Was David Cassivi Right

As always!

The Senator kept saying that it was wrong to walk away from the Raceway when they still were at the table.

His colleagues though were so much smarter. They would not listen, supporting an East End money drain that was going to cost us around $75-80 million or more because we now had "wiggle room!"

Or did they? Was this all a sham to fool the voters?

I had heard that the Raceway people were talking about building an arena even though the rumours were hot and heavy that the arena was being shifted to the East End.

Back in April, the Star reported:

• "Coun. David Cassivi, the longest serving councillor, left the meeting before the vote, but suggested it was premature to make decisions before knowing whether Windsor Raceway is still interested in a partnership.
  
  "There's been an impression created in this community that the mayor and city council do not care about the success of Windsor Raceway," Cassivi said.
  
  Mayor Eddie Francis said he will be meeting with Tony Toldo Sr. soon to discuss the city's role in helping the raceway succeed.
  
  But several councillors confirmed the east-end location is a done deal. It's now a matter of finding the land. At least 30 acres will be required for the proposed complex."

The Star reported that "Mayor Eddie Francis confirmed Tuesday the city received a new offer from the raceway, renewing its interest in building an arena on land next to its track...Francis would not release details of the raceway offer."

My readers are so cynical. I received this the other day, before the Star story came out, from a source who told me what he claims the Raceway deal is all about. I thought he was fooling me until I read the Star story. The story came out earlier than even my source expected I am sure:

• "There was never any intention to build a 55 Million Dollar Arena in the East end. Politicians don't price tag things unless they have a reason! So, what's the reason to price tag an Arena at 55 Million?
  
  ...the $55 Million "price tag" was not correct because it did not include the value of the land that this new Arena would go on. So $55 Million really turns into $70 Million (or more). Anybody in Windsor that is already against the Arena deal goes "ballistic...
  
  Keeping in mind that we are now moving into the Valley of Election Day in November, Mayor Francis at the opportune time announces that he has negotiated an Arena deal that will save the City MILLIONS of Dollars and that the new proposed Arena site will be at the Windsor Race Way. The land will be donated by the Race Way.
  
  Yes Sir, we will have an Arena that will cost the City $45 Million instead of $70 Million and it will be at the Race Way. And even the people against the Arena will think that it's not a bad deal."

It sounded so funny that I thought it made sense! We will be told that we are "saving" $25-35 million. (Wasn't that how MFP was sold to us...we were not paying $60 million more than we thought we should have but we are saving money instead of being on the hook for $300 million plus).

Tony Toldo will be pleased and would contribute the land since he will get all of that extra income from the slots players as his Raceway now becomes the "entertainment destination." The Raceway had offered the land before anyway

Administration, who already has said the much cheaper Barn renovation would not work, was being asked to review the deal. Apparently, Don Sandler has already said that "a 6,500-seat arena alone can cost roughly $30 million." [Hmmm $45M minus the City's $15M = $30M].

I must admit, but for this being an election year, I cannot understand why we are going through the exercise. I was interested in the financials set out in the Star article however:

• "The city will have an extra $15 million in 2008 after other projects are paid off. In 2009, $23.5 million will become available and in 2010, $36.4 million will be free to use on arena infrastructure."

The Mayor said that "council will likely be presented with the two options: build a four-pad arena complex under one roof somewhere in the east end or partner with Windsor Raceway for a two-pad arena on land owned by the track." Too bad that there was not a third option: stop this insanity and lower taxes!

Let's see now if I can remember this correctly: Councillors Brister, Zuk and Gignac I thought were opposed to spending money on an arena at such a huge cost, Councillors Jones and Postma were only going to support a downtown arena and Councillor Halberstadt was in favour of the less expensive Barn renovation. That makes 6 NAY votes already without even talking about the other Councillors (Oh, Councillor Lewenza would tell us that it costs only "X" cents per household per year anyway).

If they vote otherwise, then they will have a lot of explaining to do in this election year won't they!