Cornwall Ontario – It’s tough being number one sometimes. It means the jealous kids won’t play with you much; at least the underdeveloped and really immature ones.
For example I have a lot of media peers outside of Cornwall that I get along with, and even sometimes collaborate with, but not here in Cornwall. When I ran for mayor the prejudice from my local media confreres was clear and not pretty for example.
Hugo Rodrigues is not a minor league journalist. He may never be in my league, or rise above Cornwall, but he knows right from wrong if he rarely chooses that path because of having to keep his job with a major media chain.
Instead of asking the right question, which Maureen Adams, CAO of Cornwall has refused to answer, which is how much did it cost the City to apply for the Amazon HQ2 gig, Hugo pandered that it was worth it, especially after conferring with Seaway News Editor Nick Seebruch, even though I’d already written about the subject before.
There are two things when writing traditional journalism that are really important, telling the truth, and balancing the perspective. Even though CFN is a Gonzo journal, and even though you don’t have to balance the perspective in Gonzo Journalism, when writing a true piece of journalism, as opposed to opinion, it’s good to have some balance or at least offer the other party a chance to comment.
Hugo failed that one and I get it. Ad dollars are getting slim and he’s fighting to save his job.
The thing is, why is Ms Adams refusing to state how much the city invested in their Amazon flyer? And why isn’t Hugo asking that very basic question? Or Nick? And is this why CFN has so much more traffic than they do; because we ask those basic questions and tougher ones?
Even if it was only two days, surely they would have been better spent focusing on attracting those tech companies mentioned by Hugo and Nick in their piece?
The big picture that Hugo and Nick are missing is that you win no points for being the last lobster cooked in the pot.
And the lesson learned is that when you do your job so poorly, as our Economic Development team do, it’s time to change your players, and maybe even GM to use a sporting metaphor; because sometimes you can accomplish a lot in two days.
And with our economy in ruins locally, and our young people fleeing, and businesses freaking out trying to figure out how to cover $175K that will be missing from their bottom line because of a drastic increase to Minimum wage in 2018, the thought of seeing taxes go up 6% because of the simple failures of City Hall is far more important than the brief headlines in certain media that very few people read.
Ms Adams has still not answered how much the Amazon bid has cost taxpayers. That should be the real issue that those paying her salary should be asking. Not congratulating Bob Peters for fiscal masturbatory fantasies that had zero chance of success as our city simply didn’t meet the criteria for putting in a bid.
What say you dear CFN viewers? You can post your comments below.
It was just plain stupid for Cornwall to even consider putting in a bid for the Amazon HQ2. It was a giant waste of time and money. They say well at least we got Cornwall’s name out there. Really? Nope, name not out there. Being seen as a fool is never a good thing. When Cornwall didn’t even meet ONE of the minimum requirements it makes us fools to put a bid in. Arrggghhhh!!!!!
Hugger CFN gets Cornwall’s name “out there” far better in much larger numbers than any other form yet Bob Peters is at the head of a City Hall led conspiratorial boycott initiated by his lie in a report to council where he wrote:
One, he knew about our moderation as he and I discussed it in his own office multiple times. And as any regular viewer of this newspaper can attest too we certainly are not, nor have ever been “packed with profanity, and vicious personal attacks”
That now three city clerks and three CAO’s have refused to give us our right to ten minutes to “present information” to council again reinforces the conspiratorial nature of the boycott that has hurt our local economy.
I’m not disputing that CFN gets Cornwall’s name out there.
The point I was trying to make was that we appear as fools when the city spends countless hours and money on a bid when this city can’t even meet ONE of the basic Amazon HQ2 requirements.
Exactly. We’d have been better wooing Giant Tiger who built their DC just down the road from us instead of in Cornwall. That’s a lot of lost local jobs with a real actual Canadian business. Never heard a peep about Mr. Peters going after that DC….
Jamie you have the best paper out there and I mean that fully. I am sitting here with the flu laughing my head off and a real headache but that laugh is helping me somewhat. Everyone is sick here. I laughed about the comment that you gave at one of the remaining sentences and that would really catch peoples attention. Amazon was supposed to be for those with a population of 1 million people.
Mr. Rodrigues sent in an email complaining about this story under official Post Media letterhead. The odd thing, and dearest Hugo seems to do this quite a bit, at least from my experience, is that I never once stated his assertion in this letter; iE that Hugo supported the bid? Afterall, one can pander and even fawn, without supporting a position.
UNEDITED
Jamie:
Your post “Hugo Rodrigues Pandering to Cornwall Over Wasted Amazon HQ2 Bid by Gilcig 102817,” is false, misleading and contains a number of other spurious claims not based in fact.
You may wish to re-read what I wrote, particularly the last sentence where I state:
“The overall investment in submitting the Amazon bid was minimal in the big picture of things, but it was time wasted.” (emphasis mine)
Please, re-read the original piece. Or, perhaps, the headline itself. Or, really, any other part of it. To-date you are the only person I know of who’s read that POV column and suggested it says I supported the time spent on Cornwall’s bid.
As someone who has stated you correct your own errors and are “always happy to print a retraction and apology,” I continue to hope you’ll actually live up to this stated commitment and publish one.
Yours,
HUGO RODRIGUES
MANAGING EDITOR
Standard-Freeholder
T: 613.933.3160 ext. 508225
1150 Montreal Rd.
Cornwall ON K6H 1E2
hrodrigues@postmedia.com
Amazon was advertised for a population of at least 1 million people and not for a very small town. Whoever sees this application from Cornwall will have a good laugh and wonder if they know how to read. This company is a big shipping industry and Cornwall does not have the people nor the methods of shipping. Cornwall doesn’t even have a decent bus system let alone all the other important things