Kudos to our Mayor (Atlanta: maintenance, versus, move)

[JPD]

Originally Posted by avbanks

I'm talking about the COA residents bud........

Don't leave us hanging. What is supposed to come after that double ellipsis?

[avbanks]

Originally Posted by jpd

don't leave us hanging. What is supposed to come after that double ellipsis?

...............

[jsvh]

Reed Op-ed on CNN.com: Atlanta mayor: Cost too high to keep Braves - CNN.com

I agree with his priorities.

[toll_booth]

Originally Posted by LovinDecatur

I believe that in the end he made a decision that he thought was best for the taxpayers of this city. For that, I thank him. We haven't seen integrity in that office of that sort for a long time.

Indeed. The deal for the new Falcons' stadium makes a whole lot more financial sense than the proposed deal for the new Braves' stadium.

[afonega1]

Originally Posted by tikigod311

Awwww

Yeah, I thought he played that right too. Last think I would want is to get into a bidding war with public money for a private for profit entity.

Love some of his comments today as well.


Good move. Glad to hear words like that. The region, specifically including Cobb, is going to have to work together to fix transportation. These are the right words to make that happen in the future.


HA!


Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

I still don't want to forget too quickly though my serious objection to 200 mil in public money going to make money for the Falcons.

That last statement he made was obviously a veiled swipe at the foolishness it sounds like for the county to have to pay so much of public funds.At the same time he is letting Atlanta tax payers know how much of a good deal they got with the Falcons deal.

[tikigod311]

I'm still not on board 100% with the Falcons deal. Relative to publicly funded stadiums, it does seem like pretty good deal though.

[J2rescue]

Originally Posted by Seatlien

On the surface, yes, we don't like handing out money to billionaires. But, there's also significant losses that will happen. The Braves lease payment, the parking revenue, local jobs, local revenue at bars and restaurants, sales taxes generated from 2-3 million visitors, hotel/motel stays, loss of ridership on Marta, the cost to demo the stadium, the cost to redo the entire area's infrastructure, et al. Is that more or less than the $10mil bond payment it would have cost to keep the Braves? It will take someone smarter than me (and with more time) to figure that out.

On the hotel/motel tax... why would we assume that 100% of those 2-3 million visitors will vanish. Clearly some will choose to stay near the stadium but as has been said, its not as if the team is moving to another state. Most people want to do more than one event when traveling and the city is the best place to be for multiple entertainment options.

[Mishap]

Originally Posted by J2rescue

On the hotel/motel tax... why would we assume that 100% of those 2-3 million visitors will vanish. Clearly some will choose to stay near the stadium but as has been said, its not as if the team is moving to another state. Most people want to do more than one event when traveling and the city is the best place to be for multiple entertainment options.

Don't forget No Cover w/ ticket stubs at the Cheetah. =) That alone ought to clear bring a few $$$s back to the city.

[westau]

No surprise to me, but looks like Reed was being dishonest the whole time about the $450 million number to try and make himself look better for losing the Braves. The Braves are paying 55% of the $672 million.

I also saw the Fulton County Commissioner had no clue what Reed was talking about with the mixed-use talk at the Turner Field location. Since that area is controlled jointly by the city and the county, it is generally pretty important for them to actually plan things together...

I also saw that the Braves had a study done that their economic impact on the city was double the Falcons, Hawks, and Dream COMBINED and that was without getting any help from the city in allowing them to get mixed-use stuff going around Turner Field like they have tried to do since around 2005.

[jsvh]

Originally Posted by westau

I also saw that the Braves had a study done that their economic impact on the city...

No conflict of interest there.

Originally Posted by westau

No surprise to me, but looks like Reed was being dishonest the whole time about the $450 million number to try and make himself look better for losing the Braves.

He said that is what the Braves told him Cobb was offering. I think the Braves probably told him that number which is really the total benefit the Braves are getting. I think Cobb is now scrambling to figure how they are going to sell this and where to get the money from. Cobb has got to try to bring down that $450m headline. They will probably offer stealthier stuff such as tax breaks and the like.

The mayor always said that the Braves demands were $250m - $350m which the city is not willing to do. And I agree with him.