Herenton's Political Shopping Spree
I see that Herenton is giving an $85,000 a year job “lobbying” on behalf of the city to TaJuan Stout Mitchell. There may be a few reasons or a combination of these reasons for this. First, Mitchell may be tied up in more indictments. Two, he is trying to get her support for the annexation of that area southeast of Memphis. Three, Herenton is buying up all the support he can for this next run for mayor. More below.
1) If Mitchell is linked or has knowledge of corruption that could be connected to Herenton, best for him to buy her silence. It wasn’t long ago that the FBI came snooping around MLGW. Or how about the FED EX Forum and the parking garage. (That has the fingerprints of all of Memphis’ most notorious politicians on it now.) At this point it seems almost inconceivable that there weren’t kickbacks and graft for the members of the council and Herenton administration to get that piece of shit stadium built. But have no fear, that stadium will be cursed just like the Pyramid is today when the Grizzlies leave. Why buy a pro-team barely breaking even in one of the smallest (and poorest markets in America) for $360 million when the owner put it up for sale two months(Nov 2004) after having a brand new stadium open that he didn’t contribute a dime too? It doesn’t make sense unless you plan to move the team to another city in a couple of years and sucker that city just like Heisley suckered us. Has no one seen the movie Major League? But I digress.
2) Even Herenton knows the city’s tax base is collapsing. So he has to annex those areas. Mitchell couln't be too thrilled about this because most those voters would go into her city council district. Fuck that dude. No politician likes inheriting thousands of pissed off voters. Now if the Council appoints somebody to fill that seat temporarily, annexation becomes a lot easier since that temp probably wouldn’t run for the seat. Cool, we're outsourcing difficult, political votes now.
3) Has anybody noticed that Herenton has been going on a shopping spree? He’s been buying up political support for the past year. Off the top of my head I can name Janet Hooks, that angry lady from the school board, and now Mitchell. Herenton is definitely running for re-election and wants to make sure all his ducks are in a row. But Jesus, I bet that city budget is such a disaster, even city accounts with online degrees can see this train wreck coming. Herenton hands out $60,000 to $100,000 jobs like Pez. He already cut the capital budget by $100 million this past year to make the budget look ok. What the hell is he going to do next year? As for that 600 cop plan. That’s bullshit. In two years everybody is going to be asking “whatever happened to those 600 cops we were supposed to get?” I may be crazy but I’m starting to get premonitions of a “sudden” budget crisis afflicting the city in late 2007 right after Herenton gets re-elected.
I sometimes hear people say that Memphis is built on Indian burial grounds or some ancient evil force. Whether it is supernatural or man made (I personally believe in only the fallibility of man.), it seems we are fated to become the Detroit of the South unless stark changes happen in 2007.
posted by polar donkey at 3:50 PM
12 Comments:
My, my. Is your glass always half empty?
First of all, the Grizz are going nowhere soon. There are massive penalties built into the gift bag that was the FedEx Forum for any departure in the next decade or so. I'll take Pitt Hyde's, et. al. assurances on that issue over your uninformed speculation.
And unless you have specific facts to point to that no one has yet seen, it's not a "piece of shit stadium".
As for the rest of it, well yeah, the city government is corrupt from the top down. It is not, however, beyond redemption. All it takes is a through house cleaning and some real leadership.
Here's hoping Kustoff keeps plowing till he hits bedrock, and that someone steps to the plate to restore integrity and vision to the mayor's office.
1:14 PM
anonymous,
Those massive penalties could easily be seen as "fees" for the Grizz to do what they might want to do.
As for PD's calling the stadium a piece of shit, I don't know if that refers to the actual structure itself. To me, it sounded like an indictment of the history of its being constructed and the effect it has had on this city.
1:36 PM
Then, I suppose it would be too much to ask to have Kustoff start investigating all the shenanigans that took place under Jim Rout.
What am I saying, Republicans NEVER do anything wrong, just ask them!
2:40 PM
I am aware of the stipulations for the Grizzlies to move. I did a research project on the staium finance scheme over a year and half ago. Here they are.
