The countdown to Sammy o'clock

I'm surprised how little I've written about the trials and tribulations of Winnipeg's embattled mayor Sam Katz up to this point. I've been negligent in my duties.

I feel we've reached a tipping point in Mayor Sam's tenure. It used to be that little controversies would spring up, then fade away, and Sam's mayorship would continue no worse for wear. For example:

• There was this thing about a tax break on a parking lot used by his baseball team, but that didn't seem important enough at the time to waste neurotransmitters on. 
• There was a scandal about his baseball club not paying back shareholders of the Crocus investment fund after it went belly up because his wildly successful baseball club had apparently never made a profit. That seemed like a much more significant controversy, but was perhaps too complicated to capture the public's attention. 
• There was a sale of a downtown parkade that seemed a little crooked, but not quite crooked enough to make a big deal out of.
• There was a thing about Sam spending city money at his own restaurant. Terrible optics, but again not really big enough potatoes to make a scandal out of. 

There were little things here or there, but Sam with his Teflon sport coat managed to slip away from any major fallout each time.

Those days are over. The past month or so for Sam Katz has officially become a gong show.

The fire hall scandal that by now everybody in Winnipeg is familiar with has done nothing but gain steam, and with an external review of the whole deal yet to be conducted, we can be guaranteed to hear a lot more about it, some of which is likely to reflect very poorly on the mayor. Now, like any entertaining show, a spin off has developed. It seems that one of the new fire halls has gone way over budget as a result of a change order that nobody can explain.

Let's talk about that for a second. The original 10,500 square foot fire hall was expanded by 3,500 square feet at a cost of $2.3 million apparently to house a firefighting museum. This fire hall, in case you're not aware, is in a bit of green space encircled by a cloverleaf for the Route 90/Portage Avenue intersection. If somebody were to visit this museum, they would have to jay-walk across an off-ramp from one of the busiest streets in the city to another of the busiest streets in the city. (Best field trip evar!) Who came up with this idea? We don't even know! Somebody somewhere in City Hall (or maybe the fire chief for all we know) thought this was such a great idea that they signed off on the change order and said MAKE IT HAPPEN!

Now that the museum has proven to be a dumb idea, they're desperately looking for other things to stick in there to justify the expense. Haz mat unit? Decontamination unit? How about a wave pool? We can sell vouchers for the pool at $10 a person to make back some of the $2.3 million we wasted, except that we should give free vouchers to low income people to use, but not on weekends or holidays because those are high volume days for paying customers, plus we should build an overhead walkway to allow people to get to the wave pool safely, but that might cost another $1 million, or possibly $1.5 million if we put in a change order after the fact to add a heated and sheltered gallery of firetruck-related art work along the walkway.


So anyhow, as all this fire hall drama is happening, we find out that Sam bought a corporation from the CAO for the City of Winnipeg, raising a few more eyebrows, and then we find out that he bought a $1.5 million house in Arizona off the sister of a Shindico exec for TEN DOLLARS ... plus "other valuable consideration". If you're thinking that "other valuable consideration" entails millions of dollars in real estate business being funneled to Shindico, then you and I are on the same wavelength.

To make matters worse, old controversies are springing to life: The restaurant owner who was suing Sam for spending city money at his own restaurant is chirping again, Crocus fund stakeholders are smelling blood and starting to raise their voices against the weakened mayor, and previous real estate transactions will go under the microscope in the wake of this fire hall clusterfuck.

I don't see this blowing over. I am prepared to go on record and say that Sam Katz will not be mayor of Winnipeg in two years. Even the Jewish Post and News is calling for Katz to resign because he is an "embarrassment to us, as Jews".

He's back-pedaling as fast as he can, and will probably throw Sheegl and others under the bus to save himself, but it won't work. Last election people had a notion that Sam wasn't completely above board, but now people are certain that he's not. There is no bloody knife or smoking gun, but the circumstantial evidence is mounting. The only way he can survive this in my opinion is if the fire hall audit exonerates him, if murder rate drops dramatically next year and if a major head office moves to Winnipeg.

