A Very Hot Summer

I know that we have experienced very warm weather in past summers. However, have I ever been shocked by the very hot weather that we are having this year!

I am surprised by how many hot days we have had over the last little while matched by hardly any rain at all. In addition, the humidex increase in temperature makes it all even worse. I never expected it. In fact, I did not believe we would have any hot weather here at all until much later than normal. After all, don't you remember, our past winter started so much later than usual because of the elongated autumn season. Therefore, I expected that the summer season would really not start at its "normal" time but would delay the heat until sometime late in July.

Was I ever wrong on that! It seems that we hardly had any spring here at all and jumped immediately to record-breaking hot temperatures. And also an air advisory:

“Today will be hot, hazy and humid with light winds due to a stagnant weather pattern.

Possible high levels of air pollution are expected today. A SMOG AND AIR HEALTH ADVISORY is in place due to the possibility of deteriorating air quality.”

Since it is still too difficult for me to go outside exercising these days, I may as well sit down in front of my computer and do some stories for you to read, dear reader.

ATTACKING A COUNCILLOR

It is amazing. Quite a story on July 13, 2018 in the Windsor Star written by Brian Cross.  I must admit that I do not recall reading such a story in the past.

The title should tell you how big the story is:

“Borrelli accused of violating election rules by opponent's campaign manager”

There are all kinds of allegations made publicly about what the Councillor did that may be a breach of some of the rules respecting running for office. The Star story set out in some detail what the concerns were as alleged by Paul Synnott. Naturally, this should be something quite important for residents in that Riding to examine before the election.

I have to admit that I was quite shocked by what the office manager of candidate, Jim Morrison, had to say. Mind you, I was surprised that the negative language came out of the mouth of his office manager rather than from the candidate himself. I must tell you that I did not understand why it was done that way if it was that important a matter.

Of course, Councillor Paul Borrelli was quoted in the article and he denied making the breaches alleged:

“Borrelli insisted on Friday he broke no rules, because he filed the paperwork for committing the funds prior to April 22 and because he hasn’t registered as a candidate.”

I have to admit that I wondered which person would ultimately make the decision on this matter and what that person's decision would be. I assumed that it could prevent someone from running for office if that person committed the improper act. Given the arguments made by both sides, it could be a very precedent-setting hearing that could affect people across the entire Province.

Except, nothing like this was going to happen after all. Here is what was written in the last paragraphs of the news article:

“While violating the Municipal Elections Act has some serious potential penalties, including forfeiting office or being banned from running for office in the future, there are no penalties mentioned in the Ward Funds Policy. One possible recourse is to make a complaint to the city’s Integrity Commissioner, Synnott said.

“But I don’t want to gum up the works and make a complaint to the Integrity Commissioner and have $8,000 spent investigating something that’s pretty obvious,” Synnott said. “I just want it to stop.”

Sigh, I just did not understand it. What was the purpose of having such a news story written that sets out alleged complaints and provides defence comments if nothing was ever going to happen to decide who was right. It just seems a strange course to me.

IS THIS WHY FRED DID NOT RUN FOR MAYOR

I saw the news article recently that explained why I was so surprised when I saw that Fred Francis was not going to run for Mayor.

I certainly assumed for the longest possible time that he was going through exactly what his brother did when he was on Council. Eddie Francis put in his name to run for Mayor after his first term on Council and won. I expected the same thing to happen this year but for some reason it did not. All that Fred said he was going to do was run again for Council.

I really have no explanation why this happened. It could be that the expectation was that it might now be a three-person race for the position of Mayor with the other candidates being the existing Mayor and his main opponent to date Matt Marchand. That might have meant that Fred could have a lower chance of winning. All the votes would have to be shared and therefore there was a smaller chance that Fred could get the most votes to win. That would mean that no Francis would be on Council any longer.

I must admit that what I read in that story about what Fred accomplished as Councillor seemed quite impressive. It did surprise me though because I do not remember reading a lot about these projects and his role in them. That is probably because I am now living in Tecumseh.

Let us see what happens on election night and whether Fred remains on Council for four more years.