When good news has no counterpoint - well that’s a big old problem for a reality check
In the press it would appear Gravenhurst is about to burst at the seams with all the good stuff happening..... and on the sharp verge of occurring.....building permit increases, lots of business activity, new places to shop this spring and lots more of everything that falls within the definition of "progress" and for the "good of the community." Now cut away the bullcrap and it’s a lot less "good" when you factor in a critical examination of what is touted as being an advantage, actually turning out to be a timely disadvantage. A balanced story is one that details both or all sides of a point of view. When the mayor, for the new year projection had a "really good news" report, apparently there wasn’t much interest to delve into some of the persistent and related problems in the same town. It’s one thing to recognize all the great improvements coming with the new southend development but it’s kind of a gaping omission not to footnote that by the way.....the downtown core is going to be pounded into near submission as a direct result.
There are a few people I suppose, who truly believe what is served up by the press. I’m pretty sure these good news reports make some folks feel at ease but this old news hound becomes a little antsy when good news comes at the expense of the whole story. And there are undoubtedly more than a few cynics like me, who never take anything offered by the media as the end-all, even when the reporter has spared a few lines of ink to offer a counterpoint to what was intended to be a "good times were had by all" front pager. Well folks, the responsible thing for the local press to be doing now is reporting the nitty gritty of the really tough time local merchants are having with this economic downturn, and adequately address and justify, by old fashioned investigative reporting, why established merchants are fearing the coming year most. Maybe it pisses off some advertisers but by and large I think a balanced viewpoint can still be alluring by simply being helpful with information dispersal.
For example, the current affairs issue of local business expansion here in Gravenhurst, begs for more insight and investigation because a significant aspect to the story is missing.....the part about an existing business community about to be torn apart by an incredible new reality of competition.....and it would seem to me a really insightful although somewhat latent action on the part of local council, for at least one elected member to be truly concerned, and state this for the record. While they might not feel a responsibility to local merchants to offer anything more than "suck it up," councillors played an integral role in approving the expansion that is ultimately going to re-shape this community and then some. At the onset of planning for the new development, what was their estimation of the acceptable loss of established business....because there are few such expansions of commercial nodes that open without consequence to other competing businesses? Just the simple diversion of business traffic is going to be a serious alteration to local shopping habits built up over decades. Could they have been naive enough to believe that there would be no compromises, no losses just good and prosperous gains all round? Or did they appreciate that there could be a five to ten percent cull in the downtown core....or more, once the node was up and running at full capacity? Is there an obligation now, on Council’s part, to stop the rhetoric and "good news" propaganda and deal with the many grave concerns about the future welfare of the historic main street and vicinity...... and let the downtown know it has the commitment of town hall to help find solutions to immediate problems and deep seeded concerns about where loyalties lie. The word on the street is pretty clear that loyalties are not what they should be at this critical time of expansion and economic downturn. And it has been an ongoing issue with The Wharf...... about which commercial area is favorite? They don’t have to believe it but that doesn’t make it less true.
There are a lot of situations such as this which are minimized in Gravenhurst and the silly arse reality is there won’t be any way of denying the truth in a few short months when changes start seriously impacting shopping trends......you would have to be holed-up in a closet not to see the shortage of customers on Gravenhurst’s main street and that new reality began well before Christmas, and will continue for an indefinite period of time yet. So not only does a local business have to deal with the typical Muskoka winter downturn of commerce, take the blunt force of the current economic crisis and then contend with a division of commercial areas at the very time they need an upturn to make it through the rest of the year. It doesn’t take a clairvoyant to see the huge impact about to whomp-down on established businesses. So it should be abundantly obvious to councillors that amidst all the good news reporting, crap is about to hit the fan and there won’t be any hiding from responsibility......so trying to sell the world on the economic prowess of Gravenhurst might be a tad awkward as main street vacancies begin to rise in the "rob Peter to pay Paul," syndrome that will cause a lot of pain for this gain.
Then, as rats jumping ship, the move is to shift Town Hall about as far away from the main street as possible....it’s not the first time this has been attempted but it’s the first time the public can’t be bothered fighting the plan. The decentralizing plan is seen as good for town..... Of course I see it as a betrayal of the downtown at a highly critical time.....when abandoning a battle-weary neighborhood is pretty much the declaration of "oh well....they’ll get over it!" I’d like to hear from just one member of council who appreciates that you just can’t have it all.....and like you were likely told umpteen times as a child......there are consequences to your actions. This could be a very painful two year stint as councillors wrap up their terms of office. I don’t believe they’re going to escape accountability.
So what could any one do at this point to help out the main street and other business situations soon to be affected with the Big Pod? First of all, the Business Improvement Association can not forcefully deal with the shortfalls at town hall.....and it has been proven the town isn’t all that interested in the BIA so I suppose it’s mutual. There needs to be a ground swell of all business owners in Gravenhurst who feel the time has come to work out a new deal with town hall......who are confident there’s a counterpoint to all the "good news" peddling coming from the municipality. The BIA alone can not protect the downtown merchants without a major commitment from all stake-holders who have something to worry about in the division of local commerce from here on. Council has learned to brush off the BIA and the Chamber of Commerce but I dare say the same thing won’t happen to either the South End enterprises or The Wharf when a problem arises.
It may seem as if I’m a tad unhappy with the expansion of Gravenhurst’s commercial community......this isn’t the case and I predicted this business bonanza would explode in our town when I was writing for the local press more than ten years ago......and in fact I was bang on. And even then I knew that there was going to be a heavy price to pay on the traditional main street unless there were some huge changes in attitude by every one involved. Ours is not the only community to face this tearing apart scenario and there will be much suffering in our neighboring towns due to the same divide and conquer scenarios....how many grocery stores does a small community need and what happens when you "over-store" or "over-retail," the actual merchandise demands of the target populations.
While municipal economic development committees pat themselves on the collective back for attracting these new commercial investments, do they truly appreciate that by over-loading the retail sector, they are participating by the same stroke, a parallel destruction of existing business? Do they have an inherent responsibility to the existing commercial taxpayers to accept expansion based on a reasonable survey of current and future business/service demand? If they don’t feel it is their responsibility then they are knowingly, willingly participating in the cull of vulnerable businesses as "acceptable loss" of any progressive action. And while I’m not advocating that a town council seek permission of the business community on such matters of commercial expansion, it is incumbent on them to deal with the business community in general to get a proper and truthful perspective of the impact, positive and negative that will result from a major development. I hear far too often off-hand comments like "That’s just the way it is.....everything will work out fine.....everybody will benefit." All this without a shred of proof. When shown evidence of this serious impact, these same numb nuts claim similarly.....they would have failed regardless. I expect to hear and read about a lot of buck passing around here in the next two years.
Our family has a stake in main street business and we’re fighting tooth and nail to hang onto old time values, the graces of a healthy downtown, and the motto imprinted on our eyelids when we sleep......."The price of success is hard work!" Now..... let’s have a level playing field, and it is attainable by council......the same council that voted for expansion....and can show their own dynamic and progressive character now by making strong overtures to the existing merchants, to develop a new and improved, cooperative relationship that to most of us hasn’t existed in years.
It will be a struggle. We are all prepared for that. What we need now is a council that will look after all her children not just a chosen few.