This is not a list we want to be on

Guelph has made the Macleans list of "99 stupid things the government did with your money" in 2012.

Twice.

Paying integrity commish Robert Swayze $10,500 to investigate comments made by councillors to yours truly landed the city at #47 on the list.

Handing former footballer Terry Bradshaw $24,000 to record a five-minute infomercial saw us -- along with three other small cities so "honoured" -- claim the #26 spot on Macleans' list.

We'll have more in tomorrow's paper.

Find the full list, in three parts, here.

Comments

[T.J.]

I bet without much thought we could easily come up with our own list of "99 stupid things Council did with our money".

My number 1 would be 5+million dollars on plastic garbage cans and the trucks with cameras to pick them up. We must be the only city in North America with cameras watching our household garbage be loaded into trucks! Maybe Terry Bradshaw will narrate the infomercial on the benefits of policing garbage.

Number 2 would be any money spent on consultants with the sole purpose of having the consultant arrive at the conclusion City Hall has already deemed they are to arrive at.

I could go on and on but I hope somebody else will add to the list, who knows maybe the Mercury will publish our list if it gets to 99.

[Craig Chamberlain]

Fantastic idea, T.J. -- Perhaps rank and file staff with the City, and suppliers, etc. would be able to quickly generate a list of things that we don't even know about. (And likely never will.)

As for what we do know, the lack of oversight regarding the City's legal expenses across departments belongs on our list of 99.

[Scott Tracey]

Just spoke to Guthrie. He added the conservation calendar and green bin "squeeze toys"

[Craig Chamberlain]

Ha! I was reminded of that when I read the Maclean's article. What is it with decisions to spend public money on squeeze toys?

Guelph's version, a green bin squeeze toy, sold at "cost recovery" for about $3. Next stop: landfill. No one was minding the optics, or the waste, with that one.

Then there are the costs of fighting with those we should be collaborating with -- e.g. $4.2 M settlement to County of Wellington regarding Wellington Terrace Long Term Care home costs...

[Craig Chamberlain]

... what legal and other costs are associated with all of that,including more intangible costs as damage to our corporate reputation?

[Gord]

I CAN'T BELEIVE IT! How come we didn"t make the TOP TEN? Maybe Macleans only knows half the money that was thrown away needlessly. Oh well, thats where our tax dollars go.

[geo]

Wow a publication other then the Merc or the Trib investigating Guelph City Hall. I guess we can only hope.

[Rocket Gal]

A big waste of both time and money was the city fighting the health unit over its new consolidated premises. The city should have received better advice because fighting this fight was not supported in provincial statute.

[Craig Chamberlain]

Rocket Gal, yes, we should expect to be treated differently from other municipalities, even larger ones... because? Because?? Because it doesn't fit with political ambitions and empire-building at One Carden? Queen's Park reminded us that push come to shove, it doesn't care about that. Btw, it was interesting that Maclean's considers us as a "town", which I doubt is a view shared by those at City Hall who would have you accept that local government is now too complicated for you to understand anyways.

[Steve]

On that, Maclean's is wrong, we're a city. And it looks like the list isn't ranked, so the placement numbers are meaningless.

We did get two mentions, though, which should be a wake up call for some folks down at city hall.

[T.J.]

I just thought of another one - a splash pad/skating rink at City Hall that works against sustaining downtown businesses because users take up all the parking spaces downtown shoppers would like to access.

[Natwork]

Those new 17+ positions which got sanctioned last budget do qualify too. We have done without them, we could have done without them.

[rebelrider]

I would also add spending millions buying the buildings on the main street so we could evict the tennants, board them up so visitors can see such a wonderful downtown and then turn it into a parking lot which brings in less then the property taxes they were collecting before.

[Angela]

@TJ I get mighty tired of the no parking spaces to visit businesses line. I have visited those businesses far more since the splash pad/rink went in and can say the same for many of my friends and family. In my opinion, there's just not much on Carden Street that calls to the masses. There's plenty of downtown parking during the day (not so much during a Storm Game eve or sold out River Run show) so there really is no excuse for people to not visit their favourite Wilson Street or Carden Street stores.

[Craig Chamberlain]

Angela, I suppose if the splash pad and rink are such a magnet for businesses downtown, then... the question is, why after surviving the worst of it so far why are businesses closing?

[Steve]

My guess is their niche, specialized, and overpriced product offerings. I know I've never felt the need to buy anything from those stores and I shop on Carden St. quite often (and never have a problem finding parking).

[Craig Chamberlain]

Steve, OK... it is a limited market, but once more then, if the splash pad/ rink is such a magnet, bringing in numbers that were previously not part of that market, then why are there vacancies? Are would-be merchants lining up to get on some waiting list with landlords to rent there? Doesn't appear so, though I haven't been down that way since before the holidays.

All I'm saying is what's happening on the ground in terms of the numbers apparently being attracted to that feature doesn't seem to be translating into more dollars in the till, or in less vacant days when a merchant closes shop, so yes, for the times when parking is an issue along that strip because of that feature, of course it would be frustrating for patrons and merchants alike.

The feature belonged in Royal City Park, premium parking for merchants and for those conducting business at City Hall belonged in a lot in front of 1 Carden. It goes to having reasonable expectations.

[Jennifer]

Our Mayor, in response to the Maclean's article, made a remark to the Mercury about municipalities needing to "distinguish" themselves. Well done Mayor Farbridge; we now have the honourable distinction of looking foolish on the list not once, but twice!

