Eddie Francis

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Eddie Francis
Mayor of Windsor
In office
December 1, 2003 – November 30, 2014
Preceded byMike Hurst
Succeeded byDrew Dilkens
Personal details
Born
Edgar Francis

May 1974 (age 49)
Windsor, Ontario, Canada
Alma materUniversity of Western Ontario, University of Windsor Law School
Professionlawyer, entrepreneur

Edgar "Eddie" Francis (born May 1974) is the former

Lebanese-Canadian
mayor.

Background

Born in Windsor to

Arabic
.

Francis is an alumnus of Notre Dame Elementary School and

Holy Names Catholic High School, both in Windsor. While in high school, Francis was a major contributor to student life while participating in the student council, and held the office of student body president. He holds a combined honour's degree in chemistry and biochemistry from the University of Western Ontario. He graduated from the University of Windsor Law School and was called to the Bar in 2002.[1]

Prior to entering politics, Francis ran and operated Royal Pita Baking Company with his brothers. Under their stewardship the "mom and pop" operation's distribution quickly expanded to other markets, including London, Ontario, Toronto and 12 U.S. states.[2]

Councillor

Francis was first elected to

Law Society of Upper Canada
.

In the November 2000 general election, Francis was re-elected to his Ward 5 seat with the largest majority ever recorded in a Windsor municipal election. As an active member of city council, Francis was involved in many of the city's major committees, agencies and boards. He held the positions of director of Windsor Canada Utilities, member of the

Detroit–Windsor Tunnel
Commission, chair of the Windsor Licensing Commission and chair of the International Relations Committee.

Mayoralty

Francis was first elected mayor in the

Detroit, ensuring that Windsor would receive some of the economic benefits of participating in a major tourist event.[3]

He was subsequently re-elected in the 2006 election, garnering 77.56 per cent of the votes cast in the mayoral race, for which 38.2 per cent of registered voters cast a ballot.[4] He won again in the 2010 election, with 56.17% of the vote.

During Francis' mayoralty, Windsor has consistently reduced municipal debt and passed six consecutive budgets with zero tax increases.[5] [dubious – discuss]

Francis announced in March 2014 that he will not run for a fourth term as mayor, and will instead take a job as executive vice-president of the Windsor Family Credit Union beginning on December 1, 2014.[6]

Waterfront marina

On July 29, 2008, Francis announced one of the most ambitious projects of his mayoral term, a waterfront redevelopment proposal which would transform a struggling section of downtown Windsor into a waterfront park by converting the block bounded by Crawford, Caron and University Avenues — an area which currently consists primarily of

Art Gallery of Windsor, and then from there back to the river at the eastern edge of Dieppe Park.[7]

He appointed

Member of Provincial Parliament, to chair a feasibility study on the proposal. On August 19, councillor Alan Halberstadt criticized Francis for allegedly being secretive about the plan,[8] and in response Cooke was brought in to speak to city council about the plan on September 2.[9]

The project was never commissioned, lacking public support and funding.

Relationship with Detroit during the Kilpatrick crisis

On August 7, 2008,

Detroit–Windsor Tunnel, which would have seen the city of Windsor take over operational control of the tunnel in exchange for a $75 million loan to the cash-strapped city of Detroit. Kilpatrick stated that Francis had requested the meeting on short notice, while Francis and other city bureaucrats indicated that the meeting had in fact been at Kilpatrick's request.[10] The meeting resulted in a 14-month investigation by Windsor's Integrity Commissioner, Earl Basse, who cleared Francis of wrongdoing in his relationship with Kilpatrick.[11]

Francis later stated that he was confident that Kilpatrick's resignation on September 4 would not threaten the tunnel deal, indicating that he also had a strong working relationship with Kilpatrick's successor,

Ken Cockrel.[12] However, Cockrel himself indicated that he would prefer to renegotiate an alternate agreement to maintain joint management of the tunnel between the two cities.[13]

Following Detroit's July 2013

Detroit–Windsor Tunnel if it was offered for sale.[14]

References

  1. ^ City of Windsor: Biography of the Mayor Archived 2005-04-13 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ "A region's hard road to renewal" Archived 2009-04-22 at the Wayback Machine, Canadian Business, January 8, 2007.
  3. ^ "Windsor hopes Super Bowl can show it's more than just sin". USA Today. 2006-01-11. Retrieved 2008-09-06.
  4. City of Windsor. 2006-11-14. Archived from the original
    on 2010-11-21. Retrieved 2009-11-24.
  5. ^ "Across the river from bankrupt Detroit, Windsor boasts five years without a tax hike". National Post. December 3, 2013. Retrieved 2021-12-18.
  6. ^ "Francis sets summer deadline to finish job; Mayor to start with WFCU Dec. 1". Windsor Star, March 27, 2014.
  7. ^ "Canal plan floated for Western Super Anchor". Windsor Star. Archived from the original on 2008-08-27. Retrieved 2008-09-06.
  8. ^ "Halberstadt slams Francis over marina plans". Windsor Star. Archived from the original on 2008-09-06. Retrieved 2008-09-06.
  9. ^ "Community excited about marina-canal plan". Windsor Star. Archived from the original on 2009-04-20. Retrieved 2008-09-06.
  10. ^ "Detroit mayor jailed over trip to Canada". Ottawa Citizen. Archived from the original on 2009-04-20. Retrieved 2008-08-08.
  11. ^ "Windsor Mayor Eddie Francis cleared in integrity probe over meeting with ex-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick". Associated Press. 2009-11-29. Retrieved 2009-12-06.
  12. ^ "Tunnel deal not dead, Francis says". Windsor Star. Archived from the original on 2009-02-27. Retrieved 2008-09-05.
  13. ^ "Cockrel has transition team ready just in case". Detroit Free Press. September 4, 2008. Archived from the original on October 16, 2008. Retrieved 2021-12-18.
  14. ^ Gallagher, John (July 19, 2013). "Windsor mayor: We would consider buying tunnel to Canada if it's sold in bankruptcy". Detroit Free Press. Archived from the original on July 25, 2013. Retrieved 2021-12-18.
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