Tax Dollars At Work

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Mon Jun 29, 2015 5:09 pm

These games start in 9 days, yet as of today, the left lane of all highways within 40 miles of the city are HOV - 3 or more passengers or Pan Am officials or athletes only.

NB: There will be no athletes on our highways being shuttled to and from events for 9 days.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/tor ... e25187488/

Also, these restrictions will be in force even after the Pan Am Games end (July 26) and before the Parapan Games (yes, there's a Pan Am Games for the disabled - not making fun in any way, shape or form, but how big will the crowds be for these events) begin on August 7th. They will be in place until after the parapan games end on the 15th.

So basically, the region in and around Toronto (an area of close to 6 million people) will be brutally inconvenienced for 49 days of which only 19 days will be during these 3rd rate games and 9 further days for the handicapped version.

It is mind boggling.

Tickets for straying into these lanes are $110 and apparently, the cops were out in force today.

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Mon Jun 29, 2015 5:13 pm

Maybe having a mayor on crack wasn't a good idea.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Mon Jun 29, 2015 7:54 pm

degenerasian wrote:Maybe having a mayor on crack wasn't a good idea.

Can't blame Ford for this one. David Miller and the douchebags in the Provincial government threw this disaster at us.

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Mon Jun 29, 2015 9:34 pm

yeah, was supposed to be a test run for the Olympics right? It's going really bad.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Tue Jun 30, 2015 6:18 am

degenerasian wrote:yeah, was supposed to be a test run for the Olympics right? It's going really bad.

Heard some blowhard on the radio saying how these games were important so that the city could get some (relatively minor) improvements to a few roads as well as some student housing and a few new sports venues.

What was not said by this shill is that factored into the costs of these infrastructure improvements is over $300 million in security costs (out of a soon to be officially exceeded budget of $1.5 billion).

If any of you are in cities that have the opportunity to host a mega (or even a "mini-mega") event, fight against it. The bidding process here - as well as the potential budget - was done quietly all those years ago. No one had any idea of the disruptions that were coming.

howard · Post by **howard** » Tue Jun 30, 2015 6:29 am

Pruitt wrote:If any of you are in cities that have the opportunity to host a mega (or even a "mini-mega") event, fight against it.

I seem to remember Canada established the basis for this previously. Like Montreal 1976. The only thing we learn from history is that we learn nothing from history.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Tue Jun 30, 2015 8:57 am

howard wrote:
Pruitt wrote:If any of you are in cities that have the opportunity to host a mega (or even a "mini-mega") event, fight against it.
I seem to remember Canada established the basis for this previously. Like Montreal 1976. The only thing we learn from history is that we learn nothing from history.

Amen.

Montreal took 30 years to pay off the Olympics.

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Tue Jun 30, 2015 9:00 am

The Montreal games were well attended though. They just overpayed for the venues.

DSafetyGuy · Post by **DSafetyGuy** » Tue Jun 30, 2015 9:48 am

Pruitt wrote:If any of you are in cities that have the opportunity to host a mega (or even a "mini-mega") event, fight against it. The bidding process here - as well as the potential budget - was done quietly all those years ago. No one had any idea of the disruptions that were coming.

This is completely correct.

Then, if the event ends up being held in your city, do your best to be out of town during the event (or at least try to work from home, or whatever you can do to limit your contact with the event and everything ruined by it).

rass · Post by **rass** » Tue Jun 30, 2015 9:51 am

DSafetyGuy wrote:
Pruitt wrote:If any of you are in cities that have the opportunity to host a mega (or even a "mini-mega") event, fight against it. The bidding process here - as well as the potential budget - was done quietly all those years ago. No one had any idea of the disruptions that were coming.
This is completely correct.

Then, if the event ends up being held in your city, do your best to be out of town during the event (or at least try to work from home, or whatever you can do to limit your contact with the event and everything ruined by it).

Sort of makes you the harbinger of doom, huh?

