Save Calgary Racing

And you scraped my email from precisely where?

Strange that this is the first I have received an email from the Motorsport Council of Calgary.  I am certain that I have not given any consent whatsoever when my email address was collected that it would be used in this fashion.

Regardless of my support for Race City, my choice for mayor must certainly go beyond a single issue.  My choice for mayor will consider what is best for Race City as well as what’s best for the rest of Calgary at large. 

I feel the future of Race City should be secure when negotiated openly - using the land as a race site is much preferable to me than using it as landfill.  Race City itself is a facility that is valued and respected in Calgary for it’s longstanding history of driver education and a safe facility for high performance driving.  I fully think that should be able to stand on it’s own merit.  Keeping Race City profitable is a matter of it’s owners and supporters, not the citizens of Calgary at large.

I don’t think Naheed Nenshi is going to hand Race City a gold plated guaranteed future, but neither will he shut it down compliments of a “…bullying city administration that doesn’t work with private business [Race City] to solve the problems and find a new facility and keep motorsports going in this city.“  (CivicCamp 2010 Mayoral Forum.)  The solution with Race City is to give it the opportunity to survive.  We don’t need Ric McIver for that, we need a public discussion about the benefits of having a safe venue for high performance driving.  I remain anxious to be part of that conversation, I’m certain we can hold our own.

Let’s save motorsport in Calgary.  Let’s do it by attending a race, going to a concert, or taking a winter driving course.  Let’s talk about the great advantages available to us in a city with a track.

Remove me from your mailing list, this is an inappropriate use of my email address.  You may, however, contact me on a personal level to continue a person-to-person conversation on this matter.

  - Mark

—– Original Message —–
From: Rick Francescone [email protected]
Date: Sunday, October 17, 2010 12:37 am
Subject: Save Calgary Racing
To: [email protected]

Dear Motorsport Enthusiasts

 

Over the past 3 years, the Calgary motorsport community has been
threatenedwith the loss of Race City Motorsport Park. 
Somewhere along the way, city
administration lost sight of the fact that Race City is an
important venue
to maintain for Calgarians, and they made other plans for the
city-owned
land that Race City occupies.  By the time that these plans were
communicated to Race City owner Art Mackenzie, the public, and
city council,
administration had progressed so far down this path that it
seemed Race City
was doomed.

 

The motorsports community has banded together through the Motorsports
Council of Calgary to oppose the termination of the Race City
lease with the
City of Calgary.  We have so far received support from
about half of the
aldermen, led by alderman and now candidate for mayor, Ric McIvor.

Council did not support a lease extension in Feb 2009, but Ric
McIver tried
again and on Sept 28 2009 city council directed city
administration to work
out a deal to extend the lease with Race City to 2015, which
resulted in
another two year deal (2010 - 2011).

 

It is important that we continue to support aldermanic
candidates and a
mayor that support Race City and/or motorsports in the City of
Calgary.
 

This Monday October 18, we collectively have the opportunity to reach
another milestone in the battle to maintain a motorsports venue
in Calgary.

Our research shows that we have the opportunity to elect a motorsport
friendly City Council.  While we held a slim majority in
the past, we were
missing the most important part, a motorsports friendly mayor.

 

We urge you, and your family and friends to get out and Vote for
Ric McIver
for Mayor, and vote for the motorsport friendly Alderman that
represents the
ward you live in. Visit www.motorsportcouncilofcalgary.ca for
further info.

 

The Aldermanic picks are as follows:

Ward 1: Dale Hodges

Ward 2: Joe Magliocca

Ward 3: Jim Stevenson

Ward 4: Brad Northcott

Ward 5: Ray Jones

Ward 6: Brent Mielke

Ward 7: Kevin Taylor

Ward 8: John Mar

Ward 9: Mike Pal

Ward 10: Andre Chabot

Ward 11: James Maxim

Ward 12: Roger Crowe

Ward 13: Diane Colley-Urquhart

Ward 14: Richard Dur

 

Your vote is important, and the future of motorsports in Calgary
depends on
it.

 

Sincerely,

Motorsport Council of Calgary