In case you forgot let me repeat my comment from the other day, we built the WooSox a stadium that some estimate the all in cost to be $175,000,000.00 with City bonds which could have been used for other purposes and they charge us for graduations ? I realize that this has to be somewhere in the lease BUT ...
Anonymous said…
May I summarize a lot of posts and comments. The City constructs a $175 million ballpark, originally estimated to cost and leases it to a professional minor league baseball team. The first year's lease payment on the $175 million ballpark, the first year which presumably will have it's greatest attendance, is set in the amount of $32,171.00. The attendance exceeds expectations and the team is making more money than they probably anticipated and they rent the facility to the City for $15,000.00 more than their lease payment, This unimaginable set of circumstances lead to questions: 1) was the City Manager misquoted when he said it would not cost the taxpayers anything, did he actually say it would not cost the team anything and the media misreported the quote or 2) is this the worst financial deal the City ever made ? It is hard for me to fathom what could be any worse.
Anonymous said…
Who signed this awful lease? Someone told me it was Vinny Pedone not Ed Augustus. Do you know?
Anonymous said…
Pedone or Augustus, does it really matter they are both politicians.
Anonymous said…
The WooSox gave the City two weeks to pay the bill. Someone told me the WooSox owes the City hundreds of thousands in detail bills going back months.
Anonymous said…
Did anyone look at the detail of this bill. Did the WooSox double count some of their labor costs. Also you got to love the last item, meal cost. Is anyone looking out for us taxpayers. It does not appear so here. It is the same old same old, just pay the bill and we will stick it to the taxpayers AGAIN. Do you think Mike O'Brien would come back because we can't afford Augustus any more.
Anonymous said…
And by “meals” do they mean the cost to feed city officials in the private suites at the stadium? They and their bigwig pals are always in those suites and there is always food and drink. Where does it all come from?
Gary Samela said…
I heard from a source that the city manager, the mayor and Tim Murray all got free season tickets. I was talking to one of my friends. He said that a beer at the park costs $12. Is that right? Does the City get the profits from the concessions?
Anonymous said…
I hope these three were not ignorant or egotistical enough to accept tickets. I will state it probably was these three that were instrumental in bringing the team to the City and if the plan does not come together it will be these three that will be the cause if our tax increases. It is ironic that an employee of the Chamber of Commerce just wrote a piece in the T&G about the dual tax rate when we are talking about paying the bonds for this project they supported.
Anonymous said…
Has anyone looked at the purchase order? Nine high school graduations. How many high schools are in the City?
Comments
This unimaginable set of circumstances lead to questions: 1) was the City Manager misquoted when he said it would not cost the taxpayers anything, did he actually say it would not cost the team anything and the media misreported the quote or 2) is this the worst financial deal the City ever made ? It is hard for me to fathom what could be any worse.
They and their bigwig pals are always in those suites and there is always food and drink. Where does it all come from?