As you might have heard, the Portland Beavers are soon to be a team without a stadium -- and one option that's come up is locating the new park up here, in Clark County.
Yesterday, KGW came out and interviewed me, as well as the incumbent, about our views on the matter. You can see by watching the clip that although both he and I are baseball fans (he of his hometown Boston Red Sox and me of the Northwest's own Seattle Mariners) -- I appear to be the only one interested in finding out what YOU have to say about it!
http://www.kgw.com/video/thesquare-index.html?nvid=374478
For those of you who've been paying attention the last few years, you'll probably find it as funny as I did that the man who's been consistently raising your taxes year after year, while slashing vital services, waited until he was in front of a TV camera to talk about how he'd rather spend tax dollars on police and fire.
That statement would be a lot more compelling if it were actually true.
Yes, he does love to tax this community -- but every year, as his revenues get larger -- he makes bigger and bigger cuts in core services -- including police, fire, road repair, and parks.
A ballpark might be a great addition to the county. But it might also be a huge drain. Something this big isn't for me, or for a sitting Mayor who's on his way out to decide. Only you, the voters, should have the say on something that big, and which could have such an impact.
So tell me! What do YOU think?
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4 comments:
Hi Tim,
I think that asking the voters is a good thing, but in order to ask the voters they need to have a better question than "Do you want Baseball?"
There needs to be a clear presentation as to what we're getting, what it will cost and what the projected benefits will be.
As someone who doesn't like baseball, I'm not inclined to support it. I think the attendance would be lower than it is in Portland, and be difficult to be cash flow positive.
I do think baseball, and any other spectator sport, is important to a community as it promotes family bonding and municipal pride.
Now, if we're talking about putting in Futsal Courts, I'll be running as many fund-raisers as possible!
Thanks,
-Jay
(PS., you have a typo in the post: "Something this big isn't not for me")
I worry under the current administration that we are in danger of doing the same thing Portland does day in and day out. The Mayor made comment on T.V. by saying that he would rather spend money on police, fire, etc. I don’t think anyone is in favor of jeopardizing basic services for the game of baseball in Vancouver. This is a standard political move that is divisive, framing the situation as Baseball vs. Police.
Does it have to be one or the other? It would be great if politicians can get creative about how to accomplish the desires of the city. I would be willing to bet a large majority of the people would either love to have the Beavers in town, or at the least be indifferent, if it doesn’t jeopardize basic services. The types of politicians I want in office are the ones smart enough to brainstorm ways to accomplish this instead of dismissing it after less than a week of discussion. We elect politicians to do this for us – otherwise we would just run for the office ourselves.
I am grateful that you took a stand and are proposing this important declaration. We need our government leaders to make it clear that bigotry will not be tolerated. Perhaps citizens will think twice about the rhetoric they use in public hearings. Hateful words can incite hateful incidents. I hope that all three Clark County Commissioners follow Vancouver City Council's lead.
Why not us? A Triple A Baseball Team will provide economic stimulation for our community.Jobs will be created,dollars will be spent in Vancouver,including money from baseball fans coming from Portland. The team and stadium will be good for local business, especially those right around the stadium. Triple A teams also attract baseball fans from around the nation...especially to a new stadium ! Triple A teams also can lead to bigger things...like MLB in Vancouver in the next 10 years. Why not us? The Mariners need a geographic rival!The Owner of the Beavers may be willing to pay for most of the stadium, if the land is given to him. The ballpark should be downtown and close to the river.Instead of shutting down and turning off the management of the Beavers...our city officials need to explore all options. If we donate land for Paulson to build the stadium...we need Vancouver on the uni !
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