Winnipeg's Mayoral Race...

Many Winnipeggers are patiently waiting [myself included] to see who will step up to challenge Sam Katz as he seeks the mayoral seat for a third term.  Earlier this weekend Transcona Councilor Russ Wyatt stepped aside in anticipation that now former Federal NDP MP Judy Wasylycia-Leis will challenge Mayor Katz.

Mayor Katz has not only assured Winnipeggers in media reports that that Wasylycia-Leis will run against him, he also ranted about a NDP take-over of city hall in the works.  It made for great comedy in a sad sort of way.    

So far there has been no media reports that Wasylycia-Leis has officially declared her intention to run.   Regardless, speculation is high since she had confirmed earlier this year that she has been considering the city's top job when she was first approached with the idea.  

I hope that she runs.  I love this city, I think that it is a city that has a lot of potential and needs some care.  Mayor Katz has not been taking care of the city.  There is no vision for the downtown which is crumbling.  Many downtown businesses have been leaving to be replaced by discount stores or for lease signs.  And that is only one of the disappointments that I have since Mayor Katz took office.  

In the Winnipeg Free Press http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/columnists/grading-katz-the-politician-the-mayor-92574934.html Gordon Sinclair Jr. took a look at Mayor Katz's past six years in office and printed a Top 10 List compiled by the mayor's own office.  

I have a few issues with the Mayor's perceived list of achievements.  

The boasting of "improved roads and bridge infrastructure"... not according to some city councilors during the budget debate over the police helicopter.  Some councilors expressed concern over the cost of the helicopter and whether the money would be better spent on battered roads http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2009/12/15/mb-budget-helicopter-council-winnipeg.htm   

Why was the police helicopter rushed through city hall without much consultation?

And seriously Mayor Katz who are you kidding when you try to sell the citizens of Winnipeg on the idea that there has been a property tax freeze?  You just cleverly found a way to generate revenue for the city without calling it a property tax increase.  What you did was underhanded and sneaky and very, very clever.  By raising the property assessments on Winnipeg home to such an over-inflated assessment you have easily raised city revenues.  I wonder how you sleep at night?  

And you are a very funny man when you believe that you have increased active transportation paths when all you have done is paint cycling images to magically make up a bike lane by taking away from driving lanes.  Trust me cyclists and drivers do not feel any safer than before the creative art project.  

Yeah, and thanks for modernizing the transit system.  Those digit time readers that tell me how long I have to wait for the next bus scattered around the city do make the city look like it is catching up with the modern world but seriously try taking the bus from the suburbs from one end of town to the next and see how much it "improved" the transit system on a cold winter day.  

I really do hope that you have a serious challenger this election.  Maybe it might challenge you to consider how little you have actually accomplished in the six years you spent in office. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5AacGXjkKE&feature=related 

Sam Katz's Top 10 List [taken from the Winnipeg Free Press]

The mayor's communications director was asked to compile Sam Katz's version of his Top 10 achievements since being elected in 2004. This is an edited-for-brevity version:
1. Improved roads and bridge infrastructure.
2. Implemented new crime-fighting measures, including CrimeStat, more police on the street and a police helicopter.
3. Finished amalgamating the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service while also extensively equipping firefighters.
4. Launched Red Tape Commission to streamline city's dealings with business and citizens.
5. Maintained a 13-year property tax freeze and reduced business tax.
6. Increased active transportation paths.
7. Improved and modernized transit system and initiated first phase of the Southwest Rapid Transit Corridor.
8. Redirected funds to fix crumbling recreational facilities and created new facilities.
9. Approved creation of two new police stations, including moving central headquarters to the old Canada Post building.
10. Committed financing and collaborated with aboriginal groups that help youth.

Book Review

Book Review

Waiter Rant:  Thanks for the Tip—Confessions of a Cynical Waiter

Harper Colllins Publishers

Steve Dublanica chronicles his life in Waiter Rant based on his collection of observations and theories developed while working in an upscale Manhattan restaurant.  Dublanica stories range from being cute to funny to whiny to enduring, all the way to disgusting and back to funny.  Part memoir, part biography, part sociological and cultural study, Dublanica interjects his own fears and anxieties while he highlights the fears and anxieties of employees and patrons that fuel the restaurant business.   Warning:  If you have worked or eaten at a restaurant you just might recognize yourself in these pages.

The most appealing part of the book is reading how Dublanica ended up working in the restaurant business in the first place.  I don’t believe in all my years working as a server that I have met anyone who ever aspired to be a career server.  Who would aspire to working long hours for minimum wage plus gratuities until your feet ached?  I have yet to meet the person if one exists.  Most people working in the restaurant business do so because they are waiting for a break, going to school, or are just trying to make ends meet.    

I enjoyed Waiter Rant because he echoed my fears, desires, struggles, and feeling like an outsider from friends and families who had “normal lives” while I worked as a server.  I related to Dublanica’s description of his boss, Fluvio, secretly rooting for him to fail at getting a book deal.  I have had far too many restaurant bosses that tried every manipulative trick up their sleeve to keep you where they want you.  Bosses who play power trips with schedules when time off is requested by staff even if someone is available to cover the shift.  Only once have I encountered a restaurant boss who was ever truly happy at an employee’s success outside of the workplace while on their payroll.  
Dublanica is right when he highlights what keeps waiters going is a certain percentage of customers that eat out at restaurants who have the common sense and grace that fuel the belief that there might be hope for human kind.   

What I didn’t like about Waiter Rant is how Dublanica skirts abuses that occur in the business.  The industry is staffed with workers that are often taken advantage of and government regulatory agencies often turn a blind eye to the labour laws that are broken.  Dublanica seems to brush them off as that is just the way it is and moves on to another episode at table 18 and so forth.  
Many restaurant workers work long hours without ever seeing overtime pay or benefits.   Waiters are seen as easily replaceable they are often exploited and manipulated.  Dublanica instead of lobbying customers to tip more generously could have spend more time highlighting the labour issues and laws that are often broken and unspoken.