Saturday, March 29, 2014

JUDGE ORDERS FULL DISCLOSURE

Another chapter in the on-going saga of the Dougie Buyers Club has ended.

Before we get to the judge's decision, let us refresh everyone's memory of what has gone on since the voters elected four councillors to council on the hope that things would change at town hall. This was the first time in recent history that a decided change has come to town hall, often characterized as run by a bunch of Old Boys who controlled everything that went on in town. The Bay Beach issue drove home the fact that regular people have little to say in this town, hence the election of some new councillors who promised to do their best to end the nepotism, favouritism and possible corruption at town hall. So, the attacks began:

1.) Compliance Audits were requested by Marina Butler for John Hill; Martha Lockwood for Don Lubberts and Larry Graber for Paul Collard. 
      a.) Marina Butler ... is now running for council in Ward 4, now represented by John Hill, She is also vice-president of the Chamber of Commerce.
      b.) Martha Lockwood ... was voted out of council in Ward 5 won by Don Lubberts. Worked for Marina Butler
      c.) Larry Graber ... lost to Paul Collard in Ward 6.

The Compliance Audits cost the taxpayers in excess of $100,000.  The results: all cases were dismissed.

Kimberly Zanko (lost Ward 3 election to incumbent Bob Steckley in 2010 and currently running again) was spokesperson for a billboard on Garrison and a full-colour brochure that appeared in local mailboxes that found fault with the four councillors for their opposition to the controversial Bay Beach Project. Blamed them for scaring away potential developers to the town. Negative quotes in the brochure included Marina Butler. Other than Zanko, there is no responsibility claimed by any group for the billboard. Then there's Peter K's Facebook Fiascos and billboard on Garrison Road. What moron does this sort of thing? 


The WAR AGAINST THE FOUR was topped off by Conflict of Interest suit filed by Tim Whitfield, who lost his council seat to John Hill,one of those named in the suit.  So far, that suit has cost in excess of $100,000. in legal costs. 

What was the purpose of the compliance audit, the negative brochure and the lawsuit?

To unseat four duly-elected town councillors. This vendetta has been in the works since election night in 2010.  It has and will cost the taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars. It has been orchestrated by a small group of people who have their own agenda and do not care that they are costing the taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars. They do not want these four councillors to work on behalf of regular people. The people behind these actions want to keep the power to themselves.


On March 19, 2014, Superior Court Judge B.H. Mateson issued two orders:


1. John Hill and Donald Lubberts will answer all the refusals that are set out in the chart prepared by the applicant’s solicitor and attached as Schedule “A”.

2. The applicant or his solicitor will provide the name or names of the person or persons who provided the retainer for Mr. Hurren.


As to ruling Number 1, John Hill and Don Lubberts were advised by their attorney to not answer those questions at the time they were first asked. They have both indicated that they will now answer those questions in full. The reason for the initial refusal was because they felt that, in answering the questions, they would be revealing something said in a closed meeting.

Now, to the BIG RULING:

Uh-oh. Tim Whitfiled will have to provide the names of those who financed his lawsuit since he swore in an affidavit that he was approached by Doug Martin to become involved in the lawsuit. Further in the release is the revelation that Martin disclosed details of a closed meeting to Whitfield in his conversation. Hurren tried to save the "confidentiality" of the financial backers by citing attorney/client privilege, but the judge did not agree.

I have already set up a Lawsuit Bracket.  See who ends up in the final four.

My Bracket for the Final Four:

Jim Thibert
Marina Butler
_______ TBA 
________ TBA


This just in: heads are spinning over at that other blog. Sorta like Linda Blair's in the Exorcist. Must be difficult to come up with a way to spin this away from what it is: a S.L.A.P.P. lawsuit paid for by certain people who do not want these four, honest men to continue on council.

Oh, and in case you read the lies at another blog, Don Lubberts and Paul Collard visited the Lobster House on the Bay Beach Property on March 29, 2014, accompanied by a town employee.


