Page Eight  

05 OCTOBER 2004

Yet more credence to this crackpot webmaster's observations:

Tue. Oct. 5, 2004. | Updated at 08:50 AM

Oct. 4, 2004. 01:00 AM Editorial: Time to disband Port Authority The Toronto Port Authority is a waste of money and a burden on the community. It should be immediately scuttled, its board members dismissed, and its duties divided between federal officials and a municipal panel that includes elected representatives of this city. The current unelected port authority has had five years to show its worth. It deserves no more time, and no second chances. No local agency has been more out of touch with the needs of Toronto. Project after project has failed — from a proposed island airport expansion to the Toronto-to-Rochester ferry. Port operations, the core service provided by this agency, lost money last year. So did the airport, with only 45,000 passengers using the terminal in 2003, down from 77,000 the year before. The authority's overall operations recorded yet another year of losses, running $5.3 million in the red. But that failed to stop the port authority from paying two top executives hefty bonuses as a reward for negotiating a deal to build a bridge that was later cancelled. Chief executive officer Lisa Raitt's salary was boosted to $173,000, from about $140,000. And chief financial officer Alan Paul took home $155,000, up from $121,000. Most of the increase was given as a reward for obtaining written approvals, from the city and federal level, to build an island airport bridge. Toronto city council and federal authorities soon reversed themselves. No bridge is being built. Henry Pankratz, chair of the port authority, defends the pay, saying his executives still deserve bonuses for their work. Agreements were signed, he says. "That process was an absolute success." Many Toronto residents don't view the bridge fiasco quite that way. It's almost as if obtaining signed contracts, and having the city on the hook for compensation payments, were worthy goals in themselves. The port authority's chief success seems to be wringing money from city taxpayers. It sued Toronto in a land dispute and, last year, received a settlement of $49 million, to be paid in instalments. Only thanks to that outside income could Pankratz claim his agency broke even in 2003. More negotiations are underway as port officials seek additional millions from Toronto ratepayers in compensation for killing the bridge. Local residents should not be required to carry this failed agency any longer. Federal Transportation Minister Jean Lapierre has the power to disband the port authority, and he should do exactly that. The agency currently has only three serving board members. Four seats remain empty. Under the bizarre rules governing this authority, it could continue even with only one person on the board. Rather than fill four lingering vacancies, those board members who remain should be relieved of their duties. Island airport leases, held by the port authority, should pass to the federal government. And a new city-directed panel — akin to the old Toronto Harbour Commission — should handle all other operations. The harbour commission, which ran the port from 1911 to 1999, was far from perfect. It suffered a bloated staff and officials with a taste for expensive junkets. Such excesses must be avoided. There's no need to re-create the old bureaucracy, especially now that the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corp. is doing the work of developing this city's shoreline. Needed, instead, is a new board to run the port, composed largely of elected city officials. Above all, the board should be dedicated to meeting the needs of Toronto. That would serve this community far better than the unelected and unresponsive agency weighing on the city now.

My entry of September 28:

The Toronto Star tends to support the Toronto City Council and it should come as no surprise it's using the Fast Ferry debacle as one of the reasons why the Toronto Port Authority should be abolished.

Rochester, are you paying attention?  THIS is how to scope out prospective customers and business associates.  Had CATS and the Rochester community been aware of the contentious relationship between the Toronto City Council and the TPA, it might have examined the level of 'support' from the Toronto community in closer detail. 

And had that very simple scrutinizing taken place, CATS and the Rochester community might have seen the writing on the wall and not rushed headfirst into a project based on false impressions.

It doesn't take a Canadian to see this.. just an interest in the mechanisation of a community across the lake that works... and works well.  Toronto is consistently named as one the of the world's most livable cities.

Oh well.  Maybe someday more Rochester-area residents will see the merits of getting out and exploring the world beyond the Monroe County line.  That so-called 'horrible' trip up the QEW is nothing but an excuse to sit home... reveling in the familiar and secure in the knowledge that peers and neighbours are judging them based on what they DO instead of who they ARE.

That mindset is a major factor in the demise of the Breeze.

"Shop locally".  "Keep the money in the community".  This archaic theory was fine when Bert and Maude ran the General Store, but in a world where economies are expanding far beyond local borders, it no longer makes any sense.  Smaller communities are the ones who benefit the most from larger communities patronizing their businesses... and what goes around, comes around. 

