More toxic baloney to swallow

Another front page article today about the early Christmas present for the Pacers.  It seems they just don't want to give up control of the palace in which they play, including receipt of all revenues.  Who can blame them, or, for that matter, be surprised at their attitude?

From day one of municipal giveaways in this city, any agency, board or commission in charge has "negotiated" with the franchises from the position of "How much do you want?  Are you sure that's enough?"  It's become pretty much like any other entitlement.  After being in effect for a while, the recipient begins to think the donor should be subject to indictment for even considering any adverse change.  (Maybe the opposite approach should apply!)

One sentence in the story, quoting the head of the CIB, really struck home.  "We understand there's a sense of urgency, she said, but both sides have to feel comfortable."

Is there no one involved in this fiscal farce who understands the structure of the situation?  She says "both sides," indicating that her thinking is limited to two parties.  There is a third.

One side is the givers - the so-called leadership of the city who have carried out the type of negotiations described above.  Another side is the takers - the folks who live by intimidation and extortion, and who surely delight in the easy marks with whom they have had to deal.

But there is a third side.  That's the people - the tax paying citizens - of this city.  They are the ones who will be told to come up with the dollars with which the givers are so generous.  Represented by nobody.  Personally, we've arrived at the point of saying to hell with keeping both the givers and the takers comfortable.  We favor making them as uncomfortable as possible. 

It is far past time to demolish that invisible wall which allows consideration of "needs" and "wants" as two totally unconnected facets of government.  Is the word "priority" history?  $18 million more for the Pacers means having to look harder and farther for the funding of already suffering vital municipal functions.

Personally, we still favor an option suggested earlier.  Give the Pacers the phone number of Mayflower and tell them to use it, or to sit down, shut up and be prepared to lose some of the gravy they're already being served.

Comments

[Vox Populi]

What else should we expect from the CIB? Even a cursory review of the Pacer's or Colt's agreements reveal contracts that are conspicuously in favor of the owners; the Pacers get all of the revenues from Conseco regardless of the events and the Colts get all game day revenue plus 40-50% of non football event revenue; parking, signage, suites etc.

There are zero economic studies that show pro sports teams have a positive impact on their communities in fact the opposite is true, pro sports teams and their facilities drain needed dollars from their communities.

What do the taxpayers get from these deals; simply put very little. We get to say team (fill in the blanks) is an Indianapolis team, we get to buy their hats and t-shirts and bumper stickers and maybe tout our team is better than year team with our pals. All for a few billion dollars of anybody's money except the owners.

If the CIB acquiesces to the latest demands add another 150-180 million to that several billion dollar price tag.

Dollars to donuts the Pacers will get the maintenance paid for by the CIB. After all when was the last time the CIB stood it's ground and said no to the owners? Frankly, I can't remember any single occurrence when the CIB represented the taxpayers instead of the owners.

[melyssa]

Yeah, what about US? The BILLPAYERS! Thanks to your blog, Advance Indiana, and Ogden on Politics, this nasty deal might not ever see the light of day.

Keep truckin' Fred!

P.S. Professional sports is for sheeple!

[Indystudent.blogspot.com]

I don't think I've been around long enough to understand how these municipal corporations basically became separate entities that are still supported by tax dollars, but they need to be reigned in. There's nothing wrong with having these services. Some of the municpal corporations, such as the library and IndyGo, are fairly responsible with their money. But we need to get them directly responsible to the taxpayer. We need representatives for us. At this point, we just have councilors and mayors being represented, rather than us.

[melyssa]

ISTUD, it's funny a funny math language that only the elites know.

[John Howard]

First they try to convince everyone that they have no intrinsic personal value or character.

Then they try to convince everyone that the only way they can achieve personal value or character is to have a pro sports team in town.

After that, it gets REALLY insane. They tell the least wealthy they have to give their hard earned pay to the very wealthy so they can become more wealthy.