If you ask me, the mayor's luck has run out.

Are we paying our mayors enough?

The pending special mayor episode of Winnipeg Internet Pundits got me thinking about mayors. My particular train of thought revolved around mayoral performance. Why do mayors always seem to under perform? Is it just my perception, or do cities generally have a hard time attracting capable leaders?

I think most Winnipeggers can relate to this. Before our last civic election there was near-unanimous consensus that mayor Sam Katz was doing a poor job: making poor planning decisions, spending too much time in Phoenix and not enough running the city, screwing up rapid transit, screwing up active transportation, doing things that were uncomfortably close to conflict of interest, burying us in an infrastructure deficit, poisoning the relationship with the Province, etc...  Yet, he won the election easily because there was nobody else worth voting for. Why???

We're not alone here, or at least I get the impression we're not. I hear stories from time to time of wacky or incompetent mayors in other cities. Even Toronto, with a population base 8 times ours, can't find a dignified mayor. Rob Ford is a controversial guy who battles with the media and often says ill-advised things like "Roads are built for buses, cars and trucks. Not for people on bikes. And my heart bleeds for them when I hear someone gets killed, but it's their own fault at the end of the day." That's just the start of his controversies, which include reading while driving.

Before Ford, in the late 90's and early 00's, there was a guy named Mel Lastman. Lastman was a furniture salesman by trade, and he didn't change a bit as mayor. He was definitely the Kern Hill/David Keam of mayors. Business acumen is a plus for sure, but crazy TV ads impersonating a US President probably don't help. For whatever good things he did, he is probably best remembered as the mayor who installed giant coloured moose all over the city.

Now, there are certainly exceptions. One might point to Calgary's Naheed Nenshi as an example. However, I believe there is a definite trend. 

The question is: how do we reverse the trend? A while ago I suggested that we should encourage politicians to accept free Jets tickets as a perk to attract better candidates. I was only joking, but that may be on the right track. Are we paying mayors enough? Sam Katz earns $126k per year (plus perks). Rob Ford earns $168k as mayor of The Big Smoke. That seems like a lot of money to an average Fred, but in terms of experienced professionals capable of running a large organization, it's not. Winnipeg's Deputy CAO earns $313k. Even Sam's own chief of staff earns almost as much as he does. In the private sector, management jobs routinely run well into 6 figures. 

You could argue that all public leaders are underpaid, relatively speaking, but the office of Prime Minister for example has the prestige of the job to attract candidates. A mayor's job consists of making decisions about road repairs and trash collection, not globe trotting and hobnobbing with dignitaries. As a result, it tends to attract either long shots with nothing to lose, or wealthy business people who have something to gain. 

Every once in a while a capable long shot like Nenshi might get on the ballot and win, but more often then not our mayor ends up being a business man for whom the job is a hobby or a means to an end. A larger salary could be a small price to pay to improve those odds.

It's so simple: Bus Fares and Waterparks

This is so obvious that I'm sure somebody else has pointed this out already, but just in case ...

There are a couple of big stories coming out of Winnipeg City Hall these days. One has to do with a 20 cent transit fare increase to fund the first leg of the rapid transit corridor from downtown to the University of Manitoba. As one would expect, this has generated a storm of protest. People are upset, a web site has been created in opposition to the proposal, old men are breaking their hips in protest ... it's getting ugly out there folks. And what does this transit fare do for us? It nets us $7 million (rounded off) in annual revenue to put towards the rapid transit line.

Meanwhile ...

The mayor is at long last thinking of giving up on his dream of having an indoor water park in Winnipeg, assisted by $7 million of public money, should a white knight not step up (or sashay out of the water .. kind of like this) in the next month.

In case you forgot where the money came from:

the money for the water park was taken from a $43-million pot of multi-lateral money destined to fund the first stage of Bus Rapid Transit.

