UPDATE: The Mid-term Elections in the States just proved my theory. The Democrats, who, under president Barack Obama brought the country back from a terrible recession; brought in the Affordable Care Act; got Bin Laden and numerous other benefits, were defeated in many crucial elections. The Republicans have now taken over Congress and the future looks grim for average Americans. Those who voted, voted against their own best interests. In many ases, they voted out the people who stood up for them.
(Just heard this on Stephanie Miller's Show: Now they have to prove that they can lead.)
It would seem that Fort Erie's recent municipal elections are really a microcosm of what is happening in the US. As I said before, tomorrow, Americans go to the polls to vote for the entire House of Representatives; one third of the Senate of 100; many governors and local positions.
In this election, it's all about Obama and his "failures" as a president. The BIG FEAR that the republicans are counting on to take over the Senate and retain their comfortable majority in the House is EBOLA. More people have died by falls in the US than have died of Ebola - one. There is only one active case in the US at this time. So far two who contracted the virus from contact with the first patient are now clear of the virus. But the anti-Obama media has ginned up the fear and have assigned blame to Obama for "a failure of leadership" in the Ebola crisis. Which, of course, is no crisis at all. True, mistakes were made by the hospital in Texas when the patient, who had just arrived in the US from West Africa, presented at the hospital suffering from symptoms associated with the disease. If he had been treated appropriately at the beginning, he probably would have survived and the two nurses would not have contracted the disease.
But that was only one example of how the media and wealthy donors have manipulated public opinion to turn voters away from those who are working in their best interest. Same thing happened in Fort Erie. The fear of higher taxes due to lawsuits filed and funded by agenda-driven persons caused many voters to turn away from their own best interests. The future may not be so bright for the majority of the people of Fort Erie, but it will certainly be bright for the "friends" of those who were elected.
It looks like the GOP will prevail on Tuesday. This is because they were able to use the media's influence to move their agenda, even though that agenda is woefully untrue. HERE are some real facts about Obama. None of this got any play in the media, just as the accomplishments of The Four were never included in the local media's coverage. There is a lot of money behind the anti-Obama effort. The Koch brothers have invested millions in the effort to take over the Congress of the US. A dozen or so people funded the effort against The Four. Among them was Marina Butler who was elected in Ward 4. Something about that just doesn't seem right. Call for a Compliance Audit, then fund a lawsuit on the man you plan to run against in the next election.
But it worked! Now Fort Erie can take pride as a town that followed the American way of winning elections. Except it was on a much smaller scale. The next four years will be interesting as to how this plays out.
Early Predictions:
1.) Taxes will rise but the new council will blame the lawsuits for the rise (which will be a lie.)
2.) The Kinsmen Pool will remain closed.
3.) That other blog, as well as its contributors will be dropped; no one will take their calls. They have served their purpose. Lesley North will probably not speak at council, but when she does, she will need to be very careful as Wayne Redekop will not allow such antics.
4.) Stephen Passero will get a job with the EDTC or the Peace Bridge.
5.) The votes on council will be 5-1 and no one will say a word about it except me.
6.) The Fort Erie Racetrack will stay open with million of dollars from the province and a top-off from the town.
7.) Young people will continue to leave town after the get their educations.
Any other predictions?
;You are right Sharon. The vote regarding Bay Beach in the previous term was 5 to 2 with Anne-Marie Noyes and Bob Steckley wanting to preserve the waterfront.
ReplyDeleteBut that was alright.
And Wayne Redekop will not allow the crap that the previous one encouraged.
They all promised Jobs and every body out there will be trying to build plants and factories here, The Town squandered money putting millions of dollars into land outside the urban area,, this was a deal made when Wayne Redekop was Mayor,and Dougie was on Region, a secret deal made behind closed doors, I did manage to get a letter printed in the local Pravda, on this very quiet deal, I found out , the recipient of the deal, was bragging in a bar downtown Buffalo, about the deal of a lifetime for him, also blabbed about the location, the barman was my nephew who is a dual citizen born in Canada to an american mother,went for a while to Stevensville School. The infrastructure is now in place, next Fort Erie will go to Region and get them to change the urban plans.ASAP I predict pressure will happen to replace an undersized water line to Stevensville/Douglastown, I predict a lawsuit from the "4" council members who were vilified, and slandered and sued by Zanko and Butler , the gals will have to answer in court for character assassination, which caused them to lose face in the community.No new jobs will appear, and more people will flee Town, They will squeeze every dollar they can out of the taxpayers.They may not finish their terms in office, as the taxpayer's find out that they were scammed.by a lot of lies. and broken promises.
ReplyDeleteinsider backroom dirty deals in Fort Erie?????............
Delete"please .tell me it doesn't happen here" , says the duped dumbed down majority!!
