Future of the Columbus Crew?

[PerryMason614]

Originally Posted by jbcmh81

You should've just said "I believe there's a conspiracy that I have no evidence for" and the conversation would've stopped there. I hate being involved in discussions like this, because I enter them thinking they will be honest debates and then it becomes clear they're not. You're free to believe what you want, that the city is actively working to screw the public, whatever, but a head's up on this from the beginning that engagement will be a waste of time would've been nice.

You provided this:

City of Columbus: $50 million in capital funds, primarily toward redeveloping the Mapfre Stadium site into a Community Sports Park, as well as land acquisition, infrastructure and public improvements around the new stadium.

Please explain how this is a breakdown of exact dollar figures that going into each of the following components which are mentioned in that passage.

1. land acquisition
2. infrastructure and public improvements around the new stadium

You can't answer it because they PURPOSELY don't provide a breakdown. Just like they purposely didn't tell you they willingly participated in fleecing Columbus citizens and people driving through Columbus in exchange for bribe money from Redflex.

But I will answer for you.

1. land acquisition

$50 million to buy state owned land, in the hood? LOL - Name one time the State of Ohio extracted a premium price for land it sold to the City of Columbus. Latest example is the Arena District/Ohio Pen. The state sold the Ohio Penitentiary to the City of Columbus in 1995 for the price of $1.00. (See: http://supremecourt.ohio.gov/pdf_vie...pdf=799299.pdf Page 9.)

In fact, what I think they're telling you is that they will buy the land that the stadium sits on from the State of Ohio (for a pittance, which is what the land is worth). But somebody else owns the improvements on the land, a certain Mapfre Stadium. You also have to buy the improvements too ..... and that's where they're giving the Columbus Crew money under the table for the new stadium.

2. infrastructure and public improvements around the new stadium

Self-explanatory.

I just gave you a free lesson in analyzing fake news.

[PerryMason614]

Now that this has been put to bed, considering that this is the first time the Art Modell Law had to be used, it is obvious that there are some deficiencies in the law. I think it's time to look at cleaning it up so that everything is more clear-cut if the law has to be used again.

Better to do it now, while it's still fresh in everybody's mind. Wait too long and it will be forgotten and the law may not work the next time around.

One of the deficiencies I see is the whole procedure for giving notice. Who do you give notice to and how is it accomplished?

Another deficiency has to do with constitutionality, but I don't think you are entitled to get money from taxpayers without any stipulations. If you take government money, that means you agree to give something up. Maybe the way to solve the constitutionality issue is to require the team owner to pay back any government monies used to subsidize the team (including infrastructure improvements and property tax abatements) before he can move. If a team owner is facing a $200 million bill before he can move his team, I think that should be enough to make him think twice.

In keeping with the above, I would add a provision to this section to require the county auditor is to send team owners a notice each year showing the amount of government subsidy they received in a given year and a cumulative total, and a mechanism to contest the numbers. (To create a paper trail.)

[jbcmh81]

Originally Posted by PerryMason614

Now that this has been put to bed, considering that this is the first time the Art Modell Law had to be used, it is obvious that there are some deficiencies in the law. I think it's time to look at cleaning it up so that everything is more clear-cut if the law has to be used again.

Better to do it now, while it's still fresh in everybody's mind. Wait too long and it will be forgotten and the law may not work the next time around.

One of the deficiencies I see is the whole procedure for giving notice. Who do you give notice to and how is it accomplished?

Another deficiency has to do with constitutionality, but I don't think you are entitled to get money from taxpayers without any stipulations. If you take government money, that means you agree to give something up. Maybe the way to solve the constitutionality issue is to require the team owner to pay back any government monies used to subsidize the team (including infrastructure improvements and property tax abatements) before he can move. If a team owner is facing a $200 million bill before he can move his team, I think that should be enough to make him think twice.

In keeping with the above, I would add a provision to this section to require the county auditor is to send team owners a notice each year showing the amount of government subsidy they received in a given year and a cumulative total, and a mechanism to contest the numbers. (To create a paper trail.)

Why bother? According to you, even one of the best stadium deals in US history is a conspiracy of lies to rape taxpayers. Why would you want a law fixed that would keep allowing that to happen to any Ohio city?