I feel very fortunate that Scottsdale taxpayers can armchair quarterback the Glendale arena deal with the Arizona Coyotes. Scottsdale isn’t without similar bad deals, like millions of dollars in taxpayer-funded subsidies to the PGA, SkySong, the Scottsdale Cultural Council, WestWorld, the Museum of the West, the TPC and Sanctuary Golf Courses…but at least we don’t have the massive financial millstone that is Gila River Arena.
As I have suggested before, regarding some of Scottsdale’s bad deals, perhaps the City of Glendale would be better served to sell GRA. After all, if the Arizona Coyotes are the financial boon that IceArizona’s Anthony LeBlanc says, then LeBlanc should be eager to snap it up! Of course, as I always say (and Mayor Jim Lane, along with his Scottsdale city council colleagues frequently ignore), any public asset should be sold at public auction.
That might mean that LeBlanc would wind up paying a little more…but it could also mean he could get a relative bargain, too!
If the city winds up taking a loss, at they’d at least have a one-time write-off instead of a constant stream of corporate panderers and mis-managers reminding them why investing in professional sports is not within the scope of responsibility of government.
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The City of Glendale makes the City of Scottsdale look like a well-oiled machine.
Glad you mentioned Westworld. Another round of funding for Fred Unger and Etzel is coming up. Lane and other CC members need to be responsible for their $50M Westworld expansion. Heck Dygert didn’t even show up when Westworld was reviewed in a recent CC meeting.
Beer palooza was a bust this Father’s Day…..Prison Escape (advertised as 90% booked on the city website) was not only a bust but CANCELLED.