I hesitate to even write this. The Bottom debate seems to have gone quiet, and I don't want to be the one to revive it. Thankfully, I even missed all the hoo-ha over the Style Weekly cover story and the "pay to play" (really, vote, but "play" sounds so much better because it rhymes) church meeting until after the fact. I've just been so busy.
BUT.....let the Frankenstein experiment continue. I just got a comment from a "Tommerare" encouraging me to attend a developer presentation, to hear the pitch from the developers' own mouth. And I haven't been to a meeting yet, admittedly. Besides the fact that I'm a single mom trying to support a child and a household on my Realtor income in the cr*ppiest economy in living memory, and I work a lot of nights, and I'm not going to haul myself out of bed at the crack of dawn for a 7:30 a.m. presentation, I've got one overarching reason I haven't attended any of these dog and pony shows.
I WANT THE PRIMARY SOURCE DOCUMENTS. BEFORE I show up and listen to some summary PowerPoint presentation.
To be more specific: I want the prospectus describing the tax increment financing ("TIF") structure. I want to understand who pays back the bondholders if the TIF funds are not adequate. I want to know exactly what the City is on the hook for in terms of infrastructure improvements. I want the documents outlining the environmental impacts of a Bottom ballpark and how the ballpark "solves" problems with the ancient combined sewer overflow ("CSO") system and potential flooding. I want the proposed construction budget for the ballpark itself. I want the demographic studies demonstrating that there are enough bodies in the area plus anticipated bodies driving into the area to support the ballpark and the ancillary retail development. I want information about the potential retailers that have been contacted and/or expressed interest in having a presence in a Bottom development. I want the traffic studies and parking studies. I want any other relevant document related to the ballpark proposal.
Frankly, I don't understand why these documents haven't been provided already. Why not have a website, for example? Why not make all this material free and easily accessible to the public? In my opinion, I need to review the primary source material before I can make any reasonable, informed judgment on the issue.
I don't think that's an unreasonable request, do you? I've said all along I'm willing to keep an open mind, it's just that nothing to date has convinced me the Bottom is the best place for a new baseball stadium. So, how about it, Mr. Developer?
And for those of you who insist one must attend a developer presentation in order to speak to the issue: I will attend the joint meeting organized by Council Members Jewell, Samuels, and Tyler, and being held this Wednesday, March 4, 2009 from 7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. at Albert Hill Middle School. But I'd sure like those documents first.
I agree totally, and have wondered the same thing. If we were really concerned about evaluating this proposal seriously, wouldn't it also make sense to have a panel discussion with some folks representing the other side (critical of the proposal)? It's just a little skewed to have these nice presentations with only ONE perspective represented.
Posted by: jjames | March 02, 2009 at 10:54 PM