 May
10, 2001 -
The
Stadium Financing Ripoff -
"CHICAGO (UPI) - Research by the Federal Reserve Bank
of St. Louis indicates that public financing of sports
facilities is a poor investment. In the latest edition of
"The Regional Economist," economist Adam
Zaretsky analyzed the payoff for cities that have invested
billions of taxpayer dollars in stadiums for professional,
for-profit teams. He found that the economic impact
studies often used to justify the spending rely on
spurious assumptions.
"When a city chooses to use taxpayer dollars to
finance sports stadiums, the city's leaders must consider
not only what the alternative uses of those funds could be
- schools, police, roads and so on - but they must also
figure what return the city would receive from those other
ventures," Zaretsky said..." Newsmax.com
May 09, 2001 -
The
Primary Property Right:
Why taxing for stadiums and convention centers is immoral
-
By R. Evan Scharf "The economic
"benefits" of such schemes as sports stadiums
and convention centers are irrelevant to the issue of
morality. If those interested in such projects believe
there are economic benefits to be generated by such
facilities then let them influence others to voluntarily
join with them to put up the capital to build or buy such
facilities. Let them sell others on their notion and
together risk their capital in the hope that still others
will voluntarily pay to utilize such facilities to prove
that the projected economic benefits are truly
forthcoming..."
May 06, 2001 -
Civic
Center falls further into the red,
Declining sports attendance, concession sales eat profits
-
Amie
K. Streater @PensacolaNewsJournal.com, "The
Pensacola Ice Pilots' continual losses may be painful to
fans, but they are excruciating to the financial
well-being of the Pensacola Civic Center. The Escambia
County-owned arena is projected to lose money for the
fourth year in a row, which facility managers attribute to
a constant decline in the number of hockey fans who show
up for games..."
May 05, 2001 -
Predictable Scare
Tactics
- "I supported Bill Readdy because he
opposed building a conference center with public funds. I
still agree with him that the whole county should get to
vote on this issue. I also agree that our commissioners
should work with the state legislature to allow the use of
tourist tax dollars to improve the infrastructure. But he
is naive to advocate preserving the current TDC as a way
to achieve these goals..."
May
04, 2001 -
This
battle about the Conference Center now has very little to
do with any kind of truth... -
This has been a long, hard pull. I believe that we’ll
win the referendum, but we must do so in convincing
fashion since they secretly changed the law by which we
oppose. I don’t want their “spin” on taxes and jobs
to “scare” up a victory in the last moments, and
they’ll try to do that..." - Gaylan King
REVISITED
-
CITIES IN DENIAL: THE FALSE PROMISE OF
SUBSIDIZED TOURIST AND ENTERTAINMENT COMPLEXES - "Mounting evidence from
dozens of cities that rely on costly tourist-related infrastructure projects such as
convention centers, stadiums, arenas, concert halls, and museums demonstrates that such
projects contribute little to a community's economic vitality. Worse, they divert
desperately needed financial resources from such basic government services as public
safety, education, and transportation..."
REVISITED
-
The
Other "Welfare Queens" -
"A long time ago a few businessmen decided they
were tired of playing fairly in the arena of the
United States' capitalist market, so they figured the
best way to beat their competition was not to produce
a better or cheaper product, but to have the
government help them out. With this in mind, corporate
welfare was born..."
REVISITED
-
Tourism - a
Taxing Issue -
"The danger of relying on travelers to sustain tourism, of course, is that the
numbers do fluctuate, and the condition of the overall economy affects tourism perhaps
more than other industries because it involves discretionary spending. And a state could
end up in a "Catch-22" situation: less money to spend on promotions, fewer
travelers are lured to vacation sites, resulting in less money to spend on promotions..."
REVISITED
-
The
Newjerseyization of the Emerald Coast - Revisited
"Lawsuits, possible loss of renourishment funds put
pressure on N.C.'s seawall ban. It's called
Newjerseyization,
and it's spreading. The label was coined by coastal geologists
to describe what happened to the beaches in the Garden State.
They washed away in front of walls built years ago to protect
beachfront property. In Virginia, Sandbridge no longer has
a beach even at low tide. Bulkheads built by residents for
more than $38,000 each have fallen into the water at least
twice since 1988..."
