By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON December 28, 2010 –  Mayor Rick Goldring and Ward 1 Council member Rick Craven met with the owners of the Hamilton Tiger Cats after a Christmas Eve telephone call about the “possibility” of the team locating in Burlington at a site in the Aldershot community

There is talk of a triple A hockey team coming to the community which would add an arena to the mix.  Add in the parking lots and the hotel that would be part of the complex and you have a financial draw that would result in restaurants, clubs and all the other commercial ventures that cluster around this type of economic focal point.

A spokesperson from the Mayors office said the rest of the Council had been advised of the discussions and that there was enough interest for the Mayor to get into more detailed discussions.  City staff has been directed to prepare a detailed report for a January 6^th meeting – so much for their holiday.

The proposed site is a piece of property between Waterdown Road and King Road and between the 403 and the GO train tracks.

The Tiger Cats are basically going to be without a stadium to play in – with the Hamilton city council unable to agree on a location for a new stadium that meets needs of the football team’s owners and the group organizing the PanAm games to be played in 2015.

Hamilton couldn’t agree on Coronation Park, couldn’t afford the millions for the CPR yards, the west harbour didn’t work for the team owners and the Mountain site was also out.

With nowhere to go – unless significant sums were sunk into renovating the old Ivor Wynne Stadium the Hamilton football team was running out of options.  There was never going to be another opportunity like the one the PanAm games had dropped on their doorstep.

Wowy Kazowy – this is big time stuff … in Burlington?

The Aldershot location gives the football team owners what they need and that is exposure on a main traffic route – it doesn’t get much more main than the 403.  Access to public transit – the GO train tracks are right beside the property which is owned by the Paletta family who are reported to own 54% of the employment lands in Burlington.

Those requirements are exactly what the PanAm games people were looking for as well.   One can see talk of a swap that would have Burlington employments lands rezoned for housing and the Aldershot property becoming available at a price the players can afford.  This now is pure speculation – but then that is what developers do – they speculate.

Burlington doesn’t have a dime to contribute to this initiative however it does have zoning power and the Paletta family and the planners will surely have one of those “you give us this and we could give you that” conversations.  Developers like to call these “win-win” situations.

Queen’s Park has money and the PanAm Games organization would dearly love to get a soccer stadium in place in time for those games in 2015.  Gosh, Burlington might yet get Pan Am Games soccer.

While Queen’s Park has the dollars Burlington doesn’t have the Rolodex that former Mayor Cam Jackson had and no one on city council knows quite who to call.

Enter stage left: Halton Region Chair Gary Carr who does have a Rolodex and people will take his calls.  Carr can certainly see the huge economic boost that a sports complex would bring to Halton.  As one politically connected wag put it: “This is one of those once in a century opportunities for Burlington but we have to have real good political smarts to pull this off.”  Carr could well end up being the guy who carries the pig skin.

Queen’s Park would love to send Burlington money but we have to ask for it and we don’t know quite how to do that.  Come October there are two provincial government seats up for grabs, Burlington and Halton.  The Liberals want those seats and a sports complex could be just the trick to take them both away from the Tories.  Joyce Savoline is said to be ready to retire but there isn’t the name of a candidate they can put on a lawn sign yet – unless the lawyer with the political ambitions decides he can find the energy to actually run a campaign. Ted Chudleigh could also go down if there were a serious challenge.

The trick then is to bring the community on side.  An opportunity for the Burlington council to show how they would use the words: transparency, public input and community involvement is staring our Council in the face.  Are they up to it?  They aren’t doing all that well with the Pier but that wasn’t a problem they created (well some of them certainly have to wear some of that responsibility for that one, but all will be redeemed if the Hamilton Tiger Cats play on a field in Burlington.

If the city can build enough public support for an Aldershot  sports complex they could overcome the bad taste the Pier with it’s 2013 “grand opening” day and $10 million price tag have left in the mouths of many.  Pulling off something like this also gives the Region of Halton one heck of a financial boost.

A stadium in the Aldershot community would shift the financial focus of Burlington from Brant Street west because the plans being discussed include a football field that could accommodate soccer and with very few additions a track and field facilities.

The Burlington Downtown Business Association will become small fish when compared to what the Aldershot BIA grows into –  and what do you think this opportunity is going to do to the development of the city’s Strategic Plan?

