Read My Lips: No New Taxes And Other Gems

Well she did not say it exactly like George Bush the Elder, but Councillor Postma's neck is now on the line (assuming she gets re-elected) when she was quoted as saying "voters are not going to see a difference on their tax bill as a result of this project." I hope she is right for her sake.

That was one of the gems about the Arena meeting now that my brain has cleared up. Want some more observations:

1) One delegation pointed out that supposedly 7 Councillors were going to vote for Project Ice Track which means that 7 Councillors thought the PCR proposal was not as good. Since there are 11 members on Council including the Mayor, is this the 7/11 group? Yet some or all of these 7/11 members reversed themselves in order for PCR to be chosen. Why?

2) Do you think Councillor Halberstadt can now take down his BLOG "Help Me Decide On Arena." In the surprise of the night, Alan revealed that his spouse was under contract with the Spitfires to do an anthem so out of an abundance of caution, he declared a conflict of interest and did not vote. Geeee Alan, it took you all of this time to remember that. He at least apologized on his BLOG and finally took it down. [I was corrected, he did not take it down.] We'll have to see what the consequences to him are for the election but he does not have a legal concern in my opinion.

3) Did you like the "trust us" answer respecting the site selection and what it would cost. The Administration who could not price the bus terminal properly as an example are telling us that they can figure out what the land will cost! I am sure that the big developers in the east end are asleep not knowing about the arena. When someone comes knocking on their door asking to buy 70 acres of land they will scratch their heads and wonder who the buyer is. We know the real reason for not disclosing price don't we. Clearly someone was smart enough to figure out that yesterday's Star headline would have read $70M arena rather than $48M. Do you think taxpayers would be as happy today seeing that price?

4) The land will cost us "nothing." We are considering to do a swap as an alternative. Hooo boy....now we have appraisers involved who are going to price things out properly. Yea right. At least Alan may be right about that since he talked about a land swap.

5) Don't you find it odd that we might have an RFP for land but not for building the arena.

6) Repecting the Single Source issue and the rationale for dealing with PCR, Administration kept saying that negotiations were allowed where it is determined by Council that it is in the best interest of the City to do so. I looked for that provision in the Purchasing By-law but could not find it. If I am right, there is a major problem. I think Council has opened itself up for a lawsuit and a potential risk to their arena plans. However, does anyone who does business that requires the City's involvement have the guts to fight City Hall?

7) Here is what bothers me about #6 above. I was going to raise this issue at the meeting so I thought I would write Michael Duben about it since he was quoted as saying something odd to me in the Star. So I did:

• "You were quoted in the Star today in the following manner:
  
  "Michael Duben, the city's general manager of client services, said Windsor's purchasing bylaw allows for single sourcing under special circumstances. "I think the bylaw allows itself to be waived," if the city believes it has the best possible deal it could get."
  
  Please advise me of the the authority for that Statement if in fact this is what you said. I would need this information by noon today so that I might prepare my remarks for Council tonight."

I did not have the courtesy of a reply. My assumption is that if he had a legal position, he would have written back immediately.

8) If the arena is built, financing becomes restricted until 2010 and can tie up other projects until that time. Did you hear any conversation about priorities and what needs are really important in Windsor that might now be delayed? I guess helping out the millionaire owners of the Spitfires so they will not look "foolish" for making their investment is a high priority for this Council. Anybody else have a busines that needs help, say like some bars or restaurants or the bingo industry due to the No-smoking Law?

9) If the Spitfires take up 40 out of the 48 nights that the arena is to be used, I guess that makes them an important tenant. Like the anchor tenant in a mall for instance. Now my recollection is that when the City was leasing its space in Canderel, it offered extra assistance to tenants. I wonder if the Spits will ask for inducements from the City. Why with a 20 year lease, their lawyer, Mr. Leslie, could ask for millions. That's one way to make sure that the Spits do not change their mind and go to Tecumseh too. As for me, if the City has to pay out millions to do that, then we may as well buy the Spits too.

10) If the building of the arena is fast-tracked, and wouldn't it have to be if the Spits want it soon, the Treasurer admitted that there would be $4-5 Million of "temporary costs." I hope we have the budget for that or we might have to raise taxes and then Councillor Postma would be in big trouble if she was still on Council.

