Saturday, July 11, 2015

TIME TO REMEMBER



We remembered the 50s and 60s July 12 
at Waterfront Park

The Moonlighters played to a crowd estimated at 200 on Sunday night at Waterfront Park. The event was put together by the Friends of Crystal Beach. Many of us remember too that what is now Waterfront Park was once a pile of rocks. Following a C.A.U.S.E. (1996) recommendation, an intrepid bunch of people put together and carried out a plan for a park on the waterfront in Crystal Beach with a boat launch and picnic facilities. With the help of bingo funds and a lot of hard work, the park is now a reality to be enjoyed by everyone.

Some of the original Waterfront committee members are now dead, but their contribution will live on in a plaque at the entrance to the parking lot and in the hearts and minds of grateful people. As Paul Lewis (is that an American accent I hear?) spoke to the crowd before the band started to play said, "Look around you. Here we are at the water, having an outdoor concert. Ladies and Gentlemen: This is Crystal Beach!"


Now, on to the story of those who sought revenge against the voters' choice in the 2010 election:

It was almost a year ago that the list of contributors to the lawsuit against four sitting councillors was revealed.  From what we hear, the contributors were assured that their names would remain anonymous but the judge hearing the case demanded that Whitfield's lawyer (Dave Hurren) provide the names of the backers. The backers pledged support of a lawsuit filed in 2013 against four elected councillors: Bob Steckley, John Hill, Paul Collard and Don Lubberts. Only Lubberts was re-elected to council in 2014.

So, we thought we would remind you of how a small group of people set out to ruin the reputations of four elected representatives of the people.  They will forever be remembered for their "community spirit."


Here is the list as copied from the official list supplied by the court:


1. Bridgeburg Holdings Limited
1625 Niagara Parkway
Fort Erie, Ontario L2A 5M4

Owner: James Miller

2.  Zavcor Trucking
3650 Eagle Street
P.O. Box 180
Stevensville, ON L0S 1S0

Owner: Kirk Zavitz

3.  1049506 Ontario Inc
2045 Niagara Parkway
Fort Erie, Ontario L2A 5M4

Owner: William Miller

4. Garrison Square Plaza Inc.
6150 Valley Way, Suite 104
Niagara Falls, Ontario L2E 1Y3

Owner: Artaj Singh

5.  Howard Beattie, Valerie Beattie
649 Lakeshore Road
Fort Erie, Ontario L2A 1B8

6. Employment Professionals Canada
1220 Garrison Road
Fort Erie, Ontario L2A 1P1

Owner: Marina Butler

 

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:


  • The Millers are close friends and contributors to Doug Martin's campaign in 2010. They own Miller's Auto Recycling as well as a great deal of property in Fort Erie.

  • Kirk Zavitz also contributed to Martin's campaign in 2010 when Martin won by a mere five votes over Ann Marie Noyes.

  • Arjaj Singh is the landlord for the property (Garrison Square Plaza, Inc) rented by the Fort Erie Chamber of Commerce and the Fort Erie Economic and Development Corporation. He also contributed to Martin's mayoral campaign

  • Marina Butler (Employment Professionals Canada) also contributed to Doug Martin's election campaign in 2010. She filed a compliance audit against the campaign of Ward 4 Councillor John Hill in 2010 after his successful election. It accomplished nothing but cost the taxpayers thousands of dollars.She went on to run and defeat John Hill in Ward 4 in 2014.

  • The Beatties have been close friends of Martin for years.  1118184 Ontario Inc. runs Madison's Pub at the Leisureplex.

30 comments:

  1. Something Smell's very Stinking in the West side of Fort Erie!

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  2. And of course these people are upstanding citizens who just decided out of the goodness of their hearts to destroy four men who did nothing wrong. They are all business people who know how it works when they want to fire someone. I wish one of their former employees would come forward and claim harassment. I'm sure there are some out there. It doesn't matter if it's a valid claim or not, that's not what they are concerned about. It's power and control and getting their own way no matter the consequences to anyone other than themselves. How low can you get? Oh, and why does Madison's pub get free advertising on the Town sign?

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  3. Was it not Valerie Beattie's waterfront lot that required a set back allowance for some bylaw variance for a new build? That matter was championed by Councillor Butler as I recall?

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    1. I remember that. What was the result? Anyone know?

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    2. I believe they got the set back. It just shows the very close circle of cronies that try to run this town. The whole lawsuit was because The Four weren't up for sale, like others before them and since.

      I just hope these "backers" have to pay through the nose for Martin's little plan 4-2-0 that went awry. Too bad the money wasn't used for such selfish purposes. Could have had a spectacular fireworks display.

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  4. Thanks Sharon for reminding us of the names Dougie gathered to support his vendetta against the Four. Its the names above who will be responsible to pay massive court costs ...unless,,,,there is no agreement and they hang Whitfield out to dry by his dingle berry. Sleezy enough to back the suit secretly so guess sleezy nuff to close the purses. Hope Whitfield sings like a canary and exposes the whole plot. Kris Dube would love to write the dirt.

