Francis Targets Marra

By Robert Tuomi

(WINDSOR, ON) – In the land of the unaccountable the unaccountable smile. They do other things too, like start the election season for the 2014 municipal vote. Chris Vander Doelen, a columnist at the Windsor Star, told us back on February 23, 2012 that we might as well get ready for “a gruelling 33-month-long municipal election campaign.”

Apparently, the campaign began in earnest, at least in the eyes of the mayor of Windsor, an Edgar Francis, when people started questioning why the Auditor General had to go because he was rudely planning to audit things. According to Vander, the mayor personally told him that “several candidates for council have declared an early, early start to the 2014 campaign. Their need to get some muck to stick to him and other incumbents is what’s driving the recent spate of non-scandalous scandal reports emanating from city hall.”

So the games have begun and from the early results it appears that the mayor has identified who he thinks is possibly his most daunting opponent being former mayoral aspirant and current councillor Bill Marra. It is a tactic that may well backfire, if Marra is up to a considerable challenge facing him at the Hotel-Dieu Grace Hospital Foundation.

http://www.windsorsquare.ca/2012/03/francis-targets-marra/

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Windsor Is Only A Small Town, Really

By Ed Arditti

I know that the Mayor likes to throw around the word “world-class” whenever he has one of his mind’s eye visions. I guess it makes him feel good to do so thinking that he actually might live in a big city rather than in a town with a population that is probably around 200,000 or even less now with all the unemployed people who moved out of here looking for jobs elsewhere.

Of course, when he comes up with one of these ideas, the Star Columnists have to compare us with all of the locations around the world to make us feel good that we are spending so much money on these white elephants rather than using it for silly things like roads and sewers and watermains.

I wanted to do a Blog about why Dwight Duncan, Deputy Premier/Minister of Finance and one of the two MPPs for Windsor, has been invisible on the Auditor General Termination fiasco. Ultimately, whether he wants to or not, he’s going to get dragged into it. I wanted to try to explain why he is not out in front of this matter rather than being forced to react to it down the road.

http://www.windsorsquare.ca/2012/03/windsor-is-only-a-small-town-really/

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Where’s The Auditor General And Other Stories Of Interest

Where’s The Auditor General And Other Stories Of Interest

Just a few stores to try to capture your interest

WUC RATES TO BE AT 0% TOO NOW

Where oh where is the Auditor General who should be looking into whether or not our Water Utility is being run properly. Oh, I forgot. We don’t have one.

Oh, is it election time already? I thought the next municipal election was not for a few more years. I wonder why the water rates are now supposed to be kept at no increase when there is an obvious demand for watermain replacement. Just take a look at the photo I posted the other day about the mess at East Gate Estates. Or what took place in front of my house.

Former Councillor Junior will be livid at how this Utility is being run in such a political manner to its detriment. But we know why don’t we. Remember the Inaugural speech from Edgar (aka Eddie) and how it was described by mini-Gord:

http://www.windsorsquare.ca/2012/03/wheres-the-auditor-general-and-other-stories-of-interest/

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Zalev and the A-word

By Anne Jarvis

Audits? What audits? If I had a nickel for every time Max Zalev told me “Enwin is audited all the time,” I’d be rich.

Zalev has told me this so many times that it should be the corporation’s new slogan, carved above the entrance to its building on Ouellette Avenue, emblazoned on its trucks criss-crossing the city, stamped at the top of my monthly bill, which I send to my accountant to decipher.

Zalev, of course, is chairman of Windsor’s audit committee and CEO of Enwin Utilities, which is owned by the city. (Lots of people think that’s a conflict of interest.)

Here, straight from my notes, for the record, is what Zalev has said.

http://www.windsorstar.com/news/Jarvis+Zalev+word/6275238/story.html

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Enwin never had detailed audit: OEB

Board counters claims of Zalev, Francis

By Dave Battagello

WINDSOR, Ont. — The Ontario Energy Board says it has never performed a detailed audit of Enwin Utilities nor undertaken a “value for money” investigation.

“It’s not our mandate, it’s not what we do,” said Sylvia Kovesfalvi, acting manager of communications for the province’s energy board.

Enwin CEO Max Zalev and Mayor Eddie Francis say there is no need for the city’s internal audit department to dig deeper into the city’s utility company because it is thoroughly audited by the OEB.

The issue arose following the firing of the city’s auditor general, Todd Langlois, who alleges that among the reasons for his termination was his desire to audit Enwin.

Langlois has launched a $2.4-million wrongful dismissal lawsuit against the city.

An auditor general can undertake a value-for-money audit which can assess the effectiveness and efficiency in the way money is spent. That differs from regulatory or financial audits which focus on compliance, taxation and the accuracy of financial statements.

The mayor has repeatedly indicated anyone is welcomed to audit Enwin, but he added the cost would be huge and a waste since OEB “has auditors who come in” to study the balance sheets.

http://www.windsorstar.com/news/Enwin+never+detailed+audit/6275239/story.html

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Is The City Of Windsor Hiding Something

By Ed Arditti

Slowly but surely the rights of citizens are being eaten away. Secrecy above all has become the rule in Windsor.

