A war of words has broken out on social media between two outspoken public figures in Sudbury.
Laurentian University economics professor David Robinson and Ward 5 Coun. Robert Kirwan have been sparring over the location of the proposed arena/events centre.
Robinson, who has run for office in the past for the Green Party, says downtown is clearly the best choice, while Kirwan has been vocal about his support for The Kingsway.
Councillors will decide Tuesday in what is expected to be a close vote. In the meantime, Kirwan and Robinson have been taking turns in responding to one another in Facebook posts.
Robinson accused Kirwan and other city councillors in support of The Kingsway as not being able to “do basic accounting.”
“This note might seem like a personal attack,” he writes, insisting that it wasn't. “I am going to explain how one of our most prominent and committed councillors is out to lunch about the event centre.”
Kirwan griped in a post that he resents having to respond to Robinson's “drivel,” someone who demonstrates “all of the entitlement characteristics of a university professor who has never had to work a day in his life.
“Surely to God this man doesn't have the audacity to think that I am going to allow a washed up dinosaur of an entitled professor like Dr. David Robinson attack my credibility from his ivory tower at Laurentian University," Kirwan wrote.
For his part, Robinson 'grades' Kirwan's arguments in favour of The Kingsway, point by point, and not surprisingly finds them lacking.
And he mused about why so many in the city are hostile to downtown.
“The city's soul is divided in some complex way, and the challenges that come with being of the largest city in the province with one of the smallest populations seem to have generated deep resentments, especially in the the rural/suburban parts of the city,” Robinson writes.
“Going back to Coun. Kirwan, for example, who represents a rural ward, it is not really surprising that he doesn't support the city master plan with its emphasis on rejuvenating the downtown. Nor is (it) surprising that, when he pushes those anti-core buttons, many people in his Facebook group take up the anti-downtown cry.”
Anyone who wants to follow the full discussion can find Kirwan's page here and Robinson's page here. The arena report can be found here.
A consultant's report headed up by Ron Bidulka of PriceWaterhouseCoopers was expected to end the debate over where the $80 million to $100 million centre should go, but the report's conclusions have given each side ammunition.
The report concluded both projects are viable, but gave the edge to downtown because it doesn't require a rezoning and the economic benefits are more certain.
While The Kingsway site came ahead in two of the criteria council considered most important – parking and cost – the differences in costs were small, and the report said there is enough parking downtown, although it may not be in areas the public considers convenient.
Sudbury.com will carry Tuesday's city council meeting live and will offer coverage during and after the decision.
