MARK-ALAN WHITTLE
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ARENA IS A TAX PAYER FUNDED ENTERPRISE

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Mountain News (Hamilton)
Once again writer Farraway has had the proverbial wool pulled over his eyes in yet another attempt by mountain Alderman to begin anew their empire building. Only this time they have a menu of real-estate options for this latest white elephant, or Taj Mahal as the proponents of this expensive pipe dream like to refer to it, that stretches from rural Flamborough to a bustling Stoney Creek and beyond. Unlike an alert transition board, writer Farraway has chosen to buy in to the mountain Aldermen's collective call of necessity for the children's sake. What a crock, considering the number of red flags that where impossible to gloss over or hide.
First off the inclusion of a full fledged drinking establishment may seem reasonable to a responsible hockey parent but what about those that aren't? We've all seen and heard of parents bad behavior at games. Adding booze to the equation is an elixir for disaster. Further, if the ice time is really for the kids then what minor hockey association will be running the show? Nowhere in Farraways article is this mentioned by Peter Martin, a minor hockey proponent.
A more telling reason for councils unseemly haste to get the spade in the ground was revealed in a questionnaire sent to all the candidates in the election by Mr. Martin. In it his association made it abundantly clear that it was agree with us or suffer the consequences of a negative posting at each government owned arena during the municipal election. Perhaps Farraway missed the distinctive odor of conflict of interest in this matter. I for one did not. Last time I checked almost every child arriving at an arena gets there by car, van, truck or bus. Obviously easy access to the Linc will ensure a traffic jam in the developed neighborhoods presently on the site list. To get a handle on the physical size of the facility and the enormous parking lot it must have by law, think of the Mountain Arena times four plus a fully licensed drinking establishment inside the complex. It will be open to the public at large and not for the exclusive use of the proponents.
Perhaps the whole issue will be less confusing for Mr. Farraway and the Hamilton News readership if the quad pad arena concept proposed by council is assessed for what it really is. A tax payer funded private money-making enterprise for organized adult hockey tournaments drawing strangers from far and wide and not for poor inner city kids to play house league hockey. I find it politically self serving to use hockey kids and their lack of facilities to justify this expensive adult hockey proposal.
Even more alarming is the fact that the developer arranged financing and management that was in place when this dubious project was approved has already went down in flames and collapsed leaving you and I on the hook for millions of dollars in infrastructure costs. Nary a word of it from any of the Aldermen Farraway consulted before writing his supportive opinions.
Farraway is 100 percent correct in one regard. The transition board was right in questioning the validity, timing and location of this particular project and the reasons for it presently being put forward by various Hamilton Mountain Aldermen who support this expensive private partnership project.

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