City cheapskates and the ice arena
The saga of the Monroe ice arena gets whackier and whackier.Folks around here might remember the big controversy about whether a private developer should build an ice rink in the area or whether the city should build a municipal one. Insaner heads prevalied and the city scared off the priivate developers (and the private risk) by pushing forward its own plan.
So the thing was built and in practically its first year of operation even some of the less bright people in the city had the feeling it would leave the city skating on thin financial ice. Well, even the last freespending administration (the Iacoangeli crew) recognized what a drain the ice rink was on city finances so they decided to give the old private ice management team the heave-ho and find a new ice management team. (It is kind of funny how some people still are deluded into believing that the Iacoangeli crew sunk the city's finances by buying and razing dilapidated homes, building splash parks, etc. when the underpinning of the city's current financial problems go back years with the ice rink and still persist today). Nonetheless, Canlan Sports got the management contract and few would doubt these guys are pros -- it's a Canadian outfit that runs ice rinks all around Canada. They've already made quite a few changes in an effort to generate more income (the average city councilperson couldn't tell you what changes, of course, because none of them are that close to the situation). One of Canlan's proposed changes was to move the management office from an inaccessible location on the second floor to a customer-friendly first floor location. The city HAS the capital improvement money to do the work, which in the context of other city spending we've seen, comes at small cost. But when the pitch comes to city council, they give it a thumbs down. We really haven't seen any good results from Canlan, they say. Some of those opposing the idea were some of the newest city councilmen. Here's a clue guys -- when Mayor Al vote WITH Councilwoman Compora on an issue, you gotta believe he sees some of the compelling wisdom of the idea. Hell, he sure doesn't need to mend fences with HER! Forget about her, just fall back on your habit of voting which ever way he votes. It's probably the safest bet.
So what did you accomplish with your independent "thinking?" You gave Canlan an out it can use if it can't turn around the ice arena financially. The monkey's on your own back again. Six months or a year from now when one of you guys starts asking how the ice arena is doing, Canlan's going to come in and say we've done this, this, this, this and this. But we would have been successful if you guys had let us do the office renovation to make the place more inviting and user-friendly so that when people come into the building they know where to go to talk to the people in charge. I can see the Monroe Snooze headline now: Canlan blames city for tying its hands.
By then, the city's financial hole will be deeper and its employees will be fewer.
So the thing was built and in practically its first year of operation even some of the less bright people in the city had the feeling it would leave the city skating on thin financial ice. Well, even the last freespending administration (the Iacoangeli crew) recognized what a drain the ice rink was on city finances so they decided to give the old private ice management team the heave-ho and find a new ice management team. (It is kind of funny how some people still are deluded into believing that the Iacoangeli crew sunk the city's finances by buying and razing dilapidated homes, building splash parks, etc. when the underpinning of the city's current financial problems go back years with the ice rink and still persist today). Nonetheless, Canlan Sports got the management contract and few would doubt these guys are pros -- it's a Canadian outfit that runs ice rinks all around Canada. They've already made quite a few changes in an effort to generate more income (the average city councilperson couldn't tell you what changes, of course, because none of them are that close to the situation). One of Canlan's proposed changes was to move the management office from an inaccessible location on the second floor to a customer-friendly first floor location. The city HAS the capital improvement money to do the work, which in the context of other city spending we've seen, comes at small cost. But when the pitch comes to city council, they give it a thumbs down. We really haven't seen any good results from Canlan, they say. Some of those opposing the idea were some of the newest city councilmen. Here's a clue guys -- when Mayor Al vote WITH Councilwoman Compora on an issue, you gotta believe he sees some of the compelling wisdom of the idea. Hell, he sure doesn't need to mend fences with HER! Forget about her, just fall back on your habit of voting which ever way he votes. It's probably the safest bet.
So what did you accomplish with your independent "thinking?" You gave Canlan an out it can use if it can't turn around the ice arena financially. The monkey's on your own back again. Six months or a year from now when one of you guys starts asking how the ice arena is doing, Canlan's going to come in and say we've done this, this, this, this and this. But we would have been successful if you guys had let us do the office renovation to make the place more inviting and user-friendly so that when people come into the building they know where to go to talk to the people in charge. I can see the Monroe Snooze headline now: Canlan blames city for tying its hands.
By then, the city's financial hole will be deeper and its employees will be fewer.
posted by The Observer at 9/08/2006 06:32:00 AM
2 Comments:
The ice rink needs to make more money on its own before we throw more tax dollars at it. My taxes went to repairing the broken rink to the tune of what, $35,000. I agree with the vote taken. Let this Canadian firm turn this thing around before blowing more money. They said that there is one lady already downstairs for customers. Let her direct anyone upstairs if they need to complain about something.
My son plays hockey at this rink, and from what I've seen Canlan doesn't do much for promotion. Sure they have had some camps, but come on, the city could put their own employees out there and do that. They seem to run a pretty good summer baseball program. If we spend $20,000 renovating for Canlan, what makes you think that we wont have to redo it for the next management company? Or the city's parks and rec department?
I travel to many other rinks and they have alot more programs than we do here.
I don't think Canlan needs an out to leave. I think their lack of performance will be enough. I applaud the council members who voted against this waste. At least now someone is being a little more conservative with our taxes. I just can't believe that council person Compora voted in favor of anything to do with the ice rink. She thinks it is a waste of money, but she votes to waste more money. Maybe she needs to vote to sell the place. That would help our finances, which by the way, the Mayor said were getting better by not replacing retirees. Looks like this council plan to not use the reserve money is working out just like they planned. Maybe these independent thinkers do know what they are doing? Time will certainly tell.
DO NOT SPEND MORE OF MY TAX MONEY ON THAT ICE RINK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
FIRE CANLAN ICE AND LET CITY EMPLOYEES RUN THE DAMNED THING!!!!!
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