Councillors Fool Themselves On Lansdowne: BENN

You can fool some of the people some of the time, but most of the time you are just fooling yourself.

That sums up how far too many city councillors are viewing Lansdowne 2.0.

The first cut at the financial forecast for Lansdowne 2.0, as crafted by city staff, was so incredulous that council asked for an independent review. The highly respected accounting and consulting firm, EY reported that the financial model presented by staff was optimistic. The city’s Auditor General took a look too. The AG also concluded that city staff’s financial model was optimistic.

Optimistic is the diplomatic term that members of the accounting profession use for fantasy. Every value-driving-variable used by staff was at the top end of the remotely possible. Akin to throwing a bunch of dominoes in the air hoping that every one of them lands on end, in a perfect pattern.

Yet there are still a significant number of councillors who continue to stand by the discredited analysis by staff. Just like Toronto Maple Leaf fans who, every September, stake out their seats on the Stanley Cup parade route. Except those Maple Leaf fans are not making a half-billion-dollar decision.

To be fair, the remake of Lansdowne was a city-building moment. But that was more than a decade ago. As former mayor Jim Watson lamented a year or two ago, the mistake of his administration was to limit the renovation to the south-side stands. What Watson fails to acknowledge is that the whole process, from Day 2 forward was problematic.

Instead of a competitive design process, the city skipped to a sole-source design. One with a (not so) healthy dose of high-end condominium townhomes and apartments, and a lot of underwhelming retail and commercial space. Oh, and the development contract was sole-sourced too. Let’s not forget the reversing waterfall agreement. The one that saw the city release several million dollars of funds that were to be used to repair city owned assets at Lansdowne.

Flash forward to the soon-to-conclude saga of Lansdowne 2.0. Another sole-source design process. Another sole-source development contract from a city where copier paper and coffee creamers are the subject of competitive bids.

If council considers the completion of the renovation of Lansdowne to be a city-building opportunity, so be it. Just say it out loud. Don’t lie to yourselves, and by extension to the people of Ottawa, that this is a money-making opportunity. Because two independent reviews have declared that statement to be utter nonsense.

Then start from scratch.

Set up a competitive bid process for a design that meets the needs of Ottawa and the community. Not of the developers who proposed Lansdowne 1.0 and 2.0. Recognize that a 5,000ish seat arena might no longer be required, what with the Ottawa Senators building an arena a few kilometres away. Once a winning design has been identified, follow up with a competitive bid process for the redevelopment. You know. In a manner consistent with city policy.

While you are at it, councillors, please explain how directing about a half-billion dollars of capital to what is clearly an amenity is a higher priority than directing that money towards the nearly 11-billion-dollar shortfall in infrastructure that is required to meet the needs of the Official Plan.

You recall the Official Plan. That is the one that half of today’s council who were in the same seats on the previous council approved without knowing how much it would cost.

You might be able to fool some of the people that Lansdowne 2.0 is a money-maker. But really, the only people you are fooling are yourselves.

You are choosing which evidence to accept and which to disregard, based on your preconceived decisions. That is contrary to what you were elected to do.

You were elected to be prudent stewards of city resources. There is no time like the present to live up to that most fundamental of requirements.

Ron Benn, a finance executive, has been a member of the Centrepointe Community Association for the better part of three decades.

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