... the same first stage of bus rapid transit that the 20 cent fare increase is supposed to help.

Sam says "There's lots of other projects we can do." Hey ... I know a project!

Dan Lett, in the column linked to earlier, argues it should be spent on hockey rinks and community clubs. Not a bad idea, and other people may have other thoughts, but putting the cash back where it belongs will allow us to shelve the ridiculous transit fare increase and will buy us another year to allow Sammy and Greg to work through their embarrassingly disfunctional transit funding courtship.

Sometimes the simplest solution is the best solution.

Sam Katz balances the budget

related: Free Press

Sam's re-election kick-off: knee jerk reaction

My initial reactions to Sam's kick-off, as portrayed in the Free Press:


First: Sam has a black sport coat? I've seen him wear mustard yellow, avocado green, The Joker purple ... but black? The stiff competition from Judy is really forcing him to up his game here.

Second: hiring more police officers is great and all, but unless you can explain how you're paying for them I remain skeptical. You're giving us the good news without the bad. "There are many avenues" for raising revenue. Ok, like ... ? When you're already selling sponsorship of city parkades, you're pretty much at the bottom of the barrel of revenue raising ideas.

Sam made the decision recently to push for a big fancy toy called a police helicopter. A tool with questionable benefits to justify the $3.5 m purchase cost and $1.3 m annual operating costs. That decision came at the expense of hiring more officers, as I see it. If he wants his chopper and 58 more cops and more dispatchers, there is no bloody way he will be able to keep his freeze on property taxes. I don't know how much more he can grovel out of other levels of government, given their own respective fiscal situations. So, Sam: when are you going to announce that you're raising taxes?

Third: He's creating a new anti-gang unit? We already have a gang unit. I know this because the Winnipeg Police web site makes reference to a "Winnipeg Police Gang Unit". So what exactly are you doing here? I would rather see more cops assigned to walk the streets and give more police presence to key areas of town, rather than containing them in a dedicated unit that may not be free to respond to general neighbourhood crime.

*edit: they have a video posted now. 20 of the 58 will be allocated to street service.

Sam Katz

If you live here in Winnipeg, you are aware that Mayor Sam is getting some serious competition for the job of running this little berg in the prairies. I am not going to comment on his competition at this time, and I am certainly not endorsing her, but I wish to share some thoughts on Mayor Sam. But first, I will share a story:

Back when this blog was barely a little blogling exploring the exciting new world of web commentary, the Upper Fort Garry issue came up. I noticed the insanity in what was going on, including the biased media coverage (Bartley Kives excepted) and I made this post on it, among others. But I did more than blog about it ... I also sent an email to Mayor Sam.

It went something like this:

I believe that the Crystal Development proposal is respectful of the Fort Garry gate, and at the same time brings much needed population and economic development to the downtown area.  The apartment building does not preclude the development of a park and interpretive center on the site of the fort, and it would add to our tax base instead of  consuming tax dollars as the Friend's proposal would.  This is an important issue to me as a tax payer and resident of Winnipeg, and I would urge you hold your ground in the face of misleading media coverage, and do what you know is right by opposing the proposal to extend the deadline for the Friends of Fort Garry.

Much to my surprise, the mayor called me on my cell phone the next day. "I totally agree with you" he said. He concurred that the coverage by the media was atrocious and seemed genuinely happy to have found somebody else who understood the situation as he did. He proceeded to give me his word that he would stand behind the Crystal development, in spite of all of the ridiculous "save the fort" crap that was going on.

Wow, how about that? He took the time to call me, and he seems committed to doing the right thing despite all the pressures to do otherwise. What a guy! Yes, well ... only about two weeks later, after a little summit with Gary Doer and the Friends, Katz backed away from his position. Crystal Developers consequently abandoned their contract with the city when it became apparent that their friend at city hall wasn't behind them anymore.