I must admit I don’t understand the reason for it all. It really isn’t all that complicated running a town the size of Windsor. Why is there the need to keep so much information away from us?

Are our Leaders so afraid that we cannot handle the truth? Are they keeping away the truth from us because it would be so horrific for us to know? Or could it be something worse or at least something that can give rise to such a concern?

This is not an academic concern. The last thing that we need in this City at this time is to be distracted. Yet we are. The Langlois affair is a disgrace. And then I read Council Halberstadt’s Blog today and was extremely disgusted. I’ll talk about it later.

I found this commentary in the Detroit Metro Times very interesting:

http://www.windsorsquare.ca/2012/03/is-the-city-of-windsor-hiding-something/

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Helga’s Cone Of Silence

By Ed Arditti

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. Helga Reidel, the City of Windsor Chief Administrative Office could be in serious trouble. Not because of what she wrote, although that is bad enough, but in the manner in which she is trying to control information. Tell me if it seems like overkill to you as it does to me.

Whatever happened to open and transparent government in Windsor?

Clearly, Helga must have wanted to keep something secret in a recent e-mail of hers. She probably did not want mere taxpayers to be able to see it. I guess that whatever it is had to be kept all hush-hush.

She must have revealed something shocking in an e-mail to her confidants, the Senior members of Administration, but it was addressed also to all City Hall employees. In fact, she effectively implored that it be posted because some poor souls working for the City don’t have a computer so could not read it supposedly.

Imagine that, a document that is e-mailed around to employees and posted on City bulletin boards but cannot be forwarded to anyone else. I can understand if it was something secret and confidential, but then, it would not be sent around to everyone and posted on bulletin boards would it.

What’s the big deal then? Why can’t it be sent around for Windsorites to see? I would like to have posted it on the Square but I understand that at the bottom of her e-mail she scares everyone half to death with her “copyright notice.”

http://www.windsorsquare.ca/2012/03/helgas-cone-of-silence/

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Enwin/WUC Monies

By Ed Arditti

I prepared the attached table just to let you know how much money the Mayor and Members of Council received from the Utilities every year. Click here for a better view of it.

Did we get value for money for all of these fees paid out? I guess we won’t know for a while until these organizations are audited and who knows when that will be. Enwin Energy as an example doesn’t seem to be doing too much so why are there so many Directors and how much money do they receive every year?

I gathered this information from Windsor Star stories over the past few years. It may not be hundred percent accurate but it gives you an indication, dear reader, of the amount of money that is paid over by Enwin/WUC. There is an issue with respect to the Mayor’s salary dealing with Municipal Elected Officers’ Allowance and exactly how much the Mayor received from the Utilities because the Star stories don’t deal with these very well as far as I am concerned.

You need to ask yourself how many meetings are required to deal with important matters in these Organizations. The Star reported at one time what the fees were:

http://www.windsorsquare.ca/2012/03/enwinwuc-monies/

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Why Windsor Does Not Have A 0% Tax Increase

By Ed Arditti

It’s our tax money burning a hole in Edgar’s pocket.

“The five-year plan for the city shows that the “non-traditional” side of the capital budget will have $32.1 million in untethered money in each of the years 2014 and 2015…

“There’s $64.2 million in unallocated funds. That is money that’s available,” Colucci said.” (Dalson Chen, The Windsor Star April 1, 2011)”

Is it really any wonder that Councillors’ role in this year’s Budget process is virtually non-existent.

Given all of the noise about the Auditor General, if the Eminence Greasie was around, the suggestion to the Mayor would have been to REDUCE taxes not hold them to a 0% increase. Even if it was a miniscule reduction, pretend to give the public something to really cheer about.

Imagine the headline that would have created that would have buried all of those negative stories about the firing of Mr. Langlois. Why, without trying too hard, the Star could have written about all of this positive tax news for weeks. I can just imagine what the lob throwers on CKLW would have said every Tuesday morning when questioning the Mayor.

The sycophantic praise would almost have been unbearable after a while.

http://www.windsorsquare.ca/2012/03/why-windsor-does-not-have-a-0-tax-increase/

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AG Blocked From Investigating Fraud

By Chris Schnurr

On the CBC, Mayor Francis may dismiss allegations that he, the CAO, and the audit committee prevented the city’s Auditor General from doing his job as “irrelevant” in the court of law; but when it comes to the confidence taxpayers place in both administration and council, these allegations are very troubling.

In fact, they are so relevant that hundreds of people are signing petitions throughout the city including one calling upon the Auditor General of Ontario (AGO) to take a look at Enwin Utilities, Enwin Energy and Windsor Canada Utilities Ltd. and another asking the AGO to review Windsor’s Office of the Auditor General. A residents group Taxpayers for Accountability in Municipal Affairs has also been created, of which I am a member.

Now we’ve learned through Anne Jarvis’ column the Auditor General, Todd Langlois, was being shut out of fraud investigations and according to emails acquired by the Windsor Square, this may have included an ongoing investigation.

http://www.windsorsquare.ca/2012/03/ag-blocked-from-investigating-fraud/

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