If Rochester-area residents are too squeamish to drive a modern expressway to Toronto, they shouldn't be shocked when Torontonians "shop locally" and "keep the money in THEIR community".  Who stands to lose more?  That's becoming all too painfully clear to Rochesterians.

"The fate of The Breeze is still Downunder...".  So begins the top story leadoff for the local cable news channel.  It's a telling indicator of the tremendous weight the Rochester community is placing on the $1.5 million in escrow held by EFIC.  The 'fate' of the Ferry is most assuredly NOT being held by EFIC.  The 'fate' of the Ferry was decided by the local leaders and supporters who pushed the ill-conceived concept forward.  Yet the locals are  trying to foist that responsibility and blame on somebody else.

The Blame Game continues.

06 OCTOBER 2004

Sunday   October 10, 2004

Martin is "hopeful" about return trip. Ferry Lenders Return Next Week by Seth Voorhees Published Oct 06, 2004 Australian lenders backing the company that runs Rochester's suspended ferry service will be back in town next week. Representatives from the Export Finance and Insurance Company, or EFIC, will return to Rochester to meet with Canadian American Transportation System, or CATS, management. EFIC reps were here for a week last month, meeting with local and Canadian officials and scouring CATS' financial records. CATS wants EFIC to free up some money to help the debt-ridden ferry company. But, EFIC must decide whether the ferry is financially viable. CATS President Cornel Martin says the fact that the lenders are coming back is a positive sign. “Considering the alternative where they could have just said 'we don't think you can go forward, we don't think this is viable' -- obviously that decision hasn't been made,” said Martin. “I view that all as being very positive.” Late last month, federal agents impounded the high-speed ferry after CATS was sued for more than $370 thousand dollars in unpaid Hess fuel bills. CATS says that it's being billed between one and two thousand dollars a day for the U.S. marshals that are on board the boat. The ferry suspended service nearly a month ago, saying it was millions of dollars in debt. CATS Fast Ferry EFIC

WARNING:

Relentless, truthful bashing ahead.

Let's assume EFIC says, "OK... we think you guys might have a chance to make this service profitable" and frees up the escrow of $1.7 million.

Rochesterians, giddy with excitement, are dancing in the streets.  "The Ferry Is Saved" is the party cheer and all is well, yes?

Well, no, actually.  There's still a little matter of repaying those still holding tickets and regaining consumer confidence which is in the proverbial dumper.  That feat will be no easy task... especially when some passengers are presently holding a few hundred dollars' worth of useless paper at this time.

And the question of packing 'em in sufficiently to make the trip profitable has yet to be solved. Too many people are pointing to the few good weeks in the summer and want to believe those sorts of numbers will hold up on a year-round basis.  They won't.  They can't.  Why?

The reasons have been listed here repeatedly, yet the locals are in denial that such a pessimistic outlook is possible.

Will EFIC say 'yes' this week?  Common Sense says they shouldn't; Corporate Sense says they will.  And when those two meet head to head, guess which one usually wins out?  It sure isn't Common Sense.

In a way, I hope EFIC says 'no' if for no other reason than the Rochester community has suffered enough humiliation on the international stage already... any more would only serve as pathetic ridicule.  Either way, if local investors step forward to bail out CATS, business and community leaders in Toronto (and elsewhere) will be wetting themselves from laughter.  When the Ferry goes belly up for the final time after a brief reprieve, the Rochester/Monroe County area will have lost any final semblance of business credibility.

How many organisations will want to showcase their conventions and conferences in Bozo-land?  How many businesses will be attracted to an area with the business acumen of a teen with a Camaro?  How shrewd is an area whose largest employer's CEO - a photo giant - decides to snooze through a pitch by Microsoft's Bill Gates asking them to jump on the digital photography bandwagon?  How many ill-fated projects does it take before a community starts to shake off its traditional and conservative way of life and looks toward innovative, progressive and creative solutions?  How long will it be before local residents admit the status quo no longer works... despite the death-grip on business-as-usual politics?  How low does the community have to sink before residents clean the political house and send the Good 'Ol Boy Network packing.. for a final time?