11) The CAO offered Council an alternative to "Noting and filing" the other two "unsolicited letters." Remember the PCR letter was "unsolicited" too. Council could have drawn a line in the sand and said no more solicitations after a certain date. But Council chose not to do that. It would not have taken that much work for Admin to check out the others. Why they must have done 90 days work in only 2 weeks in order to flip-flop on their Recommendations re PCR.

12) Didn't you like how Council chose a project without knowing where it was going to be sited! But its OK, Admin will tell Council their alternatives for a land process in camera.

13) The City is so confident in the fixed price PCR deal that it still has to go out and hire a consultant to check the PCR construction costs.

14) I must admit that I am not quite sure how Global Spectrum fits in. Has that Company been hired already? If so, what was the process for doing that? I wonder if they bid for the Project Ice Track job too? If so, why did they leave and when?

15) I sure hope the hotel poeple have updated their reports on Windsor hotels. Perhaps I could introduce them to people in the hospitality business here. Weren't some major hotels in downtown Windsor, where the Casino is located, in major trouble? Isn't their vacancy rate low too? I had an interesting thought---have they started working on drawings and plans for their hotel? If so when? Where is it going to be located---if it is the East end those guys really gambled that Project Ice Track would lose. With that kind of luck, they could "break the bank" at the Casino and help pay for their project! Is the hotel going to be called the "Spitfire's hotel" or something like that?

16) Who from Council and Administration went to the Keg after Council the other night and in whose company? Who paid the bill? Will the City people who attended admit it? My bet is that they will not.

17) Speaking of Business Plans, it does not seem like the Spits have presented one to the City yet but they have arrived at something called "Principles of Understanding." Should we be concerned as the CAO has told us that the Spits have less than a year in business under their belt? Apparently we are in the charity business since we need to give them the opportunity to put their feet on the ground. Hmmm. I hope they do not put their feet in quicksand after we have committed to them and started building an arena or taxpayers might need some charity.

18) I am afraid to ask---who is negotiating on behalf of Windsor and what does that person know about negotiating arena deals? MFP, Canderel, Parking and garages, Bus terminal....OH MY GOODNESS!!!!

19) I am really confused with that components stuff that PCR had from the Port Huron job. Wasn't that why prices for the arena were so low? We never did get a clear answer on amounts but PCR did say if all new components had to be used, it woudl be at theri cost. Geeee, doesn't that mean they must have factored into their price the use of new components so how are we getting such a deal. And as for the drawings, wasn't the cost said to be about $2M.

20) We have a major financial crisis in this City. The CAO and several Councillors attacked the Price Waterhouse Report. Imagine, they were hired by someone to give an opinion. Presumably they should do it pro bono and that would make it legitimate. But did you know, that same firm was hired by the City? Yes sir, PriceWaterhouseCoopers did an audit about financial controls and procedures after MFP. They "recommended 49 steps be taken to improve the procedures that are in place." don't yuo get it. If their work is so shoddy as has been suggested then an MFP can happen again!

21) Does anyone know what PCR actually includes and what it costs? I read their August 31 proposal which said

• "All items included within this listing are for the arena area only; all other work beyond the arena footprint is by the city"

They said at Council that it includes everything.

22) If there seems to be no objection to an East end arena by the Casino, why couldn't it go downtown

23) Best line of the night: The Tecumseh Green Giants for the name of the hockey team

24) Actually I thought it was baseball night and not hockey with all of the lobs being pitched

25) Do we really want to have the excitement of an arena designed in 1999 or earlier for Windsor? Is that a state-of-the-art arena we are getting? Has nothing changed in the arena design field in 7 years?

26) Were the Spits serious that they were going to buy a Jumbotron on E-Bay. Perhaps they could buy other equipment there too. That would impress me alright if I was a young hockey player trying to decide if I was coming to Windsor. Ebay equipment in a 1999-designed arena. However, have they purchased it already for the $600K since I just went to E-bay and I did not see a Jumbotron for sale?

27) Is there sound equipment in the plans so that there can be concerts and entertainment or is that an extra cost for the City?