REVISITED
August
1999 -
Dune
Destruction - "Are State, County and
Destin City officials turning their backs on our Dunes
and natural resources while developers destroy beaches
and dunes?"
OCTOBER 2000
UPDATE!
October
18, 2000 Daily News -
Island
center's design OK'd - By LEE FORST, Daily News
Staff Writer, A proposed conference center on
Okaloosa Island will feature terraces, landscaping and
a design to take advantage of views of Choctawhatchee
Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. It could hold as many as
2,500 people and accommodate up to 23,000 square feet
of exhibition space. Those and other details persuaded
Okaloosa County commissioners on Tuesday to direct
architects to continue with more design work and to
allow county officials to negotiate with general
contractors for a guaranteed maximum cost for
construction...
October
17, 2000 Daily News -
Center's
plans to be revealed - By LEE FORST, Daily News
Staff Writer, The proposed conference center on
Okaloosa Island will feature entrances off U.S.
Highway 98 and Santa Rosa Boulevard, and ground-level
parking beneath the building. Those are among details
to be presented tonight when Okaloosa County
commissioners get their first look at architectural
plans for the project...
SEPTEMBER 2000
September
03 2000 -
Who
Will Really Stop The Conference Center? - "The
forum for county commissioner candidates held 23 August
was a revelation. We heard candidates state their positions
on tourism, hospitality growth, the Tourist Development
Commission, and especially the Conference Center. The questions
were loaded toward the tourist perspective, but they were
the hosts and the questions did a good job drawing out the
candidate’s positions on these important issues..."
September
28, 2000 - Effort to kill TDC on hold
- Gaylan King will wait to see how new commissioners
react to a proposed conference center. From
the nwfdailynews.com, By
LEE FORST, Northwest Florida Daily News Staff Writer - Gaylan King, who
had been scheduled Tuesday to present petitions calling for
a referendum on Okaloosa County's Tourist Development
Council, has decided to wait and see what new commissioners
will do before turning them in. "I want to see how the
campaign goes and what the promises are," King said
Wednesday after he withdrew himself from the County
Commission's agenda...
AUGUST
2000
Convention
Center Follies
- Yet for all of the public dollars
spent, few cities appear to have been saved by larger
convention centers. For all of the persistent rhetoric
of new jobs, new spending, and "economic
multipliers," much of the evidence suggests that
convention centers deliver far less than promised.
Indeed, in a number of cases, the expenditure of
hundreds of millions of public dollars appears to have
had almost no impact on individual
communities...
MARCH 2000
March
19, 2000 Daily News -
Petition
could force TDC vote - By TOM McLAUGHLIN,
Daily News Staff Writer, It may be too late to stop
the convention center, but the Freedom Committee
claims it has the signatures required to force a vote
on eliminating the Tourist Development Council. The
Freedom Committee Web site fairly sizzles with the
news: Its drive for a referendum to abolish Okaloosa
County's Tourist Development Council had a
"huge" day Tuesday at the polls, collecting
"over 2,000 petition signatures." The
committee's targets - members of the TDC and
supporters of a convention center - say the news isn't
sizzling, just tardy. The county, they say, is
financially committed, and the committee's petition
drive is too late. Nevertheless, committee president
Gaylan King says he has secured the 3,986 signatures
he needs to force the County Commission's hand...
March
08, 2000 Daily News -
Center
'pretty much a done deal' - By MICHAEL
STEWART, Daily News Staff Writer, All that is left to
do is finalize the bond issue and move on to design
and construction after Okaloosa County commissioners
approved up to $15.5 million in bonds for the Okaloosa
Island conference center Tuesday night. Okaloosa
County commissioners Tuesday night approved the
issuance of up to $15.5 million in bonds to fund the
construction of an Okaloosa Island conference center.
The
action virtually assures a conference center will be
built, those familiar with the process said. The
motion passed by a 4-1 vote, with Commissioner Ray
Sansom casting the only nay vote...
