From Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper
There has been the odd time over the past couple of years of doing Niagara At Large when I wish I did not click “publish.” This April 2 was one of them.
Fort Erie, Ontario Mayor Doug Martin
The post I published led with a headline; “Sorry To Fort Erie, Ontario Mayor Doug Martin And His Red Bull or Redneck Bullies, Or Whatever They Are” and it suggested that the mayor is in lock step with some of the people who are engaging in some pretty nasty conduct toward others in the town. I have no direct evidence that this is the case and for that reason I apologize to the mayor and have pulled that post from the site.
I have pulled that post, Mr. Mayor, with no prompting from your mayor’s office (if your office even saw it) or from anyone else other than my own feeling that the post broke a promise I recently made to myself not to stoop to a level of discourse I believe will do the town and its people no good in dealing with some of the recent bad news and economic challenges they face today.
In another post published in Niagara At Large this April 2, headlined; “Thank God, There Is Still Some Civility In Fort Erie, Ontario,” I made mention of the fact that there are many good people in the town who have demonstrated their desire to take the high road in their efforts to persuade the provincial government to save the Fort Erie Slots and Race Track, and the hundreds of jobs those enterprises support.
I have witnessed this same desire to take the high road among the countless hundreds of residents in Fort Erie who have been fighting for fair and equal access in this region to quality hospital services. And I have certainly witnessed it the family of Reilly Anzovino, the Fort Erie teen who was pronounced dead in the emergency room at the Welland Hospital following a car accident in her hometown more than two years ago and only months after the emergency room at the Fort Erie hospital was closed down. If anyone had a right to engage in nasty name-calling it was these people, and they did not. In fact, their dignified conduct at a coroner’s inquest this past Christmas season into the circumstances surrounding Reilly’s death earned them the respect of people across this region and province.
It would do all of us all well, including this reporter, to take the high road in our dealing with you, with other members of your council, with the provincial member of parliament and with everyone else in the community, whether we agree with them or not. Anything less is not going to assist you and your council, and the residents of Fort Erie overcome the challenges the town faces today.
(Niagara At Large invites you to share your views on this post in the comment boxes below. Remember that we only post comments by individuals who also share their real first and last names.)
Niagara At Large 
It takes courage to admit your were wrong. Well done. You took the high road in apologizing.
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Doug, I support your stance 100%. There is no place for ‘redneck bullying’ threats in our democracy. And the same goes for salacious remarks in emails to journalists in general and you in particular. As far as Fort Erie pseudo-Mayor Martin, Martin 4-votes-con, is concerned, I will-not/cannot take the high road – as I’ve already taken a long road out of and away from that sad and increasingly backward town.
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Doug, I read this article mainly because it stood out as a more unusual post. I can’t comment on the situation in Fort Erie.
Several years ago, I wanted to find out what was going on with my local hospital and was surprised at how difficult it was to find information about the NHS. That is until I did some searching and found your website. I’ve been reading it now for a couple years and I’ve found the reporting and editorials to be well written. I appreciate the effort to maintain an already high standard of journalism. tks.
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You want proof town hall is in cahoots with the redbullies here it is, To all Members of Council,
>
> An online blog called the redbull diaries of which Councilor Rick Shular is
> online friends with have been privy to some of my previous emails to town
> hall, and I ask why?
> This online blog has been harassing me and publically slandering my name
> for over a year now because of my stance on the Bay Beach issue. They claim
> to get all their information directly from town hall, again I ask why is
> that? I don’t appreciate the town sharing my emails with a local hate
> group. Is redbull the voice of town hall now, are they the official
> spokesmen for the town regarding Bay Beach issues? Is this how you run this
> town when someone does not agree with council, you feed a bunch of local
> bullies a bunch of crap so they can go out there and spread lies and
> slander peoples’ names and in general just plain harass them. I would like
> some prompt answers please.
>
> I await your timely reply,
>
> Derek Crane
And here’s proof the town is a bunch of liars:
Dear friends of Bay Beach …
First, there’s some DISTURBING NEWS … The Town published a Waterfront Road Allowance Update a few weeks ago which showed there are no longer any road allowances providing access to Abino Bay (from the Crystal Beach pier to Point Abino). The Mayor and Staff insist the Schooley Road allowance was closed in 1982 and the others have been closed as well. Because the Ashwood entrance to Bay Beach is not a road allowance, there is no assurance the public will be able to access the beach in the future! This is especially true if the Town ropes off a large area for an artificial toad habitat to get an MNR permit so Molinaro can build his condo tower. Given the high number of beach goers during the summer months, it would be incredibly unwise (and possibly dangerous) to limit in any manner police and emergency vehicle access to the beach.
But here’s the GOOD NEWS … After doing a lot of research on the history of the property, we discovered the Town is wrong . There is a municipal road allowance on the property that has never been closed. It runs from Erie Road to the water’s edge and it’s not the Schooley Road allowance (it’s farther west). In fact, it’s right where Molinaro plans to build his parking garage and the toad habitat! It wasn’t easy for us to obtain a copy of Municipal Survey 751 which verified the location of this 66′ wide road allowance established by a Crown patent in the late 1700s. We started looking for it last November. Town Staff told us we’d have to get it at the Land Registry Office in St. Catharines and several of our supporters drove out there and asked for a copy of the survey. The Registry staff helped us a lot but we just couldn’t find it. Undaunted, the title searcher we hired continued to look for it at the Registry Office. Then one day, she discovered it totally by accident … she was looking for something else in another township’s drawer and spotted Municipal Survey 751 tucked away in a folder. Needless to say, we were very happy to finally locate the survey and we asked the Land Registrar for a certified copy of the 35-page document. We now have proof of the location of the municipal road allowance — irrefutable proof that cannot be questioned in any court of law. And we have found absolutely no evidence indicating this road allowance was ever closed. This is really good news … a condo cannot be built on the property unless the Council passes a by-law to close the road allowance (a formal process that requires the Town to hold a public meeting, consult with other agencies, and get 4 councillors’ votes).
