They should all be fired!

I'm taking deep breathes. I really am.
Why?
The newly posted information from the Hamilton Wentworth District School Board is actually giving me heart palpitations.
Why?
I can't wait to craft them a new ...you know what I mean.

Here are the facts as released by the school board regarding their scoring of a site for a new education headquarters. They through the services of Cushman and Wakefield looked at 18 different sites for a re-located head office for they are entering into an agreement with McMaster University to take over their current location at 100 Main West.
You know the debate right? People want to save the building. People want the Board to stay downtown keeping 350 white collar jobs where the city needs them most, right, you know this.
You know the Board has unveiled plans to build on the Central Mountain in Cardinal Heights just off Upper Wentworth and just a stone's throw, although we don't advocate that, from Toy's R Us. As a taxpayer you know all of this is happening and you might wonder why Crestwood was chosen as the new headquarters over 17 other potential sites investigated by the aforementioned Cushman and Wakefield on behalf of the Hamilton Wentworth District School Board. Here's why.
Using 12 criteria from amenities and accessibility to location, parking and proximity C and W concluded the Crestwood site scored 3.67 points and weighted scored 86.69 total points. Nice score. What was the next nearest score you might wonder and how badly did they do in comparison since the Board's decision has all the appearances of a slam dunk?
You really want to know?  It's Friday night. I don't want you to choke on your pretzels and beer or gag on your Chinese take out. You want to know. O K, here we go.
The next best score was given to Jackson Square, yes our under inhabited Jackson Square which has struggled for at least 20 years to be the vibrant place envisaged by another generation of decison makers.
What was the score you wonder out loud as you digest a second round of chicken wings washed down with a lovely Heineken? I'll tell you.
Jackson Square scored 3.65 points or point zero two off the Crestwood score and weighted 86.49 total points, or point two off the Crestwood score.
Have you digested those numbers along with your slice of Friday night pizza? You have? Then here goes.
These trustees and their Director of Education need to first of all be spanked and then fired for incompetence or should I say in a calmer manner their lack of civic pride/involvement.  For .02 they would move 350 white collar jobs to the central mountain instead of keeping them right smack dab downtown at the corner of King and James? Really? What are they smoking? Isn't this in fact a statistical tie? Indeed as you look at the criteria, the Jackson Square site actually won 8 of 12 categories with one tie. Gadzooks who's cooking the books to make a win for Jackson Square look like a nice silver medal? I couldn't possibly begin to speculate because then I would need to find a lawyer but this decision smells to high heaven. Apparently when the Board (I doubt the trustees established the criteria, hello Mr. director and staff) established their criteria they didn't think about city building they only thought about where the might be most cozy thus coming in in third place was Highland at 83.65 for a total weighted score. I'm sorry you thought the Board of Education for the City of Hamilton, sorry, the Hamilton Wentworth District School Board should move from a property in the heart of downtown donated by the City of Hamilton in the 60's to a property you own in Dundas that you are actually considering tearing down? Is that what you thought? In fourth place was the Innovation Park. O K, I see some merit in that but wouldn't there be remediation problems like the remediation problems you site for the West Harbour lands which only ranked tenth on your list? But I digress. You see the pattern I see here is very clear. Lets look at properties we own (meaning the board, that's why Ancaster High is on the list scoring 11th) and then through this process since we know we'll be scrutinised lets throw in a couple of city locations we don't own to keep the lawsuits away. Once we've done that with an outside firm using whatever weighting they want to establish we can announce a grand plan of moving out of the core of the city to the mountain using the proceeds of the sale of 100 Main to help pay for Crestwood while closing seven high schools and building 2 while refurbishing others. Oh now I start to see it. It's all about the money, the Board's money which is actually your money but who's counting you in the decision making loop? It's clear this Board doesn't give a rat's behind about the big picture. It's clear that a majority of trustees don't care about partnerships unless there's a picture of a Canadian Prime Minister on it. It's clear they haven't got a clue for one of the criteria  they had studied was parking and Jackson Square beat Crestwood
Monday they meet. I hope the taxpayers of this city who support this Board with their tax dollars are there to meet them, sullenly and vocally.