Candidate Judy and other post - election emails

Thanks so much Marty. It was great to be on your show twice - sorry couldn't manage it in last week but no matter what happens I'm sure I'll be back on air with you someday.

Judy
(candidate for Mayor)
********************

Good Day Marty,
I thank you for your excellent coverage on the City Election. I will continue to speak out on the issues.
Fred Morris
(candidate in St. James-Brooklands-Weston)

***************
Virtually no change!
Looks like another 4 years of B.S.!

YOUR efforts to invigorate the campaign were stellar! Don't give up. It will be very interesting to see the poll by poll results!

I REALLY thank you for your efforts. they gave me energy and supported my commitment to change. Ah well!

Shane Nestruck
(candidate in Fort Rouge - East Fort Garry)
****************

Marty

The funniest thing was watching the Tweets roll by as the Media "snobs" congratulated each other on how wonderfully they covered the election. Talk about a tight knit bunch of second rate journalists licking each other into a frenzy.

Livio Ciaralli
(candidate in Charleswood-Tuxedo)
*************
From one of the election articles in today's Freep:

"With voter turnout hovering at 47 per cent, an unusually intense campaign lured hundreds out to ward and mayoral debates and nudged thousands more to cast ballots early in advance polls."

Less than 50% turnout. Sure, we had strong winds, cold weather and rain. SO WHAT?

Nobody had to dodge a hail of bullets.
Nobody was intimidated by having to go through military checkpoints.
Nobody was visited by heavily armed opposition forces, government forces, drug cartels or organized crime syndicates to either force or prevent them from showing up.
No suicide bombers threatened public safety at the polling stations.

And the best we could do was have less than 50% turnout in the polls. Canada is supposed to be a bastion of democracy, a shining light, an example of what second and third world countries can aspire to if they simply undertake the effort to become democracies.

To say that I am bitterly disappointed would be an understatement.

Here is what our politicians should do: Get a copy of the poll registers to see who voted. If someone who was eligible to vote did not do so, their concerns SHOULD BE IGNORED.

L.
*************

I'm very discouraged. Aside from you and the alternative media, no one bothered with the issues & no one bothered to informed themselves so they could make a good decision about their vote. The MSM was a joke - no coverage of the issues. Obviously Winnipeggers don't EVER want change, we just want to bitch about everything and play the martyr.

Next election anyone running in Charleswood should tack "conservative minded' to their campaign signs whether they're conservative or not, because only conservatives need apply there, doesn't matter if you have a good platform, or goals beyond getting elected. Never even received a flyer from Paula. Yeah, she's really interested in what I have to say or how I feel.

Don't know if I'll bother to vote in the next municipal election. Once my commitments here are through I don't know if I'll stick around - and I was raised here. No wonder we can't keep our grads and professionals here for long.

You did a great job Marty, but I don't think anyone cared.

Regards,

OL
***********
Marty

After reviewing most results it looks like the uninformed still have the power. I can no longer believe in this city as the same trash keeps getting elected by the same fools over and over again. I briefly was hoping for real change but I guess it's business as usually in the city.

I am happy that Sam was winning in the polls as I last saw but I guess he'll be faced with the same morons too.

Oh well...I guess I'll move to Toronto....
Mike

***************

Everyone who didn't take charge of the stuff (parking, street changes, policing) over the last 4 years are still in charge today.

Not one scoundrel was tossed.

Now the mayor and the others know that their previous practices are acceptable.

W.

**************
Hi Marty

With Sam Katz winning the election nothing will change. Those who become comfortable need not do anything. Winnipeg has got worse with Sam Katz and that's the truth. I'm also surprised that some councillors were not hoofed out. Also John Orlikow is a total jerk after he won last night. I'm sure some River Heights residents are wondering how he got back in

Sent from the outer regions of your mind

*********************

Hi Marty,

I wanted to let you know ahead of time, that next Wednesday, November 3, 2010 will be the final episode of The IllegalCurve Hockey Show on 92.9 KICK FM. Accordingly, it will be our final segment on The Great Canadian Talk Show as well.

I am pleased to report that we have accepted an offer to join the new Sports Radio 1290, as their first local program.

Starting on Saturday, November 6, 2010, we will be on Sports Radio 1290 every Saturday morning from 10AM-12 Noon.

It is with the utmost of respect, admiration and appreciation that I, on behalf of everyone at IllegalCurve, say thank you for the opportunity to have been on The Great Canadian Talk Show every Wednesday for the past year.

The conversations and preview we have been able to have with you have undoubtedly helped our listenership, and the advice and guidance you have offered when called upon have allowed us to grow and mature as radio hosts.

No matter where our journey in the radio business takes us next, we will be eternally grateful to yourself. I know I can speak for the others associated with the show, when I say that, in the 3 of us, you have loyal, consistent, Great Canadian Talk Show listeners.

On a personal note, I believe you are doing a great service to the people of Winnipeg with your advocacy and passion. This election campaign, and with the issues that have come to the forefront, has proven you have a tremendous pulse on the issues that matter to the people of Winnipeg. For that, you should be very proud.

Again, thank you very much, and please do not hesitate to contact me should the need arise.

All the best,

Drew Mindell (on behalf of Richard Pollock & Ezra Ginsburg)
Host
The IllegalCurve Hockey Show

**********

Bike lobby smears AT safety concerns as " civic election hysteria", will "focus on celebrating bicycle culture" after federal deadline revoked

Minutes of the October meeting of Bike To The Future reveals a lobby group floundering after the unexpected backlash against their pet projects, resorting to propaganda campaigns and a shocking plan to divert attention from the dangerous traffic circles by smearing opponents as a "hysterical" minority:

"Were confident that the vast majority of Winnipeggers will support these projects once we get beyond the shock/hysteria from some local residents. Most Winnipeggers already support these projects. The Civic Election has definitely contributed to hysteria ..."

- Unable to secure funding for its lobbying efforts, defections from the Board has left the lobbying group shorthanded and burned out.

"Kevin is concerned that virtually nobody wants to do staff work for a volunteer salary, although we know virtually everybody wants to continue contributing to BttF in some way. ..

To do everything we want to do requires a staff person, but obtaining funding is very difficult. Someone suggested partnering with Manitoba Cycling Association, however it was explained why that can.t work ... Mark C will also continue on, but he wants a break from the major task of City Committee Chair. Vicky will also continue on, but as Secretary. According to our bylaws, this is a resignation as Director, and running for election as Secretary. .. Jackie and Rob are stepping down after one year of their two-year terms.

We need to recruit 4 new Directors, and if the new Board decides to maintain standing committees for City and Membership, we.ll need a director to chair them. The learning curve is one hurdle to attracting directors."

- Bike to the Future decided to duck those affected by the Nassau/Roslyn bike lane rather than defend it publicly, after resorting to a propaganda campaign against the outraged public - which found favor with the officials whose work is under scrutiny.

"Our strategy for the Roslyn/Nassau route hasn.t been implemented; we.re having second thoughts about it (engaging businesses and seniors)..."

