Mayoralty candidate is blowin' in the wind
Letters to the Editor - Saturday, October 21, 2006 @ 09:00
Councillor Kevin George's promise to freeze or stop the downtown sports and
entertainment centre project because of possible future cost overruns might be
more credible if he included the west-end multiplex project on his chopping
list. Both business cases were prepared and discussed in detail prior to their
approval. The same "concerns" might be applicable to both projects, not just to
the one Councillor George does not fully support.
The record shows that Councillor George does not have a concern with the project
per se, merely with its location and its impact on the taxpayer.
Other locations' costs would show that the overall impact on the budget would
be higher, and the economic benefits of alternate locations would be lower. I
also wonder what the Memorial Centre's neighbours might have to say about that
particular location.
If Councillor George's concerns are justified, then the multiplex project should
raise the same concerns. Yet it is conveniently ignored by the candidate.
"If I had known then what I know now, I would have gone along with a referendum
[on the entertainment centre project]," says Councillor George. This statement
highlights the political, and potentially dangerous and costly, game this
mayoralty candidate is playing.
"I cannot find the people that are supporting this thing" is a statement that
strains the credibility of the speaker.
Councillor Rick Downes and Mayor Harvey Rosen, although on opposite sides of
many issues, are at least consistent in their stands and do not change course
with the next change of wind direction. This is not to be confused with hard
data that leads one to change one's position.
Floundering for the sake of political expediency is not an acceptable trait in a
head of city council.
George Stoparczyk
Kingston
George Stoparczyk is the city councillor for Trillium district. He is not
seeking re-election.