Lifelong residents admit they've never seen this area in such bad shape... as they dutifully vote as they always have.  The suburbs are becoming veritable dens of delusional denial... watching sprawl explode around themselves, they think "This is a good thing... look at the prosperity of this region" as their taxes begin to skyrocket from the unrealistic ten-year moratorium on county property taxes.  Sprawl is cancerous to a community.  It's highly cost-insensitive, degrades the quality of life and strips communities of personality.  It's not a sign of prosperity; it's a sign of ineffective community planning, direction and foresight.

The city of Rochester is far from blameless as well... although its problems are significantly more vexing than those of the Monroe County suburbs.  Drastic times require drastic measures... and the city of Rochester is on the brink of social and financial collapse.  An aging infrastructure literally hundreds of years old is falling apart.  Last summer, an  abandoned warehouse arson fire created so much demand, decrepit water mains burst causing significant street damage as the fire crews scrambled to find working hydrants.

Renovating and repaving a major city artery, Lake Avenue, which is the main thoroughfare from the Port of Rochester to downtown some seven miles south has been in progress in excess of four years and still isn't completed.  Entire urban housing projects less than twenty years old are being torn down due to inferior design which couldn't hold up to routine usage.  Highways and bridges begin to decay almost from the day they're finished due to the convoluted logic of saving money and providing jobs to construction companies which are kept busy rotating from one project to the next.  Instead of biting the bullet, spending big bucks and doing the job right the first time, this area has a way of skimping on quality and actually spending MORE money by having to replace second-rate jobs with other second-rate jobs.

The Good 'Ol Boy Network strikes again.

The much-ballyhooed hometown supermarket chain, Wegman's, has all but abandoned its city properties in preference to the more lucrative suburban megastores.  It's home-centre subsidiary, Chase-Pitkin, is on the verge of going under due to the influx of the Big Box nationals... Lowes and Home Depot... and the WalMart Superstores are pounding the Wegman's business model with lower prices and lack of whining about 'hometown pride' meant to humiliate residents into shopping out of a sense of civic spirit.

Parks and recreation venues close or curtail services 'to save money' as $30 million undomed outdoor sports complexes are built... and collect leaves, trash and snow more then 50% of the year.  Then community leaders and residents are puzzled why a business which operates only half the time doesn't turn a profit.  So they go ahead and plan to build another undomed sports complex which collects leaves, trash and snow more than 50% of the time.  This makes complete sense in a Rochester-sort of way.

A perfectly modernized and functional city hospital with over one hundred years in the community is closed, despite there being a shortage of hospital beds and despite the proliferation of yet more suburban sprawl in the form of new medical complexes.  Downtown Rochester is a big office complex by day and a dusty vacant hulk after 5:00 pm with concocted 'entertainment districts' which see an endless turnover of businesses trying to make a go of it.  A decent movie theatre?  Not to be found within the city of Rochester with the exception of the indie film Little Theatre which has a select and limited clientele.

Parking garages which are crumbling, urine-scented and filthy dot the downtown scene.  Venerable and established fine restaurants are history.  Gentrified and pretentious urban housing which caters to well-heeled eccentrics are offered as pseudo-SoHo wannabes.  An historic and prominent downtown landmark, the old Sibley Building, sits trying to figure out what it wants to be... a maze of cobbled-together offices or a casino as its owner desires in a bid to stuff his wallet?

Want more examples of Rochester  buffoonery?

The urban renewal craze of the 1960s and 1970s devastated not only Rochester, but hundreds of other U.S. communities when classic architecture was leveled and lost forever.  Grand movie palaces, a downtown highway noose known as the Inner Loop, a decisive and complete exodus of retail business, filling and paving over of the original Erie Canal - now a six-lane expressway, massive expanses of plain concrete called the Civic Center, total annihilation of a historic riverfront section known as Front and Water Streets, completely unremarkable office buildings with more of an eye on costs than on architectural innovation, the loss of pedestrian-friendly shopping and browsing, an uncoordinated and onerous public transit system, a sweltering masonry jungle in the summer and a salty hellhole of slush in the winter... all these conspired to doom downtown despite the swell-looking lampposts and bus stops.

