OrilliaMatters received the following letter from David McLeod in response to recent story about a meeting in which city councillors were updated on various capital projects and civic initiatives.
While reading an article by OrilliaMatters reporter Dave Dawson, regarding a city hall meeting updating projects, I couldn’t help but have an overwhelming sense of déjà vu. When the issue of investing money into the Brian Orser arena arose, Coun. Ralph Cipolla was reportedly taken aback and seemingly dumbfounded as to why the city would invest in an aging building and suggested diverting the money to phase two (not one) of the recreation centre, under construction on West Street, in two or three years.
That’s when déjà vu struck. How could Cipolla be unaware of the escalating costs of the Brian Orser arena in 2018? 2016 isn’t that long ago and that’s when Cipolla claimed the city should not waste tax dollars on fixing the Brain Orser Arena, as he did not want to see a repeat of the wasted money (one millions dollars) that was spent renovating the Orillia Community Centre? Despite knowing Brian Orser would need to be replaced and not wanting to spend money on fixing it, did Cipolla simply forget his own logic when he voted for the recreation centre to be built without an arena(s)? And is council not privy to how the city spends its money on recreation year after year?
Then I realized Cipolla must be a man of action and he just wants to get this recreation centre built for the citizens once and for all, arena or not! During Cipolla’s 2014 campaign to become a city councillor, he made his pitch for action. Cipolla, at the time, was an advocate of a centralized recreational facility in the heart of the city during that campaign; a lifelong dream to be realized. Cipolla wanted a facility that all citizens could benefit from and access. Cipolla, during that campaign, claimed that he was tired of watching past councils’ chronic dithering and flip-flopping on the project.
How could I have questioned a man of such conviction, who wants nothing more than a centrally located recreation centre for all Orillia’s citizens to enjoy! Cipolla was correct, council had wasted enough time; 19 years roughly. But who was he speaking of when he stated the dithering and flip-flopping must end?
An article in the Orillia Packet & Times on September 21, 2010 shed some light on the individual Cipolla spoke of as the flip-flopping ditherer. The article read, “Mayoral candidate Ralph Cipolla wants the public to accept a plan to build a multi-use recreational facility (MURF) at the Huronia Regional Centre (HRC). After years of supporting a MURF on West Street South, Cipolla says it’s time to ditch the oft-delayed brownfield scheme in favour of the HRC greenfield.”
That same thought was echoed again at a Georgian College debate, where Cipolla told students the MURF’s preferred location should be the HRC, as the city could partner with the college for the facility’s use. Cipolla declared the community had spent too much time on that location and it was time to move on.
It seemed an odd stance to take, considering Cipolla was a long-time backer of the West Street location. But I’ll give Cipolla credit, his decision to flip-flop and abandon the West Street location for a more viable solution, midway through his campaign for mayor, was not politically motivated or of his own desire, it was actually done in response to canvassing his constituents. Cipolla cited an overwhelming sense of frustration by Orillia residents regarding the sketchy West Street site and knew the people did not want it built there. The people had spoken!
Now, abundantly clear who the flip-flopper was, I was just shocked that someone would call themselves out like that, especially in a political arena? And he wasn’t quite accurate in his assessment, as he is more of a flip-flop-flipper than a flip-flopper, as he wanted the MURF at West Street for years, then flipped to abandon West Street during his mayoral campaign because the citizens had spoken, and then flipped right back to West Street again, once voted in as a councillor. I can only assume Cipolla flipped again because that’s what his constituents want, although you can’t blame me for being slightly skeptical.
So, follow the logic/confusion here if you can:
Cipolla knows Brian Orser’s fate is sealed and doesn’t want to waste money on it.
Cipolla acknowledges the city must replace Brian Orser with a new arena.
Cipolla wants to spend the extra money to build the once-in-a-lifetime recreation centre right.
Cipolla wants an arena at the recreation centre site.
Cipolla votes to build the recreation centre without an arena(s)??
At least Cipolla isn’t alone with his failed logic.
Mayor Steve Clarke told OrilliaMatters: “It’s the biggest project in the city’s history and it’s going to be a beautiful, true community centre. We want to do it right.” (Dave Dawson, February 27, 2018)
A true “community centre” that has completely excluded the hockey community of Orillia; arguably the largest user group and community in the city. Come to think of it, the baseball community of Orillia has been excluded in this build too. Well, until maybe phase 3 or 4 occurs in 2030-2040? But that’s another tale.
David McLeod
