It may be best to say nothing at all… at least, that is, until July, 2014…
So Councillor Keith Hull isn’t happy with the decision to buy two Sprung buildings. Yeah, I get that. I — and the E-B — were not particularly impressed with the direction the town council took with its recreational facilities.
The public should have been given the opportunity to comment; heck, the PRC committee should have been given the chance to chime in, rather than be treated like mushrooms. And it was irresponsible for some to use the straw man of a $35 million price when no one — and I mean, no one — ever claimed that the $35 million would be entirely dropped on the backs of taxpayers.
That’s why the original steering committee urged council to take two months and beat the bushes for some cash. And if was there, then find, let’s do the alternative. That work could have started last May, when it was originally put to council, and councillors could still have had the answer and then turned around in August and made the decision to go with Sprung. So there — no time lost at all, even though there are a couple around the table who would also use that as an argument that it would have only delayed things further…
Yawn…
And hindsight is also 20/20…
So a decision is made, and the buildings are partly erected. There’s no stopping it. So why, when council’s code of conduct urges councillors to move on once a decision is made, would Hull engage in what could be considered a destructive course of action:
“The mayor and deputy mayor, for political gain, kept on harping about $35-million. Guess what, we’re starting to get close to that now,” Hull said. “We’ve still got a rundown Eddie Bush and we have no second arena at this point, which you would have had with the other plan.”
Um, simple math tells me that $12 million, even $15 million, is actually nowhere close to $35 million. And we will have a second arena: the one at Central Park, and the one at the Eddie Bush — itself about to go under a three-year makeover if council so decides in the upcoming budget discussions. Is it optimum? No; it would have been best that we would have two ice surfaces, side by side, that would make use of a centralized mechanical and ice-making facility — and all part of a grand multi-rec centre. But we can play that game all day, and it won’t get us any closer to that actually happening…
I haven’t heard, or seen, such intemperate remarks since former Councillor Sonny Foley decided to shoot from the lip and say council’s decision-making had been ‘stupid’. Coincidentally, that was about rec facilities (bit of a pattern there), and it was months after council had determined a direction; however, at least, thankfully, in that case council didn’t get anywhere close to putting a shovel in the ground, while here, were about two months away from swimming in a new facility (well, old pool, new roof).
So, to continue to rail on about the decision, six months after its been made, isn’t constructive — especially when you’ve got your own motion on the table. Unless, of course, you fully expect it to fall to defeat, in which case, it gives one more thing to eat away at you for the next 15 months before this council descends into the usual orgy of self-aggrandizing and backpatting leading up to the next municipal election. Fifteen months is a long time…
There’s a giant risk here: in two months, when Centennial Pool is reopened, everyone (well, most everyone) could decide it’s wonderful. And when the rink opens by mid-summer (fingers crossed), it, too, could be the best thing since sliced bread. And then everyone will look back at Hull’s remarks from this week and think, ‘what the heck was his problem?’
Politically, it was a horrible move. It would have been best to sit back, observe, and then in July, 2014, tailor your position appropriately as you launch the campaign…
