Comment 47938

By lawrence (registered) - website | Posted September 20, 2010 at 13:11:33

Perhaps the problem from the start, was that the Tiger-Cats stated they would play at whatever site the city chose? Not sure. Maybe Bob Young was busy with his other projects and didn't think much of the West Harbour decision until one day he drove around the neighborhood or anylized it on a map. Maybe like me, the thought of a waterfront stadium sounded nice and he didn't look into it any further until something changed.

For me, that change was East Mountain being put on the table. For Bob, who knows what that change was as we still really don't have much info surrounding 'why not West Harbour."

The whole problem with this process, is that that map Joey Coleman posted for us to see from last weeks Committee of the Whole meeting, should have been drawn up right from the start, and all those locations researched properly. It almost seems that the Harbour entered into everyone's thoughts and that became the only focus.

Do I think Fred and council should be hung to dry over this whole process? No. This whole Pan Am bid stinks on so many levels. HostCo has played us, divided us, told us it was our choice and then turned it around again. Every day there is something new in our paper's headlines. Something new to either get our hopes up, or drive another dagger into our hopes. Depending on what side you are 'rooting' for, it's been a rough ride.

For West Harbour supporters, East Mountain Supporters, and my fellow Ivor Wynne supporters, the outcome has been of great concern for us. East Mountain more so (at least I believe), was more driven out of fear of the Tiger-Cats leaving, and much less about that being a location that anyone but the Tiger-Cats were dreaming of. Of course, even they had said at that time, that location wasn't on the top of their list either.

Now we have MIP and CP and some old raceway in the middle of knowhwere and of course nowhere on that list, is Ivor Wynne. "It's always been our fallback to spend the $20M on Ivor Wynne and forego the new stadium", Sam Merulla said to me after I delegated at the last COW. For me though, 'being a fallback' is a kick in the head. Spending $20M on Ivor Wynne would be a kick in the head.

West Harbour may have been voted on 7 times, but had it been voted on with the city knowing the truth about Ivor Wynne and every other possible location in the city, it might have been different. Had they taken into account the number of people opposed of a new stadium being errected in their neighborhood, maybe 7 times would mean something. Having a stadium grandfathered in versus the culture shock of one moving in, I would think is completely different.

We can't afford this and we have known that from the start. I have no regrets personally because we have all learend a lot from this process. That the city ignored Ivor Wynne, let HostCo and the Cats pull the strings, has been frustrating. Voting West Harbour knowing the Cats wouldn't play there I thought was the right decision. It was the moment we all realized that this decision wasn't ours, but at that moment, we should have pulled out.

No stadium at the end of all of this is not failure. It's success. It's telling HostCo that the decision on where to put a stadium is ours. That this process has didvided us enough, and it's time to think about the million other things forgotten this past summer.

I just hope that if Ivor Wynne becomes our fallback, that this city will do more than what is required. Even just finally cleaning up the neighborhood by tearing down Scott Park and created mulit-level parking, we can clean up and help the (non)parking issue out a little.

As for the upcoming election and how this past summer relates to our choices ahead, I am not sure I was inspired by much this summer as I sat amongst the gallery in council chambers. I want a leader at the head of the table and in the chair that represents my ward, that inspires me. Someone I want to listen to. Someone I have great respect for. Someone who engages us and not only asks for our advice, but listens to it. Someone who shows us how we can do our part to change our city, and not count on council to do all the work for us.

Ward 2 is obviously a very engaged community. It is inspiring how many people there are running for office. I only wish that desire for change and to be involved, spread across all wards.

I am voting for change both in my ward, and at the head of the table. Not because of the stadium debate, but because so much in this city has seemed stagnent for too long. We just keep voting in the Fred's and Bob's and Larry's; making our election about a chosen few, but this election cannot be the Larry, Bob, and Fred show anymore. There are some great candidates that deserve our attention. We need leadership, not familiarity.

I want a leader who is in the kitchen cooking or serving food at community events, instead of handing out flyers at the door promiting their campaign.

I want to wake up the morning after this election, inspired that things are suddenly very different in our city; and in a good way.

Comment edited by lawrence on 2010-09-20 12:16:36

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