but i want to suggest that francis couldn't make things much worse than dilbert has and point out that he does want to bring the tunnel bus back. however, i might find his funding strategies to be frustrating.
i think that the emphasis on what is a drain on resources and what isn't has been misplaced during dilbert's tenure as mayor. dilbert cancelled the tunnel bus because it was expensive, but the cost was around a million dollars. then, he spends millions of dollars on a hockey rink at city hall and a stupid christmas lights festival, and doesn't charge money to access them and rather presents them as benefits to the economy. but neither the hockey rink nor the christmas lights are paying for themselves and they never will, they will always be a net drain on city finances. my perspective, as a resident of the city, is that the tunnel bus was good for the city's economy and should be brought back for that reason (because it brought people downtown to spend money on their way to and from events in detroit and made them get out of their car downtown, rather than just drive through it) and the hockey rink and christmas lights are net drains on the city's economy that should both be privatized or cancelled as wastes of city tax dollars.
i consequently want to flip the logic.
i am not running for mayor or council but would like to see the opposite approach taken.
1. the christmas lights festival should be privatized. it is not an appropriate use of public funds, at a loss, year after year. it brings little benefit to the city and only appeals to a small minority of religious people. a secular-first city hall should focus on defunding or privatizing all religious festivals. if the city thinks privatizing the festival is too far, it should consider charging an entrance fee of $20 per visit to offset the losses and generate revenue.
2. the hockey rink at city hall should not be free, while the city operates it at a massive loss. people should have to pay a fee to skate on the rink. an entrance fee of $20 per visit to use the rink is a reasonable proposal. if the rink is unable to turn a profit, it should be shut down altogether.
3. the tunnel bus should be brought back and funds raised by charging a fee to use the hockey rink and go to the lights festival (or funds raised by privatizing it) should be used to subsidize the tunnel bus so that users are able to use the bus at a reasonable cost. the $5 tunnel bus fee should be brought back, and subsidized with revenue generated by charging fees to enter religious festivals like the bright lights or sporting facilities like the hockey rink.
another source of funding for city hall to subsidize the tunnel bus may be charging a user fee for muslims to use the city grounds for their loud and disruptive religious festivals.
a user fee to enter the farmer's market downtown would be reasonable, as they take up a lot of space and, to my knowledge, don't pay for it.
a busker's fee might be reasonable, to use the downtown area, as they are generating income tax-free.
a user fee for little leagues and schools to use the city parks and other city owned athletic facilities would be reasonable.
etc.
all of these are possible revenue sources to subsidize the tunnel bus, which is a valuable service that windsorites should not have to pay exorbitant prices out of pocket to use, but that the city should mandate lower prices for by generating revenue streams elsewhere to offset it.