Monday, March 24, 2014

CONFLICT OF INTEREST - UPDATED

UPDATE: Port Dalhousie development "deferred' meaning: dead. Wonder what will happen to the corpse of what was once a thriving business and tourism destination. Sad that a development can cause such angst in a community. It happens when elected officials do not listen to the people. 



No, not the one brought forth by Tinfoilhat Whitfield. We're still waiting for some kind a of decision regarding that. 

I'm talking about Conflict of Interest as practiced by Ward 1 Councillor Stephen Passero. Saw it on TV the other day. Sat there, bold as ever, and voted on a resolution that directly affected him involving a pecuniary interest.


Re: Confirmation of Attendance - Councillor Passero - February 23-26, 2014


According to Passero, the reason that he did not bring a request forward in advance for compensation for attending the Good Roads Conference held in Toronto was because he had gone to the same conference three years earlier and did not have to get pre-authorization. (Please file that excuse along side "The Dog Ate My Homework" in the Lame Excuses File.)

Seriously, Eddie Haskell. Can't you come up with anything better than that? Of course the "blame" was ultimately set at the feet of town clerk Carolyn Kett who was not in attendance on March 17 to defend, explain or even answer questions regarding the issue.

After some discussion where Mayor Martin tried to muzzle Don Lubberts who asked a couple of pertinent questions, a vote was taken and Stephen Passero voted in favour of confirming his attendance at the conference which included expenses of over $1500. Nice one, Stephen. You really are mayoral material, that is, if mayors make it part of their agenda to vote retroactively to pay their expenses.  

Cause that's what you did, Stephen Passero. A new councillor might not realize that it was necessary to request expenses be paid, but a three years' experience, mayoral wannabe? Oh, I know that there is some little loophole you managed to slither through, but the episode points up something far more insidious. You really are a tool.


Editor's Note:  Just listened to council audio. Meeting lasted about forty minutes with a time-out for a Closed Session. Tom Kuchyt will be acting CAO for a year. Resolution carried. It appears that the council approves of the job that Kuchyt is doing. That is a very good sign. 

Monday, March 17, 2014

I AM NOT ALONE

Sure, many of you might believe that I'm this fat, old lady who has no life and sits at her computer all day surrounded by her cats. Actually that is true, come to think about it.  Hey, I'm not complaining; it's what I do.

Sure, many of you think that I come up with my posts entirely through my delusional mind and never bother to check things out.  That is not true. 

So, I will set the record straight and by doing so, I will be able to thank the many sources and people who support this blog.

What you might see in the main part of the blog or in the comments posted is a representation of the many people who agree with what The Strand Blog is all about.  I get phone calls and e-mails from people who send me links or stories that might be of interest.

For example, a reader sent me an interesting article on what is happening in Markham where our Condos-Along-the-Bay Dreamer, Rino Mostacci is now working in the planning department. The article is about the $325 million arena-hoping-for-an-NHL-team that Rino is part of. Love the title of Bruce Arthur's article 

"With slim chance of landing NHL team, Markham arena project somewhere between risky and outright insane"

Thanks for that, dear reader. Might have missed it in my travels. Nice to know that Rino has taken his pie-in-the-sky dreams elsewhere. After all, he is the one responsible for bringing forth the whole idea of developing the publicly owned Bay Beach Properties. No thanks for that, Rino, you carpetbagging, high-rise loving, schemer.

Earlier,  I had heard from a reader about the fact that Stephen Passero did not receive authorization ahead of a trip to Toronto to attend a conference. So, I wrote about it. And, we were right, there was a mistake made. Of course, at the latest council meeting (March 17) poor Carolyn Kett took the fall, while Stephen (adopting his best Eddie Haskell imitation) feigned complete innocence while claiming that he stayed at a cheap hotel and walked to the convention.  It still cost the taxpayers $1,500. When Don Lubberts asked a few questions about the situation, he was quickly shut up by Mayor Martin.  Can you imagine what would have happened if one of the four had done that? Cue another lawsuit.

