Raise the Hammer

Dear Members of Council and Mayor Eisenberger.

My name is Gregory J Galante. This is not the first letter I have written to you on this matter.

On Tuesday August 10th you will have a choice to make. To my mind your choices are this.

1) Choose progressive, forward thinking investment of taxpayers money by voting yes to the West Harbour ..... or

2) Choose the regressive, reactionary and fearful option of voting for the East Mountain and cave in to the singular interests of what is essentially a small to medium sized retail business called the Hamilton Tiger Cats.

The rhetoric has been fast and furious and the facts and numbers sometimes hard to come by. I have done some of my own research that I hope you may find helpful in making the right decision for the City of Hamilton, its taxpayers and our future.

Mr Young, his President Mr Mitchell , along with their cabal of business supporters for an East Mountain location have said continuously that the Tiger Cats cannot make money at a West Harbour Stadium, and in fact claim they may lose up to 7 millon dollars per year. They have cited various "experts" in the stadium business, none of which I believe are based in Canada. To date with the current information I have (and I believe you have...or have not) they have yet to produce ANY documentation to support this claim.

Conversely, they claim that, should council acquiesce to their preference to build on the East Mountain, spend what may be up to an additional 50 million dollars (of which no one knows where this will come from), the Tiger Cats may in fact become profitable. Again, not one piece of documentation to my knowledge has been produced to support this claim and in fact City Staff's own report on the East Mountain location indicates that the City may forego upto 5.8 million dollars per year in lost taxation revenues from lost development opportunities at this location.

So, the deal is a sweet heart for Mr Young and the Tiger Cats, but not so good for Hamilton and its taxpayers.

Here are 3 numbers that I think Mr Young, and Mr Mitchell should concentrate on. 33-74-1. 33 wins, 74 losses, 1 tie. That is the Tiger Cats record under Mr Young's tenure as owner. It is singularly the most significant fact as to why the Tiger Cats do not make money. They have stunk. How much more revenue would the team have generated over the last 6 years with a winning record and constant playoff appearances ? How much more revenue is generated by 30000 fans in the stadium every week instead of 21-22000? That is almost a 30% difference in attendance. That represents real cash.

There is absolutely NO REASON WHATSOEVER that Bob Young cannot make money as a tennant playing in a 25-35000 seat stadium at the West Harbour. Not parking, not access, not visibility. This is about control, plain and simple. Mr Young wants it and he is prepared to hold this City's tradition and history with its football team hostage to get it.

I say let him take his ball and go home.

For you our elected representatives to hand over 60 million dollars of taxpayer money to build a stadium where a minority partner who is to become a TENANT says he wants it, and then forfeit all revenue generated by that investment for a period of 10 years is simply irresponsible. Particularly when that partner and tenant has not demonstrated any significant ability to make any money in the last 6 years. What I fear is that after 10 years we would take back over a building that is in need of millions of dollars of repairs.

Hamilton is more than the Hamilton Tiger Cats and Steel Companies. We need to shed the shackles of that image and move forward courageously into the future, building the type of City we, our children and our grandchildren can be proud of. Mr Young can choose to be a part of it or not. During this debate I have noticed a striking contrast to the content and tone of the two positions. Proponents of the West Harbour, in the vast majority to my experienced have expressed themselves positively, speaking to what Hamilton can be as a city. They talk of community, livability, accessibility, sustainability. Essentially quality of life issues. They are also Hamilton Tiger Cat fans. Among them are business icons such as Mark Chamberlain, architects like Bill Curran, activists like Matt Jelly, future business and community leaders like Martinez Geleynese. These are not stupid, narrow minded people with a singlular interest, namely themselves. Rather they recognize that a city can only reach its potential by making the right kind of decisions and investments in itself. They recognize that the era of sprawl is over. The future lies in inbuildng, greening brownfields, public transit, walkable, cycle friendly, pedestrian friendly, cities with vibrant cores. It is simple and easy to find evidence of this all over the world. Mr Young and his "partners" want you to ignore this fact. They want you to cling to the economics of the past. They incredulously talk of a "driveway to driveway" experience. They want you to believe that paving a wheat field and another 50 acres of green space makes good sense in 2010. It is folly. It may benefit a few select businesses but who is kidding who? A stadium on the East Mountain benefits one entity and one only. The Hamilton Tiger Cats. It hold's no legacy benefits, will not be available to the broader community and the offsets like an amphitheater and park that Mr Young are willing to provide are merely scraps.

I implore all of you to support the Mayor and remain resolute and do the right thing, vote West Harbour.

Gregory Galante