Begging to be bought off: Kenny Rogers and Greenlink

“You got to know when to hold ‘em.
  Know when to fold ‘em.  Know when to walk away. Know when to run.”

Kenny Rogers

“Windsor needs a couple of heroes right now, folks who put this city’s interests ahead of special interests.”

I wonder who Gord Henderson is claiming has special interests?  One would think with the allegedly wide-spread support of the city’s Greenlink proposal our two MPPs would be chomping at the bit and claiming that Greenlink was their idea.  To do otherwise would be political suicide I would imagine.

But I don’t know who Gord Henderson is kidding.  He writes:

Nobody wants to see this in a courtroom. That would be tragic, especially given how DRIC has been moving at tortoise speed. But that’s where it’s headed unless the preem and our MPPs kickstart a compromise.

Francis is holding out the proverbial olive branch: “There’s still time,” he insisted. “But someone has to take the bull by the horns and fix the gaping holes.”

Compromise?  There is no compromise – and that’s the problem our Mayor, some councillors and a possible Mayoral candidate have created for themselves.

Mayor Francis has told the people behind the 16,500 postcards supporting Greenlink that the city’s newest proposal, which cost the city $500,000, is “not negotiable”:

 ”This is it. This is the city of Windsor’s position”  (October 10th, 2007).

Interestingly, the city’s other position was Schwartz I:

A new truck access route to the bridge from Highway 401. It proceeds north on Talbot Road to a new Huron Church Road bypass, and then west, running north of and parallel to Todd Lane. The new road crosses Malden Road and possibly goes through — or under — the Ojibway Nature Preserve.

Innovative street structures to shield neighbourhoods, including a below-grade roadway on Talbot Road for trucks. At-grade car lanes overhang each side of the truck culvert, holding in noise and air pollution in a cantilever design used commonly in the U.S. (Windsor Star, January 22, 2005).

If the current DRIC Parkway is “cheap,”  the city’s original proposition for an access road would be the bargain store of solutions in comparison.

However, the Mayor has no choice.  Resident’s are being led to believe that a lawsuit would result in Greenlink being adopted, which brings us to what this is really all about.

Two things really – someone’s political future and cash – gobs and gobs of cold hard cash.

Councillor Halberstadt clued us in back on May 30, 2006 when he defended the rising legal costs of David Estrin:

He and his colleagues on council are holding firm in their demand that the federal and provincial governments pick up the city’s legal tab at the end of the day. It’ll be a drop in the bucket in a project that could reach into the billions of dollars.

“When you look at it from that perspective, $2.3 million isn’t a lot of money.

And that will be the ultimate compromise. 

Ken Lewenza Jr. and the Mayor want residents to believe that the county has been bought off to support the W.E. Parkway - but could the city in pursuing a lawsuit be begging to be bought off?

Shake that legal cage long enough and the Province may just sign over a cheque and upload a road to thwart any legal battle and begin construction.  

Now I’m not a lawyer, but I don’t believe a judge could order the Province of Ontario to construct Greenlink.  Based upon the Red Hill Valley case, all a judge could possibly do is rule that the DRIC did not follow its own guidelines paving the way (pardon the pun) for the city to seek punitive damages (read gobs of cash) and force the DRIC to restart the entire process over again taking us well past 2025 before a shovel hits the ground.

The question is, would it make a difference? 

With ample capacity at the Bluewater Bridge amidst plunging traffic volumes; an improved and expanded 401 and a multitude of crossings in the Niagara area, I could conceivably see senior levels of government folding their cards before paying one red cent.

While Mick Jagger may be on Mayor Francis’ mind, Kenny Rogers is on mine, as well as the Mayor’s pious lecture of the DRIC team, “Let’s be honest with people, let’s not misguide them.”

What Greenlink is really about is showin’ the city da’ money.  That’s it.  It’s not about tunnels or parks or soccer fields, especially considering Mayor Francis stated in defence of Schwartz I:

“Given the alternatives we’re facing, I would far rather see truck pollution filtered by trees than by lungs” (Windsor Star, January 26, 2005).

The question is will the ”preem” cave and write the script for cash-strapped border communities across the province?  If so, David Estrin will be a very busy and very rich fellow.

The only “compromise” in this entire border debacle is of the monetary kind and in the process irrevocably damaging Windsor’s reputation – if it hasn’t already occurred.

Mayor and council may not fold, but the province could run.

So I would agree with Mr. Henderson – I too am looking for a few heroes – 6 actually.