on rising fuel prices alone the City of Windsor will have fewer dollars to work with in 2009 than they had this year. What will it be? Higher taxes to preserve existing services or service cuts to keep any tax increase low?
On the revenue side, higher fuel prices reduce the chances of increasing traffic at Windsor Airport. That will mean less income from landing and take-off fees and more budget deficits. Windsor has a surplus of residential units and there are lots of vacant commercial spaces as well so we should expect fewer building permits and the fees that go with those in the near future. These are just a sampling of the revenue problems that Windsor will face. With operating costs going up and revenues declining we should not expect anything more than the bare minimum from our local government.
It’s not a secret that I am a pessimist as far as the economic future of our city goes. I got involved with scaledown because I feel it is imperative that we make every effort to slow down and simplify how we live in the city and improve our relationships with our neighbours and local businesses. Downtown businesses and downtown residents as well as all the other BIA’s and their communities need to work together to improve themselves. The city is not going to have the resources to increase funding to programs or improve services. We will have to do all the work ourselves to keep the fabric of our city from ripping to tatters.
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I am not surprised by “last minute” Eddie’s attempts to “stay positive”.
Sadly he reminds me of the Jewish people who stayed in Nazi Germany because they thought things couldn’t get much worse and that they would in fact get better. Unfortunately that didn’t work out for the poor souls who were murdered by madmen. Is Windsor’s woes going to get worse? From my sources (business leaders, owners and inside moles state yes, it will get worse before it will get “somewhat” better) it certainly seems that way.
For anyone to bank on ONE attraction to turn around a downtown is absolutely insane! Every single study for the re-birth of a city/downtown states the EXACT OPPOSITE! But I guess people like “last minute” Eddie think that by sticking their heads in the sand and saying aloud “all is good, all is good” will in turn do just that.
In the REAL world, we know that is not the case. We all know actions speak louder than words and the mayor’s office certainly has no shortage of words but sure is low on the action.
I guess our mayor and his pals (read lawyers) can only do two things at one time which seems to benefit them.
1) Greenlink (lawyer fees and Eddie’s legacy)
2) Tunnel deal (Lawyer fees, but not sure what else as it make no sense whatsoever).
All other issues are on the backburner. But while Windsor figures out it’s next steps other cities are doing what they need to do and not just studying things for the 5th time in 10 years.
Mr. Francis, you do not need another strategy session. Dust off the reports by Bellmio and all of the others including the CIPs and do just what they say. You can’t tell me you know more or better than the experts who were hired to do exactly what you won’t.
By the way I find it insulting to the taxpayer that those in the downtown area were not allowed to attend this “strategic” meeting. From what I see on council and the mayor none of them have that expertise to state what is important for downtown. Whether it is for business or residents they don’t have the knowledge or ideas to make the change.
Heck, I can even give them a few contacts that I know from a few different cities that have done significant changes for the better for their city’s. They actually put words, time, money into action without using a lot of taxpayers dollars.
Why hasn’t Windsor?
Because the old boys club will not allow it. Because the accolades won’t go to just a few people. Because it is easier to talk the talk than walk the walk. Because they want to be the saviour of everything. And of course we are just lowly taxpayers to be fleeced when needed that is why. Frankly I am getting tired of waiting and hearing the same BS every week.
But I will be hitting back. Come election time I have a small army that is willing and able to make sure those elected officials will NOT get re-elected again! Eespecially the ones who vote no on every issue downtown, who have done nothing to help the residents of downtown and the rest Windsor. I am putting my money and my mouth into action! Will you folks out there do the same or will we continue to hear people complain but do nothing?
Thank the Lord for Scaledown and those who get the idea of a better city for all.
ME, it’s about more than just downtown. Windsor has been spread too thin by developers chasing the easy money building greenfield projects on the fringes of the city.
Anyone that wants to win the next election had better start planning on salvaging everything that is going to be sacrificed over the next two years as the current bunch try to keep the everything-is-just fine charade going. People that can promote neighbourhood unity and cooperation to help make-up for the shortfalls in city services will be needed and appreciated the most.
I suspect that we will have a city full of holes. Empty factories, homes and commercial buildings that will need to be dealt with rather than planning glamourous new subdivisions and high end condo developments.
We can sit back and think that everything will come up roses and that Red Bull will be back and that the casino will flood the city with money and the new arena will be a similarly great success. But, the reality is that things are still going to get worse for Windsor and nobody is talking about how we can mitigate the damage that is sure to come.
I agree with James on this one and an article in today’s Windsor Star points in that direction: Region’s economy to shrink, stats say
http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/news/story.html?id=ff19a39e-5293-48dd-867a-3e7745cb59a1
In that article I think that the Conference Board of Canada in their new report “Metropolitan Outlook,” paints a to rosy a picture for Windsor over the next few years or at least the Star reporter was trying to pull some good from it.