Kevin, Curt, Mark C. and Gareth, plus Anders, Shannon, Charles, and Dave met 11 days ago (Friday October 1st) to discuss the negative media (late September) and what we could do to facilitate positive media (see October, and also see our Latest News items). We were fairly successful: lots of letters from members/supporters, a project. Engineer wrote us with thanks."

- BttF's tactics includes misrepresenting and smearing successful community opponents, claiming the science of AT safety is settled, and bragging about their role in dividing communities, although renaming city bike routes remains beyond their selfish grasp:

"The Sherbrook bike lane appears to have been put on-hold (despite the City Centre Committee endorsing it) after Mayor Katz met with the manager of the Ellice Street Cafe, who opposes the bike lane."

(In fact, Belinda Squance of Ellice Cafe has demanded a retraction of this smear, as she has repeatedly explained she does not oppose the Sherbrook bike lane, but a year-round loss of parking on the working-class east side of Sherbrook is not in the public interest -see below.)

"Support from emergency access vehicle operators would help to dispel the common misconception that new AT infrastructure creates barriers for emergency vehicles. "

"2011 will involve less advocacy of the City, and more focus on celebrating bicycle culture... but naming bike routes after cyclists is opening a can of worms."

- Minutes of the Oct. 20th BttF sucking-up meeting with Mayor Sam Katz confirmed that the city has accepted
A) the need for consultation on McDermot and
B) the compromise agreement achieved by Squance and the West End Biz for Sherbrook which was withheld from the Public Works hearing, and reversed the double-cross.

"... we thanked Mayor Katz for his leadership on AT. Mayor Katz is proud of what has been achieved so far..."

"Mayor Katz would like to hear some ideas about how to bridge the negative gap between cyclists and motorists..."

Although construction of the McDermot-Bannatyne Bikeway was put on hold, the City is moving forward by consulting with area stakeholders...a seasonal bike lane (April to October) will be painted on Sherbrook.

- The minutes also reveal that the claims of "USE IT OR LOSE IT" WAS A LIE.

" The March 31, 2011 deadline for the federal stimulus funding is not "carved in stone". Project work that doesn't finish this fall before snow arrives will be completed in the spring (i.e. after March 31, 2011)."
*********************

LIVE SUNDAY : You Have The Power Pre- Election Broadcast

For the first time, TGCTS will be going LIVE on a Sunday night.

On October 24th, we will preempt the first 3 hours of our very popular Sunday replay block to review the stories and candidates of the civic election thus far -- from Mayor Katz denying a bike lobby exists, to Coun. Gerbasi proclaiming the destruction of Assiniboine Avenue was 'payback' by cyclists for years of neglect, to the little old lady on Edmonton St. who said "let them bring their own mothers down here".

Spirited Kenny and Captain Audio will join Marty Gold in studio, along with calls from bloggers and you listeners of the show. Who know, maybe even a candidate or two might join in !

As an added bonus, we will debut our Cue to Call for exclusive TGCTS Winter gear, courtesy of Compustitch! Listen in on Sunday night for the very best in local election coverage.
*****************

Traffic circles continue to dominate the headlines after the crash yesterday at Grosvenor and Waverly. Ignoring all science, avid cyclist Bob "That's MISTER Publisher to you" Cox lectured todays Free Press readers that cops should hand out tickets to motorists who don't navigate the traffic circles to his satisfaction.

"As a River Heights resident, I have listened to traffic officials explain how safe the new circles are, and how simple they are to use.

So how do they explain the fact that I have been involved in three near collisions at traffic circles newly installed on Grosvenor Avenue?

Actually, there is a simple explanation -- traffic circles don't cause collisions; people cause collisions."

Cox would be well advised to educate himself, and there are many Free Press readers willing to do so, such as this comment online:

Why do some people conclude that traffic circles can't be bad, that there are only bad drivers. They completely ignore the fact that even in England, with many smaller sized vehicles than in Canada, the recommended design for the smallest circles have a diameter of 45 to 80 feet. We have streets about 25 feet wide and that is the rough diameter of these circles. When you have to make decisions while in motion coming into or within a very confined area, accidents will happen. They just will. And they are likely to be many more than when these relatively small intersections were controlled by stop signs.

My guess is that there are a lot of Active Transportation people, quite well organized, who want all the changes the city has made, and who are doing their best to keep up the message - just give it time!?

Meantime, we can probably expect more accidents.

Surely, the city owes us some meaningful public explanation as to why the change was seen as necessary, their purpose, etc what were ALL of the factors that went into the design, what were the design standards used in retrofitting, how does the retrofit compare to new construction design, what are the pros AND cons, what exactly fire departments, trucking companies, service vehicles etc had to say. How important is the view of the citizens living in the neighborhood? We don't need positions like, "we consulted, our traffic engineers have made a good decision and you will get used to it." It is time for transparency

Or Cox can read this blog:
http://anybody-want-a-peanut.blogspot.com/2010/10/about-roundabouts.html

Even the Director of Public Works was on TV saying that "people just need to get used to it".

Wrong wrong everybody is wrong. The problem is not that traffic circles are too hard to figure out. The problem is that they're poorly designed

Graham Hnatiuk did his own study into the faulty science of mini-circles:
http://progressivewinnipeg.blogspot.com/2010/10/measurements-and-evidence-traffic.html

If you don't live around these things, you should feel sorry for anyone who does, and pray to God some people never have jobs again before it happens in YOUR neighbourhood. If you're any of the above, you should be calling Sam Katz, emailing him, calling your councillor, emailing your councillor, and emailing the acting CAO Mike Ruta: never, ever, ever let these consulting clowns get another contract in our city ever again.

And finally, John Dobbin, who has written extensively about the AT controversies in the River Heights neighbourhood where the accident happened yesterday, summed it all up this way:
http://johndobbin.blogspot.com/2010/10/river-heights-active-transportation_21.html

Sam Katz says people just have to learn how to use them.

Sam Katz, you are wrong. They are not safe. They are not proper roundabouts. Someone is going to end badly hurt and could die as a result of these things.

It is not safe for drivers, not safe for cyclists, not safe for pedestrians and not safe for homeowners nearby these mini-traffic circles.

Winnippeggers want safe roads. A traffic circle ought to be wide, have no possibility of turning the wrong way on it and have clearly marked yield signs to traffic and people with the right of way.

Sam Katz, tear down these structures.

And also, this explanation of why the circles don't register with drivers who need to turn, from a Red River College engineer:
Marty

When we are taught to drive we are taught to make a left turn to the left of the centre of the intersection.
As noted below a proper roundabout does not allow this but instead its use is quite intuitive. When I approach one of these moronic islands I want to go to the left of it when making a left turn. This is the normal action when driving. I’m sure there will be many accidents before these mistakes are removed.

******************

Today, more about the double cross by AT consultants with parking spots being stolen on Airlies due to a dangerous traffic circle, and an interview with River Heights/Fort Garry challenger Michael Kowalson.

