hello all I just received this message from a fellow supporter.
From the Hunts:
Rally Time to Keep Lansdowne Standing!!!!
It’s time for the offence to take the field! Rally with us, Monday night at 7 PM in front of the Civic Centre, to show your support for Ottawa’s return to the CFL.
It will only happen if City Council knows you want it to, and the best way to do that is to rally for football at their public consultation meeting on Monday at 7 PM. Meet Jeff Hunt and the Team-1200's Glen Kulka. Take 5 minutes, show your colours, be there! Details are posted on the City website… http://www.Ottawa.ca
If we’re supported by a silent majority, who’s to know? Take a stand and keep Lansdowne standing.
so If anyone on this forum cares to come, the more the merrier...
See you there.
It got a little hairy. I arrived a little after it opened and this bunch of clowns were handing out petition against sole-sourcing. This one dude was playing “This park is your park” (to the tune of “this land is your land”, obviously) with modified lyrics, on the banjo. I was embarassed for some of these people.
It was going well for a while, but then some clown located a megaphone, calld the whole thing a sham. He thought he was being sold to instead of being given a voice. So he offered the megaphone to anyone wanting to speak his or her mind. Of course, that got the NIMBYs all riled up.
One of my buddies got up there and he was pro-proposal. They eventualy pulled the megaphone away from him, supposedly because he was going too long. I didn’t see that done to anyone who opposed the proposal, despite one lady using rather strong language, but I tuned them out early on.
Jeff Hunt was there, as was Glenn Kulka. Several councillors, both for and against. I saw Bob Monette have to deal with a really animated wingnut who acted as though the proposal was to take away her first born child. I later heard that someone grabbed Monette by the shirt, but didn’t see it for myself.
There will have been loud opposition, but I think many will either…
a) Have argued the wrong point. They were more vocal against the way the proposal was obtained than the proposal itself.
b) Made asses of themselves. One friend of mine was accused of being paid to support the proposal simply because, well, he supports the proposal. Others were clearly misinformed and some were deliberately refusing to be informed. One person insisted that there would be only nine events a year there, totally ignoring the soccer aspect, CIS, the bubble over the field in the winter, etc.
I wish I could have been there, I would have had a good chuckle at these fools who dont know their a@@#'s from a hole in the ground.
Was there a decent turn out for the supporters of the proposal?
Hard to say, since we’re not ancient, banjo-plucking hippies, but I think so. There were a number of folks wearing football merchandise and some old school Rough Riders stuff. The NIMBY’s were louder though, without a doubt, and organized, but they also looked rather foolish so I don’t know how much real impact they’ll have.
“If the action at my booth is any indication,? he (Jeff Hunt) said, “we’re getting a lot of support. We knew Clive Doucet’s people would be out in force, but they have been overwhelmed here by supporters of the plan. But I’m not saying it’s been all high fives.?
I hope that those same supporters made their feelings known to the city though. Telling Hunt doesn't do much.
I also went to what I thought was going to be a public discussion at Lansdowne on Monday. I left fairly early when i was informed by city staff that there'd be no Q&A, and thus I missed the fireworks. I support the plan and knew the discussion would be stacked with Glebe NIMBY's, but I wanted to see and hear it for myself, plus lend what support I could. By the way, the Glebe is the area of town where Lansdowne is located, very tony, snooty spot, lot's of expensive homes, more of a Starbucks than a Timmie's if you get my drift. The city has posted a spot on it's website http://lansdowne.econsultation.ca/ where you can register and comment on the proposal, I've already made a few remarks. The anti-Lansdowne crowd are banging on about big box stores, no transport, yadadada. My feeling though is the message getting through is that the proposal, albeit with some potential changes, will go through. No other group has come forward with ideas and dollars. If this fails, the place will probably sit there for 20 years, rotting.
One thing that really hit me yesterday was how selfish the anti-development crowd were. There were a group clad in green t-shirts with slogans printed on them, they were actually dancing to this Pete Seeger wannabe strumming his guitar, they looked like old hippies reliving 1969. Bizarre, and I don't think they helped their cause with the saner individuals there. I don't think the problem to them really is the proposal itself, it's just a very left-leaning anti-deveIopment area of town, and really they don't want the construction noise and extra traffic on event days. Very discouraging bunch.
Another note, the proposal includes a submission for a USL team, which is the level of soccer just below major league soccer. That's an excellent idea as it will probably occupy the stadium 20 days or so and be very family affordable, similar in price to junior hockey. And it's decent soccer. Bill Shenkman, one of the Lansdowne partners is part owner of Milwall Fc in London, could play an exhibition game, who knows.
I'm going tomorrow to City Hall for another session, just to see what transpires.