DSafetyGuy · Post by **DSafetyGuy** » Tue Jun 30, 2015 9:53 am

rass wrote:
DSafetyGuy wrote:
Pruitt wrote:If any of you are in cities that have the opportunity to host a mega (or even a "mini-mega") event, fight against it. The bidding process here - as well as the potential budget - was done quietly all those years ago. No one had any idea of the disruptions that were coming.
This is completely correct.

Then, if the event ends up being held in your city, do your best to be out of town during the event (or at least try to work from home, or whatever you can do to limit your contact with the event and everything ruined by it).
Sort of makes you the harbinger of doom, huh?

Prior to our move out of LA, upon finding out they were trying to get back into the Olympics game (more than a decade out), I decided to follow this plan. Traffic everywhere, jacked up prices on everything, and so on and so on.

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Tue Jun 30, 2015 10:00 am

Boston is bidding for the 2024 Summer Games.

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Tue Jun 30, 2015 10:30 am

I was a teenager in Colorado in the 1970s, when Colorado voters voted down a proposed bond measure that would have provided public money to help fund the 1976 winter Olympics in Denver and the rest of the state. Denver had won the IOC selection over a number of global competitors and local politicians thought it was a real feather in their cap. But, they didn't anticipate the unwillingness of the locals to foot the bill. At the time, backing out of an opportunity to host the Olympics had never been done, and there was a big outcry about how shortsighted were the Colorado voters.

DSafetyGuy · Post by **DSafetyGuy** » Tue Jun 30, 2015 2:13 pm

degenerasian wrote:Boston is bidding for the 2024 Summer Games.

And with the "Big Dig" going as well as it did in Boston, I completely understand why anyone living there would support the Olympic bid.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Thu Jul 02, 2015 5:53 pm

Toronto cabbies don't like Uber.

And they are prepared to fuck up the Pan Am Games to prove their point.

http://www.citynews.ca/2015/07/02/cabbi ... test-uber/

HaulCitgo · Post by **HaulCitgo** » Fri Jul 03, 2015 11:33 am

DSafetyGuy wrote:
Pruitt wrote:If any of you are in cities that have the opportunity to host a mega (or even a "mini-mega") event, fight against it. The bidding process here - as well as the potential budget - was done quietly all those years ago. No one had any idea of the disruptions that were coming.
This is completely correct.

Then, if the event ends up being held in your city, do your best to be out of town during the event (or at least try to work from home, or whatever you can do to limit your contact with the event and everything ruined by it).

From those in Atlanta before I, this issue was widely discussed but proved not to be a real problem once the games started.

EdRomero · Post by **EdRomero** » Fri Jul 03, 2015 3:56 pm

DSafetyGuy wrote:
degenerasian wrote:Boston is bidding for the 2024 Summer Games.
And with the "Big Dig" going as well as it did in Boston, I completely understand why anyone living there would support the Olympic bid.

Boston's roads and subway can't even handle a Red Sox game. The only locals supporting this are construction companies and people taking bribes.

DSafetyGuy · Post by **DSafetyGuy** » Fri Jul 03, 2015 4:07 pm

EdRomero wrote:
DSafetyGuy wrote:
degenerasian wrote:Boston is bidding for the 2024 Summer Games.
And with the "Big Dig" going as well as it did in Boston, I completely understand why anyone living there would support the Olympic bid.
Boston's roads and subway can't even handle a Red Sox game. The only locals supporting this are construction companies and people taking bribes.

I think you repeated yourself.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Sat Jul 04, 2015 7:10 am

This doesn't seem right - considering the costs involved, why the last minute venue change?

A Scarborough high school will host a sporting competition during the Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games as a result of a last-minute venue change.

The roller speed skating competition has been moved from the Pan Am Sports Centre (875 Morningside Ave.) to nearby St. John Paul II Catholic Secondary School (685 Military Trail). The competition is scheduled for July 12 and 13.

University of Toronto Scarborough athletics director Scott McRoberts said the venue change made sense from a legacy perspective. The Pan Am Sports Centre, which is partly owned by the university, wouldn’t have been able to keep the track that was to be built for the competition.

