Quote:
Originally Posted by Hangman
The timing of this is awful. The city is $60 million short in the operating budget but a lot of people don't understand the difference between operating budgets and capital budgets.
The public is also upset at how council has functioned or not functioned over the last while. They just see $60 million in the hole and they want to build what...for who?
To be honest I don't think they're trying sneak anything by. Trouble is people feel they are or council is being stampeded into a decision and that's pretty well a sure fire recipe to get a no vote.
If this is such a good deal it should be able to withstand full scrutiny. Why does the decision have to be made within such a short timeframe.
I also think CSEC understandably wants as little public input as possible. They know full well a fairly large percentage of the populace does not want to see public money spent on an arena for a bunch of millionaires, especially in trying times such as the city is currently in.
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$60 Million in the hole, and despite repeated clarifications with information available to everyone that the operating budget =/= the capital budget and why, people still don't get it. I'd wager people don't even know where the $60M deficit is coming from.
So what's the value of more information that people are simply not going to understand or ignore outright? If you're for this, you're for it. If you're against it, you're against it. Delays are almost solely beneficial to the "no" side, which is why the no side is pushing for them.
And really, why would you want public input on things like this? If we had endless public input, things certainly wouldn't get done. Even things that get done are endlessly complained about by people that can't let it go. The new library, the peace bridge, bike lanes. Some people who are against them will always be against them, even long after the thing has been built.
If not for a new arena, then what do you want to see the capital budget go to? What makes sense? What else can/should the city build to create those jobs and generate that income?