The letter from Rainer Hummel and the article by James Culic got everyone mad, including many of my readers.  They informed me of the background on the man and the article. First, Rainer Hummel is president of the PC riding and has been seen talking with and is, at the very least, a fellow member in good standing of the Progressive Conservative Party of which Doug Martin is also a member. One e-mail told me that they were together on the night of the by-election.  (Correction: Thibert and Hummel were together on election night). I also received an e-mail from a friend of the doctor who had been interested in the property on Ridge Road that Hummel bought and now has abandoned.  The good doctor had even planned to include public washrooms in his plan. (And if you heard about my unfortunate incident on the Friendship trail, it would be much appreciated. I admit that I have a scatological sense of humour. Read THIS. {also sent by in by a blog reader})

Of course, there's always a steady flow of Thibert trivia as he has a lot of people pissed off in this town. The so-called "little people" like waitresses and bartenders; service people and track employees. I may have been sued successfully for slander, but I am confident that some day I will be vindicated.

Yes, I can sit here on my ever-expanding rear portion and get a pretty good view of what's going on in this town.  What I see is four councillors who were elected by the people to give new direction to the town which has been run by the Old Boys Club for decades.  They must be doing a good job because the effort to discredit that has been very intense.

Note about March 17 meeting:  Does the man who lives near the medicinal marijuana operation on Jarvis Street actually believe the marijuana plants will become Triffid-like and come across the street to turn his children into stoners?  Chill out, man. 


Tuesday, March 11, 2014

MARTIN AND THIBERT TAG TEAM AGAINST DEVELOPMENT

AND NOW, THE REST OF THE STORY:

UPDATE: Remember when both Martin and Thibert commented on the letter written by developer Rainer Hummel explaining why he was pulling out of developing a small lot on Ridge Road in Ridgeway? Of course, Martin and Thibert blamed it on the present council and offered that, after the fall elections, developers may once again trust Fort Erie.

Well, thanks to acting CAO Tom Kuchyt, the truth finally trickled out. When Hummel bought the property in June, 2013 there with "a few stipulations which include a time frame for a site plan," according to a quote in the Fort Erie Times. Kuchyt goes on to say, "We wanted to see it (the property) developed quickly. It was getting close to those time lines to move forward and there was nothing there."

And there you have it, folks. Hummel had no idea what he was going to do with the property and he had run out of time to submit a site plan. So, he bailed, blaming the "poor treatment" of the Molinaro Group as his reason.  So, I guess we have no right to call Hummel out for delaying a major part of the revitalization of Ridgeway?  There was a doctor who had already put together plans for the property and was all set to go - until Hummel swooped in to buy the property.

Just as we figured. Yeah, Martin will do almost anything to destroy the reputations of the four councillors. Maybe Bob Gale would like to hear about this on his new Whistleblower website. Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.

WARNING: Trolls are out in force over this post.  They must be afraid of Arlene White. LOL. Sorry, trolls. You'll get no attention here.


So, who is really against development? Certainly not The Four who have approved and encouraged development in Fort Erie. Sure, Don Lubberts from Ward 5 successfully ran for election with the promise that he would do everything in his power to stop the Bay Beach Project, something he was against since it was first pitched by long-gone town planner Rino Mostacci. Despite what others might say, this Fort Erie Council has voted in favour of many developments - unanimously - like the Canadian Motor Speedway. The fact-challenged screed from other sources is designed to make people believe that The Four are anti-development. This effort has been headed up by Martin and Thibert.

Well, now there is further proof that Mayor Martin and Jim Thibert, GM of the Fort Erie Economic Development and Tourism are really against any development that does not suit their own agenda.

