The Arena Jig Is Up: The Toldos and Rosatis Have Lost

If you really think that we will learn something definitive about the arena during the week of September 11, the week I have heard that Eddie wants a meeting over the subject, (not sure if the meeting is to be public or in camera), then you are wrong.

We will hear Phase 1 of the Plan so Council can say they are moving forward for re-election purposes but not the real plan. It will keep the public from being furious over spending $100M for a playground for young hockey players. It will keep the Councillors on side for an East End monument. More importantly, it will keep the Toldos and Rosatis off-balance and QUIET thinking they are still in the running---until Eddie and friends are re-elected. Then comes Phase 2 when it is too late for them and our pocket-books.

How do I know all of this. It's simple. Face-to-Face.

John Fairley, the host of Cogeco's Face-to-Face, is no Mike Wallace but he does terrorize certain interviewees. Wallace's style is described as a "no-holds-barred interviewing technique" that drags information out of subjects. John gets his subjects to spill their guts by being so pleasant to them that they do not realize that they are saying everything to the public until after it has happened!

No wonder, Ward One's Councillor Budget, Dave Brister, is the only member of Council not to appear this year on John's show. Clearly he is afraid of being interviewed on Face-to-Face. I think he is scared that John's questioning could cost him his re-election bid over issues like the border, the budget and the arena! How many times has John asked him on air to appear and he has declined.

After the recent Don Sadler interview, Councillor Budget may well be smart not to go.

Effectively, Don Sadler in the interview gave us the outline of what is going to happen, not completely mind you, but close enough that we can guess. We will be sold a bill of goods before the election that might give the Toldos and Rosatis some hope but what is being done is designed so that the public will NOT turn down the spending of money in the East End now. The Plan is being carried out in separate, seemingly unconnected stages as Eddie likes to do:

Pretend, divert and then execute is his technique

Unfortunately, as we have seen, Eddie is great at planning as a "legal technocrat" but he seems unable to execute as reality sinks in and his grand vision fails. Just like with the Border with the Schwartz Plan and the Tunnel!

Now before poor Don gets hammered for spilling the beans by the Mayor and Councillors, the whole picture has all been revealed already in Gord Henderson's April 29 column where he interviewed Eddie on the arena. Here is the ultimate plan and you will see that Don is merely following along:

• "By 2009, when major projects like the Norwich Block fiasco, the city hall welfare tower mistake and the new Huron Lodge at St. Clair College have been paid off, the city will find itself with torrents of money flowing in and no major funding obligations. In 2009 it will have an additional $23.5 million available, in 2010 $36.4 million and in 2011 another $36.4 million...
  
  "If this was 2002 financial circumstances, it wouldn't even be talked about. But our financial prudence is paying off and giving us flexibility. We can pay for this (the arena complex) without going to debentures and without going to the taxpayers," explained Francis. He cautioned that this is still early in the process and the numbers are preliminary. "There's a lot of work that needs to be done. And unless there's a solid business case that can be justified, nothing will happen."
  
  One of the stronger arguments in favour of building this four- pad arena complex is that it will generate significant savings in operating costs for decades to come.
  
  Riverside Arena, Adstoll Arena and the Edward Street recreation centre are all money losers that require subsidization by city taxpayers and are in urgent need of replacement. Moving those operations to a four-plex that would turn a small profit annually and turning Windsor Arena into a civic rink could generate savings of as much as $700,000 annually over the status quo"
  

If you heard Don's interview, you will notice as I did his seeming embracing of the Barn as the continued site for the Spitfires and the fact that he seems to know not more than we do about the Raceway's plans. In fact, I have heard that the Raceway has hardly been contacted by Administration during the time when they were supposed to be analyzing the East End and Raceway proposals. If Sadler does not know more than I do, then it can hardly be much of an analysis.

But the key to me was a change as set out in Gord's column on July 20:

• "According to Francis, councillors at the end of this process will choose among three options: the status quo, a $55-million go-it- alone arena complex and community centre on the east side and the raceway proposal."