"In the first 10 years of the arena, the Grizzlies can not relocate. After 10 years, the grizzlies can relocate if: average paid attendance falls below 14,900, the minimum attendance threshold is not met the following year, 5,000 seat ticket guarantee is not met by the private sector, the owner sells the franchise, a local ownership group does not purchase the team, the city and county does not purchase the team, the team pays an early termination penalty of $94 million plus $11 million from FedEx and all remaining naming rights revenue would go to the city and county."
We got screwed in the funding scheme compared to other cities that built stadiums around the same time as Memphis.
"This is a comparison of Memphis’ agreement for a new arena and other cities which have recently built new NBA arenas. In 1999, the Conseco Fieldhouse, home of the Indiana Pacers, opened. It cost $183 million. $57 million was paid by the Pacers and $10 million was provided by Eli Lily. The remaining cost of the arena was paid for in a similar bond issuing scheme as the Grizzlies. The Pacers also pay $5 million annually for the life of the 20 year agreement. The San Antonio Spurs recently built a $175 million which was approved by referendum in 1999. The Spurs organization put $28.5 million up front and pay $1.3 million annual rental fee for the 25 years of the agreement."
This why the Fed Ex forum sucks. Memphis is a poor city that is taken advantage of because we are constantly trying to compete with places like Nashville and Atlanta. We simply can't compete with either of those cities and for us to invest in affectations like a publicly financed, $254 million stadium is horseshit when we have so many other pressing needs to be address. Or we could have just not spent the money at all and kept our bond rating up.
No one can argue that the Fed Ex Forum is a wise financial investment. It's more lifestyle rhetoric to attrach the mythic 24-34 year olds and to give corporations some status symbol. But don't listen to me listen to the Kansas City Federal Reserve report from 2001.
"Proponents of using public funds to finance stadium construction
argue that the benefits from increased economic activity and increased tax
revenue collection exceed the public outlays. But independent economic
studies universally find such benefits to be much smaller than claimed.
So does it makes sense for metro areas to use public funds to attract
and retain major league sports franchises? The answer is definitely not if
benefits are limited to increases in economic activity and tax revenue
collection. A strong case can be made, however, that the quality-of-life
benefits from hosting a major league team can sometimes justify the
large public outlays associated with doing so.
Quality-of-life benefits are rarely explicitly included in the debate
on using public funds to attract and retain a major league sports franchise.
Acknowledging that the main benefit from hosting a team comes
from improved metro-area quality of life should help to value this contribution.
Doing so does not require impact studies. Residents and
elected officials who understand that the benefits of a sports team are
the same sort that flow from parks, zoos, museums, and theater can
decide on their own how much hosting a major league team is worth."
7:45 PM
There is, of course, no bottom line financial justification for building a stadium/Arena to attract a major league team. This has been shown by study after study over done in last decade or more.
The reason for doing "the necessary" to keep/attract a big league team is, however, explained in the very report you cite. (Kansas City Federal Reserve report. What's that? The Mint?)
"...the benefits of a sports team are
the same sort that flow from parks, zoos, museums, and theater..."
It's a rallying point for citizens of all strata, it's national exposure, it's a matter of prestige, etc. It helps change attitudes such as:
"We simply can't compete with [Nashville]"
(Because we aren't a hick one horse town? I think I want to throw up.)
Where would Pittsburgh be without the Steelers/Pirates? Would we even know Green Bay is on the map?
Sure there were many better/rational "bottom line" ways to spend the money that went to the stadium and bringing the Grizz to town. But it's over and done. It's time to get our heads off our chests and move on to ridding this town of the penny ante corruption that keep us from taking the next steps to fully solidifying this city's rightful place as the captial of the Midsouth.
We can't compete with Nashville? Sheesh. Give me a break.
10:18 AM
You're argument makes no sense.
First, let's talk about a little history of professional sports in America. Prior to the Korean War, the top three spectator sports were Horse Racing, boxing, and baseball. I think college football and pro-wrestling rounded out the top five. Pro-football was pretty small time and pro-basketball was even smaller, since it was seen as a sport dominanted by a minority group (Jews).