Wake up people, the answer is , ALL THE TIME!!and it costs you huge tax$$$ (and you just voted in a council that will accelerate it)
I have a feeling similar to how I felt back in 1968 when Richard Nixon was elected president. I knew he was a crook and a liar, yet it would take another six years before the rest of the country realized this and he resigned from office rather than be removed. The Watergate Hearings were watched obsessively as I saw the take-down of the the man who betrayed the trust of the voters who elected him in a landslide. "Tricky Dick" he was called back then. He lived up to his name. I think we have the same thing happening here in Fort Erie.
ReplyDeleteI predict twin 21 story towers will be built on Waverly Beach, Lakeshore Road south of the Old Fort will be paved with gold, and the Leafs will win the cup in the next four years. OK, the 3rd prediction is a pipe dream.
ReplyDeleteKarma has a way of giving back....I just cant wait to see what it brings to those who did wrong. I wish them luck...
ReplyDeletePredictions: Artists renderings of developers dreams remain posted as if actualities. In the meantime, historic Bridgeburg Station, touted as a tourist attraction online, continues to decay. Will Jarvis St.'s brave entrepreneurs ever have a fighting chance? The Magic 8 Ball says "Ask again later".
ReplyDeleteAsk Sandy Annunziatta about the coal dock plans after he changed the zoning back to parkland from 8 storeys, was it?
ReplyDeleteThe new councillors have such energetic plans, won't be holding my breath.
Just read Martin's comments regarding his time in politics. He admits to using bingo revenue to build the new town hall, commenting he didn't use taxpayer's money, instead he and the bingo review committee which he sat on used bingo funds? Since when was it legal to use bingo funds to build town facilities? He may not have used taxpayers money but he definitely took money from charities and non for profit groups who could have definitely used those funds. This definitely was not the RIGHT thing to do. Ontario lottery and gaming should have some interest in this article. .
ReplyDeleteWhat else can the bingo monies be used for? I see it as a revenue generating account. Why not use it to offset the cost. From a business perspective it makes sense. Did we also not use the OLG monies to fix our terrible roads? Any sudsidies that they can use and keep my taxes minimized is a good thing in my opinion
DeleteHe could be telling the truth, The Town put an illegal sur - tax on bingo licence holders, It was a rampant violation of Provincial Gaming Law , this sur-tax was added as a supposed road tax,, as Americans were using our roads to get to the Bingo Halls never mind that American patrons used Regional and Provincial roads to get to those said Halls.at that time Bingo Halls were operating 5 sessions per day ,4 Halls @ 5 times per day amounted to millions of dollars scammed off the top of money earned by hundreds of volunteers, , that is where the money came from, , That is why I am glad that the Town can't get there filthy hands on our money anymore, the OLG is now in charge.the surcharge if I remember , was 65 dollars on top of the licence fee.I have wondered who benefited the most from my 25 years of running Bingos, now we know. Doug Martin and his best pal always ran the show. if money is involved he is in the middle of it. , Americans never did drive on Town of Fort Erie Roads, so Canadians were made to pay for roads they traveled on.We already paid on our property taxes.for that right. They are going to roast Doug Martin soon, would that be called a pig roast??
DeleteFirst of all "another observer" it is illegal to use bingo funds to build/repair etc. town facilities and yes the dollars put towards the leisureplex was also illegal. The revenue from the slots is not bingo funding and is under a different "arrangement". Perhaps you should be asking the various charities and non for profit organizations how the bingo funding could have been used if it was not directed towards the new town hall and leisureplex. I am sure they could have put it to good use.
ReplyDeleteBill 8 will become law. Someone will complain to the Ontario Ombudsman about money from a public agency being used to finance a court application against a sitting member of Council.
ReplyDeleteDo I smell something???
DeleteOne of the reasons Dirty Doug is stepping down, IMHO, is that he knows with all the skeletons in his closet, one of them is bound to fall out sooner or later. He was basically under the radar until greed and an obvious golden handshake from the great rape of Bay Beach showed intelligent people just how filthy he and this town is. (It will continue after he is gone, specially with this new council of the morally challenged.)
ReplyDeleteThe law should be waiting for him at the end of his roast with cuffs for 3 decades of ripping this town off. Maybe they should bring a paddy wagon as there will be quite a few others with the same history in the room as well. Birds of a feather.......
Regarding the licence fees, Fort Erie had the highest Bingo licence fees in Niagara Region, with added surcharge, We before, running a Bingo, $200 dollars scammed off the top, many times after four hours of work either made no money or lost money, until the risk for funds from Bingo, were spread out among all of the charities and payed out on an equal basis, before that, groups that ran a Friday or Saturday night , made a killing the others basically got the crumbs .and left overs .So groups that raised funds to buy hospital equipment and put money into food banks had to pay for the Town Hall to be built, Dougie who I never saw once in a Bingo Hall now is taking the accolades for the work of hundreds of Fort Erie volunteers. This is typical of Mayor Martin. taking credit for others peoples labours.
ReplyDelete