Ward 11 candidate Kevin Lalonde says, while he's concerned about all the spending on the big projects, he believes there are ways to move forward while scaling back the city's plans.
“I would still today be willing to add $100 million to that tote board for the (Kingsway Entertainment District), especially knowing and understanding how the debt will be financed and repaid,” Lalonde wrote in a letter. “There are very little hurdles for the KED to face any more. Voting in a pro KED majority council assures this.”
The next council has to focus on the Junction, he writes, the plan to build a new art gallery, library and convention centre downtown in the site of the current arena.
“The new term of council will have the responsibility still to decide whether this is feasible or not and I don't think council should in any way be considering this project as a consolation prize for the downtown losing the arena,” Lalonde writes.
“At the very least in the new term of council, the project should be cut back to a $60 million proposal with open debate and discussion on whether or not the other $70 million is even needed.
“The KED is going to be two years in the making before this can even take off the ground, so there is still lots of time to debate this.”
Full text of Kevin Lalonde's letter:
As an avid watcher of agendas online, I watch council meetings regularly.
When watching them, I am always asking myself "how much?"
How much is it costing us for a business case or study? How much is going to cost us for this to be brought back for a consultant to review?
Sometimes I think that council chambers should have a big LED sign above the mayor's seat, keeping a tally of what gets spent at just one meeting and then over a year of meetings and then the current term tally to date.
Maybe then a little more caution would be taken into consideration if councillors can see, fiscally, what their decisions are costing the taxpayer in real time.
With that being said, I would still today be willing to add $100 million to that tote board for the KED, especially knowing and understanding how the debt will be financed and repaid. There are very little hurdles for the KED to face any more. Voting in a pro KED majority council assures this.
It now falls upon council to focus to other areas of concern. I am not so eager to add $130 million to the downtown projects or Junction. The new term of council will have the responsibility still to decide whether this is feasible or not and I don't think council should in any way be considering this project as a consolation prize for the downtown losing the arena. There is considerable interest in this project yes. But what should the project look like?
In my opinion, an incorporation under one roof of an art gallery yes, a library, OK, yes, even though I think this may be the last one we ever build lets not get too elaborate. History museum and local sports museum? Yes please. A performing arts/convention Synergy centre? Well, lets talk about saving ourselves $70 million please.
Needed? Not really. We have Place des arts, STC, Yes Theatre, Sudbury symphony all scattered through out the downtown, all the way to the Fraser Auditorium. Most of them are having trouble making a go of it on their own. If they are not willing to consider coming under one roof and working together to save themselves and taxpayers operational costs.
Then we might as well eliminate the arts use of the synergy centre and, with that, just leaving the convention use of the synergy centre, lets eliminate that to and leave it to private industry to determine if there is a market for convention centres in Sudbury.
At the very least in the new term of council, the project should be cut back to a $60 million proposal with open debate and discussion on whether or not the other $70 million is even needed. The KED is going to be two years in the making before this can even take off the ground, so there is still lots of time to debate this.
Kevin Lalonde
