Windsorites voice opinions on city issues

by Justin Prince

Windsorites will have a lot to think about with the upcoming Windsor municipal election less than a month away with several guaranteed changes taking place on city council.

More than 90 candidates registered to run for city council, school board trustee or mayor in this year’s election before the Sept. 12 nomination deadline. Eleven of those candidates withdrew from contention for various reasons. But with current councillors Drew Dilkens, Ron Jones, FulvioValentinis and Alan Halberstadt either running for mayor or not running for re-election and Mayor Eddie Francis not running for a fourth term, the next city council will look very different.

“We are looking for people, for the people that will do the people’s bidding who will open transparencies if they share any ideas that they want to indulge in with the people, not in secrecy,” said Denny Radosz, a business owner in downtown Windsor. “The people have to have to have a say in (municipal) projects.”

Radosz’s business, Aquarium Windsor, was the first recipient of the Downtown Windsor Business Improvement Association’s commercial rent subsidy program last year. The program subsidizes up to 50 per cent of a business’s rent each month for one year. The benefit for the store expired less than a month ago according to Radosz. As part of the program, the businesses must stay in their current lease for at least five years. Compared to his recent visit to Toronto, Radosz said it was a night and day difference between their downtowns.

“You can literally look at the sidewalks in Toronto and you don’t see gum spots, you don’t see oil stains, you don’t see urine stains, I mean it’s immaculately clean,” said Radosz. “Driving back didn’t feel cozy to say the least … This is the heart of our city and it should glow like the heart of our city.”

Many people have narrowed their choices for mayor. An unscientific poll of morethan 15 Windsorites on Sept. 17 at the corner of Ouellette Avenue and University Avenue said they thought Dilkens, current DWBIA President Larry Horwitz or former Mayor John Millson would become Windsor’s next mayor. But Mike Barat, a 55-year-old resident in Ward 3, harbours resentment towards Millson’s decisions during his past term from 1988-1991.

“I couldn’t vote for him and I can tell you why in two words: Cleary Auditorium,” said Barat. “Probably no one in their late 30s would remember this, but he was in charge of the renovations of the Cleary Auditorium at the time.”

Many citizens have different opinions on what the main issues are in Windsor. Both Barat and Radosz said that the number of businesses downtown was the main issue going to the election. The city’s roads are an issue for Tiara McMaster, a first-year pre-health student at St. Clair College.

“There’s a bunch of roads that need to be fixed,” said McMaster. “My boyfriend complains all the time about potholes.”

Despite the road issues, McMaster, 19, said she wasn’t planning to vote in the upcoming election. While McMaster said she wishes there were more things to do in the city, she also said she follows U.S. politics more than local politics.

“It’s just not something that I follow,” said McMaster. “If I wanted to vote, I would rather vote for something that I know fully about rather than voting for somebody I don’t know.”

The Windsor municipal election will be held Oct. 27.