West 91大黄鸭 city council is being asked to reconsider its refusal allow decals to be placed on municipal vehicles declaring the city is the home of the 2016 national junior A hockey champion West 91大黄鸭 Warriors.
Don Richmond, a city resident who is also the team鈥檚 chaplain, will appear before council next week as an individual, not as a representative of the team, to make the request.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not about the decals themselves,鈥� said Richmond. 鈥淭he decals represent a bigger issue. I would like to see the city be a little more flexible and for it to see the whole forest rather than a few trees.鈥�
The future of the Warriors in West 91大黄鸭 remains uncertain, with a potential move to North Delta for next season still on the table after owner Mark Cheyne said he is losing as much as $250,000 per season as the team continues to struggle at the gate.
Richmond said he is aware of is a group of local business-people in the city that have teams up to try and buy the team to keep it in West 91大黄鸭. The group is looking for others to join the effort.
Last week, Mayor Doug Findlater said he met with representatives of the group and they told him the team represents a $4 million economic impact to the city鈥檚 economy.
At last week鈥檚 council meeting, the request to place the decals on city vehicles was rejected in a 3-2 vote, with the three councillors opposed the move saying while they support the team, they felt the decals would be advertising for the Warriors.
That, they said, would be unfair to other businesses in West 91大黄鸭.
But Richmond disagrees.
He said the decals simply express civic pride in the team鈥檚 achievement of winning a national championship. The decals specifically identify West 91大黄鸭 as home to the winners of the RBC Cup, emblematic of winning the Canadian union A hockey title.
鈥淭hose signs won鈥檛 sell season鈥檚 tickets or advertise the team,鈥� he said.
Richmond also pointed to the fact the city has already placed small signs on the large Welcome to West 91大黄鸭 signs at each end of the city, identifying West 91大黄鸭 as home to the 2016 RBC Cup champions.
Prior to next Tuesday鈥檚 council meeting, a rally is scheduled for outside the West 91大黄鸭 municipal offices in support of the team.
The rally is scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m on Feb. 28.
(For more on the Warriors, see page 23)