Kim's report on almost-all candidates meeting for Daniel McIntyre ward

From: Kim the Traffic Reporter

An all candidates forum was held at the Magnus Eliason Recreational Centre, 430 Langside on Tuesday Oct. 19/10. Invited were all five of the candidates running in the Daniel McIntyre ward. However, only four of the candidates showed up. The candidates are Harvey Smith (incumbent), Keith Bellamy, John Cardoso, Cindy Gilroy-Price and missing was Lito Taruc who, we are told had a scheduling conflict even though he'd been invited to this forum four weeks ago. One would have thought he would make the effort to attend the only such forum for the ward in which he is running.

There was a packed house with people not only standing but often lined up out the door, so it would seem the residents of Daniel MacIntyre were eager to hear what the candidates had to say. Not only were the candidates present, but a variety of School Board Trustee candidates made an appearance. Some of them were Anthony Ramos, Myra Laramee, Christine Barr, Cathy Collins, Rolf Salfert and Bradley McKay, though none of these candidates were part of the forum.

Each candidate was given two minutes to present a brief presentation of their platforms. Common themes were: crime, transit/transportation, infrastructure such as pot holes and back lanes, community centres, poverty and housing.

A series of five scripted questions was asked of the candidates, they are as follows along with some of the responses by each candidate, those questions were:

1. How to change Community Centre models to work for the Inner-City
2. What has to happen to dissuade gangs
3. What steps are needed to improve relations between the community and Police
4. With vacancy rates low in the City, how will you address the need for good affordable housing
5. (note this question is from the West End Biz) With infrastructure, poor lighting, derelict buildings problems, how do you plan to attract and retain businesses and development?

Some of the answers to these questions were similar from all the candidates with
- Keith Bellamy saying that Community Centres were the "hub of activity" and was generally agreed by all candidates that more funding was needed.
- John Cardoso indicated that he wants schools to stay open after hours and that community centres have to be part of the community itself.
- Cindy Gilroy-Price indicated that she wants to see more organized sports as well as educational support and because of gang situations many kids will not cross territorial boundaries so there is a need for more community based programs.
- Harvey Smith indicated he believes there should be a full time person who oversees the programming for Community Centres.

In regards to gangs:
- Bellamy wants outreach programs and mentoring opportunities along with a City housing strategy and that neighbours need to connect with the community and that it "takes a village to raise a child" and that there is a need to stabilize the community.
- Cardoso thinks there should be more education at the elementary level and that the community should be more proactive as opposed to reactive towards gang situations and that getting to the kids at the lower levels of school would help to prevent them from entering gangs.
- Gilroy-Price believes there are missing values and a lack of sense of belonging to the community, that this is not a poverty based issue. She also believes that educators and community need to work together.
- Smith wants to deal with the poverty saying "train them" teach them a trade which would give them hope for the future. Smith also indicated that a good environment and housing will help to keep the kids out of gangs.

The question of what steps are needed to improve relations with the Police was asked, all the candidates agreed that getting the Police out of their cars and walking around the community was important.

Harvey Smith even indicated that the Police should have their names on the uniforms instead of just a number. All agreed the Police need to be present in the community and that not only the residents, but the Police need to learn about each other in order to establish a relationship with each other. Cindy Gilroy-Price also indicated that the Police need a different review process in the case of complaints and that the Police should not be reviewing themselves.

Housing was another question asked regarding addressing the needs of good affordable housing considering the low vacancy rates in the City.
- Keith Bellamy replied that affordable rental housing was needed and that when vacancies in the City reached about 2.5% new condo developments should be halted. He also we need to protect the rental stock and that there needs to be a "use it or lose it" mandate against slumlords. This means there should be stiffer penalties towards boarded up buildings and if landlords don't repair or utilize those buildings, they should lose them.
- John Cardoso wants Manitoba Housing and the City involved in subsidising low income housing. Cardoso also believes the laws should be more heavily enforced.
- Cindy Gilroy-Price wants to encourage the development of boarded up buildings and there should be more commercial/residential use of buildings. For example, have a store on the main floor while upper floors are used for housing.
- Harvey Smith wants to double the amount for non-profit housing which according to Smith is at about 1 million dollars at the moment.

The question of infrastructure, lighting and derelict buildings problems, how do the candidates plan to attract and retain businesses with these current problems.
- Keith Bellamy replied that it's not just the businesses, but the entire community who is affected. Landlords who do not maintain their properties should use them or lose them and that the Councillor needs to apply constant pressure on City Hall to address these needs.
- John Cardoso also answered in the same vein saying that property laws need to be enforced and the community needs to be involved.
- Cindy Gilroy-Price wants to work with the level of governments in order to discourage absentee landlords and that we need to improve the lighting in the community.
- Harvey Smith believes penalties should be increased for houses that are not developed (meaning derelict buildings) and that there needs to be an increase in the amount of staff who look at the boarded up buildings.

A series of questions came from the floor including one on global warming where one individual asked what the candidates would do to get people out of their cars.

- Bellamy responded that there needed to be an increase in the riders on buses, that the City has done a less than adequate job on green transportation, that the City needs to move forward with Active Transportation but it needs to be done in ways the community can embrace instead of pushing people away and making them angry.
- Cardoso wants proper bus shelters and to subsidize the bus and have incentives for people to take the bus.
- Gilroy-Price supports AT but needs to be done in a collaborative manner, that buses need to be more affordable for those with lower incomes and that we need to protect our urban forests.
- Smith wants to curtail urban sprawl which is causing people to spend more time in their vehicles and we need a change in mentality that global warming does exist.

Other issues raised was the problem of prostitution in the West End,
- Gilroy-Price wants more resources going to the gang units as prostitution is often linked to gangs as well as more funds to the women's resource centre.
- Smith wants stiffer penalties for the "johns" as well as giving financial aid to get the prostitutes out of business.
- Whereas Cardoso wants more education and that "something needs to be done", Bellamy wants more outreach.

Many people had questions, certainly not all are listed here, but the community in Daniel MacIntyre was and is interested and involved. It seems there is a desire for a heavier Police presence in these neighbourhoods to deal with the crime issues. Some residents even want more red light camera or photo enforcement in the community to curtail vehicles speeding through lights or up and down their streets.

With all the people in attendance and more who wanted to be in the room, it would seem as though there could be a heavy voter turnout for this election. There were certainly advocates for each of the candidates in the room (except for Taruc), whether these candidates managed to sway votes remains to be seen. However, some of the people did get their questions answered and have now made a decision as to where to place their votes come Oct. 27th.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kim's Thoughts

A very heavy attendance indeed. It was a fantastic turnout. I didn't expect to see the amount of people I did and am glad I arrived a half hour early so I was lucky enough to find a seat. The community was definitely involved with the process with even some who didn't live in the community coming out to listen to the candidates.

It greatly disturbs me that one candidate did not bother to show up. So Lito Taruc had a scheduling conflict did he? Yet he knew four weeks ago about this forum. Really, you'd think he would make an effort to show up. This was an excellent way for him to get his points across, to speak to the community, yet he blew all of us off. What could possibly have been more important than an all candidates forum? Taruc does not live in Daniel McIntyre, he does own a couple of houses on Toronto, yet that is not the same as living day by day in this community, this should have provided him even more incentive to come to this forum to speak with our community. I'm afraid he did not win any friends or should I say voters this day.

