The Sonics and Some Developers Just Don't Get It
Published Sat, Nov 11 2006 1:02 AM
Technorati Tags: Entertainment, Games, News and Politics
Some politicians and area developers just don't get it. Twice before the voters in the State of Washington voted against funding for stadiums for professional sports teams, which the state legislature then promptly ignored. [Correction: Once before. The voters narrowly approved funding for Qwest Field.] The voters in the City of Seattle overwhelmingly voted down any city tax dollars to fund a new stadium for the Sonics. Now in the Seattle Times, we hear about another legislator (a Democrat naturally) and some developers that still don't get it.
Backers of I-91 on Friday called on other cities, such as Bellevue, to heed the message sent by the three-fourths of Seattle voters who favored I-91.
"This vote reflected not just the will of the people of Seattle. It reflected sentiment statewide," said Chris Van Dyk, organizer for Citizens for More Important Things, at a news conference.
...
Sen. Margarita Prentice, D-Renton, one of the Sonics' biggest legislative allies, said I-91 won't stop her efforts to secure an arena deal in the suburbs.
...
"Just because the city of Seattle took an unfortunate vote doesn't necessarily mean the rest of the state should follow suit," [Bellevue Developer Bob] Wallace said.
...
... [Kemper] Freeman ... said I-91 confirms what he has believed for a while: The public is fed up with subsidies for professional sports. "The interest in putting a major subsidy in another [facility] is as close to zero as it can get," Freeman said. Citizens "feel like they've done more than their share."
...
Van Dyk called on the Legislature and the Sonics to "respect and honor" I-91's message by submitting any arena package requiring substantial taxpayer dollars to a public vote.
Read the full article in The Seattle Times.
How many times will we have to go through this in this state? How many times will the voters have to say "NO!" to blackmailing, spoiled professional sports organizations before they get the message?
Professional sports is a business. Owning a professional sports team is a business venture. If your business can't stand on its own and turn a profit without having to blackmail the government for it, it doesn't deserve to succeed. Let the fans pay for it. Let the sponsors pay for it.
Our tax money should go to more important things. The roads in King County are in terrible shape, especially in Seattle. My children have learned how to tell when we're in King County when we take a road trip by the roughness and noise of the road. My 12 year old son can tell instantly when we enter or leave the county on I-5, even if he's got his head buried in a video game.
These leeches have got to go. The people of Seattle have said NO to the Sonics. Your Democrat state senators have already declared that they'll try to raise taxes to get them to stay.
There are more important things. But Senator Prentice and Bob Wallace just don't get it.
Trackback URI for this post: http://perrinelson.com/track.aspx?postid=100
Permalink URI for this post: http://perrinelson.com/2006/11/11/100.aspx
Subscribe to this entry's
comment feed. (Atom)
Comments to this entry are closed.