Columbus offers deal to buy Nationwide Arena

• LJ

  

  http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2011/09/14/Proposal-to-keep-Blue-Jackets-in-town-to-be-released-today.html

  The $42 million purchase price for the arena is slightly lower than the $44 million value
  Nationwide placed on it during court proceedings to set the taxable value of the building in 2006,
  a case in which it was in the company’s interest to set the price as low as possible. The county
  auditor had valued the arena at $129.7 million. It cost $147.1 million to build in 1999, Nationwide
  said at the time.
  The state of Ohio would help out with the purchase through a $10 million loan, half of which can
  be forgiven by the state.

  Funded by Casino taxes....Now, here comes the part as to why I posted this in the Politics forum. In 1999 Columbus voters said NO to using taxpayer funds to build the arena. Now, there will be no public vote. What's even worse, is that the residents of the Arena District got a ballot issues to get the Casino out of their backyards. Now they are going to use that very same tax revenue to "SAVE" the same area? This smells like a whole bunch of underhanded BULLSHIT to me. Mayor Mike "you attackin my manhood" Coleman making another financial decision that that taxpayers already said no to, as well as money they area said they didn't want.
• Writerbuckeye

  

  Thanks for posting this. I was about to.
  
  This is a total scre-w you job to the taxpayers.
  
  First, the city cried poor and a majority of dumb shi-ts bought it to pass the income tax hike, even though all it did was tell the city they could go ahead and keep being irresponsible with our money.
  
  Way to go all you dipshits who voted for that.
  
  Now you see where your money is REALLY going: not to fund police and fire, but to buy an arena the city has no business owning.
  
  It's a total scam and the taxpayers get screwed in the process. Mike Coleman has always been, is now, and forever will be a rotten to the core political hack. Why this city can't find anyone decent to oppose him is pathetic. From now until eternity, we'll likely be stuck with addle-brained Dems just like him, because the people who elected him are the same nitwits who passed the tax for this boondoggle.
  
  Don't expect them to get any smarter in the future.
  
  What should have happened had Coleman had any balls, was he should have told the CBJ and Nationwide to sit in a room and not come out until they had redone the arena lease to make it affordable for the hockey team. If Nationwide wouldn't go along, tell them to get fuc-ked and if the hockey team moved, then they'd be stuck with a huge white elephant and it would be their own fault.
  
  I'd like to think the mayor or council would pay politically for this, but they won't. The majority Democrats in this city are too stupid to throw them out.
• Tobias Fünke

  

  What's the goal here? Own the arena and help keep the Blue Jackets? I suppose locking them in a room would work just as well, as you say.
• BGFalcons82

  

  I heard a little more about this deal on the way in this morning from Hugh Dorrian. He claims no tax money will be used contrary to the other 5 times a public-funded arena was put in front of the voters and defeated. I suppose one could argue the funds from the casinos could be used by other local and state agencies, therefore tax money is being diverted to a private enterprise. That involves a bit of a shell game and we all know the politicians are masters at that. :mad:
  
  Having written that, this whole situation wouldn't even exist if the owners, executives, and front office personnel put a winning team on the ice. This town went further than I ever imagined in supporting a loser for 10 years. That's certainly enough time to put a playoff team on display. Hell, the Mets won a World Series within 10 years and baseball was very difficult to even make the playoffs whereas in the NHL, half the teams make it in. 10 years of a mismanaged franchise, 10 years of horrendous draft choices, 10 years of trying to figure out what their identity is, and 10 years of mediocrity led us to this point.
  
  I love the NHL and I wish it would stay here in Columbus. However, it's time for the Jackets to get their sh!t together or be gone with them. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me 10 times???
• LJ

  

  In case no one understands the "attackin my manhood" nickname
  

  Recently talk radio host Glenn Beck has been covering the story of the 16 year old handicapped girl that was beaten and raped on videotape at Mifflin High School in Columbus, Ohio. (Audio can be obtained here. Registration required. Free audio avaliable here.)
  While the actions of the students are obviously outrageous, what is even more appalling is that the administration at the school tried to convince the girl’s father to not call the police in order to “avoid media attention.” Surprise surprise, the father called the police anyway and now the school is getting even more media attention for that little gaffe.
  But what is simply unbelievable is the fact that the school board decided to fire the principal, but only suspend the assistant principals and then move them to other schools. This, despite the fact that one of the assistant principals was the one that told the girl’s father not to call the authorities.
  Glenn Beck was finally able to get Michael B. Coleman, the mayor of Columbus, Ohio on the phone today. (After he tried to back out of his promise to call in two days ago.) The conversation was quite interesting and perhaps indicative of why Columbus has such a problem with their school system.
  Glenn attempted to talk to Coleman about the school board’s decision to keep the assistant principals on, and Coleman talked about the criminal side of the investigation and said that he was not allowed to reveal anything about it while it was open, but he was sure everything would be taken care of. Glenn kept trying to steer him back to the subject of the school board and their actions towards the assistant principals and Coleman kept insisting that he couldn’t talk about an open police investigation. About the only thing he said about the schools was that they had paid policemen there and that he, the mayor, had no control or influence over what the school board did.
  The best part of the interview was when Glenn attempted to ask him a question, “Doesn’t it offend you as a man….” He didn’t get a chance to finish, but I’m assuming the end of that question was something like, “that the schools would allow something like this to happen to a girl and then do nothing to the people who allowed it to go on.” However, he didn’t get a chance because Coleman interrupted him with “Are you attacking my manhood?”

