A Call From The Mayor Himself

I got a call this morning. It was from Mayor Sam Katz. He likes my blog.
He called to tell me he is working with the Winnipeg Police on a plan to make the North End a safer place. Ya, Ya, like we havent't heard that before. But he seemed sincere. No, wait a minute, isn't there an election coming up?
While I had him on the phone I thought I might ask him a favor. See, I was talking to Kevin Seaford yesterday. He is at the City By-Law Enforcement Office, the city facade that is in place to placate the citizens. I had asked Kevin yesterday about their inability to process my "ticket" to go after the man who was doing the illegal dumping into my dumpster. Apparently Kevin has been after the powers that be for quite a while. He has been trying to gain access to the MPI database so they can process these complaints. He is quite frustrated in his office's inability to take care of these matters.
So here I am, with the Mayor on the phone. Sam said he read my blog. I asked him about the By-Law Departments inability to process my complaint. I asked him why they do not have access to the databases they need to do their jobs. His answer was similar to the City By-Law department. He said since the privacy laws have come in, they are restricted in what they have access to.
So I asked the mayor if I have to call the Police then, to have the issue taken care of. I suggested that the City By-Law department should actually be able to submit the vehicle license number to the Winnipeg Police, get the needed information back, and be able to process the complain. I told him the City By-Law department is currently just a fascade. He agreed that the City By-Law department should be able to get the information they need from the police.
Then he told me he was going to take care of my particular "ticket" personally. He was going to "personally make sure" it was taken care of. The mayor said it was just a shame that a citizen reports an illegal act and nothing is getting done about it.
I feel so much better, not. These are just words. A lot of words from City Hall.
What I want is results. I want to see that my ticket is taken care of. And I want to see the City By-Laws department actually being allowed to submit their requests for information to the Police and be able to get the needed information back.
Then I will believe what the Mayor told me. Then I may have a bit of faith in City Hall.