Mayor Goldring has shown some leadership in that unlike some of our previous Mayors he consulted with his team and is listening to what they have to say.  Kudos for the Mayor on that one.

How did all this come about …

It all started with a Christmas Eve phone call from Scott Mitchell, president of the Hamilton Tiger Cat Football Club to Mayor Goldring which led to a  led to a meeting with Mayor Goldring and ward 1 council member Rick Craven who has been an advocate for sorts facilities in his ward for some time. 

But it all goes back even further than that.  This is actually a circle that began when Goldring, then ward 5 council member, voted for the PanAm soccer games being played in Sherwood Forest park.  He reversed his vote on that idea when his constituents revolted and said not in our back yard.  That took the location for soccer games to New City Park which doesn’t yet have a building permit.

Meanwhile, down the road a bit Hamilton proves that it is even more dysfunctional than Burlington and keeps voting against different proposals for a new stadium in that city.

In deep background is the fact that the Paletta family own a chunk of land that the Hamilton Tiger Cats are said to covet but no one wants to makes a move until Hamilton completes their self destruction.

The municipal election puts a new Mayor in both the Hamilton city council and the Burlington Council.  Burlington gets a guy that is quite a bit softer in approach than his predecessor while Hamilton gets a radio announcer who isn’t able to get his council to agree on a location for a stadium in that city.

An outfit called HOSTCO (they are the people that are organizing the PanAm games) are getting really antsy and they tell Hamilton that they have to make a decision by February 1^st on a stadium location or the soccer games go somewhere else – with Markham, Mississauga and Brampton getting mention as possibilities.

With Hamilton going nowhere that’s when the Christmas Eve phone calls get made – and the making of a deal begins to take shape.

HOSTCO doesn’t say – “this is a great idea” – they wait for Hamilton to completely self destruct.  Meanwhile the Paletta people, the Hamilton Tiger Cat organization and Burlington’s city council meet and pow wow and see what can be done.

If there is a sports complex in the Aldershot community by 2015 it will be because Hamilton really blew it and Rick Goldring reversed his vote on Sherwood Forest.

Could this really happen?

There are enough people with the kind of money needed who are ‘interested’ in being at the table but Hamilton has to first finish with screwing up the opportunity they have.

The Tiger Cat ownership may well be using their meeting with Mayor Goldring to squeeze the Hamilton city Council – that’s the way the big money guys play the game.

BUT – if Hamilton does fail to come up with a location that is acceptable to the HOSTCO guys then Burlington is certainly in the running.  Ya gotta know that the telephone lines are burning with everyone calling everyone.

All it will take to get this through Burlington’s council is four votes and the Mayor has what he needs to make this happen if the financial  numbers are right.  Craven is in, Taylor and Dennison will be in – if the numbers are right. Sharman will love the idea – this is just the kind of game he loves to play – and he is good at it.  He will be in.  Lancaster will want to ensure that best practices are followed and then her vote will be in.  Could Meed Ward be the odd man out on this one?

Both Ward 2 council member Marianne Meed Ward and Craven of Ward 1 put a note on their Facebook pages.  Craven linked his people to the Spec article and Meed Ward commented that there was a $30 million shortfall in the funding and said “this is not a done deal.”  It would be nice to see this Council, after looking at all the numbers and doing the due diligence, stand and give a unanimous vote to go forward. A chance to show Hamilton how it’s done.  Goldring has instructed city staff` to prepare a report for a January 6^th meeting.  Good solid first step Mr. Mayor – keep your cards close to your chest and don’t give away the farm – but bring the bacon home.

The PanAm Games in Burlington, in a new sports complex in 2015 – do you suppose the first soccer game could take place before the Pier opens?

Mayor gives his city a B+

on its financial score card.

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON January 22, 2011  –  It was the “be at event” for the week and more than 400 business people bought tickets for the State of the City address by the Mayor and hosted by the Burlington Chamber of Commerce.  Those who attended described the room as “a happy place”. Mayor Rick Goldring told the audience who he was and what he was going to do.

The event, usually held in October of each year, was moved permanently to January.  The theme the Mayor chose for this his first address at a Chamber event was “Building an affordable, inclusive and complete City that works together.”

