Sunday, February 2, 2014

WAS IT SOMETHING I SAID?

Can't help it. I am fascinated by the Governor Chris Christie situation. He is facing possible impeachment for his alleged involvement in the closing of three crucial lanes on the busiest bridge in the world as well as alleged misappropriation of Hurricane Sandy Relief Funds.  The story keeps getting bigger and better as, one-by-one, his closest advisers fall under the weight of federal and state subpoenas.

Late Friday, his former adviser and appointee to the powerful Port Authority, David Wilstein, revealed, through his lawyer, that Christie knew of the planned shutdown early in September 2013. The shutdown of the lanes from Fort Lee, New Jersey  caused massive back-ups on the bridge.  The excuse given was that a "traffic study" was underway for four days. Christie has always maintained that he knew nothing about it until early January of this year. Wilstein's bombshell revelation is part of his bid for immunity and coverage of his massive legal bills.

What really got me laughing was Christie's response via e-mail.Something about it sounded familiar. Oh yeah, I know now. It was similar to a recent rant by some other blogger who threw out a bunch of accusations, hoping that it would sway people's opinion. Christie even mentioned that Wilstein was once "an anonymous blogger."  LOL. Big mistake for Christie because he often used that "anonymous blogger" to further his agenda while he was a prosecutor with an eye on the governor's office. He personally appointed Wilstein to the post at the Port Authority.

What I have gotten out of this whole Christie fiasco is that he is a bully who decided to bully a whole town because it did not fall in line behind him and its state representative defied him over judicial appointments. What has been revealed is the threats and intimidation he served up to various mayors and representatives who did not support his initiatives - and developer friends. What will eventually cause his impeachment is proof of his deliberate channeling of Sandy Relief Funds to places where his developer friends had projects, regardless whether the towns were severely affected by the hurricane.

Does this sound slightly familiar on a much smaller scale?  Is the campaign against me, your not-anonymous blogger an attempt to shut me up or shut me down - take your pick? Seems that way. Which actually encourages me to keep on. Shows me that this blog is serving its original purpose: to offer another view of what's going on in Fort Erie.  And it seems to be getting through to many people that all is not as it seems in Fort Erie and that there has been a concerted effort to squash the voice of the people.

In 2010, the voters elected a council, four of whom were offering different views than the mayor. Since then, blogs and even the mayor and his cronies have done everything they can, including filing a lawsuit against the four, to drive them out of office.

DOUG MARTIN WON HIS RE-ELECTION BY A MERE FIVE VOTES IN AN ELECTION THAT HAD SOME ALLEGED IRREGULARITIES.  HE FOUGHT AGAINST A RECOUNT BY ANN MARIE NOYES.

Now, what does that tell you?  

It tells me that something isn't right in Fort Erie. It also shows me how desperate the mayor and his cronies are to continue their agenda.  So desperate they are that they decided to use taxpayer dollars (around $25,000.) to sue me. This, you would think, was their greatest achievement since the last election, the way their bloggers go on about it.  Yeah, real show of co-operation and caring by the mayor & company. Sue a blogger; sue four duly-elected councillors and allow a pathetic display of partisanship to play out at a council meeting.

Yeah, that's leadership, eh?

BTW: Kimberly Zanko and Marina Butler are their favoured candidates in the attempt to take back control of the council. These two have been part of the mayor's network, colleagues of Jim Thibert and ardent followers of the Old Boys' agenda. Marina Butler has been hankering for John Hill's Ward 4 seat for years and she heavily supported Kimberly Zanko's unsuccessful bid for Bob Steckley's seat in Ward 3 in 2010. Tim Whitfield, who was ousted by a landslide in Ward 4, is the man behind the lawsuit against the four councillors. Apparently though, he is destitute after a fire destroyed his house last fall.  So his friend, former (defeated) councillor Martha Lockwood, tried to get her service club to donate money to him.  Meanwhile he assured the court that he is financially able to bring the lawsuit as he has to be able to pay court costs if the suit is thrown out. Hmmm.

PAST ISSUES