• Writerbuckeye

  

  Tobias Fünke;896569 wrote:What's the goal here? Own the arena and help keep the Blue Jackets? I suppose locking them in a room would work just as well, as you say.

  Yes, the point is to secure the Jackets. Given they've been bleeding about $10-$20 million per year, mostly due to a bad lease agreement, there has been speculation they'd end up moving elsewhere. Obviously, attendance has dwindled too because the product on the ice has been mostly crap for a decade.
  
  And saying no tax money is going to be used is an out and out lie. Casino TAX dollars will be used. It doesn't matter what pot the tax money is coming from.
• queencitybuckeye

  Isn't Coleman overdue to set his house on fire again for the insurance money?
• pmoney25

  

  It was my understanding that the tax dollars from the casinos was suppose to go to the schools. Now they are taking part of that and giving it to the cbj so they can stay? Columbus schools are in terrible shape(for many reasons) but that money should go there. This is unbelievable and the people of colu,bus need to hold these idiots accountable for this and get rid of the mayor.
• queencitybuckeye

  The people spoke on this subject five times, IIRC. Doing this deal is about as blatant as it gets in terms of not caring about the wishes of those who elected them.
• LJ

  

  queencitybuckeye;897082 wrote:The people spoke on this subject five times, IIRC. Doing this deal is about as blatant as it gets in terms of not caring about the wishes of those who elected them.

  You attackin my manhood?
• Writerbuckeye

  

  More money to Columbus schools is just about as bad. Talk about throwing it down a rat hole.
• Bigdogg

  Writerbuckeye;897095 wrote:More money to Columbus schools is just about as bad. Talk about throwing it down a rat hole.

  I would love to hear your idea of fixing Columbus city schools. Let me guess, more vouchers.
• Writerbuckeye

  

  I don't believe big city schools are fixable as they now exist. The teachers union contracts, and the lack of parental involvement combine to make a pretty toxic environment. One thing I know for certain won't fix them: throwing more money at them.
  
  Once the schools were taken out of the neighborhoods under the guise of desegregation, they lost any community support that had been there, and that even further complicated the issue.
  
  Vouchers at least give options to those parents who are involved but don't have the resources to move or put their kids in private school; but they aren't going to fix the problem. Then again, nothing can.
• Bigdogg

  Writerbuckeye;898416 wrote:I don't believe big city schools are fixable as they now exist. The teachers union contracts, and the lack of parental involvement combine to make a pretty toxic environment. One thing I know for certain won't fix them: throwing more money at them.
  
  Once the schools were taken out of the neighborhoods under the guise of desegregation, they lost any community support that had been there, and that even further complicated the issue.
  
  Vouchers at least give options to those parents who are involved but don't have the resources to move or put their kids in private school; but they aren't going to fix the problem. Then again, nothing can.

  Please give proof of the positive correlation between teacher union contracts and poor student performance. This should be good
• Gblock

  columbus city schools actually outperforms districts of similar size and demographics
• Writerbuckeye

  

  The contracts will block any attempts to adjust staffing, evaluations of staff members and compensation based on merit rather than longevity. Anything that is innovative that would require changes in hours, additional responsibilities, etc. would likely go against the contract as well.
  
  My main point remains: I don't believe large urban districts are fixable any longer. Too many variables for a one size fits all fix.
  
  Honestly, I think we'd be better off issuing vouchers to those families that truly care about education, disbanding districts like Columbus that do nothing but fail in almost every way, and eliminate the law that says kids have to stay in school until they're 16.
  
  Let those who really want an education get it from a district that's succeeding.
  
  Perhaps if the district were simply disbanded and those taxes eliminated, neighborhoods in the city that want to re-start an education plan in their own areas would be free to do so.
  
