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Former Mayor Larry Di Ianni and Mr. Ecklund's daughter Erika
ARCHIVED POSTS:
- The Affordable Connaught: Lessons Learned (September 21, 2009)
- Do Canadians Want A Federal Election? (September 17, 2009)
- Amalgamation Revisited (September 14, 2009)
- Whither or Should that be Wither the Connaught? (September 11, 2009)
- Hamilton- a City of Philanthropists (September 8, 2009)
- Who is Canada's Political Lion(August 31, 2009)
- Bloggers Beware: you are not as invisible as you think!(August 28, 2009)
- Redeemer College University: A Deserving Member of Hamilton’s Education City (August 24, 2009)
- What's New About the NDP? (August 19, 2009)
- Is Neighbourhood Planning the Art of the Possible?(August 12, 2009)
- Integrity Commissioner’s First Investigation: Much Ado About Nothing (August 10, 2009)
- Et Tu Hamilton? Did our city just throw Balsillie’s hopes under a bus?(August 5, 2009)
- A Fine Finesse or a Fine Mess? The Opening of the Financial Floodgates (July 31, 2009)
- The Politics of Floods (July 28, 2009)
- Sundry Summer Thoughts, 2009 (July 23, 2009)
- James Street Revitilization and Rev. Ron Burridge (July 21, 2009)
- A Review of My New Year’s Predictions (July 13, 2009)
- Transformers in Winona: Revenge of the Changelings (July 10, 2009)
- The Virtues of Tax Increases (Or Not!) (July 9, 2009)
- Council’s Plan for Future Development (July 2, 2009)
- Hamilton's Self-Esteem (June 26, 2009)
- Da Rally, Da Media and Di Manno (June 22, 2009)
- Balsillie Has Done the Heavy Lifting; It is Now Time for Hamilton to Act (June 15, 2009)
- Mady Development in Winona (June 5, 2009)
- NDP Impotence is Costing Hamilton Federal Support (June 2, 2009)
- Metrolinx Appoints New Board (May 29, 2009)
- Accountability and Transparency Committee Misses the Mark (May 27, 2009)
- Mourning Randy Steele (May 25, 2009)
- Success at Hess Village? (May 22, 2009)
- Boosterism or Realism: these should not be the options for the City of Hamilton! (May 20, 2009)
- Council's Role and
the NHL (May 14, 2009)
- Sundry Spring Thoughts
(May 8, 2009)
- Is the City of Burlington
Hamilton's Friend or Rival? (May 5, 2009)
- The Church of the Universe
and Hamilton Politics (April 29, 2009)
- Pandemic Response:
Is Hamilton Ready? (April 27, 2009)
- Ambassador Robert Fowler’s
Hamilton Connection (April 23, 2009)
- Healthcare and Hamilton
Politics (April 21, 2009)
- Administrative Changes
Continue in Hamilton (April 17, 2009)
- Devastating Earthquake
in Central Italy (April 13, 2009)
- Waste Management and
the City Budget (April 7, 2009)
- GoTransit and Metrolinx
Merger: Benefits and Implications (April 1, 2009)
- Ontario’s Budget:
A Risky Proposition or a Sure Thing? (March 30, 2009)
- Environment Hamilton:
Methinks the group doth protest too much? (March 26, 2009)
- Term Limits: Pros and
Cons (March 23, 2009)
- Tim Hudak: Leader in
Waiting? (March 18, 2009)
- The Winds of Change
(March 9, 2009)
- Planning Matters: An
Interesting Planning Committee Discussion (March 6, 2009)
- Mourning The Steel
Company of Canada (March 4, 2009)
- Marketing Our City:
Tourism Hamilton’s Excellent Adventure (March 3, 2009)
- Media Crisis Hits Hamilton
Hard (February 27, 2009)
- King of NIMBY Fights
City Hall (February 23, 2009)
- Impoverishing the Future
(February 20, 2009)
- Of Roasts and Toasts
And Politics And Such (February 17, 2009)
- Pan-Am Games: Should
Hamilton Participate? (February 12, 2009)
- Governing in Tough
Economic Times (February 9, 2009)
- Winter Blahs and Wow
Factors (February 4, 2009)
- Municipal Service Centers:
Unifying the City has a cost (February 2, 2009)
- The Federal Budget
Deserves Support (January 28, 2009)
- NDP Hypocrisy Hurts
50,000 York U Students (January 26, 2009)
- Appearances Can Be
Deceiving: the Case for the Elfrida Node (January 22, 2009)
- "Events, Dear
Boy, Events" (January 19, 2009)
- The Burdens of Office
(January 13, 2009)
- Federal NDP Caucus
Lets Hamilton Down (January 12, 2009)
- The South Pole and
Anti-Business: A Relationship? (January 9, 2009)
- Hamilton's Future Fund:
A Success Story (January 7, 2009)
- Forecasts for the Year