There are no other road allowances giving the public access to this recreational area! If you’ve watched or listened to recent Council meetings, you’ve heard the Mayor jump in and cut off Councillor Don Lubberts whenever he has asked about this other road allowance. It’s clear the Mayor and Staff don’t want anyone to know about it … and it’s not mentioned in the Town’s recent Waterfront Road Allowance report. It’s for real, though, and the existence of this road allowance is very important. It supports Ontario’s shoreline policies “to ensure that adequate public lands are set apart to provide for sustained access and recreational opportunities for present and future generations.”
More news …. Last August, the Town applied for Absolute Title of the Bay Beach Lands. It was another favour to Molinaro who needs this title designation in order to construct his condo. In response, several taxpayers filed formal objections to preserve their long-standing rights to access this property. Additional objections were also filed based on the newly discovered municipal road allowance. There are many reasons why the Town should NOT be granted Absolute Title — a key reason is because there’s a road allowance on the property that has never been closed. The Director of Titles has the authority to grant Absolute Title but a hearing must first be scheduled to hear the objections and the Town’s responses. I’ll let you know as soon as we find out when the hearing will take place.
We need to make SURE the public can continue to access the beach … knowing that our access could be cut off in the future if this last road allowance is closed. If you share our concern, there are several ways you can help. Please let me know if you’re interested in learning more, including the location of the newly discovered road allowance. We are determined to pursue all options to save Bay Beach … we can’t afford to lose Crystal Beach’s most valuable asset!
Thanks for your strong support,
Marcia
P.S. There’s still no word from Judge Hainey regarding the Statement of Claim case. We believe the fact that the Court is taking this matter seriously, and thoroughly examining whether the Town acted in accordance with provincial statutes, is a hopeful sign.
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My comments are often held for moderation. I think this one should have been held until the facts are checked. THERE IS NO SUCH ROAD ALLOWANCE.
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The facts have been checked and rechecked by a team of individuals and there IS such a road allowance. Don’t believe everything the mayor or redbull says, they are all proven liars, especially when it comes to Bay Beach. The Mayor and his staff have purposely tried to keep pertainent information from the public, I personally know this because I have had to pay for documents and we have had to use freedom of information to obtain other documents. The whole thing is a sham right from the get go. We have done a lot of research regarding Bay Beach and our Mayor contradicts everything we have found out, and he is in cahoots with at least Greg Bonito, a writer for redbull as it was he who said he meets with him often. That means our Mayor supports bullying and harassment.
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Here is the proof that my emails went from the towns hands to redbulls hands, : Holy Charlie Sheen….
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 06/22/2011 – 19:19
And they call us bullies. The Redbull Gang.
A recent set of emails and other events that have started to surface are really showing who the bullies are in this town.
We’ve seen one of them spit on someone in the atrium of town hall during a meeting. The same one that was almost chased out of the council chambers by the police. And also the same one that mouthed off at Rick Shular one night after a meeting. This man acts like the classic bully always picking on people that are vulnerable.
We see postings on a Facebook page that has one citizen of the town being accused, more than once, of being a coward and being reported to the police. He also claims it is his last warning and it stops now.
We have another that is challenging people to take them on. But like a true bully when outmatched by wit never show up.
And another that proclaimed they run the town now, they won the election.
And another that is even more unreal. That can speak horrible things about anyone she pleases but will play the old lady card when someone comes after her.
And then today we see a series of emails between one of them and the town, not asking for information, but demanding information that the town doesn’t have. Making threats to involve the Ombudsman and I guess to put in an Access for Information Request. He says he is not asking anymore. I wonder what that means.
I guess what we have here are the real bullies of this mess that we are in. They say what they want, when they want, to and about who they want, but do not say anything about them or they will run around claiming that they are being picked on and they have all these disabilities and they therefore are immune from anything.
Man that is like the race card the age card and all the other cards all rolled into one.
Well keep an eye on them they are the ones that have the problems; they are the ones that write as anonymous on all these sites. They are the ones that have more personas in the blog world that they must lose track sometimes. They probably berate themselves and don’t even know it.
These are the people to watch out for. Not us.
I am the one that told the town that I would get the ombudsman or use freedom of information for the survey, which we finally got through freedom of information. Remember it is by their own words that they admit to sharing private information with the town: “And then today we see a series of emails between one of them and the town, not asking for information, but demanding information that the town doesn’t have. Making threats to involve the Ombudsman and I guess to put in an Access for Information Request. He says he is not asking anymore.”- redbull, and they are talking about me I swear to god.
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“the facts have been checked and rechecked by a team of individuals”?????
THERE IS NO ROAD ALLOWANCE!! If there was the people that believe it exists would be publishing the proof in the media or any venue available.
A Note from Niagara At Large – The purpose of the post above was to apologize to the mayor and others for possibly going to far in a column NAL publisher Doug Draper wrote, suggesting the mayor may be in the same club as some people in the Fort Erie, Ontario community who are harrassing and defaming others for their views. The purpose was not to get into some back and forth cat fight over a “road allowance.” Therefore, we will not post any more back and forth on road allowances under this post. If others want to discuss NAL’s apology to the mayor, and whether or not it was warranted under the circumstances, that is fine. But a couple of people fighting over something as out of the realm to others as a road allowance, and who thinks there is one and who thinks there isn’t. that’s it. no more here.
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Hi there! Would you mind if I share your blog with my twitter group?
There’s a lot of folks that I think would really appreciate your content. Please let me know. Thank you
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