  You can't force people to get an education when they don't want to be there, and that's what we're now doing. It's an abject failure in pretty much every major urban school district in the country.
• Writerbuckeye

  

  Gblock;898472 wrote:columbus city schools actually outperforms districts of similar size and demographics

  So of those that suck, they suck the least. got it.
• Gblock

  Writerbuckeye;898475 wrote:So of those that suck, they suck the least. got it.

  some people will never see the positive. ccs has made great improvements in the last 10 years. our grad rate will be close to 80 percent this year and our dropout rate less than 5 percent. with an 18 percent special ed pop and a 12 percent pop that speaks limited english. your right writer vouchers are great and the parents who do care do use them, but what about the kids that are left? that no one cares about? i will continue to work and advocate for them everyday despite negative people like yourself who think that you are better than others. i would love to see how you wouldve turned out or even if you would have survived through some of the things these kids go thru. two of our high schools are even ranked nationally proving that you can come to ccs and get prepared for college and life success if you take advantage of the opportunites we provide.
• LJ

  

  How about we take it to a thread about schools. Only warning
• Gblock

  whatever dude
• Bigdogg

  LOL your butt buddy LJ bales writers ass out !
• NNN

  

  LJ;896326 wrote:http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2011/09/14/Proposal-to-keep-Blue-Jackets-in-town-to-be-released-today.html Funded by Casino taxes....Now, here comes the part as to why I posted this in the Politics forum. In 1999 Columbus voters said NO to using taxpayer funds to build the arena. Now, there will be no public vote. What's even worse, is that the residents of the Arena District got a ballot issues to get the Casino out of their backyards. Now they are going to use that very same tax revenue to "SAVE" the same area? This smells like a whole bunch of underhanded BULL**** to me. Mayor Mike "you attackin my manhood" Coleman making another financial decision that that taxpayers already said no to, as well as money they area said they didn't want.

  1997, not 1999.
  
  Second, I don't remember hearing any bellyaching when the City Council unilaterally allocated $56 million to build a new ballpark to keep a minor league baseball team around, even though they are not and never can be in any danger of moving.
  
  Third, Franklin County as a whole voted against the casino, which to me would indicate that the people of Franklin County should have absolutely no say in where that money gets allocated. They didn't want it, but now that it's (theoretically) out there, you want to have it both ways? Give me a break.
• Writerbuckeye

  

  The city nor county should be using tax dollars to help a PROFESSIONAL team stay solvent. If the team can't afford to do it, or figure out a way to get a better lease, then let them move.
  
  I'm betting if push came to shove and Nationwide thought the team really would pull up stakes, they'd negotiate a better lease. They've got too much invested in the Arena District to just let its biggest tenant walk.
  
  They played poker, bluffed, and the city folded -- but went all in with out money before they did so.
  
  This is more about a city crying poor to get a tax hike passed and then turning around a year or so later and doing this than anything else.
  
  I hope you fools who voted for that tax increase are happy. You gave those idiots a license to steal from all of us. There's no way they'd be doing this with ANY tax dollars if that increase hadn't passed.
• NNN

  

  Writerbuckeye;921782 wrote:The city nor county should be using tax dollars to help a PROFESSIONAL team stay solvent. If the team can't afford to do it, or figure out a way to get a better lease, then let them move.

  I don't seem to remember this deal floating any money to a professional team. It's about the acquisition of a venue for substantially below the market value of said venue. Most new arenas are being built at a cost of between $300 and $400 million; Nationwide is being acquired for $42 million. That's only $14 million less than the cost of a new ballpark for a MINOR LEAGUE baseball team that was playing in an old but still stable stadium as it was.
  
  You also forget the other part. Nationwide Arena was a privately-built, privately-funded, and privately-maintained building that, for the last 11 years, has had to be in direct competition with a public building (Value City Arena) that it's not supposed to have to compete with in the first place. Personally, I look forward to the city and county getting involved in every non-NCAA event being pulled from Value City Arena....just wait until the luxury suites are ordered to remain shuttered.
  

  I'm betting if push came to shove and Nationwide thought the team really would pull up stakes, they'd negotiate a better lease. They've got too much invested in the Arena District to just let its biggest tenant walk.
  
  They played poker, bluffed, and the city folded -- but went all in with out money before they did so.
  
  This is more about a city crying poor to get a tax hike passed and then turning around a year or so later and doing this than anything else.
  
  I hope you fools who voted for that tax increase are happy. You gave those idiots a license to steal from all of us. There's no way they'd be doing this with ANY tax dollars if that increase hadn't passed.

  Remember the aftermath of the 1997 vote? The sales tax at the time was 5.25%. One year later, it was 5.75%, which was more than the public arena venture would have cost in the first place (which would have pushed it to 5.5%). Now it's 6.75%.
• Writerbuckeye

  

  Missing the point. The city asked for more money crying broke. The stupid people of this city (a majority who voted, anyway) swallowed that line of BS and said yes.
  
  Now the city turns around and spends tax money to purchase an arena and, by doing so, puts an extra $10 million or more into the coffers of the local hockey team so it can be more healthy financially. It may not be a direct contribution to the Jackets, but it's certainly some significant money in their pockets.
  
  I'd have no problem with this venture if the city hadn't lied about needing money for safety services and other things they lied about. However, they did lie; and they took the taxpayers for the fools they were -- well, those who fell for that line of crap, anyway.