Raceway Wants Arena Cash

Well so do I! I am tired of everyone else asking for money from Government for their pet project. I want some too for mine. I deserve it.

I did not understand John Millson's comment that the Senior Levels and Essex County municipalitites should help pay for a new Windsor arena. Why is Millson delivering a speech about this and not Dave Batten as an example (or Wayne Gretzky if you really wanted to get people to pay since he is still part of the group we are told). When this all started Millson said "Under a partnership with the Jebb group, the raceway would provide the land and Jebb would build an arena. "Jebb will carry the ball from here," Millson said. "All of the operations, all of the finance, that's really the Jebb group. We're merely the landowner."

This is a rather dramatic change in circumstances wouldn't you think. From just being the landlord to pitching for the project. In my opinion, the Windsor Council Spanish Inquisitors should immediately call a into session their Special Star Chamber meeting and ask questions of the landlord such as the following:

1. Can they get Wayne Gretzky's autograph
2. Whose deal is this?
3. What exactly is the Raceway's involvement in the project
4. Will Wayne Gretzky move to Windsor
5. How much more money is required after the City's $15 million contribution
6. Is there any hope of getting this money from the Senior Levels after the Mayor and the Council snubbed them
7. Is there any hope of getting money if five Essex County municipalities said Thursday they will not help Windsor pay for a new arena at the raceway
8. Will Wayne Gretzky give up his coaching job to be involved in this
9. If there are positive spinoffs and benefits and a $78 million direct economic benefit during construction, wouldn't it have been nice to use them to kick-start the urban village downtown?
10. Does the Raceway have Beztak's phone number?

The key comment in the Star story as far as I was concerned was Millson's remark that the arena would generate the development of commercial property nearby. Wasn't that similar to Beztak's approach at Council when the Inquisitors drove them out of town on a rail. Why shouldn't this commercial development be located downtown to kickstart the urban village and the economic revival of the City?

Poor John Millson, poor Tony Toldo, poor people who hoped to cash in on the development in the burbs. All of that wasted effort. They have those Councillors who want the project downtown against them, they have the Budgeteers against them and they have those who believe that Beztak was treated shabbily against them. They should have guessed right at the start. If doing it for free would not impress the Inquisitors, then what they were proposing was a loser right at the drop of the puck!

As Sonny Eliot of WWJ would say. The score of the game will be 6-4 to kill the arena dream and, perhaps the careers of some people on Council.