[Senator Clay Davis]

Originally Posted by New Era

That's where you're wrong. I am not a supporter of public money for free enterprise; kind of the opposite truth be told. What I can do is approach these projects as complex and try to understand them on all levels. I really don't give a wet fart about what some uninformed journalist or some site with a very obvious bias and axe to grind has to say, because they don't tell the whole story. I need to know the full story to make a call and I will make the effort to collect the appropriate amount of data to make the right call.

Ok, but you do know there have been repeated studies of these projects and they consistently show little to no value to the public long term right? So it's just as disingenuous when the sports team makes some of the claims it does about what stadiums do. Being dishonest, misleading, or straight up lying is simply part of the process and both sides do it. These projects often claim to be waaaaay more beneficial than they end up being. Everyone is selling in this process of course.

On the Braves stadium, I wouldn't have supported it. I think the value to the public is poor. If the Braves had done more to make this a public facility, or there had been a better payoff for the public, I would be much more open to the project. Maybe you mistook my post as supporting the Braves stadium, but that wasn't the case. I was pointing out that there was more reading required and understanding that there was some BS being forwarded that you should understand and consider the reality of what was being said. I don't like it when the media lies and I wanted that exposed as well.

Yeah I got that. As mentioned already though, the teams often lie as well. It's a competitive sales pitch between two sides with strong belief that they are right. But if sports stadiums had any sort of value generation to them, you would expect the sports teams to willingly fund them. I understand the risk, but of course that cuts both ways. Public money is finite though, so the diligence should be much higher on the public side.

Now, having said that I do understand the County's position and why they still I tired the deal the way they did. I can understand their investment in the project, because I've seen first hand how passing on a small investment like this can hurt the bigger picture. There are lots of factors that go into making a stadium project work and you have to approach them appreciating the nuance. I don't see the public benefit from the Braves concept and think it wasn't a good investment.

Which is why they of course went the route of circumventing public input. I think we should always have a say in something like this, but as we've seen with Olympic bids recently being soundly rejected when they become something the public votes, letting the public decide usually results in strong rejection. I definitely think CalgaryNEXT would be dead if there were any vote on any public money. Of course this could become an election issue in 2017...

On to CalgaryNext, I am in support of this project for some public funding. The extent of that public funding is what needs to be addressed. Why do I like CalgaryNext over the Braves stadium? Meeting needs, Public access and space. The city needs to do something with the west villiage. That has been an ongoing problem for 50 years. This is an opportunity to fix it and provide an anchor to that area. I also love the concept of the field house. This is a long time coming to Calgary and greatly needed. The central location is key as is the access to mass transit. This is a space for all Calgarians. The new arena is also a must. The reasons for the arena have been discussed at length, but the bottom line is it allows access to events that would bypass Calgary otherwise. There is a big benefit to the city and general public here. The sports teams get their needed facilities, which we all agree is due. Everyone gets what they need here.

To the bolded, well, no lol. If that were the case this project would be a slam dunk. Instead the majority of people on a Flames forum don't want it. Imagine the NDP not being able to rely on environmental hippies to vote for them. They would cease to exist as a political party. The Flames can't get their core fanbase on board with this. As far as major red flags go....

To the rest, only the arena is what is needed. They can easily go finance that themselves with the ticket tax and their own money. The fieldhouse idea is just an attempt to get a new stadium for the Stamps, a stadium that is unjustifiable financially on its own. But the fieldhouse becomes a $200 million facility, fully publicly financed, that will have significant restrictions in access during the busiest time of year for public facility usage. Not a great deal for the city here, and the location is problematic as an access point, which should never be the case for a public facility. This is still a significant driver city, this isn't Montreal. Downtown is not the ideal spot for the fieldhouse.

Is it perfect? No, but the details are far from fleshed out. The most important thing is the public gets a great new space to meet, play, and be entertained for decades to come. That is worth a lot to a city. The public access is why the City should be all over this and working to find a way to make this a success. Without that public access component I would be against the project all together. If you started talking about a new arena on Stampede land I would be dead set against it, as I don't think it addresses the overall needs of the city. Meeting the needs of the public is what drives my desire to spend tax dollars. Nothing more, nothing less.

Unfortunately for the Flames ownership group you only get one chance at a first impression. Obviously no one could claim this first impression was anything but disastrous. They made a very tough sell an even tougher sell with their poor first presentation. Ultimately I feel pretty confident no public money will go to this and it will be the arena only, but realistically that is what the vast, vast majority of people really want.