Bombers Reject Rabb for Board of Directors

[Nasty Nate]

Here's a copy of Gary "Shooter" Lawless's article on the bombers pre-rejecting the appointment of local businessman Jeffrey Rabb to their board of directors. 

 

Rabb is a 59 or 60 yr old lawyer and property manager. He was the mayor's choice to replace disgraced city employee Phil Sheegl who was fired from his city position (ok, asked to resign) in 2013.

 

Brock Bolbuck and Asper told Katz they wanted a house-boy (ie. a shill or civic loafer like Mr Joshi or Mr Ruta) who doesn't have much time to invest in bomber goings on.. . . . ie. a type who'd just rubber stamp everything and serve no useful purpose.

 

Rabb has been a bomber fan since his childhood days. He's a season ticket holder for years with Jets and for decades with Bombers. He's also a bit outspoken and I think thats the reason the current board executive is trying to black-ball him. Imagine a wealthier junior version of Nasty Nate.

 

I hope Katz doesn't back down on this one like he does on most issues. I could understand him withdrawing Rabb's name if he is running for Mayor again (bomber board members could really seal his defeat if they wanted to but if Sammy isn't running why not put in a guy who'll be a bit more circumspect about bomber ops?)

 

This looks like a freakin' mexican standoff - although the bombers have the trump card - they can actually have a board vote to declne on Rabb's appointment. And I think thats what they'll do. God forbid they accept a guy who's not a knife 'n forker or jock-sniffer!

 

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/columnists/battle-over-board-257104111.html

[Nasty Nate]

I suspect Charles Adler (CJOB radio) just got handed a gift bone to dog on.

 

Although I also suspect Bob Irving (under board instructions) will be trying hard to keep Adler from exploring this issue on air.

[Mike]

Other than the fact that this falls under the umbrella of "Bomber politics", so you feel obligated to write up a tinfoil hat story about it, why does this even matter?

 

The board of directors may be a pretty incompetent group, but this isn't an example of that at all. The board is just supposed to accept Sam Katz's nomination because why? He said so? And the guy is a long time season ticket holder?

 

Sam Katz got rid of Phil Sheegl primarily because he was no longer representing the City of Winnipeg and that's what that particular spot on the board is for. If that's why he got rid of Sheegl, then why should the club just accept another nomination of his who doesn't represent CoW either?

[Logan007]

This was in response to Nate not Mike btw...

 

I'm not saying you're wrong, but most of what you say, in comparison to the article, sounds like you're just making stuff up and trying to stir the pot.  I'm all for going after Lawless and Asper, but after reading the article it doesn't sound like anything underhanded is going on.  I mean, Katz isn't exactly an up and up kind of guy either so who says Rabb is the right guy for the job?  Not to mention Adler just likes to stir the pot for the sake of stirring it, even if it isn't the truth, so I wouldn't put much faith in what he says either.

[max power]

Obviously the Bomber board doesn't have a great track record of making good decisions lately... but if the agreement is to have a representative from the City of Winnipeg on the board, then shouldn't that person be... oh I don't know, a representative of the City of Winnipeg? As opposed to just some buddy of Sam Katz.  And as the Bomber guy pointed, Katz will probably not even be the mayor shortly, so then where's the city's representation?  Seems to make sense to me.

 

On the other hand, who knows what kind of BS goes on in the background with these people, of whom I know exactly none of.

[Nasty Nate]

Obviously the Bomber board doesn't have a great track record of making good decisions lately... but if the agreement is to have a representative from the City of Winnipeg on the board, then shouldn't that person be... oh I don't know, a representative of the City of Winnipeg? As opposed to just some buddy of Sam Katz.  And as the Bomber guy pointed, Katz will probably not even be the mayor shortly, so then where's the city's representation?  Seems to make sense to me.

 

On the other hand, who knows what kind of BS goes on in the background with these people, of whom I know exactly none of.

Yours is an honest response. I have no idea whether Rabb will be a good or bad member of the board. I also know the CIty of Winnipeg doesn't have many managers or top staff that have extra time on their hands to be anything more than a rubber-stamp for bomber board outcomes. Having a COO like Mike Ruta or this Joshi guy on the board cuz they hold high civic positions doesn't make it automatically right either.

