City of Calgary elections - motorsports vote!

[reijo]

OK - I'm pissed!

The SASC (Southern Alberta Solosport Club and the Corvette and Porsche clubs also) just lost their venue for solo/autox events at the Grey Eagle Casino mainly due to one guy complaining about noise - which is certainly less than Glenmore Trail between the neighbourhood and the lot).

Elections are coming this fall for sh*tty hall and it is time to start us all on-track to vote out anyone opposed to motorsports on council (that means Bronco - who's not running - maybe he's not as stupid as I think - and the rest of his cronies who voted against Race City).

Let us not forget. Let's hit them where it hurts!

I'm sick of motorsports being relegated to a non-status, 2nd rate sport that counts for nothing.

If we can't get those b*st*ards out, I'll vow to leave Calgary since it is not a city worthy of us!

Time to vote! It is time to be united for the sake of motorsports in Calgary ... if you want any here at all!

Reijo

[reijo]

You know, if one person can make us lose a venue......then one person can kick out city hall nay-sayers.



R

[Sugarphreak]

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[Sentry]

That is fucking retarded, who lives out there?

[kevie88]

Ric Mciver please!!

*edit*

If I were the Tsuu Tina I'd seriously be considering a road course/drag strip to REALLY piss off the city haha..

[schocker]

Well that sucks. I was looking forward to trying an autox out there as a friend went to one a few weeks ago and had a blast.

Im going to vote Mciver anyways.

[bspot]

Originally posted by kevie88
Ric Mciver please!!

As nice as having a track is, there are way more important things for a mayor to decide and you're crazy if you want this wing nut anywhere near city hall.

It'll be Al Duerr part Deux. Years of nothing getting done, and then paying out the ass to catch up as we fall further behind the leading cities of our size.

If motorsports make sense for Calgary, someone from the private sector should step up and build something and profit off of it.

[CUG]

Originally posted by bspot


As nice as having a track is, there are way more important things for a mayor to decide and you're crazy if you want this wing nut anywhere near city hall.

It'll be Al Duerr part Deux. Years of nothing getting done, and then paying out the ass to catch up as we fall further behind the leading cities of our size.

If motorsports make sense for Calgary, someone from the private sector should step up and build something and profit off of it.

Who do you suggest for the alternative? My only concern with McIver is that he may ride on the backs of the motorsports community to garner votes, and then hang us all once he's in City Hall. Why does CUG think that? This is from Ric's website:

The executed agreement between The City of Calgary and Race City provides the city with timely access to the lands to prepare for landfill expansion and the 114 Ave. SE/Stoney Trail tie-in. Race City is granted permission to continue operating on the city-owned lands to the end of December, 2011.

As that reads, there's only one year left at Race City.

[reijo]

We have to find out who is not against motorsports in Calgary and vote accordingly. Otherwise all motorsports venues will be gone.

How else can you vote?

I'm not going to vote for someone against motorsports - period. And, I mean the councillors also ... not just the mayor!

You want more stupid monuments/bridges? Keep voting in zeros like Bronco and his cronies!

If people are so stupid to vote in people like Bronco, then I say Calgary is too stupid for me and I'm outta here......it is no longer for me....I do not wish to live among such people.

R

[Sugarphreak]

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[Sugarphreak]

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[reijo]

Originally posted by bspot


As nice as having a track is, there are way more important things for a mayor to decide and you're crazy if you want this wing nut anywhere near city hall.

It'll be Al Duerr part Deux. Years of nothing getting done, and then paying out the ass to catch up as we fall further behind the leading cities of our size.

If motorsports make sense for Calgary, someone from the private sector should step up and build something and profit off of it.

Nice idea if it was that simple. Snap your fingers and it's done.

1. Cost about:$25 million (if you can get land).
2. Get some land.
3. Get the land zoned for a race track. This is the hard part and may be impossible anywhere near Calgary (if you can afford the land - see 2). You'll get some NIMBY coming along and saying he doesn't want to hear squealing tires etc. and City Hall will not approve the zoning and you will be dead in the water (this is what happened with the CKRC (Calgary Kart Racing Club)....they thought almost everyone was on their side for a new facility north of Calgary. A couple of farmers said nay....dust on their cows (yes they had a mitigation plan for the dust - but obviously was not given consideration) and fields. Project is dead. money is spent and gone....and they did not even get to the point of zoning and buying the land.