Some cities in the United States are already reducing the use of all city vehicles to the basics including fire, police, ambulances, if not removing those vehicles from the roads all together. The mayor of San Diego California who wrote a blog, has been aware of the coming Peak Oil crisis for years and has been planning for it but even she can’t deal with the rapid costs of fuel prices and trying to deal with city services, as she stated “this city is really over the OIL barrel and I don’t know how to make it work!”
I to am a pessimists, I lived in this city to long and can now see the differences of cyclical cycles of the auto industry as we knew it and what is happening now. This as someone else wrote here, is a paradigm shift that this city has never experienced. And we aren’t done yet with the bad news coming our way, Windsor isn’t a player in the global or regional economy anymore if it ever was. We always lived by the whim of the once big three and now the big three are living and dying by the speculation of someone else.
Since Ontario and Quebec live on imported oil from the Middle East and not from Alberta or Saskatchewan, we are going to be hit even harder with not the just the rising prices of oil and gas but the distribution of those products to the city and area. Get use to hearing the word “SURCHARGE” for everything that we eat, use or need to buy!
We all hate the GST and PST, you are absolutely going to go ballistic when everybody and their dog starts adding unregulated surcharges to everything and I mean everything!
I would really like the real time numbers on out migrations of our population in this area, they will tell us more of the state of the area than anything else. Maybe we will have to become another Youngstown Ohio and start leveling homes, buildings and factories and start shrinking our city before the whole thing becomes a derelict area.
Plan all you want and we have plenty of plans sitting on the shelves of our library gathering dust and I also agree with ME, our mayor is only interested in BIG IDEAS not the mundane things of actually running a city. The picture of Eddie in the Windsor Star at the new casino ASCENDING the escalator tells more than everything were his ego lies but what he doesn’t realize is that escalators come in pairs. What goes up, must come……………….down.
Is it really all Eddie’s fault?? … chasing the next big MegaProject™ to save us all … this is symptomatic of the norm in our society … the quick fix, the easy solution, chasing what is politically expedient … simply examine obesity and the diet industry —> take a pill and drop the pounds - no need to diet / exercise … or see a doctor who prescribes meds rather than take a holistic approach.
or in a municipality starving for jobs … pursue $30 million to reopen a Ford plant building already obsolete V8’s rather than investigate other options. Such as finding 15 small entrepreneurial / innovative / maybe green industries that could use $2 million each as start up capital.
Is a city that shrinks necessarily a bad thing?? Economics preaches growth … but, isn’t that what caused many of our problems in the first place? Maybe a pause … to re-evaluate … to investigate sustainable growth … it could be beneficial!!
I would like to see our Mayor embrace a more long term path … focus on making Windsor a green, walkable, functional, sustainable city … not just changes to the conversation but through leadership that creates meaningful, purposeful change.
How about a city …
that vigorously pursues LEED certification,
that enables green power (rather than allow gas power plants to built along the Scenic Drive / Urban highway?),
that will focus on creating mixed use nodes that allow people to walk to the “mundane” things they have to do, work , shopping , entertainment
a city that will pursue electric buses / streetcars with the right of way,
turn our many rail corridors into public transit corridors,
turn our major thoroughfares into one lane roads with parking to create a more pedestrian friendly environment,
promote community based power projects / markets
encourage local entrepreneurs / industries
I think I could go on for hours … I hope my point is clear!! Just remember the silver lining to our economic downturn is a chance to re-invent ourselves … low property values, especially in the older parts of the city, make it economically viable to redevelop … hopefully, in a sustainable way!!
The only, great fear I have … is what our city tends to do during every downturn … accept any investment / development at whatever cost simply because it provides immediate relief …
remember … it’s the pause that refreshes …
I strongly don’t believe in placing blame on the mayor. Everyone must take responsibility. The DWBIA needs to stop everything until it gets a New ED and then start again. that might mean a bit of short term pain for long term gain.
WE definitely need more business leaders need to weigh in on the debate.
The Chamber and the WEDC need to take a more active role to support increasing density in the core. Dr. Alfie Morgan from the Small Business task force needs to publicly weigh in on this debate. I mean you have the majority of independant small businesses in the core and the task force did not even address the shrinking customer base of residents near these businesses.
I have suggested to my scaledown partners that we draft a statement of principals or actions and then have this statement signed in support by prominent community leaders.
We will only see change when our community demands it as a whole, not n the peicemeal fashion that we are doing it now.
The mayor’s job is to promote Windsor and I think he’s doing that to the best of his ability. You have Border issues consuming too much time of our city leaders. You have a city that adopts reports without thinking them through hanging people out to dry when they actually dare to expect them to.
You need a list of who should do what, we all need to agree on what to do and support each other regardless of any personal grudges or issues. Grow up and get the job done.
…and therein lies the rub Mark. The personal grudges. We know that permeates city hall and it certainly shouldn’t.
Just because people are holding the flame to the feet of those in charge it shouldn’t have a result of those same people being ignored or dismissed.
I agree 100%. These leaders should either grow up and get the job done or resign.
As I stated before, the old boy’s clubs days are numbered because the world is passing them by at an alarming speed. But the worst part of it is that W.E. all feel the consequences.