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Daily news for Seattle's Ballard neighborhood |
onederfullone
offlineMember
No arena deal, unless, tax revenue is made available for 'SoDo' traffic improvements.
(laughing my ass off)
Key Arena improvements.
(laughing my ass off)
Chris, just write a big check to ensure all of these idiots get re-elected.
Then again, you can tell them all to **** off, and they'll still get re-elected.
Sorry.
Mondoman
offlineMember
And I thought you meant reducing the Library budget by $5 million next year while taking $2.8 million to study the loser Ballard-to-downtown streetcar proposal. :)
onederfullone
offlineMember
lmao
...I mean, no...
Ballard Sucks Now
offlineMember
Allow me to translate for those of you who don't speak Councilese...
The Great City Council today stood firm, taking a no-nonsense position on the tricky question of whether to fund yet another millionaire gamble with the city's fiscal and physical future, in the form of yet another taxpayer subsidized sports complex - laws which were passed by the citizenry to prevent this exact scenario be damned! But they didn't just bend over and take one for the team this time, no siree. They laid down some tough love and some strict requirements which had to be met before they signed over the city's future. Here's how the council triumphed in the face of withering pressure:
1. A requirement that some portion of the tax revenues skimmed off the basketball arena's profits be used to "improve traffic" in the area neighborhood.
What this really means: Nothing specific. To this city government, the way they "improve traffic" is to reduce road capacity. Streets around the stadiums will have lanes removed, turning them over to bike lanes. Freight containers heading for China by way of the Port of Seattle will be encouraged to use public transit via a subsidized Metro bus pass. The rest of you, enjoy the drive in that beautiful tunnel - at 10 bucks each way, you're gonna love it.
2. Improvements to the city's increasingly forlorn and now rarely used Key Arena to make it a more attractive venue.
What this really means: The city will repaint Key Arena, replacing all the mens' bathrooms with womens' in hopes of keeping the WNBA Storm as the last paying tenant. The Storm will eventually move to the new Bellevue Sports Arena to be closer to Redmond, leaving Key Arena's corporate skybox suites (which really are inadequate) to be used as a shelter for the city's homeless sports fans.
Regrettably, the expenses involved with these improvements means that there will be no funding left for the wonderful Ballard Streetcar project. The project will be built anyway, since the SLUT prototype streetcar project has been so successful, with an estimated ridership of a couple dozen lost tourists on a good day, and because the mayor and council thinks streetcars are just so cool.
But none of that matters, because we will have our beloved Soooopersonics back, and anyone with 300 bucks to spare can go watch them anytime they want.
Seattle just keeps getting better and better. Thank you, Seattle voters, for electing VISIONARY LEADERS! You're a world class city - enjoy it!
leftcoastsuit
offlineMember
I can't even tell what Ballard Sucks Now is trying to say here, deciphering all the layers of sarcasm and cynicism would take a team of experts working around-the-clock.
Just to clarify, this arena would not be subsidized by taxpayers. There would be no tax increase. Some of the money would come from bonds, but those bonds would be paid off using only taxes generated by the arena itself. The rest of the money is coming as a very generous gift from private investors. This is one of the biggest private investments ever made in an American sports arena. We will never have a chance at a deal like this again, and if we don't take this opportunity then all that tax revenue/jobs created from the arena will go to Bellevue or Renton.
Furthermore, all cost overruns will be covered by the private investor group. Also, if the investors miss a SINGLE payment over the entirety of the lease, then ownership of the building immediately transfers to the city. This is the best, most financially responsible chance we will ever have at getting the Sonics back. If you know and understand all of these facts but still oppose the arena, that's fine. I can live with a difference of opinion, just please don't give out factual inaccuracies to justify your reasoning. This is a very important issue to Seattleites who love sports and especially those of us who loved the Sonics our entire lives.
GAM
offlineMember
leftcoatsuit: There is a tax increase. Our property taxes will increase.
There seems to be a perception afoot that a small increase doesn't count. It is still an increase and to call it anything else is untrue (which brings me back to my mantra of "what else isn't true?").
ballardpilot
offlineMember
leftcoastsuit:
1. There will indeed be public funds spent on this - nobody is claiming there won't be, even supporters grudgingly admit some public money will go towards it. There's also a law that was passed by ballot initiative that prohibits that. The law is being ignore on the basis that "it's not a lot of money" and "besides, it's a good deal."
2. Taxes will go up. Nobody denies that. Again, that's justified by supporters because "it's not a lot of money" and "besides, it's a good deal."
Seattle's so-called "leaders" have previously put stadium financing proposals on the ballot. Those ballot initiatives were defeated. They know any ballot measure on this one would suffer the same fate. So they're going to just make the decision themselves, screw the voters. What a surprise.
There's so much blatant dishonesty coming from this city government - the bullshit is so deep, you need hip-waders.
great idea
offlineMember
" So they're going to just make the decision themselves, screw the voters."
thankfully! it's about time our leaders showed some backbone instead of catering to the whim of every grumpy, anti-tax yokel out there.
god forbid we make this a better place.
ballardpilot
offlineMember
Hey GI - check your assumptions. I am NOT anti-tax. I believe EVERYONE'S taxes should be higher - much higher for high income folks. I can afford to pay more taxes, and so can everyone who's reading this (except the bums at the library taking a break from surfing porn).
The fact is, the current bunch of hooligans running the city are simply dishonest and can't be trusted. I'd happily vote for tax increases (I always have) if the bastards that run this city were HONEST about what they money would be used for.
But our "leaders" won't do that. That's why we get a "library" levy that would actually not fund libraries. A "seawall replacement" levy that will go for tourism infrastructure. It goes on and on.
You want leaders to show some backbone? So do I. I want them to say "here is a need we have. We want $$$ for this, and that's what we're going to spend it on." And then I want them to actually spend the damn money on what they promised they were going to spend it on. But no, they can't bring themselves to do that.
What we have now is not "backbone" It's simple dishonesty.
NW Native
offlineMember
The fact that onedurfullone thinks this arena isn't happening makes me laugh my ass off.
For the record, paying to renovate the Key was Hansen's idea from the start.
Hope this helps.
Norge
offlineMember
Ballardpilot - +1000
iPlod
offlineMember
Big money means big things get done whether little money likes it or not.
The only thing big money seems to be confused about in this case is how much money they are going to need to spend for an effectively politically proactive smokescreen vs what negative mainstream press will cost them.
BallardENTP
offlineMember
I wish ballardpilot would run for office.
onederfullone
offlineMember
I don't, I'd have to call him an idiot.
Novalis
offlineMember
Like anyone that runs for office
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