There was a definite anti-Sam feeling in the audience, when Harvey Smith spoke of changing Mayors there was a loud and immediate applause for that sentiment. In fact, anytime someone mentioned getting rid of Sam there was applause. Perhaps Sam Katz should spend a little time knocking on doors in this ward instead of just having his campaign office in the area.

For a community that doesn't have much money, has many problems, it was nice to see the media out in full force. Global, CBC, CJOB had a student reporter on scene as well as yours truly from Kick-FM. It is good to see our community get some of the attention I believe it deserves and not in the more negative manner it usually gets.

The West End is such a wonder in cultural diversity and as I said, we may not have the wealthiest groups in a monetary sense, but I believe we are incredibly wealthy in that diversity.

I would encourage all the eligible voters in this ward to get out on Oct. 27th, no matter who your choice of candidate may be, get out and vote. Have your say, be a part of the process. Even if your chosen candidate doesn't win at least you would have made the effort to voice your opinions and be heard.

Election day is Wednesday October 27, 2010. See you at the polls.

PS Another blogger was at the meeting:
http://winnipegonegreatcity.blogspot.com/2010/10/great-debate-at-merc.html

Fire Dept. motto "safety first" changed to "safety maybe", thanks to bike lane on Assiniboine

Email and video from a listener at noon today:

Hi Marty,

What we all have been talking about with emergency vehicles happened on Edmonton near Broadway.

It took place today at about 11:30. Many emergency vehicles were at the Edmonton Broadway corner. They are not visible in the videos (they are beyond the bus which must also have been caught up in this). Many of us turned to go north on Edmonton and ran into this. I do not know what they were responding to.

The yellow fire truck was not needed in the emergency and the only way it could get out was by backing down Edmonton. Not an easy task since many cars (including myself) had turned onto Edmonton.

All cars had to turn around and go south on Edmonton to clear the way.

The second and third video show the truck backing up. Just as it was getting in the clear a school bus came around the corner and more shuffling had to be done for this truck to get out of the way.

The cars that had to back out or turn around on Edmonton had no choice but to use the bike lane going east bound on Assiniboine to be able to get out of the area.

Once the fire truck got to Assiniboine it then had to go down Assiniboine the wrong way all the to Hargrave to find its way out - like the rest of us.

If this vehicle were needed anywhere else it would have been delayed by at least 15 minutes.

Also, I took the opportunity to ask some of the firefighters to find out if they had been consulted about the bike lane on Assiniboine and one of them answered that he had talked to others and did not think they were consulted on the bike lane and how it would affect emergency response in the area.

***************

Today on the show at 4 PM:
- more about Assiniboine Avenue and the "universal design policy" that has endangered the public";
- details of the public safety discussion set for Friday at the Roch traffic circles which residents fear will impede fire department response;
- an in-studio interview with Charleswood-Tuxedo candidate Livio Ciarelli;
- a surprising endorsement for Harvey Smith on brochures in Daniel McIntyre;
- and the anti-cop University Marxists are at it again

Col. Yoram Hamizrachi, inspiration for TGCTS, passes away

Yoram Hamizrachi- East, the former Israeli commander in South Lebanon, took me under his wing in 1983 and taught me about Middle Eastern geo-political affairs, community and multicultural activism, journalism, the art of radio, and how to burst the balloons of the rich and entitled class in society, among many other things.

That he had moved to Winnipeg, and come into my life, was a miracle. He passed away today after a lengthy illness at the age of 68.

I met Yoram when he was standing at a bus stop on McGregor Street near the family home on Matheson in June of 1983, and my then-wife and I recognized him from his interview that morning on CTV news about the Israeli war in Lebanon against the PLO. We pulled a U-Turn and my high-school Hebrew surprisingly sufficed to persuade him to accept a lift to the Garden City Shopping Centre, as he wedged his bulky frame beside my year-old daughter in her car seat. He and his wife Beate readily accepted my young family into their home and I became a primary babysitter for their children.

In early 1985 he assumed duties at the International Centre and hired me as his 'boy Friday' -- liason, typing documents, researching, translating for him from Hebrew to English, and introducing him to the players in Winnipeg's media scene.

In the era of the Charter of Rights and rising tensions within newly-immigrated Asian and African communities struggling to survive in Winnipeg, they found in Yoram a man who understood a variety of cultures from his military career in Israel, and who would champion their needs for housing and real jobs, and not "Folkloramas and wine and cheese parties".

The discovery of forged signatures on application documents for the funding for his position as Multicultural Co-ordinator led to a bitter dispute with the Citizenship Council of Manitoba, famously including the distribution of fliers critical of then-chairwoman Olga Fuga, a former city councillor with aspirations of a political appointment to the Citizenship Court bench.

Olig-archy = Government by the few;
Olga-garchy = Government by the Fuga

Yoram refused to continue with the job and be paid based a fraudulent application; his stance won him many admirers but caused his family great hardship. The scandal effectively ended the political careers of Fuga and the federal Minister responsible for the funding program, Mulroney-appointee Jack Murta.

He was an integral part of the first 'truce talks' that led to an uneasy peace brokered by Yoram and Manitoba Human Rights chair Claudia Wright between rival ethnic gangs in the city in the hot summer of 1985. Elected officials actively sought out Yoram's wise counsel and I was fortunate to be a part of those meetings and discussions. He allowed me to take a lead role in presentations to city hall about the Equal Employment Opportunity program and proposed police hiring standards - a fight over the use of polygraphy as a pre-employment screening device which we won with the support of Coun. William Neville.

Thus began a friendship that lasted over 27 years, and meeting Yoram brought many other fascinating characters into my life including Henry Carvalho, Wade Williams, Monica Feist, Sally Macdonald, Nick Ternette, and the late Kuldip Singh. He made a number of appearances on our program, mostly to address terrorism and anti-Zionist issues. His final interview was to eulogize his good friend Harold Buchwald.

He and his children, Tahl, Ron and Dan, have been champions of The Great Canadian Talk Show since day 1 and without their support and advice our radio broadcasts would not exist today. Yoram's pride in their accomplishments, those of his grandson Ari, and of our radio show, were spoken of by him in his last days.

Yoram was a visionary and leader, a consummate story-teller, an excellent cook, and even enjoyed going to AWA Wrestling to watch Baron Von Raschke at the Winnipeg Arena back in the day.

I cannot express my sense of loss this day. Baruch dayan emet.

The Oct 7th Sam vs Judy Debate, as reviewed by Kim the Traffic Reporter

The Mayoral Candidate Forum held Oct. 7th at the Hydro Building downtown attracted a full house of those who wanted to hear what the candidates had to say about the downtown area. This event was presented by The Downtown Biz, Institute of Urban Studies (U. of W) and The Exchange District Biz. The event moderators were Richard Cloutier of CJOB and Dan Lett of the Winnipeg Free Press.