Hundreds of users are shut out.

The tail is wagging the dog.

'nuff said.

You can probably say racing is dead for a long time in Calgary once RAce City is gone.

Hello, street racing!

Stupid.

We NEED TO DO SOMETHING as motorsports enthusiasts or we literally will have nowhere to run - very shortly.

Reijo

[ZeeZee]

We need a grassroots movement... something along the lines of:

"Keep it off the streets, help keep race city open"

That resonates with the general public.

The Grey Eagle fiasco is ridiculous, I hope they lose their access road anyway...

[bspot]

Originally posted by reijo

You want more stupid monuments/bridges?

Yes. Yes I do. I love awesome bridges/buildings and they make our city way cooler.

If people are so stupid to vote in people like Bronco, then I say Calgary is too stupid for me and I'm outta here......it is no longer for me....I do not wish to live among such people.

R

Bronco wasn't my favorite, but it's hard to argue with a 3/4 completed ring road, Deerfoot extension, 7 new interchanges on Crowchild, 6 new LRT stations? And a West LRT on it's way to being done. Oh... and a world class pedestrian bridge

Yup, he spent a lot of our money, not all of it wisely, but he got shit done.

If someone buys a parcel of land and builds a track on it, it doesn't matter if council is pro motorsports or not.

I don't think tax dollars going to prop up rich guys racing their cars is a good use of tax dollars. To think people complain about the pedestrian bridge that tens of thousands of people will use, but they want everyone to foot the bill for a few hundred guys to race on city land?

[reijo]

As motorsports participants and spectators, it is time we organized and fought for our wants and desires!

I'm sick of hearing our sport getting dragged through the mud and us getting treated like 2nd class citizens or somethihng....with little or no rights.

We can organize and VOTE!

After seeing the Race City fiasco, I swore I would campaign tirelessly for motorsports and get these jerks out of city hall. Then as I looked at City Hall I realized they were a disorganized, back-biting disfunctional bunch of hacks led by a liberal (of all things - yes, Bronco is liberal in his political leanings....no wonder he sounds like such a f*ing whiner!) in conservative country. What a mess! We really need to get Bronco and his cronies (as listed above) the hell OUT of office as quickly as possible.

Calgary deserves better than this bunch of hacks!

Reijo

[bituerbo]

What ever happened to badlands?

[reijo]

Originally posted by bspot


Yes. Yes I do. I love awesome bridges/buildings and they make our city way cooler.



Bronco wasn't my favorite, but it's hard to argue with a 3/4 completed ring road, Deerfoot extension, 7 new interchanges on Crowchild, 6 new LRT stations? And a West LRT on it's way to being done. Oh... and a world class pedestrian bridge

Yup, he spent a lot of our money, not all of it wisely, but he got shit done.

If someone buys a parcel of land and builds a track on it, it doesn't matter if council is pro motorsports or not.

I don't think tax dollars going to prop up rich guys racing their cars is a good use of tax dollars. To think people complain about the pedestrian bridge that tens of thousands of people will use, but they want everyone to foot the bill for a few hundred guys to race on city land?

Ring road etc.? 20 years too late I say! Winnipeg (600,000?) had a ring road when - I know it was there 30 years ago). We are far, far behind! The construction is happening not because of Bronco but rather because of panic on City Hall's part.

The construction methods are bush league at best here! Pathetic, pathetic, pathetic! Closing down lanes DURING rush hour. Signed improperly for speeds ... a bunch of hacks ... time for Calgary to grow up.

Rich guys? Obviously you know very little about racing! There are a few guys with money for sure but the vast majority are not.

Know how you make a small fortune in racing? You start with a big fortune!

And, no, I'm not rich.....in fact quite broke these days and can't afford to do the stuff to my car I'd like to even though relatively minimal these days.

By the way I'm not talking about using tax dollars for racing (take a look above - not a single mention of that.....you brought that up). I'm not a liberal cry baby like Bronco looking for hand-outs.

