Tuesday, June 24, 2014

REDEKOP'S IN; MARTIN OUT

No big surprise. It has been rumoured for months that former Fort Erie mayor Wayne Redekop was going to return to local politics for an encore performance. And Doug Martin has announced that he will not seek re-election.

It's fun to read through Martin's Retirement Press Release to see all his great "accomplishments" over the past thirty or so years.  He is so proud that he was able to remove the reliance on slot revenues even though it caused a substantial tax increase. He also brags about removing the funding from gaming revenue for the EDTC.  Yeah, now they're just dipping into the reserve fund to fund the race track now that slots are gone.  That reserve fund has grown due to the efforts of staff and council to curb spending. It was this council that kept the tax hike to the lowest in several years, all the while building up the reserve fund to over a million dollars.

He talks about the polarization on council beginning in the latter part of his first term. Funny, that was when the whole Bay Beach Saga began and the threat of losing public beachfront property to a high rise developer sent many citizens into overdrive.  He talks about social media and blogs where people can hide behind pseudonyms and lies. Who could he be talking about? Me? I put my name out there from the beginning and I was sued with taxpayer money by Jim Thibert. He also tried to sue Google to get the identity of a person who commented on my blog anonymously for fear of losing her job.  Meanwhile, the mayor's own fanboys have a blog and they all use aliases, yet everyone knows who they are anyways because it is always easy to pick out the "tells" of poorly written rants on their blog.

So, Martin is riding off into the sunset with an empty saddlebag. Don't worry though. He'll be fine. He had thirty years at the trough and he took extra portions and stashed them away for his golden years.  Integrity? Yeah, that is a laugh since he was behind the lawsuit against four councillors who elected by a lot more than he got.

Happy Trails to you, Dougie.

33 comments:

  1. And Ann Marie is out ...... WOOHOO !!!!

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    1. Really? That's awesome if true.

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  2. I have followed this Mayor Doug Martin career in politics ever since he first ran for Council back in 1982, I was always struck at how dense he was, that he had to be carefully explained, by the Town Lawyer about conflict of interest, and that they were a two parts to the Municipal Act law. his new sidekick Russel Wilson had a hard time digesting what it all meant. not that it really mattered anyhow, as when the first thing to come to Council was a plan to give The Chamber of Commerce $120 thousand dollars of tax-payers money to finance their operations for a year, Doug never declared a conflict of interest , he should have, as he held a position on their board of directors. I made a presentation to that Council that was against this sweet heart deal. Their reaction , especially by Mike Keenan was a lot of goofaws and smart alecky comments. Mike's claim to fame , he was a teacher at F.E.S.S.

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  3. Send this guy a case of applesauce to go with all that pork. Look, he ran a jewelery shop in a small town. What did you expect? This is not a brainiac who brings a fresh perspective to the management of a community. Lets hope we can do better next time. Next time youre bellied up to the buffet at the "country club" look left and right carefully. (Over that deep fried shlock they call food there). You might be butting heads with the next set of community managers if youre not carefull and realize the class of self centred fools an easy paycheck and a few greasy handshakes might set us up with in future.

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  4. So Redekop wants back in. Hopefully he will NOT be successful, for if he is I am afraid that Fort Erie will once again be behind the eight ball when it comes to provincial funding. He is a well known NDP, even ran for that party not too far back. We now have a liberal majority who will look at Fort Erie ( which was once liberal territory for years and had a dismal showing this past election) as a town they owe nothing to. The liberals won more seats in new ridings, they say they are serious about balancing the budget by 2017-2018. Where will they spend their money, you can bet not in a town that abandoned them in this past election, particularly if they have a mayor who is NDP. Sure we have NDP Gates as our MPP , he has no power and will have no influence. The liberals will be beholding to their existing and new ridings who will be the benefit from the provincial handouts while we here in Fort Erie will not. Unfortunately Redekop's NDP status will hurt Fort Erie.