“They were going to have to rip it up,” McRoberts said. “This way, the track that they’re going to put down, (St. John Paul II) gets to keep it after.”

This raises two questions:

1) What is a high school going to do with an indoor roller speed skating track?

2) If the sport is so unpopular that it can be held in a high school gym, why are we paying to host it?

Brontoburglar · Post by **Brontoburglar** » Sat Jul 04, 2015 3:08 pm

Maybe I'm nuts, but that looks like they're racing on a basketball court.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Sat Jul 04, 2015 3:30 pm

Brontoburglar wrote:Maybe I'm nuts, but that looks like they're racing on a basketball court.

They are - my cursory search of Google images didn't show me any speed roller skating tracks.

Brontoburglar · Post by **Brontoburglar** » Sat Jul 04, 2015 5:49 pm

Pruitt wrote:
Brontoburglar wrote:Maybe I'm nuts, but that looks like they're racing on a basketball court.
They are - my cursory search of Google images didn't show me any speed roller skating tracks.

So does that mean they're racing on a multi-purpose surface then?

Just wondering that, given the picture, it was a matter of "we don't have a use for the hardwood floor" more than "we don't need a specific roller-racing track."

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Sun Jul 05, 2015 2:38 pm

Brontoburglar wrote:
Pruitt wrote:
Brontoburglar wrote:Maybe I'm nuts, but that looks like they're racing on a basketball court.
They are - my cursory search of Google images didn't show me any speed roller skating tracks.
So does that mean they're racing on a multi-purpose surface then?

Just wondering that, given the picture, it was a matter of "we don't have a use for the hardwood floor" more than "we don't need a specific roller-racing track."

Here from the website of speedskateworld.com is what an inline roller speed skating track looks like.

Now that's esoteric!

wlu_lax6 · Post by **wlu_lax6** » Mon Jul 06, 2015 11:44 am

okay this is not pan am games, but wow
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/rel ... -underway/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Mon Jul 06, 2015 12:22 pm

wlu_lax6 wrote:okay this is not pan am games, but wow
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/rel ... -underway/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If you watch Veep - there was an episode this season where Gary (the President's valet/gofer/confidant) was terrified that he'd cause a scandal by blowing the flower budget for a reception.

Once again, that show nailed it.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Mon Jul 06, 2015 4:18 pm

Our Mayor (not Rob Ford anymore...) and one of the high profile Canadian athletes who is an Ambassador for the Pan Am Games were all over the media today trying to drum up excitement (opening ceremonies on Friday, water polo starts tomorrow.)

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/t ... -1.3139425

And just so you don't think I'm the only pissed off Torontonian, here's what the Mayor had to say (bear in mind that he had nothing to do with the bidding for these games)

"I think the only sport that we're not playing at the Pan Am Games is moaning and groaning, and Toronto on a regular basis would be qualifying for a gold medal in that," Mayor John Tory said during an interview on CBC News Network.

And Adam van Koeverden (Olympic gold medallist in canoeing - a reasonably big deal up here) had this to say:

"It's here whether you like it or not."

wlu_lax6 · Post by **wlu_lax6** » Tue Jul 07, 2015 8:39 am

When $ are put in this perspective they really make you think about luxuries v. necessities. The top of my hill is Arlington and the bottom (where I live is Fairfax Co.). I use the snot out of Arlington's playgrounds. They are amazing places that keep kids entertained, wet (spray grounds), and exercise them.

I also think it is interesting to see what has caused that dramatic increase in the cost of a playground...Safety, environmental controls, and accessibility.

arlington now wrote:Arlington County spends $249 per resident on parks, the third highest per capita park spending figure in the country, among the nation’s 100 most populous areas. Washington, D.C. ranked first, spending $346 per resident. Some of Arlington’s park spending is now going toward >$1 million playgrounds.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/vir ... story.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Tue Jul 07, 2015 10:32 am

That seems like a huge amount of money. Are you sure that amount doesn't include upkeep of tourist parks?