The Mayor of Burlington is an “inclusive man”.  He is almost too decent.  He is patient, listens, sometime far too long to all sides.  He is, most of the time, content to be in the background and is always prepared to give way for someone else.  He doesn’t have to seize the agenda and he doesn’t seem to have to let people know that he is in charge. That is not to say he is a pushover – he’s just decent and polite.  As he said in his address –“Expect me to be honest, direct, clear and enthusiastic. A Mayor that values gaining and maintaining your trust and confidence. What you see is what you get.”  That is who you elected to office.

He is also prepared to admit that he was wrong or made a mistake – sometimes that honesty makes him look a little simple – and he isn’t simple. “I speak honestly and directly”, said the Mayor. “I haven’t yet learned the art of the non-answer.”

Mayor Goldring leads a Council that hasn’t fully gelled yet.  He has three new members and they are fitting in well enough and learning the ropes, each at their own rate and each developing competencies of their own.  He is proud to work with them and he adjusts to their styles and approach to the job.

Goldring wanted to leave his audience of business people with four things to remember:

His vision of Burlington as a place that is affordable, inclusive and complete and that he will lead by listening and learning from others and wherever possible build consensus.  He emphasized that the challenge ahead was to balances our wants, our needs and our ability to pay.

He said the Pan Am/Ticat Aldershot stadium discussions provided him with great on the job training.  That experience also brought from staff the view that Burlington was not big enough to handle a of project of that size.

Current State of the City

“As you all know in this room, we have all just come through a global recession, “ said the Mayor. “Canada has weathered the storm very well. While Ontario has experienced challenges especially in the manufacturing sector and Burlington has experienced some of this, we have come through the recession in good shape.”

The Mayor reported that local unemployment rate peaked in 2009 at 9.2% and is now reported at 7.6%.  The Burlington Economic Development Corporation (BEDC) reports that we have added 852 new jobs in Burlington, up from 577 in 2009. We remain prosperous.  What wasn’t reported or commented upon was the amount of land that is identified as “employment lands” in the official plan and what the Mayor would like to do longer term to attract the high paying jobs that the city wants.  No mention was made of what is going to happen in the near term with the Maple Leaf processing plant on Harvester Road. There are a significant number of jobs that will disappear when that plant closes down and it will eventually close down.

“The Burlington Performing Arts Centre is on time and on budget”, said the Mayor and “will be open in the fall of this year. This is a significant addition to the cultural fabric of the whole city and will provide significant positive impact to the continuing development of our downtown.”  Our Mayor could have expanded on how he and his council propose to handle the deficits that are part of the agreement with the arms length non-profit corporation that runs the BPAC with a volunteer Board.  Council has yet to receive either a Budget for the year we are now into or a longer term business plan.

“Individuals and corporations” reported the Mayor, “have contributed over $10.3 million toward the capital cost of the facility. The facility is governed by an independent board composed of a broad cross section of people including entrepreneurs, business owners, executives, as well as people with experience in the arts.”

The Mayor said: “Yes, there has been capital spending, however because of the recession, much of the spending was at costs lower than originally budgeted.”  “Federal and provincial stimulus dollars”, he added, “have helped this City and province manage through the recession. In total, the City received some $22.4 million in Senior Government Funding through various stimulus programs. This stimulus funding provided for among others:

The new Transit Operations Centre was badly needed but not as badly needed as a transit policy.  This city still hasn’t decided what level of transit service it wants to provide the public.  There are some that talk in terms of a “one bus” transit system.  Burlington Transit ridership increased by 5.4% in 2010 and the introduction of low floor fully accessible buses has dramatically improved accessibility.

City Finances

The Mayor felt it appropriate to also speak to the financial status of the City itself.  “Based on my education and experience I’d give us a B+”, said the Mayor.  That’s a fair mark but there have to be some comments in the margin of the report card saying that we are only managing to get 68% of our roads up to the standard we set out and that we are about to go into a phase were close to more than half our roads are at the point where they need significant work to be kept up to standard and we do not have a reserve to do that work.  And it is substantial.

“Taxes”, said the Mayor, “ are comparable with other communities. Our balance sheet has a little more debt than I would like to see”, he added, “and we have seen a moderate deterioration in asset maintenance spending.”   It would have helped if the Mayor had set out just what the debt is and what the city has in the way of reserves in its various reserve funds.  His audience was made up of sophisticated, financially informed people, who understand a balance sheet and have very close relationships with profit and loss statements.

