Former Mayor Larry Di Ianni and Mr. Ecklund's daughter Erika

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LARRY'S CORNER- Hamilton's Former Mayor Speaks

former Mayor of Hamilton, Larry Di IanniBoosterism 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!

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