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    1. Martin was a Tory. He put up a banner insulting the Liberals. No one who is elected mayor will have an easy time.

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  5. Some intelligent dialogue here and far too close to the truth for that inner circle aka ol boys club aka Chamber aka country club etc etc.

    Our next leader has to be someone with NO connections to any of the greasy handshakers ,Chamber or any political party. He or she does not even need to be a brainiac, just someone of leadership and integrity which has not happened here in a long time. They start by cleaning up martins mess, reconcile the rip down the middle of this town(thanks doug) and begin cleaning up town hall. Now they have the basis at least to go to Queens Park, hat in hand and ask for some help that will be frittered away, wasted or just plain`` lost``(lost my a$$) as has happened again and again.

    This special person will also need a large dose of courage to stand up to the insider few who believe screwing this town over for their own gains is some twisted right of local birth(except jimmie of course). What the ninjas call a ``special interest group``. (Thanks ninjas for once you got it right but as usual were pointing the finger in the wrong direction).

    From our present list who does this come closest to, I ask....(including slimy steve who as usual is waiting to see which way the wind will blow in his favour)

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  6. Looking like it's "Wayne's World" here these days! Hudak and martin are out, how sweet.


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  7. Perfect assessment, CF. I hope Wayne is up to the task. I place all the blame for the mess-of-Fort-Erie squarely on Doug 's shoulders. He enjoyed thirty years of public service that only required him to follow the time-worn road traveled by the old guard. For that loyalty, he was supported in his campaigns. Bay Beach was his Waterloo. Then he did everything in his power to destroy those who were against his "crowning achievement." All this with the dirty work being handled by Jim Thibert. Redekop must bring the EDTC back to town hall as a department directly accountable to the mayor and council. No one elected Thibert yet he has been running this town for the past few years.

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  8. Who releases a draft resume as if it were appropriate as a retirement announcement ?

    Stay classy Doug ...


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  9. I dont think Wayne is up to it. We need a hard ass to ``correct`` town hall, and fire jimmies useless expensive ass.........along with anyone else who refuses to be accountable to people who pay them. (what a concept!!)

    The only thing Richard lacks is polish and a nice suit. Put the nice red mayoral chain on him and I bet he cleans up nice.

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  10. Mad dog Thibert could be of some use to us. With his Don Cherry style arrogance and single minded approach to the use of the legal system to try to silence his critics, maybe someone could let him off his gold chain and sick him on the library board. That group is sucking up in excess of 1.6 million dollars per year, and asking for more. ONE POINT SIX MILLION DOLLARS!!! Think of the horse races that would support. OK, take back half or so, but still thats a lot of dough ray me friends. That library system is one sweet money pit, bloated, underused, and boring. And thats just the start of a few cuts that could be made. There are others.Jim would probly love to gut that fat fish, although he may have friends or relatives in that trough as well.

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  11. Big news: Canadian cottage prices way up. It looks like there's a rush to buy summer homes, especially in Ontario. Young families as well as seniors looking for retirement homes have caused a price rise. The report talks about "cottages" not high rise condos. And right here in Fort Erie, there is still an abundance of cottages, many selling at reasonable prices. Good news for everyone.

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  12. Agree with Sharon, with morgage rates as low as they are the numbers show it can be cheaper to buy, in terms of monthly payments than to rent. Theres still prop taxes and maintenance to consider, but with those low rates its looking pretty attractive, (and practical). Even as we speak there are people renting whos payment goes to someones morgage who saw the advantages and did the numbers.

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  13. So what is the specific real estate market doing here in Fort Erie with regards to cottage sales and prices.

    That seems like a broad statement. We certainly can't compare ourselves to BC Mountain cottage sales, or East Coast Oceanside sales, or even the Kawarthas or Muskokas for that matter. So I am curious as to how Fort Erie ranks in comparison to other regions. To get a true picture of where WE sit that is necessary information if we want to be realistic about things.