We need a City Council and politicians who are willing to work with us to get land and a facility built! If we cannot zone land for racing, then we are done. The issue is land and zoning....see above.

Those can be done with political will ... not money.

Cheers,

R

[Sugarphreak]

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[CPat]

Originally posted by bspot


As nice as having a track is, there are way more important things for a mayor to decide and you're crazy if you want this wing nut anywhere near city hall.

It'll be Al Duerr part Deux. Years of nothing getting done, and then paying out the ass to catch up as we fall further behind the leading cities of our size.

If motorsports make sense for Calgary, someone from the private sector should step up and build something and profit off of it.

There are plans for a facility east of Red Deer that is destination oriented, so Calgary is already beginning to be left behind.

So why does the City own and operate six golf courses, give grants to arts foundation, etc. http://www.cantos.ca/news

From personal experience back home, I don't trust polititicans. I especially don't trust politicians to pick winners and losers.
One of the things that makes a city great is diversity. It's having all the different sub cultures and activities, so that no matter what you're into, there's somewhere you can do it.

Personally I'm not sure what to think of the guy - I haven't done any research on anyone running yet. I don't know anything about Al Duerr as I moved here in 2002. Since then Calgary's changed from more of a can do, entrepreneurial "give it a shot" type of place to more and more rules, bureaucracy, and whining.

The problem with politicians is that they DO NOT do what is best for everyone/ the City as a whole. Therefore because of short sighted, small minded polititcs we fall further behind the leading cities of our size.

For them everything is political, and they all have their personal hobby horse. If you happen to make sense to support, then they be there to cut the ribbon for you and take the credit for all your hard work.

Calgary is starting to go the way of Vancouver where they have a "No Fun Allowed" committee that opposes everything from the Olypmics to a bicycle race just outside downtown early in the morning on a weekend one day of the year. You are never going to please everyone, but the easiest/laziest/most short-sighted thing is just to say No.

Even with the Olympics generally considered a success my parents, and friends who were downtown in the evening were surprised how they stopped servinng alcohol, policeman/woman everywhere outnumbering everyone else. Any/most family oriented activities were shut down.

Due to the changed atmosphere most people just left and went home (to their gated community). How does that build community? PEOPLE THERE HAVE GIVEN UP on ever having events like Indy, or big festivals spread out over the entire City like Stampede. Everything has to be carefully controlled, and large groups of people say watching fireworks are treated like a threat.

Listen to the CBC and others ragging on Stampede this year about how Calgary's image is getting hurt. How we should be re-branding ourselves as "The Heart of the New West" whatever that is. Stampede already isn't about the rodeo, or agricultural events for most people for what I see on the grounds or at Sunridge Mall where Moms are out with their kids talking with the neighbours and socializing. I get the feeling something like the Red Mile of 2004 will likely never happen again in Calgary. Not everyone was drunk or making an idiot of themselves. What harm was really done? Were there murders, or huge fights? No, but we can trust people. People are bad and must be policed and prevented from getting "out of control."

[reijo]

Originally posted by bituerbo
What ever happened to badlands?

It is still being worked on (and I've done some work on it myself - I'm a civil engineer BTW).

Zoning is the big issue. One or two Nimbys and there is trouble.....despite everyone else being in favour of the development.

We are still hoping it will go through.

However there is no oval, no dragstrip and other venues that Race City has. Take a look at the map at the web site:

http://www.badlandsmotorsportsresort.com/

It is a lapping track that can be split into 3 separate tracks for tracks days and such as well as a big asphalt pad that can be used for autox.

I think it will be a world-class and excellent facility - again if the zoning goes through. Meetings have occurred even recently with the planner, owners and the Counties of Wheatland and Kneehill. It is a long, costly drawn-out process that can still be shut down before it even gets going - sad.

Again, I think we motorsports enthusiasts have to organize so that our facilties can get built. And, thinking about it now, that includes Badlands Motorsports Resort! We have to support these projects in some substantial way and make sure they get built or like I said earlier, motorsports in Canada (never mind just Alberta - since people from across the country and the USA travel here to compete) will take a hit and go back to the Dark Ages here in Calgary area!

This is not good.

The time to do something and make our voices heard is NOW!

cheers,

Reijo