The Beaver Pond

I am a very ardent supporter of conserving our unique areas. For example Petrie Island, Morris Island, Jock River Forest, Beryl Gaffney Park on the Rideau, and so on would not be saved were it not for my initiatives to acquire these treasures.
You may recall that I suggested a second Greenbelt some years ago. Mayor O'Brien has bankrupted the City and there is no money to acquire conservation areas, so the likelihood of Council spending and having to borrow up to 100 million is remote.
I am more than familiar with this area as I performed an in depth study on the Carp Hill, in which, I strongly recommended the NCC acquire it (There are three lakes up there the size of Dow's Lake.) I even showed them how to finance it. No response at all. I can tell you that if this outcrop was in Quebec, they would be falling all over themselves to buy it.
If Wilkinson's motion is approved - all well and good.
If not, the City should cease their needless delay tactics and work with the developer.

If elected I would have Dan Brumlor and Chris Bushy represent the City and residents to ensure that the project is done correctly. These two are not City employees, but have the sensitivity to guarantee a successful outcome. My response, above, is not designed that you should vote for me - I would give you the same response - whatever the circumstances may be. The bottom line is that I have an obligation to ensure the "Beaver Pond " is sustained as is.

Facebook Comment Worthy of Special Attention

A person posted questions on Facebook that deserve a response that everyone should be interested in.  Thus I am posting it here for all to view.

Facebook Comment:

Andy, I really think you're onto something with your public transit solution. We need to expand, refine and continue the bus system. Unfortunately, mass transit is only one of a few problems this city faces. I am greatly concerned as well... about our expensive, impractical and inefficient handling of garbage, and was delighted to hear you say on Lowell's program that you support the introduction of high-efficiency gas incineration in Ottawa. I have only read some of your blog entries - - have you addressed this here? Many acquaintances of mine are concerned about burgeoning landfills, expensive green boxes and the price of Hydro, which could be reduced by the use of energy generated from these furnaces. Could you speak about this problem here? I'll bet many would like to read about this solution that has been so successfully implemented in many European countries......

Response:

You are correct in how we should go with incineration. Incineration that produces electricity solves all kinds of problems. First of all why does Ontario Power Generation pay 60Cents per kilowatt for wind power and 45 cents per kilowatt for solar generated electricity and only pay 6 cents per kilowatt for electricity from incineration? There is obviously an unexplained bias at Ontario Hydro. I f properly structured the tipping for garbage would disappear and result in a significant tax reduction for all taxpayers -- maybe no cost.

I will be making a public announcement - re garbage - which will actually save tax dollars. If you don't hear about it in 10 days, please let me know.

As always your comments are welcome.

Answering a previous question

There is no question that the LRT lobby is worried to death .. because the fat profits for LRT might vanish if BRT is chosen.
The Ottawa Citizen, the Ottawa Sun, and every member of Coucil has a copy of the BRT Business Case by McCormick Rankin who, by the way is at present a City of Ottawa Consultant. The importance o...f this document is that it clearly lays out the enormous Capital and Operating Costs for LRT as compared to BRT.
I have made all my references available on my website about "statements and myths vrs reality and facts " which the Ottawa Citizen, The Ottawa Sun all local newspapers and every menber of council has been given.
See www.haydonstransitfacts.com
You might also check studies done by the United States Transportation Research Board.
LRT (Streetcars) with ugly overhead wires is a giant hoak that makes contractors rich and taxpayer poor.
Streetcars belong to the past steam engine era.

Phil MacNeill

Although now residing in Edmonton, Alberta, I am a former resident of Ottawa, and was absolutely delighted to hear of Andy's entry into Ottawa's mayoralty race.  From 1978 - 1991, I recollect that he provided exceptional leadership as Chairman of the Regional Municipality of Ottawa -Carleton.  In the present circumstances it would seem that Andy's common sense style is desperately needed once again. 