    I am going to assume by your statement Mrs Bowers that you have an idea what cottages are selling for and the age demographic that is buying here in CB and throughout Fort Erie. Curious minds want to know and you obviously have access to these facts and figures, so thank you in advance for sharing that information.

    It would nice to see younger families buying in my opinion as opposed to seniors. We need people, young families specifically, that by buying, are indicating their wish to invest long term in CB who will be investing long term as well.

    With regards to Berry CF. Sorry I appreciate the fact you support him, but not a chance I will. Not worthy in any way in my opinion.

    I also fear us not seeing a dime coming from our Liberal majority given the fact they seem to have a personal agenda that does not include FE getting any slots back, or racing future beyond what they have committed to. That with the fact they are being held accountable this time around to trimming the deficit, now way we see any grants coming our way.

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  14. The report was on CTV this morning. Also mentioned was that many were buying vacation homes in Canada rather than in the States because of the exchange rate. I look at the real estate listings and there are many cottages for sale at reasonable prices. Otherwise, I don't have a specific idea of the demographics other than what I read.

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  15. In addition, the report mentioned young families buying vacation homes, probably in places other than Fort Erie. We do have a lot is seniors moving here. Young families have to be near jobs or are willing to commute because, unfortunately, the jobs are elsewhere it seems. Perhaps we need our EDTC to do more than concentrate on a horse track in decline. Sad but true. I did hear that Redekop has been making inroads in Buffalo. He sits on the board of D'Youville College. Such connections can only help. (And no, going to a Buffalo Bills game and sitting in your friend Miller's suite does not qualify as "making inroads in Buffalo" Doug.)

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  16. Anyone can look at local real estate listings and some properties that are well below the asking price in places similar to this area. We know, the place we bought here would have been over a million or so compared to where we moved from. Not a cookiecutter crackerbox where the garagedoor is the primary feature of the structure (Mr. Roger lived here, before he died of boredom), but a great, quiet,private, economical property with tall grass and a gravel driveway. There are still a lot of places like this around here. Seems like the more cosmetic "upgrades" some lawncutting, golfshirted, SUV washing 925'er convinces him or herself is "where its at", the more the buying public thinks these small managable propertys arnt "good enough". Again there are still some great,affordable, places to purchase and live in around here,(while they last, for you and yours).

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    1. Yeah, I had a friend who bought a place in 1999 for $20K. Put another $30K to fix it up. Got married to a guy in the States and sold her place for about $50k. It's now up for sale again @ $129K. She now wishes she had listened to me and kept it longer. I'm paying someone else's mortgage right now.

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  17. I just finished my school year and was hoping that my resume to the library would be accepted for summer employment. Now you are telling me that they are corrupt. I talked to my parents about it, but they say it is just a bunch of hogwash. I need to know what is going on, the truth. It's my future that I am talking about and I don't want my records blemished over a scandal. All this scandal and corruption that you talk about is very troubling for me and my friends. We don't know what to do, stay, or go somewhere else for our future.

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    1. The allegations regarding the library were expressed by a reader of this blog; not me. Simply working for the summer at the library is not going to jeopardize your future. I look forward to seeing you at the library

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  18. Tammy, no one said the library system is "corrupt". That it is a "bunch of hogwash" is probly true. Its unfortunate they dont offer a program of internship to library sciences.Nice try Bob..

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  19. Now fake postings are starting to show up. Some droolling numbskull without the inteligence to write an opposing argument trys to sound like a troubled student and boo-hoo about someone pointing out a huge waste of tax money, systemic. A girl named Tammy,( I guess Timmy would be a little too close to their voting record and their fast food eating habits.) Besides, if that posting was real, their grammer, syntax, and sentence structure if used in that style in a letter of application would have landed that said letter in the round file.(the garbage can). Thats not only dishonest, but pretending to be a little girl kind of creepy. Besides, someone trying to get a job like that probly has to be a friend or relative "to get in". Whats that smell??? Some call it moral corruption, others call it "the way it works around here".

