Its Sunday night about 9:30 p.m., and I have just come back from my final bit of canvassing. I always save the Iris House and Marentette Rest Home until the final night.
It seems every bone in my body is aching. Another campaign has come and gone, and they dont get any easier. I think most candidates would agree that win or lose, they are overjoyed the endurance test is over.
With the polls opening in 12 hours, I have one more pre-election day duty to perform and that is to lay out my final platform. It is a compilation from my campaign literature, my Cogeco cable presentation, the Lynn Martin Ask the Candidates Show, and a couple of additional planks that I have neglected to mention to date.
So here goes;
Alans Platform
Urge the new Council to take a more conciliatory approach with the senior levels of government to find a solution to our border issues.
End the reliance on expensive lawyers and consultants on the border file.
Ask for an external Municipal Act expert to orient the new Council on methods to be open and transparent.
Champion a multi-million dollar sewer replacement program in South Walkerville.
Keep the lid on property taxes so seniors can continue to afford to live in their lifelong homes.
Continue the phased reduction of commercial property taxes.
Form a senior citizen advisory committee to City Hall.
Devote at least $1 million of our infrastructure budget to repair sidewalks and alleys to alleviate trip and falls.
Push Police Services to form a made-in-Windsor Guns and Gangs Squad.
Press for a second downtown platoon of overnight police from 3 a.m. to 6 a.m.
Promote Windsor as an affordable city, emphasizing our modest housing prices, to attract professionals and retirees from across Canada.
Restrict overnight truck traffic on Wyandotte Street East.
Implement a skunk mitigation program in our core neighborhoods.
Ban the sale of spray paint and other graffiti implements, to youth under 18.
Hire a full-time graffiti abatement coordinator to be compensated by surplus ward funds.
Convert Windsor Arena into a living, breathing Hockey Hall of Fame for Southwestern Ontario and Eastern Michigan.
Pursue a Community Improvement Plan (CIP) for the Ottawa Street business district.
Pursue a live theatre historical museum patterned after the Storyeum museums in Vancouver and Moose Jaw.
Open a film office to recruit film-making to the city
Promote state-of-the-art recycling research and development as a part of regional economic diversification.
Embark on a program to locate micro skateboard pads in Ward 3 to diffuse graffiti vandalism and damage to hard surfaces in parks and public spaces.
Aggressively develop a network of bike lanes and trails to encourage human-powered transportation to address obesity.
Champion bike lanes on Riverside Drive.
Pursue a bylaw to ban the installation of noise baffles on motorcycles.
Relocate South Walkerville Library to the heritage section of the new John Campbell School.
Seek appointment to the housing, police, Enwin and Transit Windsor boards to address accountability concerns from taxpayers.
Strike up a dialogue with members of the new Essex County Council to pursue regional government.
Continue to push for a regional growth management plan as co-chair of the Windsor Essex County Environment Committee.
I should hasten to add that I am only one Councillor and cannot promise that the above goals will be realized. I do, however, commit to press and cajole my Council colleagues to adopt this aggressive agenda.
Balancing the overwhelming demands placed on municipalities -- to provide first-rate service while keeping property taxes in check -- has become a daunting task.
In the last nine years, since I have been on Council, the federal and provincial governments have balanced their budgets by downloading services and cutting back on cash transfers, to the bottom feeders in Canadas governing system the municipalities.
With only property taxes and user fees at their disposal, cities such as Windsor are forced to subsidize Ontario Works, disability pensions, public housing, public transit, health care and ambulance services -- all provincial responsibilities in other provinces of Canada.
I am on the board of directors of the Association of Municipalities and AMO has identified a $30-billion funding gap to the provincial government. The province has agreed to review these funding formulas over the next 18 month. In the meantime, cash-strapped municipalities must continue to be all things to all people, satisfy the wage and benefit demands of our City Hall and emergency services workforce, and try to fix our crumbling infrastructure at the same time.
In Windsor, we are also faced with re-inventing our economy in the wake of dramatic declines in the domestic auto industry. City Council needs strong, intelligent, stable leadership to guide our great city through these turbulent times. I pledge to continue to give my best as one of Windsors navigators over the next four years.
Being a Windsor City Councillor is a hard job and it is bound to get harder.
I believe I am up to the task.
Above all, please participate in our treasured democratic process and vote tomorrow.
Readers have left 3 comments. No.1 Untitled
Alan, you have - by far - the best platform of any candidate seeking election in the entire city. Balanced and insightful. The quality-of-life issues you raise coupled with the economic watchdog that you are, make great qualities to look for in a city councilor. If you can only accomplish half of what you set out to do above, we will have a better city for it. Count on me to help lobby for the other half, OK? No.2 Untitled
Alan: Since I started to watch your website shortly after you launched it, I have faithfully gone on every day to keep abrerast of the campaign issues. It has been of exceptional value and I applaud you and your team for the fine work. Although a resident of a neighboring ward, it has helped me more in making decisions this year than any other medium I have had available. Thank you and I wish you every succes today.
Joe Gatfield No.3 Public vs Private
All well said and done with minor issues.The larger issue of city hall competing with the pricate sector has not been addressed.
Funnt how the city assess one's property at one level to rape the citizen but estimates at a much lower price.
Oh ,wait one must be of a special secular group to have your property purchased at a value that far exceeds market value.
How our city has rolled over and played dead on the land purchase for the arena.
I meet this fellow at a wedding,he buys this property and in one year we purchase it at a much higher price for the arena.
Allan before I go you must know that the Westmount Group wanted to purchasse the Cleary but your favourite mayor would not even listen.
Good luck but I won't be voting for any incumbent as they have failed us miserably. 
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