Monroe County?  A very ordinary-looking community in a geographically uninspiring location.  From the air, as one approaches the Greater Rochester International Airport, a few smallish buildings demarcate the downtown core while the rest of the county lies on a flat ancient lake plain.  As with any community with a population in excess of 50,000, Monroe County has the standard lineup of national chains: Starbucks, Staples, Home Depot, WalMart, Sears, Target, PepBoys, Pottery Barns, Barnes & Noble, OfficeMax, Lowes, Linens & Things, Subway-McDonalds-Wendy's-Burger King-Quiznos-Krispy Kreme-Taco Bell-Arby's-Friendly's and just about anything else endemic on the East Coast.  No Safeway, Nordstrom or Neiman Marcus... yet... but Kohl's has made its Grand Entrance to the sublime lineup.  Are we not blessed?

Suburban Rochester may as well be suburban Buffalo - or Milwaukee - or Cleveland.  Aside from a few towns which lay claim along the Barge Canal, the distinctions are very much in the minds of the residents; the first-time visitor may be forgiven if they're underwhelmed as there are few distinguishing features or attractions which differentiate the towns.

OK.  Now that I have half of Monroe County about to hurl invectives, insults and accusations at me and the other half armed with baseball bats and nooses, why have I gone to such lengths to thoroughly trash this beleaguered old burg?

• Somebody has to.  For far too long, there has been far too little criticism of a community which has so much potential and talent, yet refuses to let go of the tired and conventional.
• There is a general lack of identity as a community.  Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but it stinks when a locality is attempt to be a unique tourist destination.
• Nothing like a literary bucket of cold water to snap people back to reality.  HULLO?  Is anybody listening?
• This can no longer be considered destructive criticism.   The only destructive aspect has already been taken care of by local community and business 'leaders' with either implicit or explicit sanctioning by the residents.
• The best way to find out what Joe Canadian thinks is to ask Joe Canadian. ("Hi there.")  That's not much of a stretch even for the dimmest politician or corporate clone.
• Get THIS one: We have no idea of what we look like to others unless we see our own reflection.  If you never looked into a mirror or saw a picture of yourself, how would you know what you looked like?  Think of the aforementioned trashing as a mirror.  Or digital photograph, as the case may be.
• It takes a traveler or tourist to know a traveler or tourist.  Sit at home in Monroe County week after month after year and it's small wonder residents know jack about what a frequent traveler of tourist wants or needs.  Business trips do not qualify as inspired personal destinations.  I want to see everyone with a car and twenty bucks to drive more than 100 miles from Rochester to a place they've never visited this coming weekend.  If you live in the Rochester area, that means YOU.
• Think you know Canada?  You don't know Canada from Croatia.  Canadian history, heritage and culture may as well be ignored as it's always been; pull out  map of North America and check the proximity of Rochester to Canada.  Now, when did Canada become a country and who was its first Prime Minister?
• It's not interfering to have an opinion.  Absorb or ignore at your own choosing.

Well, ladies and gentlemen of Rochester, what are you gonna do?  Cynic that I am, I trust that answer will be the same as usual: nothing.  And nothing it is.  And nothing it will be.

The greatest achievements in history all began with: "I'll try."

Think of that as you vote on November 2.

18 OCTOBER 2004

(Shouts out to dangler.  Much obliged.  You too, Zuber.)

The Fast Ferry debacle is much like the impending federal election; both are major annoyances, both have an end in sight and both are thick with public relations trashtalk.  The casual reader of the Fast Fiasco doesn't know what to believe or what to do.  It's the perfect corporate caper.

From time to time, I have to take a hiatus away from this very real (and unreal) saga as the stupidity is mind-numbing.  I was over in the Kitchener-Waterloo area... an astonishingly refreshing community which is not simply growing, but prospering and thriving with carefully planned growth and development.  Livability is not simply a concept; it's a reality.  A great place in a beautiful area of Southern Ontario with super-friendly, decent people and no daily murders.  It's like Candy-Land compared to the Rochester area's New Jack City.

Evidently, the Powers That Be are getting impatient with the bungling; NYS Governor Pataki has ordered close attention be paid to both the management and financial arrangements.

Do I think there's been malfeasance with money by CATS?  No. 

I don't believe CATS has any nefarious intent.  They may be totally incompetent, hopelessly clueless and a bunch of elitist nincompoops... but I don't believe they're criminals.

Still, there's a little matter of accountability for this huge mess and that means some tough questions being asked.  I say, let 'em ask all the questions they need... it'll STILL miss the reason why CATS wasn't able to make a go of the Ferry service to Toronto.