2009 (January 2, 2009)
- New Year's Resolutions
for Local and World Leaders (December 30, 2008)
- NDP Convention May
be a Barn-burner! (December 26, 2008)
- Peak Oil and Airport
Lands Development in the City of Hamilton (December 23, 2008)
- A Christmas Story
(December 19, 2008)
- Hamilton Economic Summit
and Hamiltonians For Progressive Development: A Tale of Two Approaches
To Hamilton's Economic Future (December 17, 2008)
- Hamilton Mourns
Chester Waxman (December 15, 2008)
- The Politics of
Division At City Hall (December 12, 2008)
- Sundry Thoughts: On
Local, Provincial and Federal Issues (December 10,
2008)
- The Recurring City
Hall Debate: And It's Not Even Ground Hog Day Yet! (December
8, 2008)
- On The Precipice (December
5, 2008)
- How to Slay the Budget
Dragon in the City of Hamilton (December 2, 2008)
- Ottawa's Constitutional
Crisis May Be Good News For Hamilton (December 1, 2008)
- It is Time to Consider
Changes to How Council Meetings are Chaired (November
27, 2008)
- It's The
Economy, Stupid (November 24, 2008)
- From Business
to Drive-Thrus: Everything is Connected (November
17, 2008)
- Hamilton
and the N.H.L: An Impossible Dream? (November
13, 2008)
- The Role
of Media in the City of Hamilton (November
10, 2008) UPDATED NOVEMBER 18 2008
- Leadership
Politics at the Municipal, Provincial and Federal Levels
(November 5, 2008)
- The City Hall Dilemma
(November 4, 2008)
- Ward Boundaries
Revisited (October 30, 2008)
- Should the Province
Bail Out Hamilton? Again? (October 23, 2008)
- Post Election
Analysis (October 22, 2008)
- A $48M Dollar
Bonanza For Hamilton (August 29, 2008)
- Branding the
City of Hamilton (August 21, 2008)
- The Area Rating
Debate (part 2) (August 14, 2008)
- Harmony or
Fairness: The 'Area Rating' debate (Part One) (August
8, 2008)
- The Royal Connaught:
Crucial to Downtown Redevelopment (August 1, 2008)
- Hamilton Politics
and the Dark Side of the Internet (July 22, 2008)
- Oily Politics
in the City of Hamilton (July 7, 2008)
- The Lister
Re-Born? (July 2, 2008)
- Council Moves
Hamilton Towards the Future (June 25, 2008)
- Soccer Fever
As a Canadian Metaphor (June 23, 2008)
- Tolling roads
in Ontario (June 18, 2008)
- Who Will Lead
Downtown Renewal? (June 11, 2008)
- The Scourge
of Cancer Among Us (June 4, 2008)
- Hamilton's
Downtown Renewal (May 30, 2008)
- A Rapid Transit
System for Hamilton (May 20, 2008)
- Hamilton's
Economic Summit 2 (May 13, 2008)
- Hamilton's
Economic Summit (May 5, 2008)
- The Flamborough
Slot Revenue Debate (April 24, 2008)
- The Caledonia
Dispute Reaches Hamilton (April 21, 2008)
- The Sad Saga
of Lost Opportunities: How We Lost the Maple Leaf Pork Processing
Plant (April 17, 2008)
- Hovercraft
Services For Hamilton? (April 9, 2008)
- VIA Rail Part
2: We've Been Fooled Again! (April 3, 2008)
- VIA Rail: Easy
Come, Easy GO!!! (March 31, 2008)
- Who Should
Be Hamilton's Next City Manager (March 25, 2008)
- How Elusive
is Council Consensus? (March 17, 2008)
- Glen Peace:
A Man of Integrity (March 5, 2008)
- Sundry Winter
Reflections (February 28, 2008)
- A Day and An
Eternity: On Leaving the City for a Week (February
6, 2008)
- An Integrity
Commissioner and Integrity: Both Are Needed (February
6, 2008)
- The Amalgamation
Demon Raises Its Uncomfortable Head (February 1,
2008)
- The Groundhog
Day Debate: What to do about City Hall (January
25, 2008)
- Hamilton Mourns
Conrad Furey (January 24, 2008)
- For Whom the
Bell Tolls: Should the Red Hill Valley Parkway be Tolled?
(January 17, 2008)
- The Lister
Saga Continues (January 8, 2008)
- Out with the
Old, in with the New (December 31, 2007)
- Sprawl: Myth
and Reality (December 18, 2007)
- Towards Sustainable
Transportation (December 13, 2007)
- Assessment Growth and
Job Creation (December 7, 2007)
- On Transit, Bag Limits
and the Running of City Meetings (December 1 , 2007)
- The Importance of Public
Transit (November 28, 2007)
- Some Pre-Christmas
Thoughts (November 26, 2007)
- Airport Employment
Growth District (November 15 , 2007)
- The Red Hill
Parkway (November 5 , 2007)
- The Value of Mission
Statements: the Impossible Dream or Doable Objectives?