How much is spent on schools there? My sister lives in Alexandria and is horrified at the idea of public high school for her daughter.

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Tue Jul 07, 2015 10:45 am

Here they had to redo all the playgrounds to get rid of wood. Kids were getting splinters.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Wed Jul 08, 2015 6:30 am

Security costs for the Pan Am games are (at the moment) $250 million.

Looks like a quarter of a billion doesn't go that far anymore...

Two security "breaches" in two days. In one case, a badly installed fence broke or was blown over in a storm and locals were cutting through a hole in the fence to use it as a shortcut over what may have been a full day.

http://www.680news.com/2015/07/07/polic ... s-village/

To the right of the fence is an area in downtown Toronto where 5 events will be held and where the media centre is located. Apparently, the fence was down for quite a while before security personnel moved in to fix it.

wlu_lax6 · Post by **wlu_lax6** » Wed Jul 08, 2015 6:41 am

Pruitt wrote:That seems like a huge amount of money. Are you sure that amount doesn't include upkeep of tourist parks?

How much is spent on schools there? My sister lives in Alexandria and is horrified at the idea of public high school for her daughter.

Arlington--probably not. Outside of Iwo Jima and the Air Force Memorial I can't think of tourist parks like the National Mall or such. I think the real spend has been parks, sports fields, etc for the growing population. Huge development in Arlington.
Washington DC--could not tell. I don't think so though. DC has spent a ton of money on public parks that would not be federal land.

As for Alexandria, I have heard both sides of the coin. The public high school (if she is in Alexandria proper) is T.C. Williams (Yup remember the titans). Everyone I have met who sent their kids there had very good experiences, but they say it really just depends on what type of kid you have (one of my co-workers son went to Harvard and then straight to Google in the fancy Associate Product Manager program).

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Wed Jul 08, 2015 10:30 am

My eldest niece has some fairly minor issues, but needs a bit of special attention. My sister has heard bad things about Williams from neighbours.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Wed Jul 08, 2015 10:32 am

Oh, and the Pan Am Games began yesterday with water polo action.

Paper said that there were 20 fans for the first game, and by the time the Canadian team hit the pool, the number had swollen to 35.

Catch the fever!

rass · Post by **rass** » Thu Jul 09, 2015 8:36 pm

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Thu Jul 09, 2015 8:51 pm

Damn I love my city sometimes!

Explanation - Norm Kelly is a City Councillor (like an Alderman).

Toronto is known as the Raccoon Capital of the World - the fuckers are everywhere and it's hard to not see at least a couple dead ones on the road on a daily basis.

And our City Workers are just like yours... a contradiction in terms. Here's an overhead shot of the almost legendary raccoon memorial.

tennbengal · Post by **tennbengal** » Fri Jul 10, 2015 6:11 am

rass wrote:

Fuckin' fantastic.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Fri Jul 10, 2015 12:04 pm

It only took city animal services 14 hours to remove a dead animal from a downtown sidewalk. Now THAT'S an example of tax dollars at work. It took so long that some knuckleheads began a candlelight vigil.

Giff · Post by **Giff** » Fri Jul 10, 2015 2:07 pm

Pruitt wrote:It only took city animal services 14 hours to remove a dead animal from a downtown sidewalk. Now THAT'S an example of tax dollars at work. It took so long that some knuckleheads began a candlelight vigil.

Dude, that's lightning quick compared to this.

Post by **brian** » Fri Jul 10, 2015 2:14 pm

Saint Louis just laughs at your raccoon.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Fri Jul 10, 2015 2:22 pm

brian wrote:Saint Louis just laughs at your raccoon.

"A deer that died on Friday, June 1, 2012, after tearing through downtown St. Louis, was left where it died, where coincidentally a man was shot in the face only 70 feet away on Saturday, June 2, 2012."

"but your honor, I was trying to hunt deer and his face got in the way of my bullet!"