Re: Stadium Bond Float APPROVED- Metro stadium thread The HCIA just told me that the $10MM was unrelated to the stadium project. Never mind.
Re: Stadium Bond Float APPROVED- Metro stadium thread He declined to say, only that it had nothing to do with the stadium.
Re: Stadium Bond Float APPROVED- Metro stadium thread If someone can go back and check....all those 30-60 day announcements.... are we sure it wasn't 30-60 years?!? Here is to The Swamp until sometime between 2034-2064.... Hopefully this will use up our bad karma for the week, and Metro can get the result needed in DC to advance to the conference final...A trade that I can live with for now...
Re: Stadium Bond Float APPROVED- Metro stadium thread time to change the title again? those that advised caution were wise. let's try to take a more cautious approach on drawing conclusions? my original prediction that this'll happen right after the election may still be right. i also predicted that if it's not done soon after the election something is seriously wrong, i hope not. who was that clerk? any way to see the agenda first next time? at least settle this before the office closes! thanks for all those investigating, too bad some of us keep getting our hopes up!
Re: Stadium Bond Float APPROVED- Metro stadium thread I think we'll have to wait until AFTER the elections for the vote on the bonds. Either way, as I said before, the stadium is going to happen. Whether it being a $130M facility financed by the bonds, or a $30M stadium financed by uncle Phil.
Re: Stadium Bond Float APPROVED- Metro stadium thread Yeah we'll have to wait after the elections. The 2008 elections.
Next week's elections have nothing to do with this. Hudson Co freeholders are elected in April, I believe, if I remember correctly.
I've heard that too. But still I think the election matters. It's good cover to bury this in the news. Don't think they want to advertise freely that they spent 130 mill on a soccer stadium
I just wish the MFO would give us a non bull$hit view of what is going on and what we might actually expect
Someone should really try to compile a history of this process. A timeline itself with all the 60-90 day quotes would be priceless.
But it was confirmed this is $10 million for somethign else altogether. Not towards the stadium project.
Frankly, I think MFO doesn't have a clue what's going on. and that diary of "progress" would be a frickin opus longer than Atlas Shrugged
To me one of three things is going on 1. They don't have the votes 2. Details of the agreement aren't finalized 3. One of the sides wants to wait until a certain time to finalize the deal I'm suspicious of #1, worst case scenerio. Doubt #2 unless some "study" is pending. I'm hopeful for #3, obviously AEG wants it done ASAP so hopefully HCIA just wants to wait until right after the election to bury this in the news. Maybe some of the other local government is up for election and doesn't want to discus this now. If this doesn't happen by 2005 I might give up hope.
Re: Stadium Bond Float APPROVED- Metro stadium thread Free. It's called Freedom of Information Act. If the Freeholders have seen, touched, or smelled that report, they have to disclose. It doesn't matter who paid for it. If The People are underwriting the bonds, that data is Public Domain. And if you have the resources, friends, pull, or stroke to get someone from a mid-town or downtown firm to file the FOIA for you, you'll get 300% faster turnaround. I would also like to add that the absence of Sack and/or Galarcep should have told you immediately that this was not a relevant vote. Instead of going in (pounding on) the front door, you people need to get far more creative; pretext if you have to, to get the data you want and need. I'm not going to post suggestions in the open. But the backdoor, tunneling, or an air assault, are far more conducive to your want and needs. None of these approaches advantages MFO or Harrison stakeholders. And that's not your problem. Instead of sitting around waiting for someone to tell you the truth (who has proved incapable of telling you the truth), GO DOWN, UNDER or AROUND. -bs
It is unfortunate... that MFO can't or won't give us accurate information as to the state of the Stadium. Instead we get meaningless press conferences designed to convince the general public (or whatever miniscule fraction of the general public that might actually be listening) that the Stadium is a done deal. The above said, wouldn't it be nice if we had a team in the playoffs to discuss rather than agonizing over every little hiccup in NJ? Who knows, if we were competent on the field then maybe we'd be discussing alternatives to Harrison, maybe talking how it might not be the worst thing in the world if the existing plans were changed, or delayed, or perhaps how a Stadium somewhere else would be nice, too. Amazing how the prospect of a winning season and/or championship changes one's attitude and outlook. I guess this is a way of masking the desperation and pain we feel because we don't know WHAT'S going on with this team. =NLK=
Re: Stadium Bond Float APPROVED- Metro stadium thread You've all heard of FoIA, but New Jersey has OPRA! (Open Public Records Act). While there are requirements for public meetings and release of public documents, there are confidentiality exceptions & executive session loopholes. Rest assured that the Hudson County Board of Freeholders have people familiar with the applicability of OPRA. While the bond issue is a work in progress, there will be little released beyond what the Board wants out.