In unison please: "There aren't enough passengers to keep the Ferry profitable over the long term".

Now, just what difference will an audit prove?  That CATS has been above board about the finances?  Big deal.  We know that.  Armed with that knowledge, will that make the service profitable?  No.

Screaming about the millions in tax dollars pumped into the project; will that make the service profitable?  No.

Strap a dozen turbo chargers along with four jet engines on the boat; will THAT Make the service profitable?  No.

Why won't all these things make the service fiscally prudent?  You know the chant: "There aren't enough passengers to keep the Ferry profitable over the long term".

What should anybody who's ever heard of the CATS Fast Ferry project be saying?  "There aren't enough passengers to keep the Ferry profitable over the long term".

Répétez, s'il vous plais: "There aren't enough passengers to keep the Ferry profitable over the long term".

Once again: "There aren't enough passengers to keep the Ferry profitable over the long term".

Louder and with a firm resolve: "There aren't enough passengers to keep the Ferry profitable over the long term".

CATS and the Rochester area didn't hear that: "There aren't enough passengers to keep the Ferry profitable over the long term".

One last time: "There aren't enough passengers to keep the Ferry profitable over the long term".

Glad we got THAT Settled.  On to the window dressing section of our presentation:

Monday   October 18, 2004

file photo Pataki Wants Ferry Books Open by Greg Johnston and Judy Mendoza Published Oct 17, 2004 While he helped campaign for a local candidate in Rochester, New York's governor is calling on fast ferry operators to open up their books and explain where millions of public dollars have gone. The ferry has been sitting idle at the Port of Rochester for 5 weeks now. Last week, Governor Pataki's office sent a letter to the Rochester Urban Renewal Agency. It's the organization the state's loan for the ferry passed through. The governor says the state and the county deserve an explanation. “We want to see exactly what happened, because the state has an investment in it, the people of Monroe County have a significant investment in supporting the fast ferry, and we want to see what happened. We're hopeful it can get back on track," said Pataki. New York State dumped some $14 million of public funding into "The Breeze." CATS officials said last week that the company has already opened up its financial records to the City of Rochester. CEO Cornell Martin says city officials agree that there's been no misuse of the monies. CATS Fast Ferry

<<sigh>>

Anybody wonder why the economy of Upstate New York is in the crapper?  Here we have a project which CANNOT succeed... as we've all seen from the past ten thousand-or-so words of this website... yet Dear George is "hopeful it can get back on track".  Why?  Why would anyone want to resurrect a doomed project... tossing yet more money in a service which can never become self-sustaining or profitable?  Why would anybody do that?

Dare we think, "Maybe the project really might NOT have ever been economically feasible"?  Isn't that exactly the same concern which opponents of the Ferry project asked from the very beginning of talks about such an endeavour?

The disgust is palpable; the sheer blindness is staggering.

Monday   October 18, 2004

Martin says next few weeks are critical. CATS Has New Business Plan by Cristina Domingues photo by Chris Coffey Published Oct 18, 2004 Operators of the fast ferry say they have a new business plan they're going to present to lenders in hopes of getting service started again. That plan should go out to lenders Monday night or Tuesday morning. CATS President Cornel Martin says the plan focuses on trucking, advertising and on-board revenue. CATS will create an advisory board made up of partners and government entities. There will also be a seven-member board of directors, three or four of whom will be chosen by investors. Martin did not go into details about who the lenders are or how much money they're going to give. He said they are giving enough to satisfy the lender's requirements. "With the new investors comes new ownership. Again, it's not necessarily replacing ownership but additional owners who will have a say on the makeup of the board of directors," said Martin. Rochester's Mayor Bill Johnson did not want to comment saying he did not want to derail any sensitive negotiations but in a statement said, “ I would like to stress that I am extremely encouraged by the direction these negotiations are taking and I am quite hopeful that we will have a very positive announcement to make soon." Martin says they will be busy hammering out the details with the lenders over the next few weeks. There is still no definitive start-up date. CATS Fast Ferry

(Good to see Cornel's eating well.  Wouldn't want the poor guy wasting away from worry now...)

Students, we need to refocus our attention here.  The goal is not to simply turn the key and make a round trip across Lake Ontario.  We all know the the ship can do that.