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    1. Dube is a puppet. It would be the last thing ever submitted to the boss before the last hour of employment and would never be published, (unfortunatly, as a talent like that is wasted on clown pieces that can be cranked out by any fool). Howies right, as the local reporting is pretty much silent on this important background to a very expencive exercise in personal spite. Someone should follow this up. The names listed are a few of the involved, there are others in the background. Whitfield's over a barrel. Hung out to dry like some billboard somewhere.

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    2. You are kidding, right? It was always reported how Don Lubberts repeatedly questioned mayor martin and Heather Salter about the road allowance problems at Bay Beach. Articles were consistently written as if Lubberts was wasting everyone's time.

      It's been at least two and a half years since the surveyors testified. There was even an old photo of a cement road running parallel to the lake submitted.

      It's about time for a court decision. We shouldn't have buildings on an illegal area.

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    3. Reporting what was said in public council meetings is what publishers puppets do best. Anything deeper like Dube publishing the list of suit "donations" would get him into some real trouble.. As stated, articles were written indicating D. Lub was wasting everyones time. The publisher will have his way with the published pieces as well as the papers staff, and it was with the unstated objective of pleasing Mayor D.M. and other "members of council" who see the paper as their own little prop piece. Kidding? No. Dube isnt going to bite the hand that writes his paycheck. Nibble on it a little? Maybe, in the interest of trying to pretend to look objective, but only as far as his leash is allowed to stretch and thats unfortunate.

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    4. I had an e-mail conversation with Sarah Ferguson (editor of the Times) about the inappropriateness of her sitting with Doug Martin at the conflict of interest case decision. I truly did not realize who she was (thought she was a relative/friend of Doug's) until I was told her name.

      And that just about sums up exactly where the Times sits with its biggest advertiser - the Town of Fort Erie.

      (Of course, Sarah explained that she did speak with The Four before and after court, which, in her mind, excuses her of sitting, up close and personal, with one side in the case.)

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  5. Interesting Robbins from bullet news would write an article about a regional employee that was fired for disparaging texts about regional councillors and yet nothing about a much larger ($$$) corrupt and vindictive procedure against the Fort Erie 4.

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    1. During the period 2010-2014, there were a couple of town employees that routinely spread and leaked information about The Four - and not in a good way. One was openly defiant, as evidenced by videos of council meetings during that period. There was even a plan making the rounds at town hall called 4-2-0. It was the plan to eliminate The Four from council. Yet no one in the so-called media reported on it, or delved into it. The local faux newsman played a significant role in publishing confidential information from a closed meeting. His name was mentioned quite a bit in the court case as the source of information from those closed sessions. He may also be on the hook for future lawsuits along with Martin and others.

      There is a strong case for malicious prosecution.

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  6. The Friends of Crystal Beach did it again! It was the kick off of their free Waterfront Concert series. Another wonderful night at the beach.

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    Replies
    1. Yes it was! Haven't been to a concert in a while and thoroughly enjoyed it. Children and adults dancing and enjoying the music of our youth. (Yeah, I'm an old fogey now.) They ran out of popcorn and pop and FOCB tee shirts were selling well. I missed out on the free love beads handed out to Early Birds.

      Next Sunday, The Remnants play music of the 60s and 70s. 7:00 p.m. Waterfront Park.

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    2. It was fun to see a few people dressed in the era. FOCB encourages those attending to get in the mood.

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  7. "Community Spirit" my @ss.......everyone of these well to do only did it to increase their already large bottom lines.

    THE FOUR couldn't be bought and many dirty little back room deals were now in danger of exposure.Sure wish this could be said about the current council(apologies Mr Lubberts and Mayor. The bought and paid for Dirty 5 run things now).

    FE politics 101. Play $$$ with the dirty than shite ol boys or pay for it.

    PS. why is Butler still a sitting councillor and didn't Piss boy have a hand in all this too??

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    1. They should both remove themselves from council, but they won't because the two of them think they entitled to the position! They should get charged with fraud!

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  8. So it is okay for John Robbins to do some investigative journalism to get a regional staffer fired because this staffer is bad mouthing John's boss, but it isn't okay for John to do a story about how the four were being harassed with a BS lawsuit. John was even given copies of the cross examinations of Martin, Whitfield, Passero, and Shular. He had sworn testimony in his hand and refused to write the story after promising the four that he would. Shame on you John!!!

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    1. I just read an editorial by Grant LaFleche where he states that:

      NiagaraNext was outed after commenting on a recent Bullet News Niagara column related to the Petrowski incident. He was also critical of some regional councillors and of Bullet on Twitter.

      According to a story published by Bullet, they pulled Miller’s user information from their website and provided it to Caslin, who ordered an “urgent” investigation


      Seems our esteemed "independent" newspaper has become the PC Police for the region. So much for the separation between not-involved-with-editorial-content-not-officially-owner-of-the-Bullet Regional Councillor Bob Gale and his former brainchild.