 

I wonder what the real objection to Mr. Rabb is. Other than the fact he's not on the city payroll. One would think a guy like Rabb with his incredible history of support for Wpg's pro sports teams would be a decent appointment. Or at least one that should be given one term on the board. So far Bob Irving has been successful in holding Adler back on this issue. I don't think Paul Friesen or Kirk Penton want to shadow Lawless's footsteps on this issue either. 

[The Unknown Poster]

The reasons for the Board's rejection fo Rabb as explained in Lawless' article sound reasonable to me.  They want a city staffer.  The seat is supposed to be a representative of the City of Winnipeg not a buddy of Sammy's who likes football.

 

Quite frankly, I'd be running as far from anything Sammy wants at this point unless it passed multiple sniff tests.  This doesn't.  Nothing to see here other than it doesnt pay to be a Friend of Sammy at this stage of the game.

 

If I'm the Bombers, I'd appeal to City Council to give some thought to this matter and reccomend a representative as a group, rather than Sammy handing out gigs to his friends during his final few lame duck months as Mayor.

[The Unknown Poster]

 

Obviously the Bomber board doesn't have a great track record of making good decisions lately... but if the agreement is to have a representative from the City of Winnipeg on the board, then shouldn't that person be... oh I don't know, a representative of the City of Winnipeg? As opposed to just some buddy of Sam Katz.  And as the Bomber guy pointed, Katz will probably not even be the mayor shortly, so then where's the city's representation?  Seems to make sense to me.

 

On the other hand, who knows what kind of BS goes on in the background with these people, of whom I know exactly none of.

Yours is an honest response. I have no idea whether Rabb will be a good or bad member of the board. I also know the CIty of Winnipeg doesn't have many managers or top staff that have extra time on their hands to be anything more than a rubber-stamp for bomber board outcomes. Having a COO like Mike Ruta or this Joshi guy on the board cuz they hold high civic positions doesn't make it automatically right either.

 

I wonder what the real objection to Mr. Rabb is. Other than the fact he's not on the city payroll. One would think a guy like Rabb with his incredible history of support for Wpg's pro sports teams would be a decent appointment. Or at least one that should be given one term on the board. So far Bob Irving has been successful in holding Adler back on this issue. I don't think Paul Friesen or Kirk Penton want to shadow Lawless's footsteps on this issue either. 

 

Nate, opinion and facts are very different things.  You often confuse those.  Youre opinion is a top city staffer wouldnt have a lot of time to invest in Bombers business so you make that a fact that a city staffer would simply rubber stamp anything the BoD wants.  That's neither proven nor reasonable.

 

Its not like the current Board are a bunch of unemployed loafers with time on their hands.  They are all busy guys with a lot of business that is not Bombers related.  I would assume Rabb in his current position is pretty busy also.  And I would assume a city staffer with the experience and insight to sit on the board would make the time for Bombers-related business especially, as stated in the Lawless article, the team has a Grey Cup to plan which requires a lot of dealings with the city.  Why have a CoW representative on the board that wont be representing the city's interests when it comes to Bombers-related business?  Makes a lot more sense to have the CoW representative be someone who will be able to represent the city.

[Nasty Nate]

 

 

Obviously the Bomber board doesn't have a great track record of making good decisions lately... but if the agreement is to have a representative from the City of Winnipeg on the board, then shouldn't that person be... oh I don't know, a representative of the City of Winnipeg? As opposed to just some buddy of Sam Katz.  And as the Bomber guy pointed, Katz will probably not even be the mayor shortly, so then where's the city's representation?  Seems to make sense to me.

 

On the other hand, who knows what kind of BS goes on in the background with these people, of whom I know exactly none of.

Yours is an honest response. I have no idea whether Rabb will be a good or bad member of the board. I also know the CIty of Winnipeg doesn't have many managers or top staff that have extra time on their hands to be anything more than a rubber-stamp for bomber board outcomes. Having a COO like Mike Ruta or this Joshi guy on the board cuz they hold high civic positions doesn't make it automatically right either.

 

I wonder what the real objection to Mr. Rabb is. Other than the fact he's not on the city payroll. One would think a guy like Rabb with his incredible history of support for Wpg's pro sports teams would be a decent appointment. Or at least one that should be given one term on the board. So far Bob Irving has been successful in holding Adler back on this issue. I don't think Paul Friesen or Kirk Penton want to shadow Lawless's footsteps on this issue either. 

