The crooks win again if you can believe that
In retrospect, McCoy Park never stood a chance.
The Friday dispatch will be the April Mailbag.
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In a little over three weeks, Columbus and Franklin County’s Democratic leadership gifted MAGA billionaire Jimmy Haslam a combined $50 million in public subsidies for an NWSL expansion franchise announced hours after the vote.
The Haslam Sports Group and other minority investors paid $205 million for the rights, the largest fee ever obtained by the women’s soccer league.
McCoy Park, the only public green space in Columbus’ poorest neighborhood, won’t last much longer.
It only seems like a whirlwind effort to the untrained eye. In reality, the Haslam Group began negotiating with Mayor Suburbs and the Franklin County Commissioners roughly six months ago.
The original plan, as pitched by the Haslams, was for a $50 million straight payment.
The Franklin County Commission rebuffed that plan, with Commission President John O’Grady telling The Rooster he considered it a “bad deal.”
What changed?
According to one source, Haslam’s wife, the so-called “Sweet Dee” Haslam, called O’Grady asking what she could do to change her mind. O’Grady apparently told her that he had “$25 million reasons to say no.”
The deal in place looks a lot different than the initial offer.
From Jordan Laird of dispatch.com:
The county's deal requires the team to stay in the county for 25 years or money will be clawed back. The county will take out $25 million in bonds and pay back the debt with fees and other revenue, not county taxes. The ownership group has committed to donating $12 million back into the county over a 12-year period focused on early childhood education, workforce development and food insecurity.
The scholarship on giving public subsidies for billionaire sports teams is clear: It’s a terrible idea. (There are three links there, by the way.)
But our hog politicians love the inflated prestige of bringing non-major professional sports teams to our humble attempt at a city, even if it means pretending that Haslam is a good-faith partner filled with civic pride and not a blood-soaked mercenary for sale to the highest bidder.
And while the commission at least shook the Haslams down for $12 million, it’s hard to celebrate putting $25 million (plus interest) on the county’s credit card even if it will be paid back through “fees and other revenue and not county taxes,” as if that money couldn’t be spent on early childhood education, workforce development, and food insecurity instead.
But once again, the commissioners showed why they have one of the sweetest rackets going in Ohio Democratic politics. Three of them oversee 1.5 million people, and they never, ever catch any of the social justice heat that their city hall counterparts do.
The Council Meeting was stacked on Monday night for the vote. I had to submit a speaker slip at 12:50 a.m. to ensure I’d be able to speak because of Council’s draconian policy of only allowing a maximum of three naysayers to speak on any given issue.
Less than 24 hours later, the commissioners had only had to listen to one naysayer in front of a crowd that was largely bureaucrats with business in front of the legislative body.
Seven minutes of Hell! Famous actor Brad Pitt addresses City Council & County Commissioners over the shambolic NWSL to Columbus votes
Noticeably, Commissioner Kevin Boyce abstained from the NWSL vote, which passed the commission 2-0.