      Too bad the writer used regional computers to write his opinions. That was his mistake. In that light, I once found out that a slander-filled blog about me came directly from a certain reporter's computer at a large newspaper in the area. Could have cost the man his job; chose not to. Then I was sued for slander using taxpayer money by Jim Thibert.

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  9. Harry Schlange, who once was the man who ran our Town, and worked hand in glove with the corrupt crew that held the Town in a grip, worthy of a Godfather movie, a law for them and another for the rabble, their grip is choking the very life out of our Town, N.O.T.L and Niagara Falls are booming, with the largest increase in tourism in years, The Americans are back, and having a ball, spending money like it is Christmas in July, The old Fort Erie is like a town hit by a plague, nice to see signs of life in the traditional parts of town, Ridgeway and Crystal Beach, The Park took a lot of resolve to build , and I remember the huge pieces of armour rock being put in place, did not visualise at the time the final outcome ,never thought it would be such a hit. no wooden pier here, a structure to match anything mother nature can throw against it. Where is this kind of energy in Bridgeburg??? an unsanitary and unsafe pool to douse our little children in , closed down for want of .massive infusion of tax money. We need fresh eyes on that pool of stagnant water ASAP.

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    1. You know, the revitalization of Ridgeway's town core began over twenty years ago. What is now being enjoyed by many is, again, the work of forward-thinking people, some now gone, but not forgotten.

      When I first heard that a splash pad was going in at the town square, I was skeptical, not knowing much about them. The past few days, I have occasion to go by the Ridgeway town square and I see lots of kids enjoying the splash pad on a hot day. There are convenient benches and some shade for parents and grandparents to enjoy their kids having fun while being within a safe distance from them. Altogether, a very good thing for Ridgeway and the people.

      I also see where cities like St. Catharines are moving to replace some public pools with splash pads. I think they're right in doing so. Public outdoor pools are very expensive to operate and I would worry about safety and possible liability, especially in such an old pool like the Kinsmen Pool. I learned to swim at my local "Y" in Buffalo; we did not use local public pools, although there was one not far from where we lived. We came to Crystal Beach instead to enjoy the sand and the then-clear water.

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    2. It was former Ward 4 Councillor John Hill who got the Splash Pad approved through Council. Not all were on board for spending money on it, but John fought the good battle and won in the end. There was also a group that provided around $75k that I think was applied to it as well. All in all, it would not have happened except that Hill presented a pretty good argument to win council over on that one. Guaranteed it would not have happened if Marina Butler had been Ward 4 councillor. She was too busy about that time, helping fund a lawsuit against John and others.

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  10. For shame Bob GaleJuly 14, 2015 at 11:36 PM

    In a story in the St Catharines standard about the regional staffer that was fired Bob Gale says "I’m staying out of this one,” Gale said, before later adding: “I’m proud of Bullet for exposing something like this, that’s the reason Bullet’s there.” Bullet News had all the transcripts to expose Doug Martins BS lawsuit against the four councillors but choose to remain silent. I guess because Bob Gale wasn't one of the four being sued it wasn't news worthy. Give me a frickin break, you make me sick!

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    Replies
    1. "Comments for this thread are now closed." They don't want the truth to come out!

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  11. I had heard that Gale passed on exposing the transcript testimony of Pessaro and martin because one of his advertisers wouldn't want the information spread.

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  12. Bob Gale had to stay out of the regional staffer issue he is a regional councillor & the Owner of Bullet News. Too many conflicts & if he did step in the naysayers would have been all over it. Yes Bullet Media had the transcripts but until the case is finally settled in the courts the media are very careful on their reporting, It is obvious to the ones in the know that it was a BS suit & based on pass behaviour of the jack asses who started the suit a law suit against Bullet media would of been started.

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  13. so, if the court documents had been released to the public, what would be the problem posting them? One could get sued if parts were highlighted or commented on, otherwise what's the problem?

    If the public was aware that martin admitted the town lawyer had no harassment case, AND he knew it, the election would have turned out very differently. Also it was Pessaro and martin who voted to pay her to go, right?

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  14. Oh Looky HERE. Seems that Fort Erie Racetrack owner Carl Paladino likes to waste money with failed lawsuits against his perceived enemies. Perhaps that's where Jimbo got his idea from.

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    1. view_from_the_beachJuly 15, 2015 at 2:44 PM

      Peas in a pod in deed they are. The only question is whether the pod is large enough to hold the multitude of hyper-inflated egos involved.

      Interestingly enough a similar dynamic exists in the more "folksy" social clubs running around Bay Beach shouting "we have endured and victory is ours".
      Evidence abounds of self anointed "special people" stepping up to the mic, running their mouths, simply because progress appears to have been made and they want some luster.

      Let's wait for the "other shoe" to drop eh?

      Delete
  15. 2 bullies, why would there be so much politicing for a board of education. What a bloody waster of money. I guess the local Fort Erie residents need to be corralled in because Paladino seems to have a big legal fund. Great just what we need!

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