{"id":1405,"date":"2014-01-02T21:57:00","date_gmt":"2014-01-02T21:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rf.podcastfixit.com\/index.php\/2014\/01\/02\/mayors-fall-like-dominoes\/"},"modified":"2015-06-01T19:41:24","modified_gmt":"2015-06-01T19:41:24","slug":"mayors-fall-like-dominoes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2014\/01\/02\/mayors-fall-like-dominoes\/","title":{"rendered":"Mayors fall like dominoes"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Robert Frank<\/b>
\nwww.thesuburban.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Montreal has gone through three mayors in a span of less than a year. Laval has gone through four.<\/p>\n

G\u00e9rald Tremblay and Gilles Vaillancourt were already gone before 2013 began. <\/p>\n

They had faced accusations of corruption many times before but they finally succumbed. Tremblay to public opinion. Vaillancourt to worse. By May, Vaillancourt was arrested on dozens of organized crime charges\u2014shocking even the jaded with the scope and scale of the accusations.<\/p>\n

Anti-corruption task forces had not only taken down the mayor of Quebec’s third-largest city, but Tremblay’s successor\u2014Michael Applebaum\u2014as well, in a move that still has many stunned and others disbelieving.<\/p>\n

Vaillaincourt’s successor, Alexandre Duplessis, might have been elected, had he played his cards right. Laval is one of the few bright lights in a dim Quebec economy. The city is growing and has a budget surplus, despite freezing property taxes. Refugees from Montreal\u2019s dysfunctional civic administration and crushing taxes continue to move north in significant numbers. His opposition was divided between several feuding political parties.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the warning signs were there when Duplessis was stopped for driving well over the speed limit. He also fired the city\u2019s underresourced ombudsman, Diane Lemelin, who served as citizens\u2019 watchdog over city hall.<\/p>\n

Duplessis was finally undone by allegations of sexual hanky panky. In a quick about-turn, June 28, he first rebuffed accusations that he had consorted with sex care workers. Then, a few hours later, he resigned. On July 8, he told Elections Quebec to cancel his bid to form a municipal political party.<\/p>\n

Martine Beaugrand briefly warmed the mayor\u2019s chair, after Duplessis\u2019 departure. The financial whiz and television host was one of only two city councilors who hadn\u2019t been tainted by accusations of having participated in Vaillancourt\u2019s allegedly illegal political party financing. Beaugrand restored civility to Laval\u2019s hitherto-acrimonious civic chamber.<\/p>\n

Applebaum’s successor for several months\u2014Laurent Blanchard\u2014was well-liked and respected and held things together morally and administratively until the municipal election brought D\u00e9nis Coderre into Montreal’s mayor’s chair.<\/p>\n

In Laval, popular Marc Demers was elected but faces a court challenge based on residency. If the challenge is successful, Demers could, in turn, be ousted from city hall during the coming year. Demers\u2019 opponents challenged his eligibility to run for mayor, since he hadn\u2019t resided in Laval for twelve consecutive months before the election. If the court agrees, Laval citizens could be heading to the polls again in 2014.<\/p>\n

And the beat goes on…<\/p>\n

(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i[‘GoogleAnalyticsObject’]=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){
\n (i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),
\n m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)
\n })(window,document,’script’,’\/\/www.google-analytics.com\/analytics.js’,’ga’);<\/p>\n