The focus is on the long-term viability of the Ferry project.  Simply being able to restart a service is like getting Grampa's 1941 Plymouth to turn over and run.  Big Woo.  Let's see the thing roll out the barn and travel 300,000 miles.  THAT'S the focus of a long-term business.  LONGEVITY, not simply being able to start up... or restart as the case may be.

Stop the Insanity.  More importantly, Stop the Embarrassment. 

It's getting humiliating to admit to being a Rochester area resident to the people of Southern Ontario.  I beg you, stop acting like a bunch of fat drunken Suits at the local Bragging Hole.  Haven't we suffered enough shame and ridicule?  How much more of this farce do we have to endure before somebody steps in and pulls the plug... once and for all?

Federal marshalls making sure the irresponsible kids don't grab the keys and make off with Dad's Beemer in the middle of the night.  International agencies flying halfway around the world to chastise the foolishness of some local hayseeds who think this is some sort of Get Rich Quick scheme.  Canada's largest metropolitan area being made quite the fool over buying into the starry-eyed promises of waves of passengers disembarking two or three times a day in the middle of January.  Local media stars cheerfully prattling on about the Swell Project That Can And Will.

It's all too much.  It's tabloidesque.  It belongs in the National Enquirer next to "Lady Braids Armpit Hair As Fashion Statement".

OOOooo...OOOooo... I know... I know!!!  Let's... let's get a gigantic dirigible to take off from the top of Xerox Tower and drone its way over to the top of First Canadian Place!!   NO... NO... a giant roller coaster from Sea Breeze over to SkyDome ... just THINK of the 'exciting alternative' to driving that Big Bad 'Ol QEW.  Mebbee SUBMARINE service right to HarbourFront!!  NO... NO... a...  a CABLE CAR over Lake Ontario.... Ohhhhh... hold me back... 

Oh, the humanity.  Oh, the stupidity.  Oh, the expense.

Hey, any of you Rochester area residents who still think 'The Breeze Shall Sail Again' wanna share some of your Nitrous Oxide with me??  You guys seem to have a lot of SOMETHING which is addling your brains and I'd sure to check out what you're doing to cast you adrift in La-La Land.

O Sweet Bliss!  Thy Name is Suburban Rochester!  Hasten thee, to yon Wegman's for thy Chalice of Cheer!   Banish thy Blues to Damnation!  Verily, thy Prozac is Divinity Eternal!

From the Tell-Me-Something-Newsworthy files:

Monday, October 18, 2004
Home > News > Local News		Rochester Time: 2:19 am

Clue us in here.  Just what in hell does all the above have to do with not having enough passengers to make the service a long-term success?  Investors?  Advisory boards?  Management shuffling?

Who cares?  Don't you kids make me copy-n-paste that damn mantra again...

Once again, the corporate and political boardrooms are arrogantly overlooking a TEENSY little part of the equation called The Public.  Call in Bill Gates, the Sultan of Brunei and The Donald to save the day... dump a few billion into the project.  Install musical gold-plated bidets on board and offer free Cristal and Beluga caviar.  It ain't gonna make one iota of difference if The Public doesn't use the service enough to cover costs over a long-term period.  What IS the problem with understanding that??

DUH.  Like we Great Unwashed are running around with sawdust for brains.  Like we're too moronic to see the real reason why the Ferry was a dud from Day One.  It's Reality Day, boys and girls.  Time to take off our Pretend Hats and stop with the corporate crap that's supposed to pass as common sense.  I can't WAIT to see the headlines a year from now:

"Investors File Grievances With SEC".  "State Seizes Port of Rochester".  "City and County Bond Rating Drop To New Lows".

THAT'LL 'prove' something alright... and it sure won't be that the Breeze was successful.   At that time, let's ask all those who thought the Ferry was a such great idea how many times THEY actually took the Ferry to Toronto?  If it was such a terrific service... one which was worthy of dumping tens of millions of dollars of public funds into... how many of those telling us who knew the service was doomed actually MADE the trip over and back on the Breeze?  HMMMMM???

And they've got the cojones to say we naysayers are the reason the Ferry went belly up???  Simpleminded twits.  They haven't got the integrity or reasoning capability to do much more than parrot back the Pablum they've been spooned by the local media. 

