Posted on 07/31/2018 10:00:45 PM PDT by yesthatjallen
A county official in Seattle abruptly withdrew her support for a plan to publicly fund a new baseball stadium, saying most of that money should instead be used for affordable housing.
King County Council member Jeanne Kohl-Welles announced Tuesday that she was taking her name off the measure to use about $180 million to renovate Safeco Field, according to The Seattle Times.
Kohl-Welles vowed instead to introduce a proposal to put $25 million toward the stadium and use the rest to fund affordable housing.
“The bottom line is our region is experiencing a major housing crisis,” Kohl-Welles said, according to the Seattle Times. “We can strike the right balance and find a way to meet the Mariners’ stated basic maintenance needs while also acknowledging the immense, immediate need to address our housing crisis.”
The proposed field renovations are part of the Mariners’ plan to upgrade and repair the stadium over the next 25 years. The team’s lease renewal with the agency that oversees Safeco is dependent on approval of the funds. The 25-year project is expected to cost $800 million.
Public housing advocates have said that the team and billionaire owner John Stanton should pay for the renovations themselves so that the funds can be used to address the housing crisis.
The public funds proposed for renovations on Safeco Field come from hotel-motel tax revenues, which are eligible to be used on housing costs, according to the Times.
Without Kohl-Welles’ support, the measure has just two out of nine council members who have said they are in favor. Four others have not yet made a decision, and two in addition to Kohl-Welles are against it.
No public money should be allocated to fund sports venues.
If these billionaire owners want new stadiums let them pool their money and build and upgrade their own stadiums on a yearly or 5 year cycle.
She withdrew her support for the wrong reason.
No public money should be allocated to fund sports venues.
If these billionaire owners want new stadiums let them pool their money and build and upgrade their own stadiums on a yearly or 5 year cycle.
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Right on!
The truth is, the 180 million is money that is taxed from hotels and motels specifically to provide funds to keep the stadium in good working order. It is for a maintenance budget for the building which the county owns, and the team leases. I personally voted against building a stadium with public money, but to divert the funds for homelessness is insane. The City of Seattle caused the housing crisis by spending 100 million last year for the homeless, for 11,000 people. This year they are spending 200 million. If they take the stadium dedicated tax funds, they will be spending 300 million for 11,000 people.
This article is misleading.
There is a tax, as voted in 20 years ago, that generates revenue for tourism and the sports stadiums based on hotel and restaurant revenues. In other words, tourism supports tourism.
This council person wants to move those funds from what had been funded in the past for stadium maintenance to the vagrants. Totally out of scope and object of the tourism tax.
Yeah, but it will help with the problem of getting them votes. There is no other problem.
I always thought Safeco was one of the few decent new stadiums that weren’t wiffleball theme parks. They want a NEW one???
The hippie bums feathered their own nests. Govt, which is supposedly all of us, doesn’t owe those hippie garbage anything.
Let the oppressed anthem-kneelers and their owners host 20 homeless each, year-round, in their luxury suites.
Couldn’t they just build a stadium with affordable housing attached? You could even call them ‘first-base-city’ and ‘second-base-city’.
why don’t they reduce the fees for a new housing unit by 12k?
“The truth is, the 180 million is money that is taxed from hotels and motels specifically to provide funds to keep the stadium in good working order.”
If that’s a true statement, it’s even more outrageous as I originally thought. Taxpayers build a stadium for a private enterprise, then arrange for a room/restaurant tax (a tax on out-of-towners) to keep the stadium in good repair.
But Seattle isn’t alone. This is just another shining example of how a government “rounds up” some “other people’s money” to pay for their toys. Always take the money from people who have no leverage to say no!
How often do the Mariners owners think the taxpayers should pony up for a new stadium? It hasn’t been that long since they imploded their dome and built two new stadiums
Excellent post. I agree 100%.
Ah, the ol bait and switch!
...The public funds proposed for renovations on Safeco Field come from hotel-motel tax revenues, which are eligible to be used on housing costs, according to the Times....
...this is a cash grab gussied up to try to pass the smell test.
Or tax incentives for people with built/rent low income housing.
I won’t hold my breath waiting for that one.
saying most of that money should instead be used for affordable housing.
affordable housing - Socialist speak for Government subsidized housing!
I don’t get it - Safeco Field was opened in 1999 - practically brand new.
The Red Sox and the Cubs are doing it right.
The dirty little secret is if you pay to accommodate 11,000 homeless, you’ll attract another 11,000 who will take their place. Democrats don’t mind that as long as they can be converted into Democrat voters come election time.
That’s also their immigration plan in a nutshell.
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