Oh Sammy, how could you betray me like that? A little tear rolled down my face, dripped off my chin, and landed in a puddle in the shape of disappointment.

That story illustrates my over-all impression of mayor Sam. He's a people person who knows how to say the right thing, and he's accessable -- he'll respond to ordinary Joe's like me, and he'll even make regular appearances on the Great Canadian Talk Show for face to face discussions with a raging, ranting ex-wrestler who could snap at any moment. (I mean that in a nice way, Marty. You know I'm a fan.) However, as nice as he seems, he can't always be counted on.

There are two main factors that influence Sam's decisions at city hall: optics and jealousy. In the example above, optics were not on his side so he switched sides. Sam, like all politicians, wants to look like he's working hard and accomplishing a lot, and he wants people to like him. Sometimes that means making politically expedient decisions instead of correct ones.

I'm not sure if the jealousy factor is actually jealousy or just a giant inner child wanting to come out, but it is clear that Sam wishes that he was a big city mayor. He wants all of the big city toys. He wants an IKEA and is willing to bend over backwards to make sure we get one, without bothering to plan for infrastructure to accommodate it. He wants a helicopter because all of the big cities have one. Never mind the cost, or the police officers we could put on the beat with that money. He wants an LRT. No .. a BRT. No .. an LRT. Yes ... definitely an LRT. Much cooler and big-city-like than a BRT. And what's with this bizarre obsession about a waterpark?

He wants all these things whether they make sense or not, process be damned. Maybe some of them do make sense, but we don't know because Sammy danced right by the due diligence part of the process, going straight from idea in the noggin to implementation. No master plan. No grand vision for the city, (like Chris Leo says, in a Sinclair column that's not nearly as bad as the one that prompted my earlier post.) Aside from general maintenance and flashes of fiscal conservatism here and there (property tax freeze, garbage collection outsourcing) his tenure has largely been a random mish-mash of ad hoc development and sprawl.

We now officially have a legitimate contender for the job. I have very few good things to say about the organization that she left, but I welcome the competition. Maybe if you throw a businessman with no plan and an NDPer in a press and squeeze really hard, some actual ideas will drip out the bottom. Maybe even a vision of some kind.

**update**
not looking very promising on the ideas/vision front so far:

She also refused to say whether she will raise property taxes, refused to say whether she prefers bus rapid transit to light rail transit and refused to offer her opinion on the stadium deal. She said she will consult with people during the campaign before she makes specific promises.

**update2**

thanks to Policy Frog for the shout out on Twitter. (If I were on twitter I would have twitted that.)

Raise my taxes, Mr.Katz

The Ikea open house was this afternoon, and like Graham I wasn't able to make it, but I did see a picture of the proposed layout in the Free Press today. Unfortunately it's not on their web site yet, but this description is:

To make the project happen, Fairweather will spend $26.5 million to widen Kenaston, Sterling Lyon and Shaftesbury Boulevard and install three new sets of traffic lights. The city and province will eventually pay all but $4.5 million of these costs back.

Major Sammy so excited about Ikea coming that he's willing to foot 85% of the bill for the infrastructure upgrades. He is excited because Ikea is a big city thing, and Sammy wants to be a big city major. Rapid trasit is also a big city thing, and we've got that coming soon too. All these big city things makes Sammy feel good.

However, as it turns out, our big city pants are really small town diapers with pictures of freeways printed on them. A big city would build an LRT line or subway instead of a glorified bus route. Likewise, a big city would build proper infrastructure for a 1.5 million sq ft commercial development. Here in Winnipeg we throw up a few traffic lights and call it a day.

I like Ikea, but this development is going to be like Kildonan Crossing, which I avoid like the plague because it's impossible to get out of. We should rename it Hotel California.

So why do we cheap out on everything? Are we forcing this big city thing to much? Do we really need rapid tranist, and would Ikea really stay away if we forced the developer to go halfers on an overpass? Would it help if the city collected a little more revenue? Is this because property taxes have been frozen for eight years? 'Cause if it is, maybe we should think about raising them, rather than causing permanent damage to the design of the city.

