The debt rests solely with Kansas City taxpayers, not the Royals. In this situation, when the new ballpark fails to magically create the amount for the required debt payments, the city will be forced to go into their general fund at the expense of services including police, fire, public transit and neighborhoods.
The Denver council delayed voting on the release of the $50 million because of a “lack of key information.” For example, council members still do not have a specific breakdown of how and where the money will be spent. The council president seemed flustered that she “had to ask several times” why the team wasn't giving them all the information. When the team's attorney was asked for the project's final cost numbers, she told the council that she didn't have them due to their construction estimates not being finished.
Today, I saw am opinion piece that declared how great the new Jacksonville Jaguars proposal would be for the city and state of Florida. David Miller stated in the Florida Times-Union that this deal would, in fact, be a “catalyst” for “significant and lasting benefits to our community”. Miller goes on to say that this plan would also “revitalize” the stadium, be a “landmark investment” for the city, is “vital” to addressing the “most pressing issues” faced by residents. What can this proposal not do, exactly? Miller points out towards the end of his love letter that he is…
The Tampa Bay Rays are lucky that the package passed the city council, as it was approved barely. Apparently, language was put in very late that gave developers “more flexibility in opting out of creating affordable housing units” and gave developers a required 10% participation from minority-owned businesses, instead of the previous language stating it was 30%. When the Community Benefits Advisory Council met to agree to the package, they had several changes that they wanted to put in place. The problem? Any revisions by the council are “nonbinding”. Just like what most good neighbors do once they are…
The group selected to do the project, Midway Rising, promised the city of San Diego that nearly 2,000 of the housing units were going to be given to low-income affordable housing residents. This promise of helping low-income people served as “the basis for the team’s selection” by the city. Unfortunately, several months after being given the project, Midway Rising decided that 250+ of these units and the hotel itself were going to cost them too much. So, they scrapped those projects. Then last month, Byron Wear was sitting in front of the city council for the fourth time, pushing…
The facts, however, show otherwise. Since 2002, the Anaheim Angels have spent $54 million on capital repairs/improvements with $12 million coming from the city. Additionally, a number of the so-called improvement projects were just upgrades that the team wanted, such as replacing their scoreboard to a newer model. Building permits show that the Angels were spending money from their pockets so that they could buy the cool, new gadget and not the contractually obligated maintenance.
