In the hearing before Ontario Superior Court which terminated last week, the lawyer for the Friends of Lansdowne maintained that the only independent review of the financial arrangements supporting the Lansdowne Partnership plan, was the study in 2008 by Deloitte. That study was never released to the public, nor was its existence made known to members of City Council.
The lawyer for the City denied that claim and said there were other studies conducted. It is difficult to take that counter claim seriously.
It was said that the financial arrangements were studied by Graham Bird Associates(GBA) and by PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC). But Graham Bird Associates was retained to carry the process through the administrative and legal hoops, not to analyse the deal. Although I believe the contract between the City and GBA is not public, it is difficult to imagine that the firm did not have a strong financial incentive to move the project forward. It is unlikely that GBA would minimize their revenue by placing obstacles in the quick execution of the LPP.
As for PWC, they were retained by GBA, not to analyse the financials of the deal but rather to create a business model based on assumptions provided by the City and their "partner" Ottawa Sports & Entertainment Group.
In arguing the City's case, their lawyer also claimed that the two reports issued by the City Auditor General constitute an independent analysis of the LPP financials. While the Auditor General is independent, his range of examination was tightly controlled. Moreover, the report which the Auditor General received from an independent US consultant on the LPP is not available.
So the bland assurance in staff reports that due diligence has been conducted with respect to the financial arrangements behind the LPP seem to be pure and simple puffery.
Showing posts with label Graham Bird. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Graham Bird. Show all posts
Monday, July 4, 2011
Monday, September 28, 2009
Greening or getting the green
Planting one blade of grass in the acres of asphalt at Lansdowne would constitute greening (and an improvement in my mind) but it is not certain how green Lansdowne will become. Nor is it clear who will get the green (i.e. the money) for any greening initiative.
In today's Citizen, Kate Jaimet writes under the title "Green theme for Lansdowne" that there is controversy over the plans for the proposed "front lawn". This is described by Graham Bird, a consultant to the City, who has emerged as one of the most enthusiastic salesmen for the proposal, as an open grassy area only used for parking on rare occasions .
People who are less enamoured of the proposal question whether the "front lawn" can be used for much other than parking.
One of our problems is that it is not certain what is actually proposed for the "front lawn". There has been talk of concrete blocks with small holes through which grass could grow. Another possibility cited in the article is a system of plastic rings below the surface of the soil giving a more lawn-like appearance.
Until we understand what exactly the proponents have in mind, and until they can point to an installation in Ottawa we can visit, it is hard to know what the "front lawn" will be like.
But in today's article there was one aspect which I found curious. In discussing the possible use of the "front lawn" for concerts, festival activities etc. the article says "The city and the NCC would decide on the programming while the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group would manage the events for a fee. The city would reap any profits and absorb any losses from the events."
I am not sure that this passage gives a correct interpretation of the business arrangement as proposed. If an event, the Tulip Festival for example, wants to use the front lawn, it would contract with OSEG to use the space and pay a rental fee. That fee would go to OSEG. Only after OSEG has covered all its costs, including any administrative charges and profit, would any funds be transferred to the mysterious "closed system" and then funds would be run through the "waterfall". Only after payments are made to the lifecycle reserve fund, to OSEG as return on its investment, and to OSEG to pay off its investment, would the City receive anything. At least that is my understanding.
I am in favour of greening in the sense of removing some of the acres of empty asphalt but I think we need to know what exactly is proposed. Moreover we need to know how the money is moving.
In today's Citizen, Kate Jaimet writes under the title "Green theme for Lansdowne" that there is controversy over the plans for the proposed "front lawn". This is described by Graham Bird, a consultant to the City, who has emerged as one of the most enthusiastic salesmen for the proposal, as an open grassy area only used for parking on rare occasions .
People who are less enamoured of the proposal question whether the "front lawn" can be used for much other than parking.
One of our problems is that it is not certain what is actually proposed for the "front lawn". There has been talk of concrete blocks with small holes through which grass could grow. Another possibility cited in the article is a system of plastic rings below the surface of the soil giving a more lawn-like appearance.
Until we understand what exactly the proponents have in mind, and until they can point to an installation in Ottawa we can visit, it is hard to know what the "front lawn" will be like.
But in today's article there was one aspect which I found curious. In discussing the possible use of the "front lawn" for concerts, festival activities etc. the article says "The city and the NCC would decide on the programming while the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group would manage the events for a fee. The city would reap any profits and absorb any losses from the events."
I am not sure that this passage gives a correct interpretation of the business arrangement as proposed. If an event, the Tulip Festival for example, wants to use the front lawn, it would contract with OSEG to use the space and pay a rental fee. That fee would go to OSEG. Only after OSEG has covered all its costs, including any administrative charges and profit, would any funds be transferred to the mysterious "closed system" and then funds would be run through the "waterfall". Only after payments are made to the lifecycle reserve fund, to OSEG as return on its investment, and to OSEG to pay off its investment, would the City receive anything. At least that is my understanding.
I am in favour of greening in the sense of removing some of the acres of empty asphalt but I think we need to know what exactly is proposed. Moreover we need to know how the money is moving.
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