How it will go down
Posted on Sunday, November 30th, 2008 at 2:50 pm by Brian Robinson
Tomorow afternoon the Washington State Convention Center and the city of Seattle will, in back-to-back presentations, explain to the Legislative Task Force headed by Ross Hunter why they should each get a share of hotel/motel revenue generated in Seattle. These two presentations will come after what I expect to be a pretty intense morning of people fighting over funds referred to as “the Safeco Field” funds, excess money from the restaurant taxes collected locally.
There are some important considerations to be had here. For starters, it is important and very likely that both the city and the Convention Center state that they expect enough money for both the KeyArena renovation and the Convention Center upgrades. There is the potential for the Convention Center to view KeyArena as a competitor for funds, thinking that if they don’t go to the Key then any leftovers for the next several years will be available for Convention Center usage.
Multiple members of legislature have made he same point to me. This money was raided once, it can be raided again. It is completely fair game in terms of funds that the legislature can revise the laws to give themselves access to, and then appropriate for general fund usage. This is bad in the sense that it puts this as potentiall a “Sports Stadium VS. General Fund” issue, but it is good in the fact that the Convention Center understands that they should strike a deal with Seattle or kiss their money goodbye. Together the city and CC have a pretty good argument that this tax is not meant for the general fund and the hoteliers who are being taxed are allied behind them. Ross Hunter, the head of the joint task force, gives a lot of lip service to municipalities being entitled to their own tax revenue and I think he is an ally here. He does not think it is appropriate for the state to just grab this money and would like to avoid a repeat of last session when that happened.
I expect the Husky Stadium proposal to be far and away superior in presentation compared the city’s presentation. They have put in a lot of legwork. Regardless, it has no chance in hell of happening. The budget is just too thin for a package like that to get done the first year when the university body has no leverage. They can get in line, make presentations several years in a row and try to put a better product on the field. It will get done when the stars align, but no stars are aligning tonight.
The city is taking a low-key approach to all of this that concerns me. They are not going to have a ton of glitz and glamour when they approach the committee. They will simply explain the potential returns on the money, why it makes sense and put themselves at the mercy of the state. Everybody I talk to says the less press on this the better and the low-key approach is the best. I have heard and been burned by that line before, so I am extremely skeptical. I don’t think anyone expects the presentations to make a damn bit of difference in the task force’s findings. They are not expected to make any decisions tomorow and the course of action, whether they will have any further meetings or not, is up for debate.
The city and Convention Center both expect a late session decision on their project and I think that is a mistake. My main emphasis right now is pushing people to move very, very quickly. My understanding of the state budget process this year is that for the next month Gov. Gregoire will be following the Obama lead and preparing an economic stimulous plan that will be presented in the first week of session. It may involve spending as much as a billion dollars in new infrastructure and construction spending to create jobs. After that first glut of spending, the rest of the session will be spent balancing the budget — cutting, cutting, and more cutting. I know that Frank Chopp is going to have his viaduct proposal in front of people the first week. If I were looking to have money spent I would have it out early, but I’m not certain we’ll get that.
This meeting tomorrow is not totally critical in any way. There is no expectation of decisions to be made. Some of the conversations taking place in back rooms the week following will be. I will keep you posted on those as possible.
For those of you who are concerned about Kevin Durant’s recent commentary, I want you to really think about it “I want to play here as long as possible.” As long as possible? That is the ringing endorsement? He didn’t say forever. I don’t ever expect an NBA player to criticize the city they play in. If the best quote they could get is “as long as possible,” that is a far cry from “my entire career” or even “for the next decade”. He may as well have said, “I am totally committed to being here forever or until I have concerns about my contract, whichever comes first.”
KD is a pro. He is saying the right things and I don’t expect otherwise. It is fun to watch the chaos there, however.
November 30th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
The house bill that created the task force (the edits to 2765) requires a recommendation to the appropriate committees on December 1st, with the task force existing until the spring.
They recommend or defer the date tomorrow.
Not my opinion, just the facts.
My opinion is:
I agree about the convention center, they need each other.
The hoteliers are going to superfreak if the fund is raided again, and they carry the states largest burden, for that matter, so will I, paying higher sales tax to fill a state wide hole, would you like fries and to cover the state’s ass with that order?
Early is better.
I would prefer the state commit to being the last 75 million, no point in trusting the city to try harder if they had cash in hand.
November 30th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
Brian, how long would you estimate it could take Steve Ballmer to buy another team after the state commits (assuming they do)?
November 30th, 2008 at 5:30 pm
So Chopp has a plan he wants? Why don’t we start a massive push against his plan and then give him the ‘quid pro quo’ speech?
November 30th, 2008 at 5:55 pm
Chopp wants the “parkway” for the viaduct replacement, it is the most expensive, and combines the expense of a tunnel with the site blocking advantages of a viaduct. Two wrongs making a right in Chopp’s head.
For the cost off the parkway we could have a cut and cover tunnel and the the state portion of Key Arena, and the entire cost of the Seattle Center master plan.
An above ground tunnel is foolishness.
November 30th, 2008 at 10:45 pm
why do I have a feeling were gonna get let down again.
November 30th, 2008 at 10:52 pm
My understanding is that Chopps proposal is less expensive than the mayors. His drawings are impressive and he is endorseve by the industrial users of the viaduct which is a really important constituency.