ga(‘create’, ‘UA-45892555-1’, ‘robertfrankmedia.blogspot.com’);
\n ga(‘send’, ‘pageview’);<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Robert Frank www.thesuburban.com Montreal has gone through three mayors in a span of less than a year. Laval has gone through four. G\u00e9rald Tremblay and Gilles Vaillancourt were already gone before 2013 began. They had faced accusations of corruption many times before but they finally succumbed. Tremblay to public opinion. Vaillancourt to worse. By<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nMayors fall like dominoes - Newscoverage<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2014\/01\/02\/mayors-fall-like-dominoes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mayors fall like dominoes - Newscoverage\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Robert Frank www.thesuburban.com Montreal has gone through three mayors in a span of less than a year. Laval has gone through four. G\u00e9rald Tremblay and Gilles Vaillancourt were already gone before 2013 began. They had faced accusations of corruption many times before but they finally succumbed. Tremblay to public opinion. Vaillancourt to worse. By\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2014\/01\/02\/mayors-fall-like-dominoes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Newscoverage\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/robert.frank.90834\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-01-02T21:57:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-06-01T19:41:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"editor robert\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"editor robert\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/2014\\\/01\\\/02\\\/mayors-fall-like-dominoes\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/2014\\\/01\\\/02\\\/mayors-fall-like-dominoes\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"editor robert\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/fc82a2a747f4a72f7a4833658ab077a3\"},\"headline\":\"Mayors fall like dominoes\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-01-02T21:57:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-06-01T19:41:24+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/2014\\\/01\\\/02\\\/mayors-fall-like-dominoes\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":490,\"commentCount\":0,\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/2014\\\/01\\\/02\\\/mayors-fall-like-dominoes\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/2014\\\/01\\\/02\\\/mayors-fall-like-dominoes\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/2014\\\/01\\\/02\\\/mayors-fall-like-dominoes\\\/\",\"name\":\"Mayors fall like dominoes - Newscoverage\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-01-02T21:57:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-06-01T19:41:24+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/fc82a2a747f4a72f7a4833658ab077a3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/2014\\\/01\\\/02\\\/mayors-fall-like-dominoes\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/2014\\\/01\\\/02\\\/mayors-fall-like-dominoes\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/2014\\\/01\\\/02\\\/mayors-fall-like-dominoes\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Mayors fall like dominoes\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/\",\"name\":\"Newscoverage\",\"description\":\"newscoverage.org\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/fc82a2a747f4a72f7a4833658ab077a3\",\"name\":\"editor robert\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8218f97425a88f0212b8636d21d09c56391445f892db32b08ed4f8e5613c37ac?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8218f97425a88f0212b8636d21d09c56391445f892db32b08ed4f8e5613c37ac?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8218f97425a88f0212b8636d21d09c56391445f892db32b08ed4f8e5613c37ac?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"editor robert\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/robert.frank.90834\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/editor-robert\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Mayors fall like dominoes - Newscoverage","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2014\/01\/02\/mayors-fall-like-dominoes\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Mayors fall like dominoes - Newscoverage","og_description":"By Robert Frank www.thesuburban.com Montreal has gone through three mayors in a span of less than a year. Laval has gone through four. G\u00e9rald Tremblay and Gilles Vaillancourt were already gone before 2013 began. They had faced accusations of corruption many times before but they finally succumbed. Tremblay to public opinion. Vaillancourt to worse. By","og_url":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2014\/01\/02\/mayors-fall-like-dominoes\/","og_site_name":"Newscoverage","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/robert.frank.90834","article_published_time":"2014-01-02T21:57:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-06-01T19:41:24+00:00","author":"editor robert","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"editor robert","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2014\/01\/02\/mayors-fall-like-dominoes\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2014\/01\/02\/mayors-fall-like-dominoes\/"},"author":{"name":"editor robert","@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/#\/schema\/person\/fc82a2a747f4a72f7a4833658ab077a3"},"headline":"Mayors fall like dominoes","datePublished":"2014-01-02T21:57:00+00:00","dateModified":"2015-06-01T19:41:24+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2014\/01\/02\/mayors-fall-like-dominoes\/"},"wordCount":490,"commentCount":0,"inLanguage":"en-CA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2014\/01\/02\/mayors-fall-like-dominoes\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2014\/01\/02\/mayors-fall-like-dominoes\/","url":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2014\/01\/02\/mayors-fall-like-dominoes\/","name":"Mayors fall like dominoes - Newscoverage","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-01-02T21:57:00+00:00","dateModified":"2015-06-01T19:41:24+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/#\/schema\/person\/fc82a2a747f4a72f7a4833658ab077a3"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2014\/01\/02\/mayors-fall-like-dominoes\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-CA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2014\/01\/02\/mayors-fall-like-dominoes\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2014\/01\/02\/mayors-fall-like-dominoes\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Mayors fall like dominoes"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/","name":"Newscoverage","description":"newscoverage.org","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/#\/schema\/person\/fc82a2a747f4a72f7a4833658ab077a3","name":"editor robert","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8218f97425a88f0212b8636d21d09c56391445f892db32b08ed4f8e5613c37ac?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8218f97425a88f0212b8636d21d09c56391445f892db32b08ed4f8e5613c37ac?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8218f97425a88f0212b8636d21d09c56391445f892db32b08ed4f8e5613c37ac?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"editor robert"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/robert.frank.90834"],"url":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/author\/editor-robert\/"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1405","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1405"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1405\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4307,"href":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1405\/revisions\/4307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}