FEBRUARY 2000
February
16, 2000 Daily News -
County
to fund center with bonds - By LEE FORST, Daily News
Staff Writer, The status of the conference center on
Okaloosa Island moved Tuesday from "proposed"
to "funded." Okaloosa County commissioners
were given figures showing the existing tax on short-term
rentals is more than enough to pay for the conference
center. Armed with that assurance, commissioners set wheels
turning to issue up to $15.5 million in bonds to build the
facility. The commissioners on Tuesday approved initial
financing documents needed to borrow the money after hearing
that revenues from 1 cent of the 4-cent bed tax will pay off
a 30-year debt in 15 years. They also signed off on
contracts for an architect and construction manager to begin
designing the center. In effect, the center will be designed
to meet the financing...
February
09, 2000 Daily News -
Two
conference center opponents join commission race -
By LEE FORST, Daily News Staff Writer, Two prominent
opponents of the proposed conference center on Okaloosa
Island plan to run for the same Okaloosa County Commission
seat. Doug Hutcheson and Gaylan King have both filed
papers with election officials that allow them to raise and
spend campaign funds to run for Commissioner Ray Sansom's
District 5 post. Sansom is running for the District 4 state
House seat against incumbent Jerry Melvin. Hutcheson, of
Niceville, prefiled on Jan. 28. King, of Destin, added his
name to the list of potential candidates last Thursday. King
heads the Freedom Committee, which has been collecting
petitions since last summer in hopes of forcing a referendum
on whether to disband the county's Tourist Development
Council. The TDC uses a tourist development tax on
short-term rentals in south Okaloosa to pay for various
tourism promotions and beach-related expenses. County
commissioners raised the levy from 2 percent to 4 percent
last May to help pay off the center's construction debt and
cover any operating losses after it opens...
February
08, 2000 Daily News -
Blizzard
seeking seat on County Commission - Mike
Blizzard, who has been the mayor of Laurel Hill for three
years, and his allies made headlines when they locked down
City Hall for three weeks in a hiring dispute. By TOM
McLAUGHLIN, Daily News Staff Writer, Laurel Hill Mayor Mike
Blizzard, who once won a political battle by locking down
City Hall for three weeks, is resigning that post to seek
the District 1 County Commission seat. The tiny north
Okaloosa town made headlines from late July through August
of 1997 as Blizzard and his allies stood off three City
Council members in a dispute over the hiring of a city
clerk. Blizzard forced the council members' hands by
shutting down the city's only building until a clerk was
hired. Now with three years of mayoring under his belt,
Blizzard sounds like he's spoiling for another fight, this
one with pro-conference center commissioners...
JANUARY
2000
January 19, 2000 Daily News -
County
moving forward on center, By LEE FORST, Daily News
Staff - Two partnerships of firms are in line to supervise
construction of the proposed conference center on Okaloosa
Island and a major expansion of Okaloosa Regional Airport.
County commissioners on Tuesday agreed to negotiate with
partners Delta Construction Management and Lord & Son
Construction Inc. to be general contractors for the
conference center. Commissioners chose to talk to Centex
Rooney Construction and Peter Brown Construction Inc. for
the airport work...
January 16, 2000 Daily News -
TDC
vote stalls; King not worried, By TOM McLAUGHLIN,
Daily News Staff Writer- Although efforts to get a March
vote on killing the TDC failed, its opponents say they
aren't giving up. Gaylan King grows increasingly
passionate while explaining just how badly he wants to shove
a referendum to abolish the Tourist Development Council down
Okaloosa County's throat. Although he has failed to garner
enough signatures to place the measure on the March
presidential primary ballot, King isn't overly worried. As
long as the TDC hasn't incurred a hefty construction debt,
he believes its elimination can be easily accomplished. The
TDC has come under attack in recent years for promoting the
need for an Okaloosa Island conference center even though
studies suggest it would lose money...
January 02, 2000 Daily News -
Island
center rumors run wild - Confusion continues to
fuel the controversy over the proposed conference center,
By LEE FORST, Al Grant had reason to be worried when he
attended an Okaloosa County Commission meeting recently.
After speaking to a supporter of the proposed conference
center on Okaloosa Island, he believed the county was on the
verge of issuing bonds to finance the project.
As in before a petition drive would have a
chance to bring the divisive issue to a referendum. If that
was so, he told commissioners they hadn't seen nothin'
yet.
"Do you realize what kind of corner
somebody is putting you into?" asked Grant, a member of
the county's Republic Executive Committee.
But any bond financing is months down the
road. The county hasn't even finalized a contract with a
South Florida architectural firm to draw up plans...
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