September 12, 2008
Stephen slips away to Spain
Mandel and his posse are gathering info for 'potential bid' to host World's Fair in 2017
By NEIL WAUGH, EDMONTON SUN
Wait until Bronco finds out what Howie is up to.
Then Dave Bronconnier -the petulant mayor of Alberta's Centre-of-the-Universe City - will really get on his high horse.
Under the smokescreen of the federal election, Edmonton Mayor Stephen Mandel has slipped away to Zaragoza, Spain.
We are told the mayor's mission is to "gather information" for a "potential bid" to host a World's Fair in 2017.
No press release, of course. Or trip cost disclosure. Apparently it's not required under the loosey goosey spending rules of Edmonton's Liberal/NDP-dominated city council, including several people who used to rage against the provincial Tory machine over secrecy when they were MLAs. Politics is full of ironies.
But because Steady Eddie Stelmach requires his MLAs to declare their frequent flyer points - and two government MLAs are accompanying Mandel and his posse of city hall bureaucrats on the jolly junket to sunny Spain - the sandstone castle kicked out a disclosure document.
In it Edmonton cabinet minister Gene Zwozdesky, minister of aboriginal relations, says his role on the trip is to determine the "risks and benefits" that come with a fair bid.
One of the biggest "risks" Zwoz admits, is getting "support from other levels of government." Mayors don't actually build fairs, they just take the credit.
Considering a World's Fair consists of governments burning up massive amounts of taxpayer dollars on goofy-looking buildings in hopes that enough folks will come to see them so they can recover at least some of the money, "support" is not exactly the politically correct word.
NOT BUILT TO LAST
"Subsidize" is a better fit.
This is especially true when you consider the crazy domes, pyramids and super-sized hockey sticks are built to last for a few months. Then they all get torn down, with the likely exception of one.
That would be Mandel's elusive political legacy - the downtown hockey arena he desperately wants taxpayers to build for Forbes magazine billionaire and Edmonton Oilers owner Daryl Katz.
Edmonton-Castledowns MLA Thomas Lukaszuk showed he's clearly not ready for prime time around Stelmach's cabinet table when he gushed, "The impact of a World's Fair in Edmonton would be a huge significance to our city, our province and to Canada."
The Polish Prince forgot to mention Cowtown, because under Alberta's harsh political code, whatever Edmonton gets, Alberta's Second City also receives a political goody of similar and equal value.
Bronco will make darn sure of that.
Mandel's timing couldn't have been worse. On the day he left town, a city hall committee released a consultant's report that recommended a four per cent per year property tax hike for the next decade to get caught up with crumbling neighbourhood roads and cracked sidewalks, unless "other orders of government partner" with city hall.
A SUBPLOT
Considering inflated construction costs have driven up Edmonton's 23 Avenue interchange to $260 million (with the likelihood of more to come), how many billions will it take to build a bunch of weird, tear-down buildings on the City Centre Airport site in Alberta's super-heated economy?
Yes, folks, there's a subplot here.
Even if Mandel wins the Expo 2017 bid, where do you put the darn thing?
This suddenly explains why the let's-shut-down-the-Muni debate reappeared on the city hall agenda after a lengthy absence, even though it's causing serious fractures in the Alberta PC caucus because of political pressure from rural mayors to not only keep the downtown air harbour open, but to bring back full commercial service.
The long drive in from Leduc is not exactly good for business.
Almost all of the big chunks of land left around the city are tied up by developers, with the exception of one sizeable block where the City Centre Airport is located.
Meanwhile, while Mandel is dreaming big, Finance Minister Iris Evans is reported to be fretting over where the $119-a-barrel oil that she based her first-quarter budget update on a few days ago disappeared to.
I'll bet Bronco is already working on his wish list.
http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Albe...f-6742491.html