In order for a society to function it has to be informed and there was a wonderful opportunity for this Mayor to fully inform his audience.  He missed that opportunity.  It was fine to say how much he respected the Chamber of Commerce as an organization he had served on – he could have should have shown that respect by laying out all the facts.  He has nothing to hide.

“The City”, said the Mayor, “has $2.0 billion in fair market value assets. Roads and facilities are the bulk of the assets. We need to spend about 2% per year of fair market value just to protect and maintain these assets. We have not been doing that.”   This was one of his better important bits of information and his audience understands what he is up against.

“Municipal councils throughout Canada have similar challenges and” the Mayor advised, “we have to juggle priorities and balance the need for infrastructure renewal, with additional services and other community needs.”  Here our Mayor could have and should have expanded and set out some of the options he is looking at.  Where might the cuts be made?  It would have been interesting and certainly novel had the Mayor asked his audience what level they thought the cuts should be made at.

The Mayor also said:  “Over the last four years the City portion of property taxes increased by 29%.  I have set a target of 10% over the next four years and I want to keep this number a priority in our civic agenda”.   He expanded a bit on his 10% in four years objective.  He had an opportunity to mention that his council member with the best financial smarts was advocating a 0% increase.  The Mayor could have put that in context and commented on its likelihood.  Opportunity missed.  The room was filled with people who wanted to listen and confirm the sense that this Mayor is a good guy; decent, responsible and not someone who is going to try and snow you.  When he makes a mistake, which he will, this Mayor is going to tell you and take responsibility for his mistakes.  It doesn’t get better than that.

“First”, said the Mayor, “ we need to set targets that are meaningful and achievable and I believe that this target is both. Second, I believe that it is time to review our services and operating structure. Our operating structure has been relatively static for 15 plus years and the City has changed in culture, size, demographics, development profile and needs. He went on to say: “It is my observation that despite the tax rate increases that we have experienced, council continues to ask staff to do more with less and this cannot continue. We need to take a different approach.”

“Thirdly”, he pointed out,  “the City has to think long term about its human resources. Over the next four years we have a number of staff retiring. If we want the right people, the City should be an attractive place to work and build a career. It is in all our best interests.”

“Fourth, I believe that the City has to review its processes and its use of technology and communications tools to be more productive and more effective.”   Kind of a bread and butter statement – one of those “non-answers’ perhaps?

“Lastly”,  said the Mayor, “I want to restore a culture at the City of Burlington where Council, Staff and Community are working together to fulfill the long term vision of the city.”  Well there is some work to be done at the Council/Staff relationship, which we will report on elsewhere.  Where this Mayor is dead on is the need for community to work with him to manage some of the stickier problems.  While the Mayor didn’t challenge the business community to work with him, the Chamber and its members need to support this man and the work he is doing.  He can’t do it all by himself.  Rick Goldring will listen – talk to him.

I believe that our circumstances call for a focused, collaborative and measured approach with the objective being an updated City Hall operation which deals with 21st century issues using 21st century technology, people and processes and which demonstrates the ability to operate within a sustainable economic plan.   Another one of those non-answers ?

“As we move forward together we have some key challenges:  Burlington is now growing more slowly than any other community in the GTA and will see less revenue as a result.  We will have to approach City operations and services in a different way.  Burlington’s demographics are changing and is expected to soon have 20% of its population at retirement age or older.  Has the business community factored this fact into its longer term plans”.  The Mayor might think in terms of a Symposium to look at just what it means to have one fifth of the population in the retired column.

Among the questions such a symposium might ask are:

• How do we live within our means with slower growth and a changing demographic profile?

• How do we re-align the City’s services to meet the needs and priorities of the community?

• How do we keep a motivated professional staff in place at the City and deal with the costs?

• How do we support and grow our local economy to maintain our quality of life?

All very good and relevant questions.  The Mayor and his city hall staff cannot come up with these answers on their own.  They need input from the people who do business in this city.

“We have”, said the Mayor,  “an excellent Downtown / Waterfront Plan which was developed with extensive public consultation and included input from over 1400 citizens.”