Now let's look at what pro-football has done for Pittsburgh and Green Bay. (I will have to first point out that your comparison of professional sports franchise situation of Memphis to either of these cities is like comparing apples to, let's say, rocks.) These backgrounds are taken from wikipedia. Pittsburgh: "Originally named the Pittsburgh Pirates, the team, along with the Philadelphia Eagles and the now-defunct Cincinnati Reds football team, joined the NFL as 1933 expansion teams, after Art Rooney, Sr. paid a $2,500 fee. However the Steelers are the heirs to the first ever pro-football team, Pittsburgh being the city to host the world's first pro game in the 1890's, a franchise that would still be in existence today if not for the strict state blue-laws preventing any activity during the sabbath (NFL Sundays) up until 1933. The team was renamed the Steelers in 1941 after the city's prominent steel industry to reflect the "blue-collar worker" ethic of the many Pittsburgh fans as well as to avoid confusion with the major league baseball team with the same name."
Green Bay: "The Packers are the last remaining example of the "small town teams" that comprised a majority of the NFL during the 1920s. Green Bay is by far the smallest media market to be the home of a North American major professional sports league team (though their fanbase includes Milwaukee, and the rest of Wisconsin).
Founded in 1919, the Packers joined the league in 1921. The team has actually been playing since 1896. Curly Lambeau began heading the team in 1919.
The Packers are currently the only non-profit, community owned major league professional sports team in the United States. Currently, a total of 4,750,925 shares are owned by 111,967 stockholders — none of whom receive any dividend."
Moving on to the the non-financial benefits of a professional team. You want to know how cities build prestige and change attitudes. Have them well run, with stable tax bases, low crime, and opprotunities for their citizens. Prestige doesn't come from a mediocre to bad team professional sports team. As for a rallying point for the city, isn't that what we have the Tigers for? If we would have spent a fraction of that $254 million on parks, museums, and other things like that, wouldn't the effects have been much more widespread across the city?
Finally, competing with Nashville. As my friend says about this. "What sense does it make to expect Memphis, that has had poor strategic choices in the past, to be able to compete with Nashville at the same level today." Nashville seems to have a lot less poverty, a lower tax rate, and a stable tax base. In fact, the reason why the NFL was so hot to move there was because in the late 1990's Nashville citizens had the highest rate of disposable income of any NFL city.
Even if the Grizzlies don't leave until 2012, we are going to be paying for the Fed Ex forum until 2028. I'm not opposed to professional sports but damn we don't screwed over to have a team.
6:11 AM
Mr. Hot for Nashville,
Thank you for the history of pro sports, but the point was that city after city has built new publicly financed stadiums to keep their sports franchises happy. Even if it does not make financial sense, cities do seem to find value in their teams.
Also I beg to differ as to "the reason why the NFL was so hot to move [to Nashville]." It was because Nashville would build Bud Adams a stadium. Plain and simple. (as I recall, they also built it with with State funds).
The Grizz may leave after 2012, and if we keep that hang dog, "we can't compete", attitude and fail to address the problems that do exist here, it's very likely.
Keep promoting that half empty attitude, and the glass will one day be empty.
11:49 AM
Have empty attitude? I am trying to raise the water level of that glass, not piss away what water is left in the pursuit of affectations we can't afford. Let's try to work our way up to Nashville's level of financial resources and then pursue sports teams. I have a one simple question, is Nashville's bond rating higher than Memphis'?
8:31 PM
I actually have no issue with the main thrust of your original post. I was only taking issue with what was an opening digression.
The Grizzlies deal was a rare and singular opportunity that, I think, needed to be grabbed for reasons that cannot be defined on a bottom line.
It's now a done deal, and we need to get over (accept? embrace?) it to address the ongoing and entrenched problems that keep many in the "we can't compete" mode.
We can compete. All it takes is leadership.
7:04 AM
Just for the record, the final agreement between the Grizzlies and city and county did not have any attendance triggers. The final contract requires the Grizzlies to remain in Memphis for about 15 years. They cannot move during that time. The clock start running when they played their first game in The Pyramid, by the way.
8:49 PM
And when you are comparing financing deals with other cities, you need to make sure that they required the team to cover the operating deficits of the arena. That's what we got here, and without taxpayers being on the hook but for about 10 percent of the total cost of the arena.
8:51 PM
Why don't you just move to Nashville if you like it so much? Asshole.
6:15 PM
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