 

Nate, opinion and facts are very different things.  You often confuse those.  Youre opinion is a top city staffer wouldnt have a lot of time to invest in Bombers business so you make that a fact that a city staffer would simply rubber stamp anything the BoD wants.  That's neither proven nor reasonable.

 

Its not like the current Board are a bunch of unemployed loafers with time on their hands.  They are all busy guys with a lot of business that is not Bombers related.  I would assume Rabb in his current position is pretty busy also.  And I would assume a city staffer with the experience and insight to sit on the board would make the time for Bombers-related business especially, as stated in the Lawless article, the team has a Grey Cup to plan which requires a lot of dealings with the city.  Why have a CoW representative on the board that wont be representing the city's interests when it comes to Bombers-related business?  Makes a lot more sense to have the CoW representative be someone who will be able to represent the city.

 

The city should appoint a bomber liason to handle the goings-on with regards to Grey Cup. Anything requiring other city involvement should have senior city officials brought in on a case by case basis. No need to drain someone's time when they've got their hands full with crumbling roads, brown water, frozen pipes, inadequate policing, etc.

[The Unknown Poster]

But that assumes facts not in evidence - that the CoW's representative on the Bombers' board is too busy handling hot button issues like crumbling roads.  I think the City has a far larger and more diverse work-force than that.  Heck, the old Bombers' board member was the COO so it doesnt get much more senior than that.

 

Its simply not approproate for Sam Katz to use his power to appoint a City of Winnipeg Bombers' board representative to put a non-City related friend in that spot.  In fact, the more I think about this, the more egregious it seems that Sammy had the balls to even try this.  That board seat is for a CoW representative not a FoS (Friends of Sammy) representative.

[Armchair GM]

Here's a copy of Gary "Shooter" Lawless's article on the bombers pre-rejecting the appointment of local businessman Jeffrey Rabb to their board of directors. 

 

Rabb is a 59 or 60 yr old lawyer and property manager. He was the mayor's choice to replace disgraced city employee Phil Sheegl who was fired from his city position (ok, asked to resign) in 2013.

 

Brock Bolbuck and Asper told Katz they wanted a house-boy (ie. a shill or civic loafer like Mr Joshi or Mr Ruta) who doesn't have much time to invest in bomber goings on.. . . . ie. a type who'd just rubber stamp everything and serve no useful purpose.

 

Rabb has been a bomber fan since his childhood days. He's a season ticket holder for years with Jets and for decades with Bombers. He's also a bit outspoken and I think thats the reason the current board executive is trying to black-ball him. Imagine a wealthier junior version of Nasty Nate.

 

I hope Katz doesn't back down on this one like he does on most issues. I could understand him withdrawing Rabb's name if he is running for Mayor again (bomber board members could really seal his defeat if they wanted to but if Sammy isn't running why not put in a guy who'll be a bit more circumspect about bomber ops?)

 

This looks like a freakin' mexican standoff - although the bombers have the trump card - they can actually have a board vote to declne on Rabb's appointment. And I think thats what they'll do. God forbid they accept a guy who's not a knife 'n forker or jock-sniffer!

 

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/columnists/battle-over-board-257104111.html

 

And people rag on Lawless for being a columnist instead of a reporter... Nate, this post is about as slanted as they come.  What's your interest with Rabb?

 

Secondly, if the City of Winnipeg has a seat on the BoD, shouldn't they want an inside person on that seat?  To me, it should raise alarm bells that Katz is appointing someone who is not a municipal employee... in what could be his walk year from the mayor's chair.  The optics are terrible in appointing what looks like a Katz buddy...

 

Honestly, even if Rabb would make a great BoD member, he shouldn't be the City of Winnipeg's representation unless he has ties to the City.

[Rich]

 

Here's a copy of Gary "Shooter" Lawless's article on the bombers pre-rejecting the appointment of local businessman Jeffrey Rabb to their board of directors. 

 

Rabb is a 59 or 60 yr old lawyer and property manager. He was the mayor's choice to replace disgraced city employee Phil Sheegl who was fired from his city position (ok, asked to resign) in 2013.