Cloutier and Lett did do a really good job as moderators moving questions and answers along in a timely manner, including shutting down the candidates when they ran to long on any particular subject and of course we at the microphone got our hands slapped if we took to much time .

There was ten scripted questions put to the candidates, which the candidates answered prior to the forum. It would have much more interesting to see how the candidates would have reacted and what their answers would have been had the questions not been scripted and been allowed to answer prior to the event.

However, only two of the Mayoral candidates were invited to this forum. How can we take these forums seriously if ALL the candidates aren't invited? While Rav Gill and Brad Gross may not be the front runners in this election, it is manifestly unfair and quite biased to assume that Sam and Judy are the ONLY ones in the running for the position of Mayor or for that matter are the only ones qualified to be Mayor.

You might note that this report is a little different from the ones I usually submit, in fact it is more a commentary on what happened than an actual factual report which as I've already said has been done to death regarding the forum. So I figured I'd do something just a tad different.

We (joe blow public) have already been inundated with what was said at this forum by not only the MSM but also from the bloggers, of course that is assuming the candidates actually said anything at all. So what did we hear? Did we really hear anything new?

We found out Judy is in favour of a pedestrian mall which according to Judy would go somewhere in the Exchange district. Right and at -40c I'm going to be slogging my way down some pedestrian mall so I can go shopping, will you? Didn't think so.

That is assuming of course that housing can be put into place that would support such a mall. Though according to Sam Katz there is going to be a new apartment complex at the Avenue Building on Portage but will people really want to move onto Portage Ave.?

The whole idea is to bring new amenities downtown so people won't have to go to the suburbs to shop, bring grocery stores to the area, encourage people to give up their cars by increasing bus service (and of course rapid transit).

Both Sam and Judy spoke of increasing Active Transportation in the downtown area, though where such infrastructure is going to be placed neither one was able to say although Sam did include vehicular traffic as well as bikes and pedestrians. I have to wonder if the level of consultation will improve since the Assiniboine debacle or for that matter if the City Planners have learned anything at all.

Judy, in her scripted answer to the question of a revitalized downtown dealing with economic challenges of developing and redeveloping properties downtown, said "Winnipeg is fortunate to have some of the best-recognized planners, urban thinkers, planning advocates and green-minded architects in the country." Judy thinks we should "embrace" their expertise and their insights.

Ahh Judy we've already "embraced" their insights, it's called Berry St., Sherbrook, Nassau, Roslyn, Eugenie and Assiniboine. Look what those vaunted "best-recognized" planners, urban thinkers, planning advocates and green-minded architects have done to those areas and you really want to trust them to come up with ideas that aren't going to pander to the whims of special interest groups?

I don't know about anyone else, but I wouldn't trust them to come up with plans that made any sense whatsoever.

Of course parking made it's appearance at the forum. A question asked of the candidates by me regarding parking:

"Given that people were towed illegally with no compensation, people were ticketed under faulty machines and the ALPR system. And that consistently 50% of the machines were broken, misprogrammed or had illegal signage, also that machines were dropped on inner-city streets with no consultation. That there is no complaint department, and one complainer, according to the ombudsman had their privacy violated twice, another was assaulted at the parking store and the tape was never turned over to the police, my question is ... Where was the public and stakeholder oversight when these things happened and how are they held accountable? Also do the candidates think the Biz is trying to politically sell the wonders of the special operating agency system and not tell the whole truth to the public and candidates?"

Sam took a moment to explain what an SOA (special operating agency) is, which is basically (sorry Sam had to borrow that word from you for a bit), an agency of the City that is run as a business. There is a City Councillor who oversees the SOA's and that's Jeff Browaty.

After that, we heard nothing. Both Sam and Judy agree that these agencies need to be held accountable if there any wrong doings. Judy is all in favour of having an advisory board consisting of Councillors, stakeholders, CentreVenture, Downtown Biz and others sit on this board. Both Judy and Sam danced around the issues which were raised, neither was willing to offer any solutions to the problems instigated by the parking authority. Nor offer any solutions on how those problems could be fixed. Instead we hear about parking structures, on how we should get rid of surface lots.

Just where do the two candidates plan to park all the people who travel downtown with their cars? Oh wait parking structures, that's the answer. We were told that one was going to be built in the East Exchange another on the North side of Portage and another built on the South side of Portage (maybe near the new police headquarters). Anybody think that's going to make a huge dent in the parking issues if all the surface lots are gone.

Nobody mentioned that on York is a huge surface lot that doesn't belong to the City, but to the Province. Will the City force the Province to build a mammoth structure to house all the government workers? What about all the surface lots the City owns? They were never mentioned either.

In fact during this whole forum not much was mentioned at all. We heard campaign speeches from both candidates, we heard political rhetoric, we heard repeats of what has already been said before, nothing new came out of this forum. If I hadn't been busy taking notes I would have taken a nap and from those notes I got nothing. I could go back to various articles in the Free Press and many of the blogs to fill in the blanks at this forum, which really wasn't a forum without the other two candidates, and heard all the same things I heard on Oct. 7.

Perhaps Sam and Judy should stop offering sweet nothings into the ears of voters and start offering real solutions to the many problems facing this City. Instead of worrying about becoming a "world class City" we should concentrate on fixing sagging infrastructure, of getting our own house in order before we worry about the rest of the world.

We have serious problems in this City that need to be addressed, to date we have heard nothing from the main candidates that give the voters an idea as to how those issues will be dealt with after the election. Perhaps we will hear more concrete plans closer to the election, but for now it's yada yada yada..blah blah blah..heard it all before. And that folks was the crux of the whole forum, we heard it all before.

If anyone wishes to read the scripted questions and answers for this forum, you can do so at the following address:

http://www.downtownwinnipegbiz.com/resource/file/Mayoral_Responses_summary.pdf

- kim

Kim the Traffic Reporter replies to the online critics

Hello Marty,

I was informed that questions regarding my integrity and the bike/vehicle counts I performed on Sherbrook in June of this year is being discussed on a public forum website. This is my reply to those questions or concerns about my integrity.

A comment from Shaynelle (ed. note: this is the online pseudonym of an employee of Health Sciences Centre. She appeared as a delegation at Public Works Committee to voice support for the controversial Sherbrook bike lane proposal and opposed using Furby or Langside, as requested by the Spence Neighborhood Association and West End Biz, saying those streets were too dangerous for cyclists like her. Mayor Katz told our audience it has now been postponed by the administration due to questions about the consultation process.)

Re: Biking in Winnipeg

by Shaynelle on Thu Oct 07, 2010 8:08 pm

tgcts wrote:I only reported the count. The counts themselves was done by KIm, who worked for the commissionaires for many years and takes the oath of peace officer very seriously. If you would like to question her integrity, provide me with a contact so you can confront her directly and then we can all enjoy the consequences.

So, Kim has previous police or military experience? Or did she join after the Commissionaires got desperate and opened their doors to just about anyone?