“I plan to revisit it through a public symposium, and update it to ensure it continues to reflect a 10-20 year community vision.”

The Pier: The new Council has spent 14 hours in briefings on this issue (How many in his audience cringed when they thought of the size of the legal bill for all this.  The problem is not one this Mayor brought about – he’s the poor guy who has to clean up a mess left by others.  He needs support on this one.) and is united in our resolve to complete this project. We will fix this as quickly and as cost effectively as possible.

A Vision of Burlington: “So it’s fair to ask, what is my Vision of the City, and how will we achieve it together?”

“I feel we should continue to strive to make Burlington an affordable, inclusive, complete community. Affordable so new families can move here and seniors can stay in their community. Inclusive and complete communities offer an attractive quality of life. It’s time to take a regional view of the place we call home. Let’s appreciate and embrace the amenities, services and facilities next door as part of our unique Quality of Life.

“McMaster, a university ranked in the top one percent of comprehensive universities globally is a 10 minute drive away and we have easy access to Mohawk and Sheridan Colleges. We have an emerging technology centre in Kitchener-Waterloo an hour away with one of the most successful technology companies in the world.  We also have a world recognized wine district in Niagara. And Burlington sits in the epicenter of all these amenities and attractions.”

Strung together these really don’t amount to a vision – more a description of the environmental, geographic setting we exist within.  All true, but they don’t constitute a vision

“So what”, asked the Mayor. “will Burlington look like 25 years from now?”

Imagine:

–          A city of about 193,000 nestled on the lake with an escarpment and a rural backyard.

–          A city with a strong local economy which allows more people to work close to home.

–          A public transportation network which connects Burlington with the GTHA and allows us all to move around better and preserve the environment.

–          Increased access to lifelong learning opportunities so that our community can compete and thrive in a global economy.

–          An inclusive community which provides for youth and seniors and is a tolerant and cultural oasis in the region.

–          A beautiful and well-maintained city with unique and diverse neighbourhoods that are pedestrian and cycle friendly.

–          A community that values and achieves sustainability through clearly defined ecological and environmental practices.

I don’t think this is what is imagined – but more a what the public expects.

To achieve this Vision I’m proposing a five-step action plan.

• “We need a New Strategic Planning process for the community. Council will be defining a very different process that will provide all citizens a variety of opportunities to provide input into the future of our city. The result will be a more meaningful and measurable civic strategic plan.”
• “I am proposing to start a new relationship with our community stakeholders with the Mayor’s Community Roundtable. We will have our first conversation next week. The 25 or so Community leaders attending represent a broad cross section of the community through their members, congregations and participants.”
• “I will be introducing a series of lectures leading up to our next Official Plan review to inspire Burlington to look at ways of changing and improving our quality of life.”
• “We need to support efforts of the BEDC and the Chamber and others to bring new business to our community and to help existing businesses be successful. Burlington needs to be open for Business including not-for-profit, co-ops and other forms of emerging social entrepreneurship.”

This one has all those upside buzz words but they ring a little on the hollow side when we read that city hall staff thought the proposed Aldershot Stadium, that had us all worked up for a few days was too big an undertaking for this city.   Does the city council and the city staff really have an entrepreneurial spirit

• We will create a 4 year financial plan to maintain a manageable level of taxation and live within our means while delivering the services the community wants and this plan will be sustainable in the long term.

This, this Mayor will do.  He is responsible.

“In summary, we live in a prosperous caring community blessed with a tremendous natural environment. We have the opportunity to live an urban, suburban or a rural lifestyle. We have the infrastructure and the services needed to provide for the community and most importantly we have a community of citizens that show their commitment every day to our city and the people that live in it. Our opportunities are many and it is up to all of us to build our community to care for those around us. I have complete confidence that we can do this together.”

That last paragraph is what our Mayor is all about.  We don’t know yet if he can handle a crisis.  We don’t know yet how deep the vision is, there wasn’t much that was exciting about it and perhaps that is the way his citizens want it.  This time next year is a better opportunity to review his performance.  Nothing dramatic yet, and there may never be anything stellar about his term of office.  The city didn’t vote FOR Rick Goldring – they voted AGAINST the other guy.  Goldring came in with a clean slate and so far has kept it that way.