i don't want to jump to conclusions about why, but his decision to overpower an otherwise (i believe) unanimous vote on city council to fund what many people here consider to be an essential service might have been the reason. i would consider that act an unacceptable abuse of power and reason for removal. he argued it was losing money, but he funded all kinds of other things, including religious festivals, that lost more money, and provided no services. it's a question of where your priorities are - do you want to be taxed to pay for services or do you want to be taxed to pay for things that are not services, like memorials to rail cars and skating rinks on city hall?
if you listened to his reasoning at the time, he seemed to actually cancel the bus as an intentional attack on the unions, which is pretty dumb and out of touch and arrogant, in windsor.
hopefully, this outcome sends a warning to future mayors: don't overpower council just because you can. voters won't tolerate it and will throw you out of office for it. if this is what people are thinking, it's a clear victory for democracy and citizen oversight.
anybody that watched the debate would also struggle to describe dilbert without using descriptions like "pompous asshole". his treatment of the female candidate, who is a kind of small-business conservative that seemed to have traditional values perspectives, was abysmal. he was impossible to admire as a potential four-term mayor, let alone want to have a beer with.
if francis does win, it might be an overall rightward shift, if only a small one. the major candidates are both conservatives, but francis is saying he'll bring the tunnel bus back. great.
i want to make a summary request about this. with the bridge opening, which lets people cross on foot or bicycle for free, the primary value of the bus needs to be to service around the bridge's very restricted hours. the bridge is going to close at 3:00 pm for the winter months. the bus needs to service people from 3:00 pm to 7:00 am (that is overnight) as a priority, and deprioritize daytime hours. i am very disappointed in the bridge authority's decision to accept such restrictive hours for the walkway, and it does maintain a purpose for the bus, which i would like to see run over night, every night. it could even not run at all in the middle of the day.