Case in point: a suggestion by Arlene White that a causeway-type connection from Netherby Road to Grand Island in New York State might be an option to consider for an international crossing.

Of course, Martin and Thibert jumped all over the idea, offering a wet blanket to snuff out the idea before it has a chance to breathe. 

Martin called the plan "more of a pipe dream than

reality," which would have considerable impact on 

people living in the area.


Like the Bay Beach Project was a pipe dream of a long-gone town planner?  Some of us still smart at the statement by Mostacci that he envisioned high rises all along the bay in Crystal Beach. Thankfully, Mostacci is now realizing his latest "pipe dream" of an NHL arena in Markham.

Thibert added:

"There's no real credibility in this idea," he said,

 believing officials should focus on trying to put a

 second span on the Peace Bridge.


Remember folks, these are the same guys who helped run the Ambassador Bridge

developer out of town. We would have a second bridge to the US by now if not for Doug Martin, 

Ron Reinas, Thibert and others. Some of us remember the dog and pony show that went on

years ago to distract people away from supporting the Ambassador Bridge. The promise of a 

new bridge went away as soon as the Ambassador Bridge plan was abandoned. The "bridge 

expansion" is nothing more than a Duty Free expansion on the US side. It has had "a 

significant impact on the people living in the area."

I think that Arlene White has their number and fully expected them to react to her suggestion this way. Showing their true colours and bully mentality, they are the real reason that Fort Erie is in an economic slump.

The truth is that, like most towns, there are positive things happening: businesses are expanding; developments are under construction; and new people are moving to town.  People with good ideas know better than to expect any support from the likes of Martin and Thibert - unless it fits in with their narrow view of what's best for Fort Erie -er-themselves. Whether the idea has an long-term merits remains to be seen. It is worth a look. Not going to happen as long as Martin and Thibert are around.

Just like Thibert did not acknowledge the positive effect of the Crystal Beach Ice Caves (a million dollars worth of free publicity that brought some 50,000 people to Crystal Beach,) we have learned that, for this town to succeed, it has to move forward without any help from the likes of the mayor and Thibert.


UPDATE: Job prospects are encouraging for Fort Erie. A recent report states that 19% of 

employers in Fort Erie are planning to hire in the second quarter. That's good news for job 

seekers in Fort Erie. Even better news comes from St. Catharines for those who are able to 

commute where 30% of employers will hire in the second quarter. 

Thursday, March 6, 2014

THE WAR ON THE FOUR HEATS UP

"Trust me. A vexatious act perpetrated by certain individuals with the intent to destroy the lives of a number of other people will surely meet up with the type of repercussion that could blow their very souls apart

What a pitiful state of public affairs."

Shirley Grace

Shirley asked me to post her statement as she is very concerned over the efforts by a few to destroy the reputations and lives of the four councillors. Those who brought forth the lawsuit against the four are doing great harm to the community and the lives of decent people who were elected by the voters and are doing their best to represent the people. Many good things have happened in this community since they were elected, but there has been a concerted effort to blame the four for all the ills and misfortunes that have befallen this community.  This is a blatant attempt to change the focus away from the failures of others in the community. This town needs a good old-fashioned clean-up and the four councillors have started that task. The fierce opposition to them is proof that they are on the right track. Their opposition has used the lowest of the low to attack and harass the four. They have done nothing to deserve this treatment - except to do the job for which they were elected.  

I join many others in pledging ourselves to making sure that the truth is put out there. 



Thanks to letter to the town from a developer friend of Doug Martin; a poorly researched newspaper article; and comments made by the mayor and the GM of the EDTC, it has become abundantly clear that the effort to unseat four Fort Erie Councillors has gone to the next level.

Not content to have orchestrated a vexatious lawsuit against the four for conflict-of-interest, the mayor-by-five-votes has enlisted a fellow PC member to drop a stink bomb into the middle of the election cycle.