The man with a plan

This made me laugh when I saw it on the Free Press web site:

Ooo. Ooo. I know! Ask me!

Katz runs the city of Winnipeg like I play monopoly (except that Katz doesn't end up in jail).

In the column Lett makes a good point about the costs of developing Point Douglas:

All the moaning and whining about the costs of assembling and remediating the light industrial lands that dominate South Point Douglas ignores an important point: The city will have to bear those costs sometime in the future if Point Douglas is to move forward.

That does not mean that the stadium/hotel/waterpark idea is any better of an option for development in the area. What this means is that our mayor and our perma-councilors need to do some thinking and planning about how to revitalize the neighbourhood over the long term. And I'm not talking about fancy street lamps, planters and banners that say "South Point Douglas Village". I'm talking about cleaning up the area and encouraging organic growth. And listening to the people who know something about urban planning.

I'll trade you my Higgins Ave and my Upper Fort Garry for your Forks.

Winnipeg Department of Spending Money

Why aren't I surprised:

"When it comes to long-range planning ... Winnipeg has no one working on it at all."

This from former city planner Jacqueline East in her final report, as per today's Freep. (link) She confirmed what many of us suspected: that city-planning is a "crisis-driven process" with very little forward thinking actually going on.

Of course Mayor Sammy denies everything, but East puts forward as evidence of our low priority on planning the low number of planning staff -- 19 -- as compared to similarly sized Hamilton with 57 or Edmonton with 58. Councilor Swandel responds with this gem:

He said the planning department's $40-million budget last year was just shy of the $41.5 million Edmonton devoted to its planning department. Winnipeg committed $3.8 million to land-use planning, Swandel added. Ottawa, with an overall budget twice as large as Winnipeg's, committed $3.87 million to its "community and planning design."

"When you compare apples to apples in those other cities, we're getting the job done," Swandel said.

Uh, Mr. Swandel ... I shouldn't have to point this out, but the job isn't to spend money. The job is to intelligently plan the development of the city. Look around, man. Look at the ever-growing number of traffic lights on Bishop Grandin and Route 90, linking our new schooless sprawling suburbs to the traffic chaos around Polo Park. We're not getting the job done.

And by the way, how do we manage to spend $40m with 19 planners, when Edmonton's budget for 3 times the number of planners is only 4% more? Can we maybe take some of that money and build a freakin' overpass or two so I can get to the airport in under 45 minutes?

A water park for Winnipeg?

This just in: City ready to pour $7M into water park

Wednesday morning the mayor will ask members of his cabinet to approve a plan to ask the private sector for proposals to build an indoor water park somewhere in Winnipeg using up to $7 million of city cash.
..
The water park would be run privately but “remain accessible” to ordinary Winnipeggers, said Katz. “I would be shocked if we did not get a good response”.

Not that I would ever question Sammy's judgment or anything, but what kind of a water park would $7m get ya? Hot off the presses in Ottawa:

SunnyLand Amusement Resort, the new $50-million Limoges water park planned for the capital region's eastern edge, will open in June 2009 regardless of whether a competing park opens not far away to the southwest ... He said the park will boast a wave pool capable of holding 2,000 people and more than 20 other water rides, theme rivers, interactive youth entertainment and attractions aimed at a wide age group. <link>

The competing park by the way is a little more modest (10 rides), but is being planned without any government assistance.

So how much money will the private sector kick-in in Winnipeg? $43m? $20m? Will CanadInns take the 7 mil and build a waterpark on to one of their hotels that they were planning on building anyway? Before I get too excited about this proposal, I have a whole lot of questions that need to get answered. Here's an idea though: how about the soon-to-be-abandoned Canada Post building in downtown Winnipeg? Will the near-by Radisson step up to the plate?

We may have a longer skating rink that Ottawa, but I suspect that we'll get our asses kicked in the water park department.