[geo]

If your not a football fan and your not sure who Terry Bradshaw is have a look at the Fox TV NFL pre-game show. (Sundays at noon) He's the bald guy with the goofy looking grin on his face. Maybe then it will become clearer why Guelph made Macleans list for using his services.
When Her Royal Highness was asked to comment on the Bradshaw fiasco she said there was some misinformation about how the Bradshaw video came about. That's bureaucrateese for I lied through my teeth.

[jenner]

Mr. Matthew Wozenilek's fight for an accessible downtown has lead to much discussion amongst my family. We are a family that have a few members that have physical challenges and when in need of help, we ask for it. We don't feel belittled or feel the need to obtain compensation. Mr. Wozenilek's approach to demanding businesses to revamp their doorways or face financial prosecution really brings his overall motives into question. Why is he not taking the historical building committee to task? Some of these downtown businesses are in a real "catch 22" and are afraid to see Mr. Wozenilek roll downtown and try their doors. If Wozenilek succeeds with his campaign like he did in 2010, he is going to gain a decent salary from it. There is a fine line between advocating, common sense, historical building codes,
the disability act, and what can be considered greed and extortion. If you are a true advocate Mr. Wozenilek you would donate your money to a charity that supports the disabled!

[jenner]

My apologies for posting the above in the wrong section..

[Lucky]

That post above was a bit confusing Jenner.

Carden street business are not struggling because of a city hall rink or parking. The reason is a lack of a viable customer base. Not enough people live and work downtown. It is great to have a city plan, but there needs to be development now, not 10 years from now.

[Craig Chamberlain]

Lucky -- I agree regarding the game-changer being in new residential development. But to end this shellgame about the intended outcome of downtown revitalization, can we also agree that they weren't struggling for a lack of a rink, they aren't struggling for a lack of a library being moved two blocks? And yes, the impact of all of the work and that public money did set them back? That yes, there are reasonable limits to what pressures can be placed on that market, as it is today/has been in the recent past?

[anon]

My guess is that these Carden businesses are closing because of a lack of customer base. They struggled before the rink. The rink is good it brings people downtown and its great for the kids, maybe there was a better location but to say its putting these guys out of business to me is a stretch. If anything it may have sped up their demise which isn't a bad thing if more appropriate businesses fill the void like an ice cream shop for example...I bet it would rake in tonnes of coin the summer

[Craig Chamberlain]

And Beaver Tails. (Good to have for the US Presidential visits.)

[G]

The businesses that failed on Carden St deserved to fail, they didn't sell anything I(or anyone else) wanted. Go on all you want about parking, construction etc, if your store sucks, it sucks! Stop whining. There are lots of people going downtown because of the ice rink, if you can't capitalize on that you don't know how to run a business.

[Craig Chamberlain]

G, "yes", the "but" in that is... how many of the patrons of that "free" feature come and go from it with no intention of spending any money at the businesses there?

That feature was/is mostly about promoting City Hall, the work associated with building it having mostly impacted the merchants.

You can't keep people away from a market like that, that long without destabilizing it. And that can include closures if the businesses have to pack it in.

I don't disagree with you that a business has to offer something the market will want, that they need a sound business model, but our downtown merchants are too often the easiest target when it comes to assigning blame when they fail, and are no doubt they are the first to blame themselves as well, which goes to the injustice of it.

There needs to be balance, and as I said before, there needs to be realistic expectations on the pressures you can put on a market, any market.

And City Hall missed that. Not rocket science as to what happened.

Any substantial pick-up in the core will be related to the condos, but it will take time.

[geo]

No matter how much of our money this administration spends on the Downtown things never improve.
It's time for them to get out of the way.

[geo]

As well is anyone else curious about whose interests City Hall is trying to protect by handing all this money to such a small area of the City?

[Steve]

I agree Craig, and the Carden St reconstruction project wasn't managed well which had a big impact on the businesses. I disagree about the rink/splash pad though. I don't think it's about promoting city hall at all. It's a great feature, well used, and it really provides a sense of community for families from all over the city. I think it's definitely on the list of things they got right. And that's not a big list, as you know.

[ernie]

Whether building the rink/splash pad is a good thing is one issue.

Where it was built is another.

It was not the wisest decision to put it right on Carden St because of the effect it has on business by cannibalizing all the available parking spaces. This is a self-evident fact.

Just one example off the top of my head: it would have been better to maybe build it right beside the River Run. There is the space there, and its right across from a new transit terminal and what will be a dense residential development. (not to mention it would've brought some needed attention to the RR Centre)

So yes, it does seem like someone was eager to promote city hall and their legacy--given the fact that there were options on *where* to build it.

[Laura]

businesses close all over the city for various reasons. None of the business outside of the downtown received any subsidies to spruce up their store fronts or activation grants to renovate their buildings - at least not from our municipal property taxes. Yet when a business closes downtown there seems to be great anguish by the city followed by a new round of grants and subsidies. The other tax payers in the city have subsidized the downtown for many years, Yet the only businesses that seem to be doing really well are the bars. Some of the bars have received city money too.
Yes! why not buy a bar, make money and wait until you can profit further down the road when you can get an activation grant to renovate your building for residential units or office space. A win win situation! Corporate welfare at its finest!

[geo]

Excellent letter in the Merc from Kat Larstone dated Jan. 15th.