 

Brock Bolbuck and Asper told Katz they wanted a house-boy (ie. a shill or civic loafer like Mr Joshi or Mr Ruta) who doesn't have much time to invest in bomber goings on.. . . . ie. a type who'd just rubber stamp everything and serve no useful purpose.

 

Rabb has been a bomber fan since his childhood days. He's a season ticket holder for years with Jets and for decades with Bombers. He's also a bit outspoken and I think thats the reason the current board executive is trying to black-ball him. Imagine a wealthier junior version of Nasty Nate.

 

I hope Katz doesn't back down on this one like he does on most issues. I could understand him withdrawing Rabb's name if he is running for Mayor again (bomber board members could really seal his defeat if they wanted to but if Sammy isn't running why not put in a guy who'll be a bit more circumspect about bomber ops?)

 

This looks like a freakin' mexican standoff - although the bombers have the trump card - they can actually have a board vote to declne on Rabb's appointment. And I think thats what they'll do. God forbid they accept a guy who's not a knife 'n forker or jock-sniffer!

 

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/columnists/battle-over-board-257104111.html

 

And people rag on Lawless for being a columnist instead of a reporter... Nate, this post is about as slanted as they come.  What's your interest with Rabb?

 

Secondly, if the City of Winnipeg has a seat on the BoD, shouldn't they want an inside person on that seat?  To me, it should raise alarm bells that Katz is appointing someone who is not a municipal employee... in what could be his walk year from the mayor's chair.  The optics are terrible in appointing what looks like a Katz buddy...

 

Honestly, even if Rabb would make a great BoD member, he shouldn't be the City of Winnipeg's representation unless he has ties to the City.

 

 

He doesn't have any interest in Rabb.  It is the fact that the Bombers don't want him that Nate has interest in him.    If the Bombers were welcoming him with open arms, then the rhetoric would be about the Bombers old boys club being back in play.  That a business man instead of a civil servent is representing the city.

 

Don't you know that anyone in the Jets or Bombers organizations are either incompetent, vermin, or 2nd rate.  So anything they do is wrong, and anything they don't want to do... they should be doing.   Keep that in mind, and you will understand pretty much all of his posts.

[Mr Dee]

Here's a copy of Gary "Shooter" Lawless's article on the bombers pre-rejecting the appointment of local businessman Jeffrey Rabb to their board of directors. 

 

Rabb is a 59 or 60 yr old lawyer and property manager. He was the mayor's choice to replace disgraced city employee Phil Sheegl who was fired from his city position (ok, asked to resign) in 2013.

 

Brock Bolbuck and Asper told Katz they wanted a house-boy (ie. a shill or civic loafer like Mr Joshi or Mr Ruta) who doesn't have much time to invest in bomber goings on.. . . . ie. a type who'd just rubber stamp everything and serve no useful purpose.

 

Rabb has been a bomber fan since his childhood days. He's a season ticket holder for years with Jets and for decades with Bombers. He's also a bit outspoken and I think thats the reason the current board executive is trying to black-ball him. Imagine a wealthier junior version of Nasty Nate.

 

I hope Katz doesn't back down on this one like he does on most issues. I could understand him withdrawing Rabb's name if he is running for Mayor again (bomber board members could really seal his defeat if they wanted to but if Sammy isn't running why not put in a guy who'll be a bit more circumspect about bomber ops?)

 

This looks like a freakin' mexican standoff - although the bombers have the trump card - they can actually have a board vote to declne on Rabb's appointment. And I think thats what they'll do. God forbid they accept a guy who's not a knife 'n forker or jock-sniffer!

 

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/columnists/battle-over-board-257104111.html

 

This is as bad a presentation of a news story as I've seen on this board in a long time, if not ever.

 

It seems you just couldn't wait to fit in your slant on what was a news story. And a decent news story at that.

You cannot put forth the idea that this is a copy of Lawless's article and then inject your perverted views as representing the article.

 

Even though I don't know this fellow, nor the procedures to be followed, you've managed to alie*nate my opinion against whatever it is you're trying to say.

[Brandon]

 

 He's a season ticket holder for years with Jets and for decades with Bombers. He's also a bit outspoken and I think thats the reason the current board executive is trying to black-ball him. Imagine a wealthier junior version of Nasty Nate.