 Last June, N-O-T-L developer Rainer Hummel beat out another interested party to buy an empty lot abutting the Friendship Trail and newly opened Ridgeway Town Square.  He paid $100,000. for a small plot of land that had once housed a building belonging to the town through a donation by the Bertie Historical Society's bingo funds. It was originally bought in 2000 for a reported $167,000. Repairs and maintenance over the years added to the cost until it was decided that the building was not suitable for a museum adjunct. The town then put the building up for sale and there was interest by a local doctor who wanted to establish a local practice on the square. Enter Mr. Hummel who bought the property. Since then, nothing was done to the property and no plans for the property were made public. So, it came as a surprise to many when Mr. Hummel chose to lay the blame for his decision to "abandon" the property on what he called the poor treatment given to the Molinaros during the ongoing battle over the controversial Bay Beach Project (for lack of a better name, since the project for two, then one twelve story tower on public land at Bay Beach has undergone many incarnations and name changes over the past several years.) 

The Molinaros exercised the option they wrote into the original agreement with the town to drop the project after an extension that they built in to the original plan was denied by council.  Far less than the required 45 units had been pre-sold by the end of 2013, and, considering the amount of local opposition, it was probably a wise move to walk away from the project.  Doug Martin and his followers were not amused as they need to have this development go forward in order to justify their very existence. Martin and friends are totally invested in this project and they view the election of four councillors who see it differently as an affront to their agenda. And, make no mistake about it: there is an agenda involved.


http://www.610cktb.com/news/local/story.aspx?ID=1673353
The "Fort Erie is Closed for Business" campaign actually started in March, 2012 when a banner was erected at the entrance to town hall blaming then premier Dalton McGinty for the problems besetting the town. Since the recent by-election brought now premier Kathleen Wynne to town with promises to fund the race track for another year and other incentives, the blame has now shifted full bore to the four councillors.

Aided this week by a wildly inaccurate and poorly written article by James Culic of Niagara This Week, the mayor and Jim Thibert have solidified their campaign strategy for the municipal elections coming up on October 27.  They are desperate to get rid of the four councillors who were elected as part of a wave of dissension against a mayor and council that did not listen to the people, especially with regard to the now infamous Bay Beach Project. The mayor himself came within five votes of losing his re-election bid. Since the new council was installed, the mayor has waged a bitter duel with the four, once resorting to a Darryl Issa-like pique of bad humour by cutting off mics at a council meeting.

James Culic has often picked up the mayor's meme in his "news reports" about Fort Erie town doings. He used Mr. Hummel's letter as the basis for his hypothesis that the 4-3 vote often tallied at council is what has driven developers like Hummel away. Mr. Culic did not interview Mr. Hummel to ask him why he bought a small lot in Ridgeway and what he had planned to do with it before he changed his mind. He did not ask Mr. Hummel about his close association with the mayor and why he chose such an unprofessional way of closing out his involvement with a non-existent "development."

Culic goes on to say:"Through various legal challenges, the town spent more than $300,000 to defend the condo project in court before it was cancelled, and then spent another $260,000 to fire its own lawyer and settle a wrongful dismissal case filed against it in the process"  

Yes, there were legal challenges, many of them brought forth by average citizens who were opposed to a twelve story condo on public waterfront property. These people were exercising their right to go through proper legal channels to express their opposition to the project. It cost many of them a lot of money to so this. Secondly, there was never a wrongful dismissal lawsuit filed in the case of the firing of the town attorney. That is a total fabrication.  Culic should know better, but he was probably hoping that people would not bother, as they often do, to research the story themselves.

