凍結 天然氣 火車

Sure I could use the taxes that Mesa Mayor Scott Smith is stealing out of my wallet and giving to the millionaire owners of the Chicago Cubs to feed my kids, but I am sure Mayor Scott Smith will say my priorities are all screwed up.

Hey, with out the $99 million in corporate welfare from the city of Mesa, the owners of the Chicago Cubs might be not be able to buy the new model Mercedes Benz every year, and you wouldn't want that to happen.

Source

Mesa Mayor assures new Chicago Cubs stadium will be fine

Smith says criticism of plans is 'premature'

by Gary Nelson - Jun. 1, 2012 08:38 AM

The Republic | azcentral.com

People who are criticizing plans for the Chicago Cubs' new Mesa stadium may be jumping the gun, Mayor Scott Smith said this week.

Long-awaited drawings of the facility were released last month, showing far fewer Chicago-esque architectural flourishes than were included in preliminary sketches pitched to voters before they approved the project in 2010.

Newspaper editorials and some letters to the editor were not complimentary. But Smith said the newest sketches are still preliminary.

The final product, he said, will depend on how much it costs to build other parts of the baseball complex and whether the Cubs are willing to spend any of their own money on it.

Mesa is committed to spending no more than $84 million for the stadium and $15 million for associated infrastructure. [Well, unless the Cubbies decide to give the royal Mesa rulers a more bribes, opps, I mean campaign contributions]

The $15 million includes enlarging and moving the lake at next-door Riverview Park, as well as other park upgrades.

Smith admitted that the drawings released in May were "very, very sparse." [Wow!!! For $99 million in corporate welfare we only get "very, very sparse"]

"You can't really tell the finishes that go in," he said. "We haven't even really decided what the walls will be finished in, how they'll look."

But the stadium, he said, will mesh nicely with what Mesa and the Cubs hope to be an "overall experience" that includes commercial development and the park itself.

"So I think it's a little unfair and premature to all of a sudden cast judgment on whether (the drawings) are disappointing or not disappointing," Smith said.

Work on the stadium site began in April when crews began trying to save trees on the former Riverview Golf Course for inclusion in the stadium complex. Archaeological surveying is going on as well.

Construction won't begin in earnest, however, until after the official groundbreaking on July 11, which city officials have said they want to turn into a community celebration.

Renderings of a final site plan have yet to be released, and Smith indicated that elements of the complex are still being hashed out.

Among the possibilities is a dormitory for players.

"The last I heard, the dormitories were sort of ... iffy," Smith said. "That depends on where the final budget comes in and then the Cubs will have to make a decision what's going to happen." [How sweet!!! Instead of making the baseball players who earn millions of dollars a year stay in a hotel, the city of Mesa is going to build dormitories for them! Ain't that sweet! Will the dorms have plumbing which includes running wine and beer in addition to tap water? And perhaps 4 star kitchen with world class cooks!!!]

Mesa, he said, will stick firmly to its budget. [But don't count on it. All it takes is for the Cubbies to give a few thousand dollars in bribes, opps, I mean campaign contributions to Mayor Scott Smith and the other members of the Mesa City Council and they will probably give the Cubbies a few more million in corporate welfare!!!!]

If the Cubs think they need amenities beyond the voter-approved $84 million, "the Cubs will have to make a decision as to what they want to spend." [Again don't count on it. All it takes is for the Cubbies to give a few thousand dollars in bribes, opps, I mean campaign contributions to Mayor Scott Smith and the other members of the Mesa City Council and they will probably give the Cubbies a few more million in corporate welfare!!!!]

In any event, Smith said, "we are not going to go cheap on the stadium. You'll go into a stadium that is very, very well done, that will be comfortable, that will be appealing." [Damn right!!! $99 million in corporate welfare ain't cheep!!! That's about $225 for every man, woman and child that lives in the city of Mesa!!!]

Noting that Arizona State University has committed to moving its baseball program there, Smith said, "I don't think ASU would be going into a stadium if they didn't believe this was top quality." [He forgot to mention the best reason is that the fools in the city of Mesa are going to pay for it]

Mesa turned to voters to approve the project in 2010 after the Cubs entertained offers from Florida business interests to move there and the Arizona Legislature refused to approve a funding mechanism for the Mesa stadium.

Although the team's current venue, Hohokam Stadium, is only 15 years old, the Cubs grew antsy because their owners believe a next-door "Wrigleyville" entertainment venue would boost the team's revenue and, therefore, its prospects for winning.

Hohokam, on North Center Street, has no adjacent land for such a complex. Mesa is negotiating with the Oakland Athletics for that team to leave Phoenix and move to Hohokam beginning with the 2015 Cactus League season.

As for Riverview Park itself, Smith said its redevelopment will occur in stages.

Park officials gave the City Council an overall view of their aspirations for Riverview early this year, but it turns out that not all the amenities in that presentation will be covered by the $15 million for Cubs-related infrastructure.

"Riverview Park will be developed ... in phases," Smith said, "and a lot will depend on the level of funding."

Money that's already committed will suffice to move the lake and redo the park's overall design, Smith said.

Beyond that, money for Riverview could come from a bond issue, from the parks department's operating budget or from future land sales in the Riverview complex.

Those sales would be to developers building all or part of Wrigleyville, and there is the potential for selling 25 acres now occupied by four ballfields in the northeastern corner of Riverview Park for development as a resort.