HUH??? Only a few days before it was only 2 options and now the BARN was back? What gives? I thought the Barn renovation was dead since on April 28, the Star reported "council also opted to scrap the alternative proposal to retrofit Windsor Arena and twin two community ice pads at a cheaper cost of about $39 million." That story also pointed out "The arena could be built in three phases, with the two regular- sized ice pads going up first, followed by the Olympic-size pad and then the main rink. "

Now the jig was up. Let me outline what Don said in John's Face-to-Face interview and add my comments as appropriate on it so you will see what I mean:

1. According to Provincial standards we are deficient in the number of rinks we have in Windsor. We have 8 sheets of ice in 6 locations and need 2 more [Thus the 4-pad at the East End complex as Gord revealed]
2. We have aging facilities at Riverside and Adstoll that require a huge investment to keep them operating and with the Edwards seniors facility which was built as a school.
3. Lauzon and Tecumseh Road is a general area where a "recreational facility" could be built since it is within driving distance of the old rinks. [Haven't we heard at Council several times now recently that bigger complexes where several activities are joined together are the trend]
4. The East End is growing and there is a need to satisfy their recreational needs [That's Eddie's electoral power base now and in the future and keeps, Wilson, Gignac and Hatfield on-side]
5. Lauzon and Tecumseh could accommodate a 2-pad arena with a recreational component attached to it. [NOTE: only 2 pads are discussed, not 4 as in Gord's column so that keeps the Raceway alive for the pre-election period so there is no controversy. The view will be given that 2 more ice pads are still needed as well as a home for the Spitfires as you shall see]
6. If only a 2-pad arena was built, then we would still be 2 pads short after tearing down the old ones. Don "UNDERSTANDS" that there is a Raceway proposal [If he only "understands" then what kind of game has been played respecting the analysis. Why doesn't he "know?" He should be intimately familiar by now with each and every detail of Project Ice Track if there is to be a September meeting. Remember the Mayor had said a "report on the Toldo-Rosati arena proposal would likely be presented to council at this month's final meeting on July 24 or possibly sooner at a special meeting." It's now almost 2 months later. What have they been doing in the interim other than wasting time?]
7. Don said the Raceway arena would help since it builds 2 ice sheets and shows that there is still an interest to build an OHL facility [See the families are given a false hope. How nice.]
8. Respecting Project Ice Track, Don has seen no more than what was presented to the community but what he has seen is very exciting. [Unbelievable]
9. He is not worried about the Barn losng the OHL team since it is a viable recreation centre and fans are still enjoying OHL hockey in the arena. [If the new Spitfire owners do not go crazy over this remark, then you know there is something going on in the background!]
10. The Raceway arena location is not a concern since people already drive around and travel a distance and it would not negatively impact the South Windsor arena [This could rebound to hurt the Mayor and Council one day]

I have to tell you that this interview was about the most bizarre I have ever heard. It makes no logical sense at all and is in contradiction to what has seemingly taken place already. If it is illogical, then one needs to find out the true explanation. What the truth is was revealed in Gord's column along with the comment about three phases.

It's all there to read in front of us so there is no big surprise. You just have to put it all together don't you. And isn't that why you come to this BLOGsite each work day!

In other words, the Toldos and Rosatos are being played again. The Casino expansion is well underway and the East End arena is ready to rock....who needs to bother with the families now except to keep them under wraps until that pesky November election is over.

By the way, the rumours about the Lear lands as a site for the East End are running rampant. The Star reported that "Coun. Tom Wilson said he's "heard rumours" about land available on Lauzon Road, next to the Lear plant, but nothing is confirmed." The Lear lands, 110 acres, were purchased a year or so ago by Fahri Holdings out of London. On May 8, the zoning by-laws effecting several of the Lots were changed to permit business offices within the existing building as an aditional use.

Readers have told me several times recently about stories that they have heard which I am following up on. Who knows what is really happening. One day we will.