OSHAWA DURHAM BEST KEPT SECRET

By Joe Ingino Editor/Publisher ACCOMPLISHED WRITER/AUTHOR OF OVER 800,000 Published Columns in Canada and The United States “I live a dream in a nightmare world” Always Remember That The cosmic blueprint of your life was written in code across the sky at the moment you were born. Decode Your Life By Living It Without Regret or Sorrow. I have been your newspaper editor for about 27 years now and I have seen them come and go. One Mayor after another. Each one with their unique way of governance. Each one slowly eroding the quality of life in Oshawa. In part we can’t blame them as we have had mayors that normally were councillors first. This only assuring us that their interest was not that of the people but that of their own pocket books. Councillors that did little or nothing and were reward to a higher position by voters that did not take the time to get to know candidates and voted primarily on name recognition. The outcome is obvious and the by-product of decades of bad governance is all around us. From the taxes being increase to pay out bad decisions to people sleeping on our streets. WE DESERVE BETTER. I have been quoted numerous times as stating that Oshawa is Durham’s best kept secret. I say this because our city has had no clear direction, it is poorly promoted and bias and prejudice as they come. Events come and go and no one knows about them. Parades close down our streets and we all assume a riot or major drug bust. Very few realize the event. Why is that? The reason is simple. Event organizers do not know how to promote. They are not marketers. In most cases they are wonna be politicians with big chips on their shoulders. Look at ‘FIESTA WEEK’. An event that has great potential. A great idea. But very poorly promoted and advertised. When the local media has no clue on timeliness and events. That says it all. But they are one of many things that happen... Look at the Peony Festival. Another great opportunity to bring people from all over Ontario. A dud when it comes to advertising and promotions... and please for those organizers reading this and thinking. “We had it on social media”. Please stop. You are embarrassing yourself with that thought. What we need in this city is a municipal task force made up of local merchants and experts in the field of event hosting, marketing and mass media. Not like that half wit Downtown Buy Local task force led by Tito-Dante Mariempietri as chair. Here is Tito a third class realtor with no real business experience leading the charge on development for the downtown core. Well, let’s not put all the weight on Tito. Derek Giberson, the City councillor responsible for our downtown. The worst excuse for a councillor. He does not return calls. No one really knows him downtown. Gold standard for failure as a politician in my opinion. This is a ward that has sat empty for four years. Giberson is directly responsible for people sleeping on the streets of our city. Tito, Giberson got to go. Don’t get me wrong I am not attacking these two councillors. I am just stating a fact and making a public plea in the best interest of our City. We need people with initiative that will promote Oshawa events properly. Oshawa unfortunately is Durham’s best kept secret. But it is 2022 and thing will change. For the sake of our future. You can make the change.