--------------------------------------

First of all the Canadian Corps of Commissionaires did not open "their doors to just about anyone?", expanded those doors by allowing non-military/RCMP/Police to apply yes, but the Corps began as an organization to provide "meaningful employment for veterans". And that is still their mandate, expanded yes but they are still far more careful about who they hire than some security companies. So before you start shooting your mouth off about the Corps, perhaps you should do a little more research.

I do not have military or police experience. I did however spend 15 years in the security industry working in a variety of areas, requiring me to learn how to watch for the patterns and flow of people, which is easily translated to traffic matters. Not even mentioned is my ten years of Union involvement from Health and Safety to being Chief Steward, I would suggest Shaynelle that before you make a judgement you learn about the person first.

Another comment

by Hooj on Thu Oct 07, 2010 10:07 am

- Anti cycling route/cyclist radio show conducting an impartial cyclist count? Sure, why not.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anti-cycling? Where exactly are you getting that from? If you had read my reports or listened to the show you would know that nobody is against cycling. The issues aren't about cycling, the issues are about infrastructure, more specifically the placement of that infrastructure.

The issue is how is it a small group of people gets to dictate to entire neighbourhoods, how those people are affected with no consultation, no questions asked if it's good for that neighbourhood.

*****************

For the record, I am not against cycling or cycle routes, I've said it before but it appears I have to say it again and again as it seems some people can't read.

You want to get on a bike? Knock yourself out, go ahead. However trying to force others to do the same is WRONG. Forcing neighbourhoods to comply with YOUR wants is WRONG!

We could get into all kinds of debates about consultation or the lack of thereof, the fact is consultation wasn't in place.

And I've also agreed that some of the routes created were really good ideas, they were put into places that were safe, didn't affect anyone and made sense.

Problems have risen because some of the plans were for areas that DIDN'T make sense, there was no thought to any of these plans, nobody actually studied the area, found out if a bike route would be a good idea.

Nope, take a look at Assiniboine, more problems have been created because of that one area than was fixed, nothing was truly calmed.

Nobody took the time to think about what they were doing, instead the "use it or lose it" mentality came into play, let's just thunk a bike path down anywhere to make sure we get to spend that money, doesn't matter what the people who are most affected want, nope can't do that.

Not to mention changing plans and not bothering to tell the residents and businesses. Taping a piece of paper to a door does NOT constitute consultation, but hey it's ok cause it's only the people who live there, nobody who matters. And that's how the residents are feeling.

As for the Sherbrook bike counts I did in June, yes I sat at Sherbrook and Ellice for an entire week, not just one day, and counted bikes and vehicles. I counted a total of 613 bikes in an entire WEEK, not a day, but a week. How does Jeremy Hull justify a 1000 bikes a day? I couldn't get that number in a week. At no time did I add any numbers to my counts. I counted only what came by me.

By the way if I remember correctly we even invited those from the bike lobby to join me on Sherbrook. There was no secret as to where I was sitting, met lots of folks from the area in that week. Funny nobody from the bike lobby showed up.

And I counted on the Monday and Friday which according to Jeremy Hull are not good days to count bikes as they tend to be light days. I counted on those days and every day. Seems my counts are more accurate because I never added to them and I sat for an entire week in the same spot, counting only what came by me.

I have comparison days, I have both morning and afternoon counts, Hull does not.

A comment was made that Marty posted these results as his own. At no time has Marty ever done that, in fact if you look at the wording, Marty gives full credit to me being the one doing the count. Absolutely Marty read the report and posted it on the TGCTS blog, but not once did he ever take credit for doing the counts. Were these counts done on behalf of The Great Canadian Talk Show? Well hello people I am their traffic reporter, did you think I was sitting out there for the Winnipeg Sun or Free Press? Honestly, come on people think about it for a moment, Kick FM reporter, TGCTS is on Kick FM..do I have to draw you a map to reach the proper conclusion?

Anyone who wants to discuss my integrity with me is free to do so, in fact I would relish the debate.

Marty is quite correct in saying that I took my oath as a peace officer seriously, in fact I take any oath seriously, when I give my word it means something to me and I am not in the habit of breaking my word. One problem with lying is you have to remember that lie, my memory is not that good. I had nothing to gain from issuing a false report, truth be told I had everything to lose had I done so, in the end it would be an incredibly stupid thing to do.

Again, you want to challenge my integrity, have the courage to do so with me directly, contact can be made through the show. I would be more than happy to respond. If you want to debate other issues involved with the bike lobby, I would be happy to oblige. Disagree with what I write? Not a problem and not an issue for me, I fully expect not all will agree with what I report and that's ok.

You want to challenge me that's fine but bring something more than platitudes and rhetoric, bring something more than useless poll/surveys where the numbers can't be verified. Bring me more than counts that are inconsistent, no comparisons, bring me hard data. Sadly, to date that has not occured.

Now there's a thought, an open forum for the bike lobby and those who have been affected by their actions. Anyone care to bet THAT will never happen?

Gerbasi: Buses running over sidewalks part of Assiniboine "traffic calming"; Points finger at Shiller for consultation failure

From: Kim the Traffic Reporter

On Wed. Oct. 6th Jenny Gerbasi, the area Councillor (Fort Rouge- East Fort Garry) had a meeting with the residents of a seniors building at 33 Edmonton. This was done at the request of the residents who had concerns about the changes occuring on Assiniboine and the effect it is having on their street and transit services.

Councillor Gerbasi gave a brief presentation on her background in politics, then took questions from the approximately 15 residents in attendance. Many of the questions ran in the same vein, the traffic issues, transit, concerns about snow clearing and how it will affect the sidewalks.

Some issues regarding traffic is the traffic congestion on their streets because of the lane changes, one resident said there is "more traffic now" and that "people were driving around over and over" because they couldn't find how to get where they were going or because they didn't realize there was no through traffic.

This lady asked Gerbasi for signage to be placed at Osborne, Kennedy at Broadway along with Carlton telling drivers there was no through traffic.
Gerbasi responded that signs would come in the next little while and that they were still doing construction. Gerbasi did say that the other end of Assiniboine was being paved and was temporarily a one-way. When that is area is done it will return to being a two-way again.

Gerbasi went on to say that "give a chance for people to adjust" and "take a breath" and that people should wait for construction to be completed. Gerbasi thinks Assiniboine residents will see a reduction in traffic.

{Marty's note: OK I have to interject which I have never done before in one of these reports.

Four times I asked Gerbasi in her last studio appearance, did you see a traffic impact study? She ducked the question each time. Now, maybe she is right! Maybe residents on Assiniboine ARE getting less traffic!

But it is indisputable that residents of Edmonton, like these senior citizens, are seeing a frightening increase in traffic of all sizes. This point seems lost on Gerbasi. That is why it keeps getting mentioned on the show. It's like Assiniboine Ave. is being catered to like it's Park Boulevard and Edmonton St. is getting the Magnus Avenue treatment.}

* Gerbasi stated that she had spoken with many residents who told her they "liked it" because of less traffic. Gerbasi then went on to tell these seniors that "one business likes the project" and that it was "one of the businesses suing".

* This brought up another question from a resident who said because of the government lots on Kennedy and at the Legislature traffic has increased along Edmonton which is the only exit to Broadway or Main.

