Regarding a new stadium and public participation in it, I believe we are missing out on three large sources of opposition. The first and largest group is the great mass of ordinary people who instinctively feel in their guts that if there is something they don't understand, they're being screwed by it. They never will take the time to understand the details, they just don't trust it. If they vote, it will be 'no.' The second group is the people who don't want government mixed up with (spectator) sports . There is already too much of it, we don't need or want more. And whenever the people who want it get their way, the little people lose out somehow. People who want to misunderstand this point caricature it as attacking a straw man of sports haters who, they say, don't exist in large numbers. While there aren't a lot of people who oppose 22 boys getting together on a grass field to chase a ball, there absolutely are a lot of people who don't like what happens when thousands of other boys (and some girls) show up to watch them do it Finally, there are the NIMBYs. They're always against anything being built by where they live. It always means more traffic, congestion, construction and noise. The side effect of the economic growth, if it does come, is higher rents and taxes. The heart and soul of the VAST group which beat the 1998 stadium and arena issue was made up of Victorian Village residents. Don't forget that most of these people's concerns are mostly not economic, so trying to dissuade them with facts is a waste of time.
Didn't Cincinnati government give some significant cash to that team down south in the nati? There was no public vote and whatever mechanism they did to funnel the money I would presume would be available here as well.
The most honest comment about politics I have ever seen haha. I do think we could get the stadium passed but your right there are pockets of resistance, even if they are irrationally driven. The key then is for all of us to take action now and reach out to show support for getting the deal done and the stadium.
This is what I think will happen here, the city/county/state can structure it without a vote. Then if there is any blowback it will be able to be managed successfully. Especially given the close proximity of approval of the deal to the last election (literally a month later). There is a full cycle for it to fade from the public consciousness, for other issues to take over as battleground issues, and for the stadium construction to begin which at that point will mean its a jobs creator. I think the only thing is ensuring they know we support it.
All of the contact that Smith and DG had from what I was told was done over the phone. I don't know of any in person meetings, but it's possible. Smith was not part of the CP delegation that met with MLS. He was however, somebody that the CP relied on for advice a number of times. He will not be joining the CP, either (if that answers your last question about whether he is a volunteer). I can't say anything for sure re: your second question but I can tell you the sense I got from conversation was that Smith did not necessarily attack Precourt's ownership specifically, but rather ownership and management of the Club over the years (including while he was GM). I believe he tried to help Garber understand the biggest thing that he (Smith) learned from his time in Columbus vs his time in Atlanta was that the clubs are not all that different except for the fact that Columbus has been treated like an unwanted step-child rather than a key player in the league. Also, (as you obviously already know), AP was very obviously trying to sabotage the team in Columbus. DG wasn't necessarily directly involved, but he's also not innocent in everything. He knew what was going on. Whether Precourt can be a competent owner still probably remains to be seen in DG's eyes (we all know he already sucks).
My guess on this would be that he has a different viewpoint now about Columbus than he did when he was GM due to his position at Ohio State. He also has a much different perspective on what it takes to be successful in MLS between his time in Columbus and his time in Atlanta. The fact that he found his way back to Columbus also speaks volumes.
Well, mu h as I am loathe to admit it, down in ATL they give him a huge share - maybe even the biggest share - of the credit for the success that they've had. He was not just part of the deal; many people consider him the driving force. He was the vice president and chief marketing officer for the Falcons and the soccer club. Everything from tickets to sponsorships. He is now considered a serious authority, a player, and theres no doubt in the world that GC is correct that his opinion is would carry serious, big time weight with Garber. It will take a long time for me to get over the way he treated the fans here, but that cant cloud the facts. He knows whereof he speaks.
This quote sounds an awful similar to what several of us were ragging about the antics down in Austin.
There is a difference between preserving a community and stealing one. The McKalla deal was bad, not because it didn't go to a vote but because it was a bad stadium site. Outside of downtown with zero parking and limited transportation. Also here developers are partnering to build the stadium while in Austin they wanted to actually buy the land to develop. The whole situation is apples to oranges.
Yes, they created a special tax district for a TIF around the stadium site. They have a Port Authority which will own the stadium along with the airport and who knows what else. I think the stadium here is likely to end up owned by the Convention Center commission. But in Cincinnati, I think the team's owners are putting up most of the money to build it. Haslam is richer than Lindner so maybe that happens here too.
What you're describing is why most amendments to the state constitution fail. When in doubt, vote no. But those folks are frequently non-voters except for the NIMBYs. I doubt people in Franklinton or Victorian Village are going to get angry because there's some development at the west end of Nationwide Blvd. They're across a river or freeway from it. While AFP has probably twice as many members in Franklin County as the Crew have season ticket holders, libertarians and anti-tax conservatives are vastly outnumbered by people who will vote the way the Dem party and their social networks tell them to. It's why Ginther beat Scott in the mayoral primary in 2015 even with the FBI sniffing around. It's why the council's self-interested version of district representation passed in the special election in August 2017. Columbus politics is pretty transactional which is an opening for Haslam. Edwards will have someone on staff who can point out to Haslam whom to butter up and whom to pay.
If the state appropriated money for a new Crew stadium (as they did for Jacobs field frex), it couldn't be challenged. But I wouldn't count on it passing the legislature. We'll probably get something similar to what Cincinnati got to pay for infrastructure upgrades in the area, but not toward the construction costs. JobsOhio is just the sort of slush fund that would be handy but I doubt it could hand out $200 mil. The few hundred jobs associated with stadium operations wouldn't justify it and their main tool is tax breaks and if the stadium is publicly owned, then there aren't any property taxes anyway. Income tax breaks wouldn't be much benefit to Haslam.
Apparently we're not paying nearly enough attention to Merrit Paulson, and he's unhappy about it. His team is "elite", he himself is extraordinarily wonderful and you guys just aren't appreciative enoug I understand Tony Two Chins calls him up every night and mocks him about how many more social media mentions he gets. If we're not careful, he's threatening to quit mocking Crew fans and badmouthing Columbus on Twitter, and then where will we be? Please, please, Merrit, don't take your born-on-third-base entitled little ass off of social media. We will all get sad. Those two bitches deserve each other. They should get a house, buy a cat and fill the place with mirrors. https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2018...mbers-not-getting-talked-about-elite-team-mls
He mocked our attendance in the first leg and when Red Bull didn’t do better in the second Merritt got defensive when we called him out. I think he blocked 5 of us in like 5 minutes. He’s an entitled asshole.
* Someone told me that he called you out, personally, by name (although that may be one of the ones he deleted) Either way I am totes jealous. Laying down smack on Columbus and our fans, particularly AFTER the Oct 12 announcement, just because he is in love with his fellow Fratboy is disgraceful. I'm guessing they call each other "broheim" and have a complicated handshake.
What a great morning here in Seattle to catch up on 150+ posts while drinking tea. Always more and more amazed from IM’s info he drops.
As they should, IMO. The state constitution shouldn’t be used to accomplish things like establishing casinos and alternatives to jail time for drug offenders. That should be done through legislation, not the state constitution, IMO. Well, that and the fact that, according to someone well connected that I know, Zach Scott is an @$$hole.