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    1. Yeah, that comment from "Tammy" stunk to high heaven. As to the other poster: Crystal Beach is going through a sales and building bonanza. Just ask any local real estate agent. Many I've heard, were waiting for the condo tower to be eliminated. Crystal Beach is a cottage village, and, it seems, no longer a "hidden gem."

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  20. Crystal Beach is a happy busy place this summer. We have observed a building/renovating tread since the early 2000's, but nothing like this energy!

    I also attribute this optimism to the fact there is NO CONDO scheduled. No one wanted the three years of destruction to deal with before the development then ruined the beach and beachfront forever.

    I hope we can all be positive and look forward to a Blue Flag destination here!

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    1. Just one example: my next door neighbours sold their fixed-up cottage within two weeks on the market. Bought fixer-upper in Crystal Beach. Both retired; enjoy rehabbing then flipping cottages. Great neighbours too. I love all the different places all over the Beach.

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  21. The polyester hoodies blog seems to be using at least a little more colour in their writings, maybe seen the light a little more since their funny looking carpeted headed, speech impeded, white shirt wearing, ghost of a PC leader took his spanking and went back to his air conditioned cave to cry,"But I tried so HARD" . Lets hope for no more comparisons of tiny town desk pilots to the like of W. Churchill or Abe Lincoln, (that was pretty thick, how much do you have to drink to come up with that nonsense). Lets tell them good work so far although asking questions seems to be their strong point like the people they ask there is rarely answers. Please once in a while I would like to ask, if this strange japanese themed site have some constructive suggestions, bring them foreward, maybe run a candidate on issues we can relate to. If this site knows (besides pretending) what the issues are that a majority of the people in this area are relating to. And if they dont know, theres no shame in that, just ask.

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  22. Bob Steckley to run for regional, and again all the potatoe head blog can do is ask open ended slanted questions. These fools seem to be more for the status quo than anyone. Make a constructive point!! What do they think should be changed that would be progressive for the town. Its that simple. Put ninja sweaters on the hanging baskets around town? Send the deep frier at the country club buffet to the scrap metal yard near the railway tracks? Lets hear a real plan, tax cuts? Better use of tax funded facilities that go to sleep after 5PM weekdays, closed weekends, holidays, special event days, and any other time the mood strikes the lazy fat staff that clingon to their sweet dayjobs,(and complain anyway)?? We need to hear a plan to improve the area not a lot of questions. Unless thats all you have, besides catchphrases and cartoon figures. The ninja site has a chance to really show the rest of us what we have missed out on. Original ideas please, this is a good chance for you to regain at least a little bit of your strange credability.

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    1. All Bob has to do is draw attention to Teal's abysmal attendance record at Regional Council. Teal checks in long enough to get paid and then bails from meetings. Martin follows him out the door.

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  23. The molinaros sell the parking lot to the CBYTC and the hill cottagers. BY By parking for the beach!

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  24. Racoon with peanutbutter jar on his head, front page "The Times". Page three a past mayor decides to get in and part of the next election. Go figure. This white bread piece of newspaper (Read; toilet paper). Hopefully Steve with a pork spread jar on his skin head can make the front page. He would never do it, although he might if someone said it would improve his chances to come in 3rd or 4th instead of 5th. Racoons on the front page of the paper that serves 30,000 people and more. In the Times. That is starting to mean less and less.

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  25. These fools cannot run a candidate on the "ninja" ticket. What does that tell you. Oh we should vote for the ninja party!!? Thankfully with their strange approach to local politics the ninjas remain in the shadows looking for things to question, with no real answers, only questions. Maybe form a "Questions Party". See how that goes. Might work, keep asking questions, offer no real answers. A few voters might go for it. Not enough to make any difference. If that what these fool want.

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    1. Truth is that the majority of potential voters do not know of or pay any attention to the blogs. The ninjas' only have a few supporters who constantly reaffirm their opinion as though it is gospel.

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