Mayor Eddie Francis not running for re-election

by Sean Previl

Windsor Mayor Eddie Francis has announced he will not be running for the position again in the December 2014 election after 11 years in office.

In front of a crowded room of friends, family, media and council members at City Hall Jan. 10, Francis said this term would be his last.

“We’re in the right position. It’s the right time,” said Francis. “We worked very hard to turn this city around. We worked very hard to take the city to the next level locally, regionally, internationally, globally and we’ve done that.”

Francis said he wanted to resign early because he feels it will allow council to operate without the question of “will he resign?”

“If anything, my announcement early allows us to focus on the council agenda and focus on doing our jobs rather than keeping our jobs,” said Francis. “We got elected on a four year term and our job is to deliver on a four year term.”

While Windsorites have said on social media sites they are surprised at the announcement, inside city hall many have said they were shocked but that they also think it’s the right choice.

“He’s a 24-hours man,” said Councillor Ed Sleiman of Ward 5. “He doesn’t slow down for anything. I know he sacrificed a lot of his family time so he could do things for this city and I think it’s time for him to relax.”

Ward 3 Coun. Fulvio Valentinis said even with the mayor’s resignation, he knows nothing will change during council meetings.

“He would not allow (disruption),” said Valentinis.  “His strength has been as a leader. His strength has been to make council into a cohesive body and that’s going to continue in the next year.”

Not only does Francis have the trust of those at City Hall, but the public as well, as shown by a recent private poll conducted by the Windsor Star. The poll showed Francis’s approval rating at 75 per cent after three terms, a statistic rarely seen in politics at any level.

MP Brian Masse (NDP – Windsor West) said this result is likely because of the mayor’s straightforward attitude.

“Whether they agree or disagree with the mayor, they know exactly where he stands every single point and he stays to that,” said Masse. “That’s not always the case in politics and so that’s a trait that’s valued.”

The city’s Chief Administrative Officer Helga Reidel echoed Masse’s statement.

“The best thing is that we know where he stands on the issues. We’re not guessing, he’s very clear about it,” said Reidel. “As a result council becomes clearer as well and we like to have clear direction in order to know where they want to take the city and it’s allowed us to perform to our maximum.”

Reidel also said she thinks the value people have placed on the mayor may come from what’s been accomplished since Francis took office, including the International Children’s Games and the Windsor Aquatic Centre,  just to name a few.

“In his time in 11 years as mayor and in particular in the past five or six years, once some of the groundwork was laid we’ve gotten a lot done,” said Reidel.

Francis’s wife Michelle Prince, who also attended the announcement along with their children Sienna, 6, and Phoenix, 4, said having him home is one of the biggest benefits to his departure from office.

“I’m very happy, of course, for family reasons. To have him around more and not so consumed all the time will be great,” said Prince. “But I’m also proud of him most of all because I think he’s leaving at a place where he’s very happy with what he’s done and should be happy with those things.”

Prince also said she knows that even leaving office won’t necessarily mean the end of the job for Francis.

“I think I married a workaholic and wherever he goes it will go with him,” said Prince.

Francis said he appreciates all the support he’s received from the community

“There’s no words that can describe my thanks,” said Francis. “Every day that I’m out there in the community, despite what the issue is, people have always been very kind and been very generous and have come to me and basically, you’ve told me what you felt. You were honest with me. You were kind in your support and when I deserved it, you were very right in your criticism.”

Francis said he hopes those residents asking him to stay will understand his reasoning and support him for making it.

“I’ve committed close to a third of my life (to this job) and now it’s just time for me to be a private citizen,” said Francis.  “I hope that most people understand that this was not an easy decision and I consider and think over every decision and this was the right decision.”