What a fiasco at city hall

There was no shortage of media commentary surrounding last week’s marathon council meeting. I was unable to attend myself but comments from others who attended help confirm the negative impressions left by the media articles. Here are some references drawn from the Ottawa Citizen:

- Stadium meeting a “circus”, Patrick Dare, September 3, 2009
- Flood response more talk than answers, Randall Denley, September 5, 2009
- City prepared to fix Kanata flooding problems: Hume, Patrick Dare, September 5, 2009
- Senseless waste, Gary Cross, letter to the editor, September 5, 2009
- Time for a clean sweep at City Hall, Randall Denley, September 6, 2009

First the Kanata flooding issue; it is clear that the City’s initial response was inadequate and no long-term solution appears to be in the works. How could it be, this being the third such occurrence over many years? This is why I was astounded by Planning and Environment Committee’s inability, at the previous week’s meeting, to come up with a clear recommendation to put further developments along the Carp River on hold pending a long-term solution to the problem being put in place.

Chair of the committee, Councillor Peter Hume, missed an opportunity to demonstrate some leadership on this issue by failing to take-to-task some committee members for their negative response to Councillor Peggy Feltmate’s motion to put development on hold. Instead he claims that solutions are on the way, sitting on the fence as he often does. Long-term, “concrete” solutions require extensive planning and preparation by City staff not city council.

It was also disappointing that City solicitor, Rick O’Connor focused on the issue of liability surrounding the flooding problem. While it’s his responsibility to help protect the City from legal claims, surely he could have made note of the City’s ethical liability on this issue. The first step is to ensure that residents (tax payers) are taken care of. A lot of money will have to be invested whether the City is legally liable or not!

Discussions on the Lansdowne Live stadium proposal were equally frustrating. It is still difficult to understand how council came to vote to negotiate this unsolicited bid. Apart from the irresponsible decision to consider such a high value proposal without soliciting bids from others, the business case for restoring the Frank Claire has never been proven. As Gary Cross states in his letter-to-the-editor, “…Ottawa has not been able to sustain a CFL franchise. Nothing currently indicates otherwise. MLS franchises have already been awarded or promised to other cities, leaving Ottawa out of the picture….”

This is another issue over which Councillor Hume is proving to be a fence sitter. Until recently he has shown support for Councillor Clive Doucet’s concept for a design competition. However, he is now showing interest in aspects of the Lansdowne Live. Could this have anything to do with the fact that several members of the Lansdowne Live team have provided financial support for Hume’s campaigns in past elections?