[News] CalgaryNEXT Announcement. New arena details emerge.

[PostandIn]

Originally Posted by Table 5

Hah, you clearly haven't heard Giuliani speak very much then.



Nenshi has a Bachelor of Commerce from the UofC, and a Masters in Public Policy from Harvard. He also founded had a company that advised clients like the United Nations, and has been part of countless civic-oriented groups. I'm not sure what kind of credentials you're looking for exactly (radio personality? developer shill?) but he probably has the most suitable credentials for a major we've ever had.

What's that got to do with calling home town billionaires bozos?

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by PostandIn

What's that got to do with calling home town billionaires bozos?

When has he called them, or anyone, that?

[corporatejay]

The idea is half-baked. What other term would you have preferred? This idea is poorly thought out? In its infancy? Requires significant work on behalf of the person submitting it?

[Scary Eloranta]

Originally Posted by Manhattanboy

Nenshi is a pompous arrogant ass.

Yes the proposal is flawed and there is much work to be done.

But to publicly crap on the owners and those who have been working on the project to date by calling what could be the best thing to happen to this City in years (assuming they do get it right, and in an economic climate where all the jobs that would be created by the project are not going to come from anywhere else) with childish metaphors ("not even half baked" etc.) shows that he is the real amateur here.

You would never hear this kind of language from a Bloomberg, Tory or Giuliani.

Instead of being dismissive and disrespectful, why not be constructive and positive?

Nenshi has been against ANY new arena from day 1. I remember him saying: "what's wrong with the Saddledome?" However, he does seem excited about a new library and new LRT line going through industrial areas.

I am guessing KK is in a real good mood today!

[corporatejay]

Originally Posted by Scary Eloranta

Nenshi has been against ANY new arena from day 1. I remember him saying: "what's wrong with the Saddledome?" However, he does seem excited about a new library and new LRT line going through industrial areas.

I am guessing KK is in a real good mood today!

Yes, he seems very excited about public funds being used for public services and not so excited about public funds being used for private business...Weird, right?

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by corporatejay

Yes, he seems very excited about public funds being used for public services and not so excited about public funds being used for private business...Weird, right?

Spendshi just clearly not spendshing our money in the right place.

[Lanny's Stache]

Sure Nenshi has a great education, but his problems really appear to be ego and personality at this point.

I can absolutely understand that he has issues with the proposal as presented. I think most reasonable people do. But to take a run at them with this dismissive language is just unproductive. It really seems like he only likes his own ideas and basically openly mocks others that don't fit into his narrow vision of the city. It is getting tired.

I would hope that the Mayor would be open to working with a group of people that are committed long term to the city. Again, that doesn't mean just saying yes, but at least try to work with them without mocking them.

[Erick Estrada]

LOL you guys are really reading too much into these Nenshi comments. You have to take comments like his with a grain of salt.

[corporatejay]

Originally Posted by Lanny's Stache

Sure Nenshi has a great education, but his problems really appear to be ego and personality at this point.

I can absolutely understand that he has issues with the proposal as presented. I think most reasonable people do. But to take a run at them with this dismissive language is just unproductive. It really seems like he only likes his own ideas and basically openly mocks others that don't fit into his narrow vision of the city. It is getting tired.

I would hope that the Mayor would be open to working with a group of people that are committed long term to the city. Again, that doesn't mean just saying yes, but at least try to work with them without mocking them.

“This project was announced, frankly, without all of the homework being done,” Nenshi told reporters Monday. “It’s not even half-baked. It’s not even in the oven yet. This is a matter of stirring the batter and putting it in the oven.”

He has the right to be pissed. Why do you think the Flames did this? To get public support on their side to pressure on the city to build this thing with public funds.

Other than announcing a location, what homework have the Flames done? Infrastructure issues? Nope. Transit load? Nope. Parking? Nope. Orphaning the river? Nope. How they are going to pay for it? Sort of. The look of the Arena? Nope. The roof on the building "Something translucent". Environmental damage? Nope. Environmental clean up? Nope.

So, other than location and committing 200 million dollars of their own money, which is a fraction of the entire cost of the project, what have they done?

[Dentoman]

Originally Posted by Table 5

Nenshi has a Bachelor of Commerce from the UofC, and a Masters in Public Policy from Harvard. He also founded had a company that advised clients like the United Nations, and has been part of countless civic-oriented groups. I'm not sure what kind of credentials you're looking for exactly (radio personality? developer shill?) but he probably has the most suitable credentials for a major we've ever had.

For a guy with all these credentials, he sure says some stupid stuff. He may be a good mayor, but he has a problem with knowing when to shut up. Just say he was hoping that the project would have come to his desk with more work put into it, instead of looking for a sound bite, He comes across as loving to hear his own voice too much. Just say what needs to be said, leave the playground remarks out of it.

[Dentoman]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

LOL you guys are really reading too much into these Nenshi comments. You have to take comments like his with a grain of salt.

