Elections
Should we spend the Future Fund to build a Pan Am / Ticat stadium on the CP Rail Yard lands? Why or why not?
Responses to the question: "Should we spend the Future Fund to build a Pan Am / Ticat stadium on the CP Rail Yard lands? Why or why not?"
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14 Candidate Responses (top)
| Ward 02 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Brief Response | Full Response |
| Caplan, Marvin | No | NO! In case I wasn't clear, NO! The future fund was designed to be self-replenishing. Any investment of Capital was to have a return to replenish the fund. Ward 2 has 44% of some neighbourhoods living below the poverty line. Hamilton has almost one in four children living below the poverty line. Our water and waste water infrastructure is not being repaired quickly enough. At least the Romans had bread and circuses, not just circuses. Investing public money so that the Tiger-Cats don't lose money is a non-starter. It's offside, it's unnecessary roughness on the taxpayer, it's too many dollars on the field. |
| Casey, Paul | No | Any use of the Future Funds (or, more to the point, the interest from the Future Fund Pricipal) must go to projects, uses and causes that will have the greatest public and accessible benefit to ALL the citizens: parks and recreation, clean air, clean water, restoring pride and livability to areas hardest hit buy our current economic situation. |
| Castle, John | Maybe | If it ever gets built, again, I would like to see further analysis of cost/benefits. Perhaps the site could also be considered for residental purposes, light industry? |
| Deans, Ian | No | The Future Fund was intended to assist people who are building and developing the operation of the city. Developing a stadium is not what it was intended for. The money was generated by the sale, ill advised I might add, of Hamilton Hydro and if they had put a proposal to everyone at the time that was done, to build a stadium down in the flats, I very much doubt it would have received approval. This may be a good spot to raise an issue with you - will you support a proposal by me to require that on all major undertakings, before the question comes to council will you require that a financial plan including sources of capital be put before council? |
| Farr, Jason | Yes | YES - Cats employe over 350 in downtown Hamilton - over 50 live downtown - do NOT want to loose 141 years of football (beloved across the nation are or Cats) or the chance at a stadium for one thrird the cost - Do yoou want it to be built (with our Prov and Fed. tax dollars in some other community?) |
| Geleynse, Martinus | No | The money from our Future Fund should be spent more directly for the benefit of all Hamiltonians. Furthermore, the fund is not meant to be depleted, but rather self-sustaining. For the City to grant our Future Fund dollars to a sports stadium on land that should be used for expansion of living-wage employment lands is a waste. It's simply a bad investment, that we cannot afford. |
| Gentile, Matteo | No | The stadium needs to be built on lands that we already own. What leverage do we have to negotiate with CP to buy that land? None. And none of the numbers being thrown around includes the purchase of these lands. It is terrible this council has fumbled this for so long. The new council can get on this quickly. We do have 4 years to build this. First, we need to ensure we have an agreement in principle with all parties to satisfy HOSTCO ensuring we get the games and the funding for A stadium. All HOSTCO really wants to see is that the city and the legacy tenant (Ticats) will work together and agree to list of sites. We can quickly and effectively evaluate ALL sites that meet the following criteria:
a. City owned property b. Highway access c. Current Brownfield or underutilized green space d. Able to fit a minimum 25,000 seat stadium with adequate parking for that size stadium e. Tiger Cat approval This time we can get it right by following process and due diligence. |
| Hess, Erik | Yes | The future fund is a one time legacy fund that needs very careful consideration. What value does this bring to our community, long term? We do not know the final costs. That is very disconcerting. A decision cannot be made without that knowledge. What value to the downtown does this stadium bring? We need many questions answered, and at this time I would not spend this fund on the stadium. |
| Ielasi, Pat | No | NO NEW STADIUM is needed and still can have a SUCESSFULL Pan Am Games.
