City Council's Lack of Vision

Kingston was one of four cities bidding to host the 2011 Memorial Cup.

Not surprisingly, it didn't win.
There are a lot of reasons why it didn't win, some of which are written about in the Whig Standard today.

The winning bid from Mississauga guaranteed $3 milllion. It is highly unlikely that Kingston made a guarantee of this size.

This from the Toronto Star, this morning, by Kevin McGran:
The selection committee — featuring a Toronto-heavy board that includes Blue Jays president Paul Beeston, former NHL executive Frank Bonello, NHL senior vice-president Jim Gregory, and NHL director of central scouting E.J. McGuire — concluded Mississauga could put on the best show.

That, despite the fact the Majors have only 1,000 or so season ticket holders at the 5,501-seat Hershey Centre while teams in the other three cities play to packed arenas.

Mississauga owner Eugene Melnyk reportedly guaranteed a $3-million return for the OHL from the event, $1 million more than Windsor.

“What you hope from this from the Majors’ perspective is you hope there will be carryover,” said OHL commissioner David Branch. “You’re going to introduce (junior hockey) to fans in this area who maybe haven’t witnessed OHL hockey for a long time or ever. They’ll see what a great quality product it is and they’ll come back.”

Branch said his only worry is whether the Hershey Centre is big enough.

“Toronto is a special events city and that alone will put it over the top in terms of it being a complete sellout,” said Branch. “There are no concerns at all. The biggest problem we’re going to have is maybe the arena isn’t big enough. There are so many OHL centres with an hour and a half of the GTA that many will undoubtedly want to come and watch the games.”

Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion said the city is willing to spend up to $2 million “in kind” to help promote the event that is expected to generate up to $15 million in economic benefits. Melnyk, who also owns the NHL’s Ottawa Senators, was behind the bid but missed the news conference due to illness.

The ticket campaign begins Tuesday with “Dave Keon” packages beginning at $699 for a Majors season-ticket and tickets to the Memorial Cup. The “Frank Mahovlich” package begins at $899.

The return of the Memorial Cup will end at least one long major championship hockey drought for the Greater Toronto Area that dates back to the 1960s. The Memorial Cup was last played in the GTA in 1966 when the Edmonton Oil Kings beat the Oshawa Generals at Maple Leaf Gardens.
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The loss of the bid comes from several factors, but knowing sports organizations, I am quite sure that it was the guarantee that did it.

Two other factors include the lack of a significant fan base for the Frontenacs and the fact that the team doesn't play very good hockey.

The Whig Standard article cites a very significant factor: city council's lack of vision. The way Ken Wong sees it, council was pretty cheap in its contribution to the event. That is certainly true. With great reluctance they offered sortof "discounted" price ice time and few other throw-ins.

It is these "throw-ins" that an organization will look at; they are the hidden factors that the bid committee can fall back on, add to as the process evolves and make the city look good.

Council's lack of vision is one way to put the factor. My view is that Kingston is so parochial, so stuck on itself, so fixed on navel-gazing. Council cannot look out, it cannot see forward, it thinks it is the best thing since sliced bread.

Not only does council have aa "small town" mentality, the lack of leadership from the mayor holds the city back. The mayor of a community is its chief cheerleader. The mayor gets out there, speaks well of the city, talks about what it can do, what it is where it is going. The current mayor does none of these things. His lack of enthusiam is palpable.

So....why did the city lose the 2011 Memorial Cup? No big buck guarantee, the cheap mentality of council, a mayor who sat in the weeds, once again.

And the really unfortunate part of this is that no one will tell council and the mayor that they are responsible, that they are holding the city back, that they are creating a negative climate. It's a small town, and citizens fear retribution.