 

 

 

So you've been a season ticket holder for the Blue over the last few years?  

[Jpan85]

Makes sense you would want a actual city official on the board, with a election coming up and who knows who will be in the mayors seat. Second with the Grey Cup coming up you would want a city official to be there to help in the planning procedures and to have direct access to people within the city office who can make arrangements for the week. Lastly its the tax payers who the club is responsible to not a Sam Katz pall.

[iso_55]

The biggest thing I take from all this is the sidebar about Lyle Bauer coming back if Palliser is elected Premier. Cue the Nasty Nate head explosion,

[DR. CFL]

This is all the part of the internal power brokers on on BoD. Notably Asper can't stand Rabb and knows Rabb will challenge Asper and the other old boys on the BoD and make them accountable. Another sad chapter if Rabb gets vetoed.

[iso_55]

Man, this internal stuff. The BOD's is a circus. I wish we had strong local PRIVATE ownership & got rid of all these guys. 

[The Unknown Poster]

"The Chairman doesnt want Rabb" = "Asper gets his way".  Huh?

 

"The Chairman and Vice Chairman believe the CoW representative should actually be a representative of the city" = "Old Boys Club Gets What They Want".  Huh?

 

If Sammy wants it, thats good enough reason to run the other way.

 

As for Lyle, I took the "return" to mean he might return to relevence where the Bombers are concerned because he'd surely be the new Premier's point man on all things Bombers' related.  Might he even be the Province's Board representative if/when the NDP are rightly kicked to the curb?

[iso_55]

"The Chairman doesnt want Rabb" = "Asper gets his way".  Huh?

 

"The Chairman and Vice Chairman believe the CoW representative should actually be a representative of the city" = "Old Boys Club Gets What They Want".  Huh?

 

If Sammy wants it, thats good enough reason to run the other way.

 

As for Lyle, I took the "return" to mean he might return to relevence where the Bombers are concerned because he'd surely be the new Premier's point man on all things Bombers' related.  Might he even be the Province's Board representative if/when the NDP are rightly kicked to the curb?

Bauer fired the last decent coach we had in Doug Berry. Then he brought in Kelly & hightailed it outta town when the assault charges & Kelly's firing was about to happen. I don't want the man near the Bombers anymore. His time was over the day he quit, thankfully. 

[Goalie]

doubt pallister wins anyways but dont want to talk politics. will say NDP sucks but PC's arent any better.

 

As far as this rabb fella goes, he's not a city of winnipeg representative, he's sam katz's friend...

 

atleast sheegl worked for the city, and yes i understand he was also sammys buddy but... seems like the bombers want an actual rep from the C.O.W.

 

so cant say i disagree with them as rabb is not a rep but a friend of sammys.

[JuranBoldenRules]

See, this is why having a shareholder vote could work.  City nominates someone new for their seat, shareholders vote to confirm or deny candidate, rather than a handful of board members filibustering for whatever reason they choose.

 

Their reasoning doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.  They will have to work with operations people from a bunch of city departments for special events, don't really think having the CAO or CFO sitting on the Bomber board does a lot to streamline that process.

[SPuDS]

Man, i swear this was a post from ob.com from like 5 years ago!

[Jacquie]

There are going to be 3 Board members retiring within the next year or so. If Rabb wants on the BoD then he can apply for the position like any other qualified person can do. The City's rep is supposed to represent the City of Winnipeg (the entity) and a private sector business person isn't qualified to do that imo. For the life of the agreements that created the spot on the BoD for the City's rep it has always been the CAO or CFO (or whatever title the top dog had). 

[blitzmore]

See, this is why having a shareholder vote could work.  City nominates someone new for their seat, shareholders vote to confirm or deny candidate, rather than a handful of board members filibustering for whatever reason they choose.

 

Their reasoning doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.  They will have to work with operations people from a bunch of city departments for special events, don't really think having the CAO or CFO sitting on the Bomber board does a lot to streamline that process.

Working directly with operations people and Sam's friends is precisely what got them into trouble over the fire halls. It is much better for them to deal with someone who is in a position to make decisions, and be able to deal with the Managers of the various departments