Like the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle is some international Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper on par with the New York Times, Wall Street Journal or something.  PUH-leeze.  With a suburban hausfrau scribbling some inane Our Towns column, a local columnist who loads up the litter of kids on the Ferry and pronounces it 'Good' and a hometown right-wing bigot ex-writer who was canned for his insipidly racist radio talkshow remarks (but has since been brought back to the airwaves as a charity case), the D&C is far from the Paragon of the Publishing World.  Yet to the suburban I-Read-It-In-The-Newspaper-So-It-Must-Be-True types, it's the Gospel.  Small wonder the locals are waddling around babbling about how dumping scads of money into restarting the engines will mean Happy Days Are Here Again.

Just as a suggestion to these delusional clones:  Try thinking for once instead of just mindlessly repeating what you've read or seen on the local media.  I know independent thought is a horrible thing to ask of a person, but I promise you won't get a brain cramp if you do.  You might even learn to like it. <gasp>

And what a revolting thing THAT would be.  Especially in the Rochester area.

God Save the Queen.  And God Bless Canada.

TODAY'S PAPER High-speed ferry courting investors By Jeff Gray Tuesday, October 19, 2004 - Page A16   The company scrambling to revive the suspended high-speed ferry service between Toronto and Rochester, N.Y., says it has found new financial backers that may put the Breeze, as the vessel is known, back on Lake Ontario. (ed. A bit chilly here, yes?) Cornel Martin, president of Canadian American Transportation Systems, said his firm is in talks with unnamed new investors and hopes to put a restructuring plan together for approval by its primary lenders in the next day or so. But it could still be months before the Breeze sails again. The $42.5-million (U.S.) ferry ran for just 80 days before money woes abruptly shut it down last month.

Hmm.  There's a French phrase of  'sang-froid', literally translated, 'cold blood', which refers to a rather detached and aloof indifference shown by someone to another.  It might be applicable here.

The venerable Globe and Mail, the folks that brought us the succinct Rochester critique by writer Jan Wong, hasn't exactly been singing the praises of the Ferry service since its inception.  Not that it needed to; there have been no shortages of Ferry cheerleaders and quite obviously, not enough critics of the plan.  Had there been a concerted and vocal contingent which slammed the idea back in 2001, we might not be seeing the Breeze log ZERO miles per day right now.

If it's not moving, it's not making money.  And if it's not making money, it's costing money.  BIG money... each and every day it sits tied up.

By now, the Learned Reader knows that simply moving the Breeze back and forth across the Lake may slow the hæmorrhaging of red ink, but doesn't guarantee profit.  That's entirely dependent upon the active participation of patrons.  No patrons... or not enough patrons... no profit.  That's not a complex economic concept, is it?  But it's one the Ferry supporters are willing to overlook or assume.

"Built it and they will come".  Only this time, 'they' didn't and CATS can't seem to accept that fact.  They may be forced to accept that irrefutable conclusion when the intended Ferry passengers stay away by the shipload... nervous about whether their reservations will be honoured or not or  if the few hundred bucks in tickets will be worth anything of not. 

'Rebuilding consumer confidence'?  Has anybody heard any earnest plans to address specifically how CATS intends to accomplish customer reassurance?  Does that appear to be much of a priority?  Or are Ferry supporters merely pointing to some 14-days when discounted fares showed popularity and 'assuming' the same will hold true in the off-season months?  Certainly adequate financing is required to get the ship moving again, but something called 'public relations damage control' is no less important.

Euthanize the Breeze, glean some valuable lessons from the debacle and move on.  The Rochester community has far too many critical issues requiring far more attention and resources than to wallow on some frivolous private enterprise.  Had the Fast Ferry never taken off, the Rochester community would still have been facing some horrendous realities.  Massive layoffs, unchecked sprawl, slashed budgets and a rapidly aging population with the crucial 18-35 year olds leaving faster than they're being replaced are all very serious issues to any community.

Why, here's another one:

Strange, isn't it?  Where there's the possibility of a buck to be made, local government falls all over themselves to allocate money, but if the Return On Investment isn't as great (as in social programs), then the money doesn't seem to be available.  That's no big surprise or anything new.

But every now and then, when The Public is asked to support an initiative (or the Native people, a casino), they turn their collective backs. 

What goes around, comes around.