(November 2 , 2007)
- The Toronto
Act, More Taxes and the City of Hamilton (October 30, 2007)
- Council Looking
to Increase the Size of Council (October 23, 2007)
- Ontario's Election:
An analysis of the Local Reaction (October 16, 2007)
- A New Stadium for
the City of Hamilton? (October 7, 2007)
- The Mid Peninsula
Corridor and the City of Hamilton (September 27,
2007)
- The Carpenter's
Union And the City of Hamilton (September 21, 2007)
- Provincial
Election: The Local Scene (September 17, 2007)
- Provincial
Election: Some Early Observations (September 12,
2007)
- Philanthropy
is Changing the Face of Capitalism (September 10,
2007)
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LARRY'S CORNER- Hamilton's Former Mayor Speaks
Boosterism or Realism: these should not be the options for the City of Hamilton!
By Larry Di Ianni
(posted May 20, 2009)
Especially because I had seen too many pretty pictures on the pages of the local newspaper lauding this or that project which never did materialize for the city, I determined as Mayor that I would have none of that. In fact I eschewed a number of high profile projects pitched to me that I just didn’t think had any chance of succeeding. It was my job, I figured, to be supportive, but not blindly so. As a case in point, I recall an earlier incarnation of the Lister Block when we were first elected to the newly amalgamated city of Hamilton. A pretty picture was circulating sponsored by LIUNA and a well known hotel interest that had a ‘signature’ Kitling Ridge hotel in Grimsby. Council turned the project down. It didn’t seem to be realistic. I recall a local reporter from a weekly newspaper writing a story, marvelling that LIUNA was turned down by the same Councillors who had received election contributions, me included, from the union. It didn’t matter! The project wasn’t deserving of support, regardless of the contributions made. It wasn’t more than a month or so later that the hotel interest from Grimsby had financial problems and lost its property in that town. Council’s decision was vindicated. The decision reinforced in me the notion that a pretty picture does NOT a solid business plan make.
Council is always torn between supporting projects that signal a turnaround for our city’s downtown. The caveat being that projects be realistic. Now that I have been in the private sector, I have learned the lesson of solid business planning from this new perspective. And it is with this context that I am waiting with bated breath the outcome of the court proceedings in Phoenix, Arizona related to an NHL opportunity for the city of Hamilton. The legal manoeuvres are almost as interesting as a hockey game in the Stanley Cup finals.
Of interest also are the reactions, in print and in conversation, of Hamiltonians to the prospect of an NHL team in this city. The naysayer element has been out in full force. So has the blind booster. I have written several accounts of the prospect for Hamilton and have also been criticized by the local paper’s intrepid reporter Nicole MacIntyre, first for talking about my conversations with Jim Balsillie and then for bemoaning the lack of coherent messaging coming from the paper. But others have chimed in with their HallMarks comments:
Mark Allan has stated that “Pigs will fly before an NHL team comes to Hamilton”; the always-solid Cal states the obvious in saying: “I think there are forces at play that far exceed any influence anyone locally can bring.”; the ever-acerbic Ed is most pejorative comparing the city and its fans to a whimpering canine, “We’re acting like a bunch of hillbilly dogs, people taunting us with a bone and we don’t even have enough class to stop begging for it.” ; I’m not sure what the word-playful Gregory D. is trying to say, but it sounds clever, “Mr. Di Ianni's observation was merely an ex-press-on at par with the disparaging colours of his moody ring but I don't think he called the Speculator a blackened kettle of rank ink.”; and Alison G. who disagrees with me even when she agrees with me goes off on a Spectator-hating tangent by asserting, “The Spectator does not practice balanced journalism, by (sic) rather the worst form of journalism, yellow journalism.”
In private conversations I have been asked my opinion on Hamilton’s chances. My response is consistent. We have a facility; we have the market; we have an interested billionaire; we have a willing Council; we have a sports tradition; we have a willing provincial government. We have everything but Gary Bettman’s support. So, while not wanting to bet the farm on the deal going through, I have been excitedly supportive. Is this boosterism? Is it blind hope? Is it the equivalent of a ‘Hail Mary’ pass? I don’t think so. It is looking realistically at the ledger and coming to a reasonably safe and sane conclusion about our chances.
However, what is more telling than perhaps being more optimistic than I should be is the culture of despair about our city. Why is it easier for pigs to fly than for us to aspire to world-class status? Why are we ‘begging’ like a dog if we pursue an opportunity even if it was dropped on our laps? Why succumb to the gloom and doom that those who are only happy in unhappiness subscribe to? We need to dream and we need to reach. And we need to implement wisely to achieve what we can while striving ever-higher.
Hamilton as the ‘Waterfall Capital of the World’? Why
not? Light rail? Why not? Elimination of poverty? Why not? A vibrant
downtown? Why not? A loyal Flamborough? Well, I said we need to
strive and reach!
BACK TO LARRY'S CORNER
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