Some media accounts are declaring that Andy entered the race too late to have any chance of winning on October 25, but based on his tenacious nature and past track record, only a fool would outright dismiss the possibility that he could pull off an electoral upset.  Between the shenanigans of the incumbent, Larry O'Brien and the overt opportunism of Jim Watson, Andy has more than enough political capital, political smarts and residual support from his previous political career to make a credible run up the middle and squeak out a win.  The outcome will largely depend on exactly how incensed and outraged Ottawa residents really are about the current state of their municipal affairs, and their final take on the alternatives to Mayor O'Brien.

At the very least, his re-entry onto the Ottawa political scene should add life and spice to the race for the mayor's chair, as Andy shoots straight from the hip and always says what he means and means what he says.  To many, he will no doubt stand out as refreshing option when measured against the current rag tag line up of alternatives.   

Every possible success to you Andy on October 25.  Knock 'em dead.

Cheers,

Phil MacNeill

Edmonton, Alberta  

Executive Director of the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce

LRT with transfers will result in rider ship loss and slower speeds. The Executive Director of the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce even stated this on CFRA.  If you would like a copy of this rcording, please let me know.

Answering Mr. Tennyson

Mr. Tennyson, wrote on my blog (www.andyhaydon.com) and he identified the problem of surface transportation. This is why a tunnel is proposed and supported by most taxpayers.

He took selective data from various specific transit systems to make his argument.  This skews the facts.

Ottawa’s existing Bus Rapid Transit is the best in North America as measured by the American Public Transit Association in rides per capita, 40% better than the next best, Calgary with an LRT system

According to the United States General Accounting Office, the United States Dept. of Transportation, The U.S. Transportation Research Board, The U.S. National Transit Database, The Canadian Fact Book, McCormick Rankin, and Toronto Transit System,

LRT operating costs per vehicle revenue mile vary from 2.19 to 2.96 times more expensive than Bus Rapid Transit

By the way BRT is faster.

LRT with transfers will result in rider ship loss and slower speeds.

The real LRT story:

Denver has an additional 0.8 sales tax to pay for their scaled back LRT system.

Portland’s revenue from fare box is 15% - the taxpayers pay the rest.

Welcome to LRT and Poverty

Andy

Answering O’Brien's Transit Vision

                   

O’Brien has his facts correct when he states LRT has fewer drivers, but he has not provided you with the whole story. While LRT employs fewer drivers, operating costs for electrical, rail and computer specialists are twice that of BRT and result in a need for more employees at higher rates of pay.  Case in point is demonstrated in both Edmonton and Calgary where the implementation of LRT has resulted in more employees than Ottawa currently staffs with BRT. 

 Specifically,

·         The capital cost for LRT is 2.58 times more expensive than BRT

·         The operating cost for LRT 2.19 times more expensive than BRT

In addition, the requirement for transfers will reduce ridership.  This, combined with longer trip times, will serve to both reduce fare revenues and raise taxes.

The data I cite was obtained from the following sources:

·         United States General Accounting Office

·         United States National Transit Data Base

·         McCormick Rankin “The BRT Business Case for the Greater Toronto Services Board”

·         Toronto Transit Commission

·         Ottawa Chamber of Commerce

·         The United States Transportation Research Board

Larry O’Brien has never produced a feasible financing plan for LRT. His plan, in 2009 dollars, costs 2.1 Billion increasing by 200 to 300 million per year.  Moreover, his plan will not be operational until 2019 and the financial result will be an approximately 1.8 billion dollar tax burden passed on to the taxpayers of Ottawa. 

The BRT proposal, by contrast, requires only the construction of a downtown tunnel at a cost of 735 million dollars.  Given that the provincial and federal governments have already contributed 1.2 billion to this transit initiative, the bus tunnel will result in no additional costs to the taxpayers and will be operational in 2015.

In short, O'Brien's plan for LRT will bankrupt Ottawa.