This resident asked if enforcement could be put in place because of people blowing stop signs, traffic going the wrong way and angry people "flooring it", further saying people "can't cross the street".

Gerbasi replied that they'd "watch the situation" and that this behaviour was a "reaction to the adjustments" and that "over time people will adjust".

** A question was raised about consultation with one lady saying "nobody was given a heads-up" about consultation, though this resident noted that the cyclists had been notified.

Gerbasi responded that it was a "difficult question" saying that people were notified citing ads placed in the Winnipeg Free Press, though one resident noted that not everybody reads the Free Press.

** Gerbasi did admit that not everybody was sent a letter and that notices were put on doors.

** Then she said "the communications person was let go in March" (Ed Shiller) and that the communication was not done well, Gerbasi also said it was "not worded well".

*** Gerbasi continued that there were meetings and discussions with individual buildings on Hargrave -- citing the input from these people for the basis of the changes in that area.

(Marty's note: Gerbasi was refering to the change of Hargrave to a 2 way street, supposedly for Handi-Transit access. The city has refused for 2 weeks to reply to our request to asl questions of the city staffer responsible for the decision.

Meanwhile, the city is now put in the position of saying they consulted with some buildings, that requested a change, but didn't consult with neighbouring businesses who would be affected by it. The laws of natural justice would seem to differ.

And to make it worse, the City defends this biased process in petitioning the court that the Assiniboine lawsuit has no basis because the City wasn't required to speak to anybody beforehand. But now Gerbasi seems to imply the city staff actually spoke to a select few when they wanted to -- although a sceptic might say, when it served their purpose. )

** Gerbasi said there was "no point in pointing fingers" when talking about the lack of consultation.

* One lady raised the issue of bus service, asking Councillor Gerbasi to look into having the route of the Spirit buses changed so that they would come down Carlton to Edmonton back to Broadway to Garry Assiniboine back up Fort. This saying one resident would not cost Transit anything to make that change and would allow access for the seniors to The Forks, Exchange District and Downtown.

Gerbasi replied that she was prepared to speak to Transit, but people weren't using the Spirit buses as much as they should. She would look at it, speak with the Downtown Biz who might help "make it better." Gerbasi repeated she would look at it then equated Transit with Active Transportation as it was good for the environment if people reduced car use.

* Questions were raised about snow clearing with some residents asking if snow will be piled on the sidewalk from the bikelane. Their were several questions about snow clearing, where the snow would go, would the sidewalks be plugged, how it would be done.

*** Buses are having a hard time getting through now. One resident saying the new jutting curbs are causing the buses to ride up the curbs and that because of poor engineering and planning, there is more traffic up Edmonton.

Gerbasi said about jutting curbs was newer to Winnipeg but had been done for years, that when construction was done it would be safer for pedestrians to cross the street because the street had traffic calming.

Gerbasi she had spoken with Transit and that a manager from Transit Operations tested the bus, finding no problem for the buses to get through without damage.

*** When pressed about buses running over sidewalks because of the turn Gerbasi said it "slows traffic" and that "it's been done in other cities".

Gerbasi also said that "they can train drivers", meaning the ones who had to make the turn without running over the sidewalk.

Gerbasi did admit she was aware of a coach bus having been stuck, but it's a change and the fact is it has been voted through engineers, passed through the Mayor, the money has been spent having been supported by all 3 levels of government.

** Gerbasi further went on to say it's been done in other cities and that "it's in place let's give it a chance", though she did admit that if it's a failure they could take it out.

At the end of the meeting some of the residents like what Jenny Gerbasi had to say about working with the people and hopefully getting the Spirit bus to change it's route. Another point they liked was the bike paths, just not the way it was done. While others were quite upset, didn't think they got any answers and in fact one elderly gentleman who was quite irate stormed out of the meeting. Was it a successful day for Jenny? Oct. 27th is drawing nigh.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kim's Thoughts

Exactly what did we hear from Jenny Gerbasi? Did she give any definitive answers? And doesn't it seem as if I've seen some of those words before? Like maybe a certain member of the print media? You know "pointing fingers" and all.

Correct my memory but haven't we been told that Council didn't vote on each project individually but that it went through community committee meetings, then public works meetings? But not the full Council, meaning roads that have to be changed, permanent structures (such as traffic islands) placed in a lane of traffic, moving rush hour zones. Shouldn't that HAVE to be passed through the full Council and not just committees?

That doesn't even mention that nobody knows for sure exactly what plans are going to be used for any one area. Plans have changed so much for some of them it's hard to keep up. I know what I saw at the Sherbrook Open House isn't what is currently planned. The same for Assiniboine. Then there's Nassau and you know I'm still confused over that one little street.

All I can say is some responses sounded very "electionish", I have to wonder what the situation would be like if it wasn't an election year. I'm guessing though that for those who thought they could get some P.R. mileage out of Active Transportation, it might have turned around and bit them on the butt.

***********************
Thursday on TGCTS:

- TeamBuy.ca got a Dragon's Den deal last week on CBC-TV, and we have CEO Ghassan Halazon ready to discuss the details with myself and Barrett Fraser at 4.10 PM;

- We have had more witnesses contact TGCTS, alleging they heard Mynarski candidate Ross Eadie admit the NDP was financially supporting his campaign, despite new finance laws banning the practice;

- Another council candidate- Daniel MacIntyre hopeful John Cardosa at 4.50 PM;

On Friday, a special replay of our interview with Mayor Sam Katz

The root cause of Bike Lobby sense of entitlement: Decades of unchecked abuse of Wellington Crescent residents

From: Kim the Traffic Reporter

I was contacted by a resident on the west end of Wellington Cres. which is by the Academy/Kenaston entrance. This resident (who for obvious reasons does not wish to be identified) revealed what the real story is behind the barricades being "vandalized". I shall refer to this person as "MS" (my source).

*****************************

MS has lived on Wellington Cres. off and on for many, many years, including prior to the bike path being installed.

The story begins at the time of the inception of the bike path on Wellington Cres., this was done sometime in the 1970's, MS does not recall the exact year.

The City approached the residents asking to put in this path, which would include the closure of the street to vehicles on Sundays and holidays, the residents agreed but with conditions.

The conditions were simple, all the residents wanted was to have access for themselves and their visitors, a gap the width of a vehicle was to be left for the residents to enter their neighbourhood.

The City agreed to the conditions and put in the bike path. According to this resident, that is when the problems began.

MS informed me that since the establishment of the bike path the "residents have had verbal set to's with cyclists".

I was told the cyclists began yelling at the residents who would be driving to and from their homes, this escalated to some of the cyclists slapping the cars.

According to MS this has been very intimidating for the seniors who live in this area and this type of behaviour continues to this day.

MS has even been followed home by cyclists and was harassed in the driveway by them for daring to drive a vehicle along the bike route.

After the altercations and confrontations began, MS told me one resident Dr. Noel Hurley (now deceased) who was the Provincial Epidemiologist at the time rallied the residents and forced the City to put up signs reminding cyclists that residents and their visitors had a right to use the roadway.