I’m not going to war with Chopp over the viaduct or another issue. The guy is a master at consolidating power and somewhere, somehow an effort needs to be made to reach out to him rather than be hard asses. That has not gotten anybody anywhere.
November 30th, 2008 at 11:40 pm
Not fighting him is not the same as getting support from him.
The Seattle Times had his parkway as the most expentive, maybe he has justified some costs, not a shock, Nickels did the same thing.
Maybe you do not want to fight him on this, fine, I think a parkway is a mega stupid idea, as a citizen I will badmouth that thing every chance I get, I need a reason from him not to trash that 13 block mistake, other than he might, maybe, not do what he usually does.
This sounds crazy, but, he is not the governor, mayor, or county exec, and was chastised by 3 former mayors last week for acting as he is, a pushy pain in the ass.
He needs to reach out too, and he has to deliver something.
He is late to the party on the viaduct, he needs to consolidate power on this in a hurry, and it has to include the mayor.
December 1st, 2008 at 12:56 am
Thanks for the update, Brian. It’s to hear some stuff is finally happening behind the scenes.
December 1st, 2008 at 8:01 am
This doesn’t seem to be encouraging news
http://tinyurl.com/6mbo8x
December 1st, 2008 at 10:16 am
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008453960_conventioncenter01m.html
I wish the newspaper writers could tell a full story and focus on other aspects of why the Key Arena should be remodeled and not just because we want NBA basketball back. Maybe it’s because that is what the Mayor and city are putting out there but the non-sports fans that read this article are ignorant enough to think the taxes are going just for basketball! The Key and Seattle Center are falling apart and need upgrades regardless to attract events.
December 1st, 2008 at 11:56 am
What is being broadcast on TVW.org are Clemency & Pardon’s board.
how’s the irony?
December 1st, 2008 at 12:49 pm
So I just talked to a “higher up” who is familiar with the gov’s upcoming budget, which will be available in 2 weeks. The bad news? Never before seen cut proposals across the board, including a virtual gutting of the overall higher ed budget. Like some reports have indicated, comm. colleges are going to be hit the hardest, but even the UW is going to be slammed. Basically everything that isn’t tied to research (most of which is funded with federal budget money and grants) is supposed to be on the chopping block. The good news? The legislature will process the gov’s proposed budget, and come back with something far more accommodating by mid April.
Of course, the drastically uninformed Seattle area anti-sports that aren’t soccer crowd (i.e. 90% of the PI’s Soundoff contingent) is going to have an aneurysm when faced with the proposed cutting of essential public services and higher ed funding while costly sports venue remodels are being floated at the same time. Hopefully somebody does a good job of selling these projects as area economic stimulants via construction jobs…
So be ready for an initial shocker and plenty of misinformed opinions, folks… but be sure to keep an eye on April for the final word on the state budget!
December 1st, 2008 at 1:16 pm
Mark Emmert sent the email out on Nov 20 telling all of the UW to expect an impact as much as 167 million over the two year budget cycle.
20%
He also said they could help the state by doing construction jobs now that have already been paid for.
December 1st, 2008 at 1:27 pm
Washington State Budget Cuts
http://www.ofm.wa.gov/budget/documents/AdditionalBudgetSavings081125.pdf
December 1st, 2008 at 2:25 pm
I tend to agree that the focus is too much on NBA/Key rather than all the other events that are fleeing to Everett, T-Town, and even Kent! Plus, the outdoor venues capture a larger market share each year. There are plenty of other reasons for the CC to sell the arena as a viable economic source other than the NBA.
December 1st, 2008 at 5:03 pm
Of course Clint and his ‘inside contact’ also had the secret dirt about Ballmer buying a new team (I think it was Griz) by now or very soon.
December 1st, 2008 at 5:28 pm
Blunders chase for history updated:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/features/worstteams
Still on pace for the worst record ever, even after their win against the Griz. Also, ESPN has updated the intro at the top of the page to reflect the Blunder.
December 1st, 2008 at 6:01 pm
Fed Up: At least he didn’t finish with “How ’bout them Blazers” this time.
December 1st, 2008 at 8:29 pm
Griffey Jr. returning to Seattle?
http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/2008/12/01/griffey_mariners/
December 1st, 2008 at 8:38 pm
The news there is that they didn’t off Willy Bloomquist arbitration, maybe they will cut that guy loose.
December 1st, 2008 at 10:00 pm
“Of course Clint and his ‘inside contact’ also had the secret dirt about Ballmer buying a new team (I think it was Griz) by now or very soon.”
My source on that was a friend at my old office who was/is having an affair with a woman in the mayor’s office. Obviously city hall is full of trickled down lies and deception.
Oh but, outside of NOLA, the Griz do seem like the most likely option for Balmer.
December 1st, 2008 at 10:03 pm
“How ’bout them Blazers” this time.”
How ’bout them Blazers!? Seriously, you’d be a moron of a basketball fan to not get behind what’s going down in Portland these days!
Steve Kelly even equated the Blazers to the mid-90’s Sonics!:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/stevekelley/2008450519_kelley30.html
December 3rd, 2008 at 10:00 am
“Moron of a basketball fan” would certainly describe Steve Kelly well.