The Mayor will be on The Bill Kelly Show @ 9:00 am for a complete hour with Rick Zamperin sitting in for Bill Kelly.
That's tomorrow morning (Friday) from 9:00 - 10:00
http://www.900chml.comas a teaser, Scott Thomson will have Mayor Fred on after 5:00 pm today ( 15 minutes from now)
[url=http://www.900chml.com]www.900chml.com[/url](I'll be listening carefully to see if he is still pounding away at the West Harbour site and ignoring the fact that there is supposed to be a facilitator coming on board..........that would be a huge "bad faith" move in my opinion)
Well, pretty much what I expected. Yes we are getting a facilitator and seeing what we can do to work with the Ti-Cats. I’m still reaffirming the position of City Council and our site choice, but at least now we are seeing what we can do to hash out the details of the potential sites. Come to this information session as to what the Pan Ams mean for the city and we’ll cross the velodrome hurtle when we come to it.
The Velodrome is one thing I think any site could do without. I really feel it would be best to locate it close to McMaster, as this form of cycling seems to really begin at the collegiate level, and moving the drome would add more parking availability.
Well, he was on for a quick update and he just couldn't resist getting his jab in that he is solidly behind the West Harbour but now is hiding behind the mantra that it was council's decision (the vote) and it's the will of the council......... In other words, blame them, not him.
I think the minute it was agreed to have a facilitator, both sides should have gone quiet on the issue for now so as not to agitate things........the Ticats did immediately, so why can't the Mayor just shut up and stop undermining the process. The Mayor has some serious self-control issues I think.
I believe that both sides ('Cats and Council) agreed to do just that.
The 'Cats appear to have kept their part of the agreement.
I'm starting to think this Fred guy has a screw loose. He commits public money for a mediator and than in the same breath tells the tax payers that he is entrenched in his position. Wow !
Moncton has a hockey team called The Wildcats... So Tiger-Cats might be a good fit...
Exactly !..and now Fred is going to be on CHML for a full hour in the morning (probably trying to continue to sell the West Harbour site to the public).
I too understood that things would wait until the mediator took over the talks so as to avoid both sides continuing to push their positions…I guess Fred sees it as an opportunity to speak uncontested…sighhhhhh :roll:
To be fair, he did say “This is our position at this time” on a generally positive note and said he is looking forward to discussing things with the cats and the mediator and generally put emphasis on the mediator. However, I’m sure everyone is hearing what they want to hear at this point anyways, myself included.
Hammer…is there something unclear about this?
“The city’s Pan Am spokesperson, David Adames, said the city and the Tiger-Cats have agreed not to comment on the stadium issue as they approach mediation.”
From Today’s Spectator:
http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/768558Seems rather simple to me…
Let’s see the site in does not work on many fronts for the velodrome but would work for the much larger stadium… This is getting coocoo crazy. Maybe Bob Young can buy a copy of the Cycling Hamilton bunch exhaustive study.
We've invested substantial human and financial capital and called on experts to develop a business plan for a successful velodrome for Hamilton," Iler said.That plan does not fit the west harbour site due to accessibility issues, a long-term position of the NCCH, he noted.
“West harbour met very few of our criteria set out after an exhaustive study.”
" It is important to know that the Pan Am HostCo has imposed a May 17 deadline for site verification and as a key partner, the City is required to meet that deadline. I assure you that we will meet that deadline."
Dear Fred, move the velodrome to Dundas like the cycle people want, use the space to put in parking and give the revenues to the Cats. Split the signage on a whoever signs it gets the bucks basis, sell the scoreboard Bob bought you seperately and use it to give the team two years rent free then sell the IWS lands and use that revenue to 'finace the gap' like the Deloitte report suggests. Find a way to NOT pay 40 city employees (only 40 full time) 1.47 million a year, like letting the Cats manage at least a portion of the stadium and you might come close to meeting that deadline. 
I'm sure there's a million reasons why all of the above won't work and I'm not exactly serious but the point is it's time to make some concessions if you want your "partners" happily on board and to work as a team to find a solution everyone can live with. Forcing people to do it your way won't work no matter how you spin it. I could be way off base but right now it's starting to look like you're about to be waist deep in fertilizer.
The Mayor is just saying “This is what we have said but we are working on it through the mediation” if you want to crucify the mayor for that and less then 10 seconds of radio time, on something he has already said and the entire city knows, after spending several minutes of talking about how they are moving forward on mediation and seeing what they can do to get it done and work things out and attempting to advertise the benefits of a public discussion on the subject of the stadium, not only the location but what the Pan-Ams and new stadium mean for the city, and explicating stating “Not even the location” as a focus for these discussions.
If that’s what you think is appropriate, then I don’t think any form of mediation is what you are seeking Deerhunter, but rather the city to write Bob a blank cheque for over 100 million.
Canuckle, I agree with you on that. Assuming it was located at the West Harbor, The Velodrome should be moved to a different site and in my opinion one within walking distance of McMaster to allow for additional parking, bringing the number to over 1200 spots for Bob to make money on.
… Or … QUICKSAND !
The mayor has chosen the wrong time to do radio interviews. Its impossible for him to not comment as the city and the Cats both agreed to. Wow, worse judgement than even I gave him credit for before. We gotta get rid of this clown this fall. In the meantime its important that the council puts him in his place when he is doing stupid stuff like this. If you are reading this Fred I suggest you cancel the gig on CHML tomorrow morning. Basically it puts you in a position of bargaining in bad faith
I must take deerhunter’s side on this issue. I heard the same broadcast and Eisenberger, as usual, was running off at the mouth.
Regarding the possibility of 1,200 parking spots at the Rheem site, you do understand, I presume, that that number
doesn’t even come close to the number actually required.
If you folks staunchly supporting the Rheem site don’t abandon the idea, we COULD possibly lose the best football
franchise in the country. This will be borne out by failure of that site to turn over a profit for Mr. Young.
In addition, we could be stuck with another white elephant to add to several already in the down town area.
Bob Young must be listened to. I only hope that a potential mediator is aware of the pitfalls at the West harbour front.
Personally, I don’t like the mediator idea. I like common sense and I haven’t seen much of that from our mayor or
councilors. With the reputation of the underhandedness and dirtiness of politics, how do we know that the mediator
won’t be bribed to see things one way or the other? Who selects this mediator? I hear they are paid similarly to lawyers.
Seems to me that this city is incapable of doing anything on its own and when it does, it finds a way to screw up.
A mediator is not an arbitrator. He cannot force either side to make a deal. All he can do is listen intently to both sides and make suggestions based on those conversations.
Hammer said:
"The Mayor is just saying "This is what we have said but we are working on it through the mediation"
That is not what he said........he said he was still committed to West Harbour.....nice try though
(an agreement to not comment pending mediation means just that......no comment !.....let's see how Fred handles a full hour on CHML tomorrow morning)
Right....not interested in Mediation at all.
I was hoping nobody noticed that spelling gaff…I may not be all that smart but I always pride myself on my "exthellent thpelling " 
Mayor Fred started out by saying all three of Bob Young's stadium location choices are "non-starters" (Fred's words)
To call in.........(905) 645-3221
e-mail ............ rick@900chml.com