* We can still host the Pan Am Games, showcase the city, and make it profitable for many businesses at the same time, without a new stadium, a stadium that is not affordable to build or to maintain. We can ill afford this massive capital expenditure. PROPOSAL AND BENEFITS - If we host the games at the Ron Joyce Stadium at McMaster University, we can house the athletes at the residence. - We can have different events throughout the city during the games i.e. festivals, art exhibits, scattered throughout our city, provide tours of the waterfalls in our city, and provide free shuttle services to each of the destinations, this would benefit McMaster University, and many Businesses that wish to participate at the festivals, at the same time as showcasing the diverse culture, talented local artists and musicians and beautiful city we have. What do we do with Ivor Wynn Stadium? * First we sit and talk to Bob Young and find out if he is committed to staying in Hamilton.... If he is then: - We apply to make Ivor Wynn Stadium a historic land site..... In doing so we would be eligible to receive funding from higher levels of government to aid in the cost to repair the stadium. - If Mr. Young is not interested in playing at Ivor Wynn Stadium he can purchase land at his expense and build a stadium at a location suitable to him.... - In which case Ivory Wynn Stadium should be sold, and that land could be developed to bring in much needed property tax revenue. * Money can better be spent on programs that service our elderly such as seniors for seniors, meals on wheels, community living, Freedom House, children with challenges , and poverty and well as other Capital Projects such as fixing the sewer system that is in desperate need of repair. |
| Janjic, Ned | No | Council is now looking at the CP Rail Yard lands and current members have extended the process another two months, pending departmental reports. I cannot offer an informed opinion on the location until these reports have come in.
However, the Future Fund should not be touched for the construction of the Pan Am stadium. Originally, the Pan Am stadium was to be paid for by all levels of government in addition to private sector funding. If there is not sufficient funding by all parties, the city of Hamilton should review its commitment. Future Fund monies should be used for infrastructure repairs (6,000 homes flooding after each rainfall) and for the clean-up the industrial 'brownfields' to revitalize these lands. We cannot reasonably expect new companies to move into our city and assume responsibility for the clean-up of these brownfields when there are 'shovel ready' land available in other locations. |
| Jelly, Matt | No | There are much higher priorities for the City of Hamilton than a stadium. The Future Fund money must be used for these higher priorities including brownfield redevelopment, addressing the infrastructure deficit, investing in active transportation, and fixing the neighbourhoods that are flooding. It is shameful that we are considering using Future Fund money for the stadium when residents are continually bailing out their basements and when we are seeing areas of the City flood for the first time, as we did last week. Our priorities must be health and safety of homes and residents, quality of life, and a prosperous Hamilton. |
| Lescaudron, Dawn | No | No. We should not be robbing the future fund to build a stadium. There are far more pressing issues that this money can be spent on i.e. - affordable housing, senior and youth recreation etc. Why do we entertain this when we have children going hungry? Where are the priorities?
|
| Novak, James | Yes | I will support a stadium on a couple of conditions. The major condition concerns the taxpayers investment. Currently we are told there is a shortfall in the financing of of $53 million or about 1/3 of the total estimated cost. Based on these numbers, and I understand they are constantly changing, like the location, I would insist that at least $70 million of the cost be paid to resident labour. At least we would be guaranteed the benefit of investing in Hamilton citizens who spend their wages in our community. |
| Pipe, Charlie | No | The legacy the Pan Am games will leave is one of tremendous debt for our city. Enough money has been wasted exploring the options for a stadium we don't need. My stadium has always been Ivor Wynne. Any money needed to update Ivor Wynne Stadium should be raised privately. The Future Fund should be spent on improving city infrastructure. How many more homes need to be flooded in this city? |
Response Summary (top)
| Brief Response | Count | % of Total |
|---|---|---|
| Yes | 3 | 21.4% |
| No | 10 | 71.4% |
| Maybe | 1 | 7.1% |
5 Candidates Have Not Responded (top)
| Ward 02 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Chiarelli, Diane | ||
| Coleman, Shane | ||
| Ferguson, Lloyd | ||
| Jones, Hoojung | ||
| Wright, Kevin | ||
