The City Council meeting last evening was a LOT less boring than usual. Here we had two views on this "CostaPlenty (Harrison) Square" project, with both sides passionately presenting their "take" on this. And aside from a few members of council needing some SERIOUS public speaking skills (too many "uhs"), the presentations were well thought out, and good arguments made both for AND against this downtown revitalization proposal.
Now I TRIED to be objective in all this, despite the fact that I (personally) think this is one hellluva way to toss some serious money out the proverbial window (that can be better utilized elsewhere in the city to achieve a much larger payback), and am opposed to this project as it currently stands. And I must say that our resident "Alan Schorr wannabe" Tim (5th district-aka the badlands) Pape and Sam (most times I look like I'd rather be somewhere other than Fort Wayne) Talarico, Jr made good, succinct points as to why we SHOULD let this project go forward...but I'm still not convinced (enough). In this case, I might as well hail from Missouri (the "show-me" state).
For example...IF the FWCS wasn't trying to hold the taxpayers of Ft Wayne hostage with their $500 MILLION DOLLAR building renovations....I might say OK with the project. IF my part of town wasn't trying to become a ghetto so damn hard (thanks to so little city intervention, a police department forced to walk on eggs, and a judicial system that turns out more perps back onto our streets every year)...I might say OK. IF *my* property hadn't been reassessed to almost 100% MORE than it was several years ago (because we're a WORKING family who DO pay taxes and not live off of the tax-PAYERS of the city)...I might say OK.
But then we have..."The REST of the story", as Paul Harvey so quaintly puts it.
To argue the case FOR the project, I would agree that this city DOES need a future (and not the one we're currently working on vis-a-vis "the next Detroit").We need something to stabilize the city that would promote longevity in job creation and maintenance, otherwise, we'll continue to keep losing people AND jobs. This could be a good start.
Don Schmidt and John Shoaff represented the opposition to this plan, citing "we already HAVE a stadium (albeit not a state-of-the-art facility) that we don't fill to capacity as it is, and that city investments in sports arenas do not prompt growth, and that money invested into the sports teams typically LEAVES the community and goes to the players or owners" (are you listening, Hardball?), and I could use Philadelphia as an example. That city has EVERY major sports team AND a complex on South broad Street (with ample parking and city transit), but it's NOT making THEIR downtown (or the rest of the city for that matter) any more "revitalized". In fact, it's going the other way. With all these amenities, even the NAVAL BASE couldn't be persuaded to remain open (it was the 2nd largest on the coast), and placed over 13,000 people OUT of work. Why have a project such as Harrison Square when you can't EVEN get a handle on CRIME in many parts of this city. Who the hell can go to ANY game when their house is going to chronically be a prime target for burglars...or worse? Many residents deal with such an issue daily (or until THEY move out of Fort Wayne).
But we know the inevitability of all this talk, don't we? The plan will (in all likelihood) be PASSED, the facility built, the downtown "revitalized", and some time after the concrete hardens, and the paint dries, the "shine" will wear off, and it will become the newest "White Mastodon" in the area. But all those politicians who voted FOR it will be long gone from office, so what the hell will they care? Some will probably even leave the area altogether (as will these owner/developers..with nicely filled pockets of CASH).
Or...the plan might fail, and all that developmental incentive could be redirected to help many more parts of the city TRULY IN NEED.
But until the city can decide to "wean" itself off of this welfare mentality (while screwing the the taxpayers) and pursues with earnest to draw working people (and the businesses that will employ them) to it's confines, instead of the riff-raff emigrating from other major city ghettos to evade the law, or the other lazy-asses who see a real meal-ticket HERE, we're going to continue to drift like a ship in rough seas and no rudder or sail. And playing the "sports" card time and again just won't cut it here. It's time to stop this constant reliance on "sports entertainment" to imbue any city (our size) with a sense of worth.
Any city is only as good as it's WORST area, sports teams aside, and it's time to look at THAT picture...which is curiously starting to appear more and more like a certain Mr. Dorian Gray.
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