It is getting tiresome to do so.

[Strange Brew]

Yeah you have to concede the plans are essentially half baked. hundreds of posts in this forum to that effect.

But the Flames owners have been good citizens of the City and ultimately the goal of the city should be to work out an arrangement that is in the best interests of everyone. So to publicly disparage the plans that the other side has presented is unprofessional. I'm disappointed he would do that.

[Reaper]

Originally Posted by Manhattanboy

Nenshi is a pompous arrogant ass.

Yes the proposal is flawed and there is much work to be done.

But to publicly crap on the owners and those who have been working on the project to date by calling what could be the best thing to happen to this City in years (assuming they do get it right, and in an economic climate where all the jobs that would be created by the project are not going to come from anywhere else) with childish metaphors ("not even half baked" etc.) shows that he is the real amateur here.

You would never hear this kind of language from a Bloomberg, Tory or Giuliani.

Instead of being dismissive and disrespectful, why not be constructive and positive?

Dude, your bias is showing. I don't think Nenshi disrespected the owners. Calgary Next went public with their plan to come up with a plan and had essentially very little answers to questions posed to nearly everything. He was probably asked by a reporter "Do you think this plan is half baked or what?" and answered based on the metaphor presented.

And I'd like to see this project move forward in one form or another.

[mrkajz44]

Yeah, the "half-baked" comment is taken way out of context. If you read his whole quote:

“This project was announced, frankly, without all of the homework being done. It’s not even half-baked. It’s not even in the oven yet. This is a matter of stirring the batter and putting it in the oven.”

you can see he was just using that as more of a metaphor for how young the project really is. Could it be there is a bit of a jab at the ownership by using the term half-baked? Sure, but it's not like they don't deserve it after what they rolled out.

[Lanny's Stache]

Originally Posted by corporatejay

He has the right to be pissed. Why do you think the Flames did this? To get public support on their side to pressure on the city to build this thing with public funds.

Other than announcing a location, what homework have the Flames done? Infrastructure issues? Nope. Transit load? Nope. Parking? Nope. Orphaning the river? Nope. How they are going to pay for it? Sort of. The look of the Arena? Nope. The roof on the building "Something translucent". Environmental damage? Nope. Environmental clean up? Nope.

So, other than location and committing 200 million dollars of their own money, which is a fraction of the entire cost of the project, what have they done?

Did I say that he is right to have concerns? Yup.

Again, my issue is with the tone that he takes with all projects that he has not proposed himself or exactly match his vision. His refusal to even open the dialogue in a remotely positive manner is tiresome. It is a shame, because I think he has potential to be better than that.

To be clear, I don't really like the project as presented. I do think the owners left too many questions unanswered in their first proposal. I was hoping that the city would take this opportunity to open a dialogue and see if we can end up with a project that works for all parties. I just think that Nenshi's way of dealing with these things lately has been frustrating.

[Joborule]

Is the half-baked comment taken out of context though when in a metaphorical sense, it's exactly that? There's a lot more work to be done until this becomes a serious proposal that has the groundwork to see the project take off. All it is right now is just a visionary concept, that doesn't factor in the other variables that have to be addressed - in particular infrastructure.

[Southside]

Originally Posted by corporatejay

He has the right to be pissed. Why do you think the Flames did this? To get public support on their side to pressure on the city to build this thing with public funds.

Other than announcing a location, what homework have the Flames done? Infrastructure issues? Nope. Transit load? Nope. Parking? Nope. Orphaning the river? Nope. How they are going to pay for it? Sort of. The look of the Arena? Nope. The roof on the building "Something translucent". Environmental damage? Nope. Environmental clean up? Nope.

So, other than location and committing 200 million dollars of their own money, which is a fraction of the entire cost of the project, what have they done?

Initiated a discussion? This is an idea, a proposal for a large and ambitious project. I think it was their intention to get people talking and involved in discussions, not to mock the concept as being half-baked.

[Benched]

Honestly, still not sold at all on this project.


Nenshi may have been a bit politically incorrect in his statement, but thus far I'm far more in his camp than I am with the 'all in one shoehorned deluxe special that you all pay for and we get the cash from!'


As long as it's not all 'we are doing our due-diligence, don't get mad at us when we sign this thing!' from the city council (ie. smoke and mirrors) and that they actually do hammer down details and costs before making a decision, and that's it's equitable for both the private company's interests and public interests. I'd like to see business take on the costs/risks, and profits, more than I would the public.

[FlamesAddiction]

I love it, but not being a Calgary resident, I have nothing at stake except on the rare occasion I am in town for a game.

A retractable roof would be cool, but probably not worth the additional costs.

[Poster]

I own a trucking company ... if the city would provide the land, tax free status and the cash to build a modern state of the art terminal, I could probably provide 300 new direct jobs along with dozens of spin off jobs in the surrounding area.

should I call a press conference?

this is a private venture, the Flames can build it with their own money if they choose to.