Periodically, I am going to post stories that I find interesting. Just to make sure that you understand, I do not necessarily take a position for or against what is disclosed in any of the articles. If I do comment, they are just my opinions and you can come to your own conclusions.
This still mystifies me.
I never understood why the Mayor sat on this information for several months and then only revealed it and discussed it around budget time. Clearly, it was a time when he needed cash to be used and it was readily available.
Maybe he should have told us why he was waiting for so long. As you will see subsequently, there may well have been a reason for it:
"Windsor mayor slams economic development group for sitting on $2 million
Dilkens 'flabbergasted'
money wasn't spent on attracting new jobs
CBC News Posted: Nov 30,
2015
Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens says the Windsor-Essex Economic Development Commission didn't spend $2 million in its budget.
Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens can't understand why the region's economic development corporation is sitting on $2 million in unspent budget money, considering the city's soaring unemployment figures.
Sometime within the last two months, the city discovered the Windsor Essex Economic Development Corporation was sitting on the cash, which is the equivalent of a year's operating revenue, according to Dilkens.
The mayor dropped news about the unspent money while laying out Windsor's 2016 draft budget proposal during a news conference at city hall Monday."
Is this budgetary nonsense
What is the game that is being played, in respect to the City's budget position?
"Only 'faint' hope exists for eighth-straight zero per cent tax hike
Craig Pearson, Windsor
Star
Published on: December1, 2015
Windsor’s impressive string of property tax freezes may be over — though Mayor Drew Dilkens still holds out a glimmer of hope.
After seven-straight years of no property tax increases, the City of Windsor on Monday publicly released a five-inch thick collection of budget documents, with administration recommending a 1.75 per cent tax hike.
The good news is that for the first time in years, the city is projecting about $1 million in increased revenue, thanks to more building projects, and a decrease in education costs, due to fewer students.
“But we can get pretty darn close.”
Of course, this has to be considered as complete and utter nonsense in my opinion considering that the Mayor came up with a huge sum of money a few minutes before midnight on the day in which the Budget was discussed. That money became part of the Budget and was used.
Remarkable isn't it:
"Mayor defends
last-minute $10 million capital budget
items
Craig Pearson, Windsor
Star
Published on: December 23,
2015
http://windsorstar.com/news/local-news/mayor-defends-last-minute-10-million-capital-budget-items
http://windsorstar.com/news/local-news/mayor-defends-last-minute-10-million-capital-budget-items
Some councillors are
wondering if Mayor Drew Dilkens plays favourites, after he added an extra $10
million for councillors to vote on Monday at the end of an 11 1/2-hour marathon
budget session.
The concerned councillors called Dilkens’s introduction of a 2016 enhanced capital budget list unfair in two ways.
First, they say they had no
warning, following a session that started at noon and ended close to
midnight.
Second, the mayor’s “ward
priorities” mostly only included specific goodies for half the councillors:
Hilary Payne, Ed Sleiman, Paul Borrelli, Fred Francis and Jo-Anne
Gignac.
Coun. Bill Marra voted for
the zero per cent tax increase and for the $112-million capital budget, as well
as the $512-million budget over five years. But he did not support the
$10-million enhanced capital budget.
“Overall, it was an
excellent budget,” said Marra, noting that saving such things as Atkinson Pool
and the Water World community centre felt great. “But I voted against the
enhanced budget, which was the table drop given to us at 11:20 p.m. for a
proposed $10 million in capital spending without the benefit of any budget
details.”
Marra feels the enhanced
capital budget ward projects were not evenly spread across the city.
“If you drill down on some
of the details, it’s interesting that it hit a few wards and not others,” Marra
said. “And we all have priority projects.”
Coun. Irek Kusmierczyk also
wondered about how the projects were decided.
“I’ve never seen that much
money go out the door without any prior consultation between mayor and council,”
Kusmierczyk said. “That’s not how I conduct business.”
But Mayor Drew Dilkens said
the same budget process happens every year, including with former Mayor Eddie
Francis.
“This is something that
councillors — certainly, the ones who are complaining the loudest — are very
used to,” Dilkens said. “This is what we’ve done for many, many
years.”
Should this be the way that this City uses taxpayer money when dealing with the City's budget funds?
Does it really make sense for it to happen this way "every year" as was done "for many, many years."
A fantastic program from England
This was the University
group which I joined in London, England when I received my LL.M back many years
ago. Here is something that I saw for which people who plan to go to London for
their graduate degree ought to consider:
Scholarship
Program
The application process for
the 2016-2017 academic year is now open.
For more than two decades
the main focus of the LGAC has been to provide scholarships to Canadian graduate
students studying in London and living at Goodenough College, the pre-eminent
residential college for international graduate students in London. Superbly
located in central London, the College attracts members from over 80 countries,
creating a rich cultural and academically diverse residential community.
Goodenough College is comprised of two main residential halls: London House,
which re-opened in September, 2014 after an extensive renovation, and William
Goodenough House which was fully renovated in 2011-12...
Since 1990, the LGAC has
funded Scholarships for 167 students with awards totaling over $1
million."
As people get older, the need for money for health
matters gets bigger
It should hardly be a
surprise to anyone that the demand for money for seniors is growing
dramatically. As I can easily verify given what has happened to me, as people
get older their need with respect to health issues gets bigger as well.
The number of seniors is growing significantly as people are living much longer now. Accordingly, a lot more money needs to be found to help deal with their medical problems, especially those who are very ill.
Here is one story about
that involving one organization:
"Surge in demand puts Alzheimer Society services at capacity for first time
Beatrice Fantoni, Windsor
Star
Published on: December 1,
2015
For the first time in its
34-year history the local Alzheimer Society is running programs at capacity and
has even had to place clients on a waiting list as local demand surges for
respite care.
“At times we’re showing small wait lists,” said Sally Bennett Olczak, CEO of the Alzheimer Society of Windsor and Essex County
“At times we’re showing small wait lists,” said Sally Bennett Olczak, CEO of the Alzheimer Society of Windsor and Essex County
Waiting lists for the
agency’s on-site daycare program and in-home respite care range from two to
eight people, Bennett Olczak said, and the wait can be anywhere from a few days
to a few weeks.
The growing demand is
primarily due to the fact that more people in Windsor-Essex are being diagnosed
with dementia and more families are seeking out support services. And the number
will only keep growing, she said. Right now, there are about 6,100 people in
Windsor-Essex diagnosed with dementia, Bennett Olczak said. That number is
expected to double in a generation’s time."
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