Charlie Clark has social media posts and ads running that talk about the new Saskatoon main library. See an example of those ads below.
In the ads, he shares some interesting numbers and makes some big claims in defence of his support for this new library .
In our latest post, we share the REAL numbers and what the proposed new $134 million library really means to Saskatoon taxpayers and hardworking families in our city.
This small amount was also mentioned in a StarPhoenix article in 2019.
In that article, Saskatoon Public Library board chair Lisa Erickson and director Carol Cooley were quoted as saying the then proposed $154-million new downtown library was a relatively easy sell.
I did some digging, and it didn’t take long to find the real numbers.
Just look at the numbers below (sources are listed at the bottom) and see for yourself.
The average homeowner (with an assessed home of $371,000) will be paying $33.71 in 2021 for the new library. MUCH MORE than the cost of a cup of coffee!
Over the next 6 years, the projected total for each homeowner is actually an additional $162.56.
If your house is assessed for more than $371,000, you will be paying even more.
Mayor Clark, where are you buying a cup of coffee for $33.71?
1000’s of Jobs?
In the USSU Mayoral Forum on October 20th, you said the library would create 1000s of new construction jobs. Now you’re saying it will create 1000 jobs. What is the real number? Where are you getting these figures? I cannot see it being anywhere near that and, besides, it won’t create jobs in construction for years to come. You should have learned all these things by now. There is no excuse to keep saying these things because you know that they’re not relevant in our current time.
The Library Driving Economic Activity?
You say this project will drive economic activity in the downtown, you should go back and look at the City Centre Plan from 2013 and note where the library location was planned to be.
It was supposed to incorporate around existing businesses and the downtown infrastructure. But instead, those things have been thrown out the door. The Saskatoon Public Library is planning to build its new downtown branch on a large piece of land on the west side of Second Avenue North, between 24th Street and 25th Street, away from most things that it needs to be close to!
The only thing that it’s going to drive is debt. And then you will claim that in some future date there will be lots of activity. But economic activity is not planned for where it is right now and it’s short-sighted the way that it’s being enacted.
A Community Hub?
A community hub for all residents, except for the folks that don’t live in the proximity of the site. That is the majority of people in the city. Many of us are going to be paying for this library and really never ever set foot in the door. If it’s a digital thing, you can do digital from anywhere. You don’t need to have a building for digital, so quit promoting that as a benefit.
The other issue is that the location is NOT in the heart of downtown where it should be. You are expecting to build it and then for all of the citizens to automatically go to it? Why not look at the Holmwood area? A new joint-use library in the Holmwood – Brighton area that is linked to the proposed joint-use high schools and leisure centre would see support from me. You should be focusing on this plan but, of course now, you’ll have spent all of the money on this grand project and won’t have any money for a joint-use library in a community that actually needs one. And that is indicative of the problem with everything you’re doing.