Re: It is unfortunate... Everytime the Metros make a press release on the progress of the stadium the freeholders get bombarded with letters from people b!tching about traffic in the area and how they are against the project having anything to do with Hudson County. Metro is not stupid, that is precisely why Nick told Don Garber to keep his yelp shut after the NY Times interview...
Re: It is unfortunate... Are you saying that Nick doesn't hold press conferences regarding the Stadium? I could be wrong but I could have SWORN there was a conference call not too long ago telling us how close the Stadium was. If Nick can blow smoke on a conference call he can give accurate information as well, or just lay low. And this was just one of a long string of such "information sharings". Of course I could be wrong about the above, or someone else could have forced Nick to take part in the conference. =NLK=
The reason we are in the state we are in as a franchise, is because we blow our expectations way out of proportion. We have been cultivated to think we are getting a stadium soon for more than half a decade. When Bradley came, we thought he was going to save us, not because of anything he said (which was more about long-term building) but because we imagined what the expectations should be according to our selfish interests. Lets just relax. But I will say this, the fact that AEG isn't willing to come up with more cash, I think shows their opinion of the state of the franchise. They aren't willing to put in a lot of money. I'll say this right now. The general morass that we find ourselves in can only be done with a completely cleaning of the front office. The only way that starts is with a new owner. Bradley I think will have a competent team on the field next year. There is too much talent on the team for it not to improve. But the front office under Nick sucks.
Re: It is unfortunate... If this is indeed a true reflection of the pecking order in MLS the league is doomed. Garber is just marking time anyways until the NFL comes calling again.
AEG doesn't want to put in their own money because if they do, they'll never be able to get public money from another municipality. This has little to do with Harrison; it's more because of what comes after Harrison.
Word. Carson, Frisco, and Bridgeview have set precedents that the I/O's will be loathe to overturn. As an outsider, what I don't get, is why the price tag is $130M. Even for Gotham, that seems extremely high. Carson and Frisco both have lots of extras (youth fields, office buildings, buku parking lots, tennis stadiums, stages) and yet neither are anywhere near that price tag. -bs
Wait Obie. AEG put up a TON of money for the HDC. It's not like there isn't precedent here. In that situation though, AEG probably felt more confident in dropping so much money. They knew they were going to get the land from Carson, the US Olympic team, Pete Sampras' camp, in other words they knew, even if the LAG were badly run (which they obviously aren't) that the HDC was going to be a cash cow. And it is. With the Metrostars, I think, they realize it is going to be hard to get money here. First off, the franchise is poorly run. Secondly, there aren't as many options as they had at the HDC. I think the only way for this franchise to turn around is new ownership. AEG is too distant. We need someone local, to be the face of the team. It's pathetic that the New York franchise isn't a dynamo, even if we suck. We should be able to really push things, even if its only at an MLS level. But instead, we are a mockery, especially off the field. And not only that, but there is also the precedent of Crew Stadium. Look, if AEG wanted to, they could put up more money, lessen the burden on Harrison, and this thing would get rolling a lot faster. There needs to be some muscle behind our position, especially if as we all assume, it is being run so poorly by nick.