And the biggest fabrication came from town planner Rick Brady himself as quoted by Culic:

Using some rough estimates, and assuming the condo tower was at full occupancy, Brady said the town would have been collecting an extra $400,000 to $700,000 annually in tax revenue from the condo units.
“That’s some very conservative estimating also,” said Brady. “That alone represents about 1.5 per cent of the general tax levy, and as a planner, that’s my problem with this whole thing. It’s how do you replace that lost income, and how do we as a town deal with that.”
Whoa, there Mr. Brady.  Perhaps you might like to check out what is posted on the town's website as to the yearly projected net income from the condo tower: $70,624.  In Report CS 12-11, the 5 year projected annual net revenue for the town was rounded off to $75,500. No where near the $400,000 to $700,000. per year that Brady claimed.
Culic took this information, published it and never fact-checked it. The claim that the tower would provide 1.5% of the town revenue per year was outrageous, yet it passed by Culic without pause.
Since then, both Martin and Thibert have asserted that developers are waiting until after the October election when presumably a new council will be seated, to come back to Fort Erie. Again, that is an outrageous statement. Just last week, a developer brought forth a plan for a new subdivision in Crystal Beach. There are several others on the go in the town.
Sure, the town is in an economic slump right now and unemployment is high, but that is a trend that is everywhere.  The cities and towns that are slowly coming out of the worldwide downturn are those that are actively seeking and embracing new technologies in ways to bring business and jobs to a community.  Instead, Martin and Thibert choose to try to lay the blame on four councillors. 

Perhaps it's merely an example of projection.  Whatever it is, they should be ashamed of themselves.


Tuesday, March 4, 2014

FOLLOW THE MONEY

It is a question that has dogged me and many others for several years. The last time I wrote about it, I received a warning letter from the taxpayer-paid lawyer who represented Jim Thibert in his lawsuit against me. So, I'll supply actual sources.

What happened to the $2 million that the province gave to the EDTC back in 2008?

It was April. 2008 when the province's Ministry of Tourism awarded $3 million in public money to the town's Economic Development and Tourism Corporation:

"- April 17, 2008: Sandra Pupatello, provincial Liberal minister of economic 

development and trade, announces $3 million in funding for Fort Erie, 

including $2 million to the Fort Erie Economic Development and Tourism 

Corporation. No specifics projects were identified toward which the $2 

million would be applied. "This investment is all about giving 

Fort Erie the chance to compete not only regionally, but globally for 

investment dollars," said Pupatello."  (Source: Niagara Falls Review, May 10, 2008)


The announcement was made at a Fort Erie Chamber of Commerce Meeting at the Buffalo 

Canoe Club on April 17, 2008 by then MPP Kim Craitor. One million of the money was set 

aside to remove the east-north ramp off the QEW at Concession Road to "improve traffic flow 

and help businesses attract customers."


(Editor's Note: This is where I believe the first lies about the money occurred)


From the article:


1.)"This funding will give Fort Erie the opportunity to explore long- term economic 

goals that will create growth and jobs for our residents." (Kim Craitor)


2.) Jim Thibert, general manager of Fort Erie's Economic Development and Tourism 

Corporation, said the funding will go a long way to provide them with the tools to 

develop and build a "diversified economic infrastructure that will develop 

Fort Erie as a great gateway community to the Niagara region."

3.) Martin said he could not provide any further details at this time as to how the 

money will be used, but that they have "several ideas in mind."


The reason that I believe that the statements were lies was that it implied that the money 

would go towards a number of projects that would help the community. Three weeks later, the 

following announcement was made:


$ 2 Million in Public Money Headed to Track 

(from May 10, 2008 article)


Actually, the $2 million was headed to "help" in costs associated with the redevelopment of the 

Race Track into a $300 million dollar resort. The track owner, El-Ad and its subsidiary Nordic 

Gaming received the offer from the EDTC on May 9, 2008.


Less than six months later, in October, 2008, the redevelopment plan is shelved.  In an article 

in Cangamble, the writer wondered what happened to the $2 million that was given to Nordic 

Gaming by the EDTC.