I was told that the signs "tend to disappear". Someone has been removing these signs. The residents themselves have been putting up signs on their properties and on the barricades, nicely and politely asking cyclists to share the roadway.

On Sundays the City comes along, puts up the barricades MS and other area residents have watched the City placing them, MS told me they always leave a gap wide enough for a vehicle to pass through. However, somehow the barricades get moved to cover the entire roadway, which is not even legal as according to MS (who has experience in these matters) "no street in the City can be barricaded from curb to curb unless there is an emergency". There are exceptions when permits are issued by the City for street closures.

This resident, along with other area residents have watched the cyclists move the barricades to close down the entire street. And this is where the vandalism comes in. Not long after the bike path was established, barricades put up, the cyclists began to move those barricades to completely close the street to vehicular traffic.

MS's father had a severe respiratory ailment which meant that he was unable to perform even light physical tasks. MS's father in order to get home would have to move those barricades out of the way causing this man to wheeze, trying to breathe after moving those barricades.

Since that time MS told me that whenever they came across the street completely barricaded "a couple of times a year", MS would take the barricade (which is located right at the curb at the corner of Academy and Wellington), walk it straight to the river, and drop it over the side of the bank.

In order for anyone to retrieve the barricade, they would have to hike down the riverbank, the area has very long grass and the barricades can't be seen from the path. I was also assured that the barricades never actually went into the river.

MS reasoned that if there weren't enough barricades, the cyclists wouldn't be able to completely block access to the street and their (the residents) homes. MS did say only one section was removed, though this person did admit there must a good collection of them by now.

I was told that the residents are very angry and at their wits end about the situation, that the original agreement is constantly being broken and that cyclists seem to feel they have all the rights on the street when the residents at the time didn't have to agree to allow this bike path through at all.

There are now few left who originally lived in the area at the time and many have passed on, however MS is attempting to locate a copy of the agreement, though somewhere the City should have copies.

The residents of Wellington Cres. agreed to share their neighbourhood with the cyclists, the residents don't want confrontations with the cyclists and are willing to co-exist with them, all they ask is the cyclists respect the fact that they will be sharing the roadway with vehicles and that residents along with their visitors be allowed access to their homes. MS doesn't believe they are asking to much. This is why the barricades have been vanishing all these years.

The people of this community allowed strangers to pass through, they didn't ask for the world, just to be let into their homes. Yet their neighbourhood was taken over, the people intimidated by those who felt they had a right to dictate to the residents who allowed them entry in the first place. It would appear Wellington Cres. set the stage for current events happening all over this City, streets and communities such as Berry, Sherbrook, Assiniboine and others.

It does seem as though a wealthy neighbourhood hasn't been spared the greed, selfishness and dictates of the bike groups.

So to the City of Winnipeg Public Works, now you know where to go find your missing barricades. Though you might want to bring some rope.

**************

Kim's thoughts: Perhaps a solution would be to put fewer barricades out so that the street can't be completely blocked altogether. Or is it going to have to come down to the residents fighting to remove this bike lane because of the abuses suffered by the cyclists? What will happen if the residents decide to fight back? There certainly is enough influence on those streets to maybe..maybe get it done.

This has been the story of a resident who is fed up with the behaviour of a group of people who want, want, want and even when given what they want don't appreciate it. Certainly not all of the cyclists are to blame. Many are respectful and greatly enjoy the area. But a few bad apples always spoil the barrel.

This resident decided long ago to take action to have free access to their home.

So a couple of times a year the City loses a few barricades, but at least the residents are able to get home.

Tomorrow in your FP: chasing 2 TGCTS stories-- what you won't learn in the MSM versions

Avowed cycling enthusiast, and Winnipeg Free Press editor Margo Goodhand, had a double-doozy in her Editor's Bulletin this afternoon. Make that a triple.

1) Her intrepid reporters were waiting to ambush Sam Katz at a policy announcement today, to get his reaction to his slide in their recent poll.

We didn't ambush him, he walked into our studio yesterday and COMPLIMENTED the alternative media for asking smart, tough questions. And you know what, NOT ONE question was about the poll, or ANY polls. We talked to the Mayor about ISSUES.

And in the process, here's what you won't read in tomorrow's MSM scribblings:

A) The Sherbrook bike lane from Ellice to Cumberland is on hold while interim COA Michael Ruta meets with residents and the West End Biz.

B) Berry Street work proceeded yesterday on the authority of Ruta, even though the Mayor admitted he saw that the residents have NEVER seen a final version of the undulating mess, only the fantasy version of 2 straight pavement roadways rammed over their grass and manhole covers.

C) Katz admitted he never knew about the planned direction change for McDermot Avenue by his ballpark until we emailed him about it, but that it wasn't him who froze the project, Ruta did it.

2) "Bart Kives is also looking at River Heights, the city’s most politically engaged ward, which is up in arms over bike-and-pedestrian upgrades."

Weeks ago we broke the story about the Fleet curb extensions, and this week we led in breaking the Parking Authority targeting the Grosvenor bike lane and issuing Westworth United Church members parking tickets after being assured the city would arrange for an exemption; today we had the exclusive details about the terror tactics of cyclists against Wellington Crescent residents.

City Hall reporter Kives, who skipped the Open Houses as irrelevant and did not develop contacts on the ground in the 'politically engaged' ward as a result, is now chasing the alternative media on a daily basis.

3) "Lindsey Wiebe explores traffic ‘calming’ measures like mini-circles and curb extensions. They’ve been around for decades in North America, and are known to boost safety."

Firstly, perhaps Margo meant "mini-roundabouts"; as Spirited Kenny remarked, what she said sounds like a Homer Simpson-ism for 'mini-doughnuts'.

Secondly, the evidence on what is known about the safety record of traffic circles may prove an inconvenient truth to Margo's assertions.

So, just in case there is NO reference in Wiebe's story to the international study first revealed on our show last week by Andrew Allentuck, allow us to provide a link:

http://www.teachamerica.com/rab08/RAB08_Papers/RAB08S8CDaniels.pdf

Page 12: The best estimate for the overall effect of roundabouts on injury crashes involving bicyclists on or nearby the roundabout is an increase of 27%. The best estimate for the effect on crashes involving fatal and serious injuries is an increase of 42-44%, depending on the applied dispersion-value k.
The number of injury crashes at roundabouts with cycle lanes turns out to increase significantly (+93%, C.I. [+38%;+169%]).


*******************
Wednesday on TGCTS at 4 PM

-- More commentary and information from Allentuck about how AT "improvements" in River Heights have endangered cyclists, pedestrians and motorists;

-- The Mynarski ward NDP election finance scandal heats up - as more eyewitnesses to Ross Eadie's admission the NDP is illegally financing his campaign come forward;

-- We recap the $30,000 Elgin Bike Lane barricade rip-off; twice rejected by city council committees, the eyesore was still installed last week by the Public Works department without ANY political authorization, disrupting the Weston/Brooklands neighbourhood and hurting area seniors, residents and businesses.