The author also offers this opinion of the matter:


"I'm thinking this plan was a whim that was initiated by the Fort Erie's Economic Development and Tourism Corp(EDTC) shooting the crap with Nordic's management, and Nordic just went along with it, because it could help get a bigger sales price for Fort Erie Race Track, or maybe the government would be stupid enough to finance most of the project.
I'm starting to believe the EDTC and the Fort Erie mayor are either very gullible, very stupid, very corrupt, or a combination of the the three ... 
The reason I even bring up the EDTC is that they helped perpetuate this fantasy project, that was NEVER going to happen. The track could have been sold by now."

(Editor's Note: funny, this guy didn't get sued by Jim Thibert.)

So, the search for what happened to the $2 million went on. Then, in January 2009, came the announcement by Jim Thibert that the EDTC had offered to buy the track for $35 million. (Oh, and by the way, he expected the province to provide $3.2 Million towards a deposit to Nordic Gaming and El-Ad while it also holds the mortgage on the property.)  

Later in the article, it was reported that Nordic was losing $7 million per year on the track.

Back to Cangamble for a partial explanation. In a reprint of a letter by Sue Leslie, President of the Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association wrote that the offer to Nordic included a $2, 250,000 NON REFUNDABLE DEPOSIT.

Part of the agreement would mean that there would be 78 days of racing in the 2009 season starting the first Saturday in May.

The article went on to say that the province would have to approve using the remaining $1.5 million from the $2 million given in 2008 towards the NON REFUNDABLE down payment.

(This is where I opined that the whole thing sounded like an elaborate scheme to "buy" another season for the race track - rather than a real offer to buy. Cue another letter from the lawyer.)

So, what happened? By February 2009, Fort Erie Town Council voted to give $250K of slot revenues towards the NON REFUNDABLE DEPOSIT towards the purchase of the Fort Erie Race Track.  And in March, 2009, Jim Thibert made the announcement that the EDTC had reached an agreement with Nordic Gaming that included a "letter of intent" to purchase the race track.

"Talks between the parties appeared to reach an impasse in late February, when Nordic Gaming announced the EDTC had withdrawn its offer. The EDTC responded by saying the company had allowed a modified proposal to expire...

The EDTC has provided the company with a $2.25-million, non-refundable deposit on the deal, which allows the racing season to go ahead even if an agreement to buy the track doesn’t. 

The money for the down payment includes $1.5-million of a $2-million economic development grant the province gave the town last year. The Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association, an industry association which represents horse owners and trainers, contributed $500,000, while the town budgeted $250,000 toward the deposit." (Niagara Falls Review, March 12, 2009)

The EDTC had 90 days to come up with a business plans and financing to complete the sale.

In September 2009, the EDTC had worked out a deal to lease the race track. In the announcement, Jim Thibert asked for $15 million yearly from the province to keep the track going. MPP Kim Craitor supported the proposal. He also stated that leasing the track was the better way to go.

We'll leave it there for now. At least we were able to "follow the money" from the province.  It ended up in the coffers of Nordic Gaming (El-Ad) via a byzantine production directed by Jim Thibert to keep the track running for another year.

It did not go towards attracting "investment dollars" or any of the things promised by the province. In the hands of Jim Thibert of the EDTC, it went straight to the foreign track owners as tribute. While it helped save many jobs at the track, we still don't appreciate having our credibility mocked by such an elaborate ruse.



As to why I'm dredging this up now, it is quite clear that the mayor and Jim Thibert have their own agenda and that agenda does not always include the very people who, through taxes, pay their salaries and give them millions of dollars in trust.  Do we really want to have another four years of this?  While others blame the four councillors for what ails Fort Erie, here is an example of something that happened before 2010 when the balance of power on council shifted away from Martin and his minions. 

Things were going well in Fort Erie in 2002, according to a media release from the town. Jim Thibert had been on the job for about a year. 

And then the decline began. Some could say that the decline was ushered in by Jim Thibert, although that would not be accurate. Just as it is not accurate to blame four councillors for the further decline of the town.


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