If you want a perfect example of how the self-serving elites who've been running this city for decades are playing Mayor-elect Greg Ballard, you need look no further than the latest dust up over the city bidding for the 2012 Super Bowl. The Star's John Ketzenberger steps forward as their amiable toadie by suggesting in his column today that unless Ballard makes a serious effort to win the 2012 Super Bowl, it will be a signal to the business community that Ballard's election has become a change "not for the better" for Indianapolis. Is this guy kidding? Does he honestly believe the business community at large feels this way? Or is this just the same crap a handful of elites have fed him as they have throughout his journalism career in Indianapolis?
If Abdul Hakim-Shabazz' reporting is to be believed, this elites deliberately backed Ballard into a corner before he took office by announcing a bid for the 2012 Super Bowl on Friday without bothering to consult him. These elites then called on their reliable hack at the Star to write this pathetic piece of journalism in today's paper suggesting the fate of his entire mayoral success will hinge on whether he backs this bid wholeheartedly. Ketzenberger shoots all of his credibility by starting off saying Ballard needs someone like Fred Glass to work with him on this issue. Glass, of course, is the person responsible for negotiating the worst NFL stadium deal in history from the standpoint of the taxpayers who have to foot the bill for it. "Local attorney Fred Glass, a longtime friend and confidant of Mayor Bart Peterson, led the effort that came up just two votes shy of landing the 2011 game," Ketzenberger writes. "Does Ballard know and trust someone like Glass?" He adds, "He had better, because business leaders see this as the first instance of how well Ballard will interact with them."
Excuse me John, but your definition of "business leaders" is a small group of elites who have bankrupted this town to serve their own selfish needs. If Ballard truly wants to show leadership and prove to the business community he is going to bring about change for the city, he will tell these folks to take a hike. He has more important matters to attend to in his administration than chasing after a one-day event four years away which produces a fraction of the long-term economic benefit for the City of Indianapolis than either of two annual events at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 400, neither of which requires a multi-million dollar commitment on behalf of the local community.
In case Ketzenberger hasn't noticed it, the city is in a dire financial crisis, its infrastructure is crumbling, its public schools are among the worst in the nation, neighborhoods are being torn apart by crime and blighted by abandoned buildings, home foreclosures are at an all-time high and taxes have reached their highest in the city's history. If you cared a damn about the city, John, you would sit down and write a new column apologizing to your readers for allowing yourself to become a tool of the very people who have failed to address the problems which our new mayor must seriously address. And shame on your editors for allowing you to be used by these self-serving elites.
21 comments:
The IBJ also questioned whether Ballard would be good for business, correctly noting that Peterson was a master of economic development. Of course, you'd rather call people names and whine rather than support your positions with any facts. Rather ironic given your profession.
And how does this support making a bid for the Super Bowl your higest priority before even taking office?
Don't forget that the Indy Star stands to benefit hugely if the Super Bowl comes to town. The paper lost a ton of money a few years ago when the Colts were supposed to go to the Super Bowl and didn't. The paper had already purchased hotel rooms and had huge plans for coverage/advertising.
I can only imagine the dollar signs in their eyes and those in the Virginia headquarters.
Since when did PROFIT become a four-letter word to Republicans?
"economic benefit for the City of Indianapolis than either of two annual events at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 400, neither of which requires a multi-million dollar commitment on behalf of the local community".
which brings to mind...HAS ANYONE EVER SEEN AN INVOICE for Police services provided during these events and the Colts games and Black Expo and any other events.
And do not for a minute think that OVERTIME and MANDATORY DUTY was not used.
But instead a lot of taxpayers money was used so the above mentioned could smile all the way to the bank!
I'm not Greg Ballard but I certainly know when someone draws a line in the dirt and dares me to cross it. Katzenberger's column today was not his usual diatribe,it was a threat! This speaks volumes about these gutless bastards in the Downtown Klan that don't have the balls to meet face to face with Ballard to try to advance their "world vision" in his presence. No, it's easier for the Downtown Klan to use Katzenberger as their hired gun.
Ballard stated that the days of Indianapolis being ran like a country club are gone. This city has incredibly serious issues that have to be addressed and our so-called "business leaders" can't see anything beyond their own pitiful little elite club and their own bank accounts?
If it Katzenberger wants a class war then by god almighty he's going to have one!
If Ballard falls in bed with these whores Katzenberger calls "business leaders" then he'll wish to hell he never put his name on a ballot!
Katzenberger may feel that he's in charge of the case holding the dueling pistols but he sure as hell won't be the one to load them.
Mr Ballard and Mr.Elite Businessman, choose your pistols carefully because the voters are in charge of the powder and lead.
If Ballard blows the bid for the 2012 Super Bowl then he should be run out of town on a rail...I know it is unconventional but he should use many of the Peterson people who put on the impressive presentation and came within a vote of getting the 2011 Super Bowl
10:11, I'm sorry but you are completely full of s..t!
Was the reason Peterson was ran out of town on a rail because HE didn't land the Super Bowl?
Who the hell cares??????????
Hosting the Super Bowl did Detroit a lot of good.
They lost their ass and it's still the hellhole it was before they hosted it.
"...correctly noting that Peterson was a master of economic development." - Huh?
Didn't Ballard indicate during the campaign that he supported efforts to bring the Superbowl here?
I have to tell you, Indianapolis will NEVER be thought of as a place to hold a convention. So why a Super Bowl? The city is a third level convention city. I can tell you it is the place you go when there is no place left to go or you have a tie to motor racing, farming, or headquarters in, the city. You will never hear, "Where should we hold our next meeting?" "I know, Indianapolis!"
NOT!
"Without them and the $3.56 billion the tourism and hospitality industry pumps into the local economy, Indianapolis would be just another decaying post-industrial city surrounded by former cornfields of two-story tract homes full of people with nothing to do."
I am not sure what the $3.56 billion consists of, but I do know (according to Stats Indiana (http://www.stats.indiana.edu/profiles/pr18097.html), the total earnings from accomodations, food service, arts, entertainment, recreation and retail trade only made up 9.4% (3.4 billion) of the total earnings in Marion County. And of course, the average wages of these sectors are amongst the lowest. Obviously, only a portion of that is attributable to toursim.
What Ketzenbeger should be doing is providing a real analysis of the minor role that the convention center, etc. actually play in the local economy and contrast that to the percentage of subsidies (tax abatement and tifs, etc. provided to this sector of the economy.
Well stated commentary by Advance Indiana, again. I suspect that the Indy Elites mostly live in Carmel and don't pay the taxes they help foist on Marion County.
While a Superbowl in Indianapolis could be a great boost during a very slow time of year in the Indianapolis convention business, the economic impact is significantly decreased by the NFL's demands for tax breaks etc.
The corporate money and effort would be better spent attracting a organization that will commit to have multi year events in our city and perhaps move its headquarters like the NCAA or Bands of America.
How about a soccer governing body that would hold regional, national and international games in the Lucas Oil Stadium in the Colts off season?
While a Superbowl in Indianapolis could be a great boost during a very slow time of year in the Indianapolis convention business, the economic impact is significantly decreased by the NFL's demands for tax breaks etc.
The corporate money and effort would be better spent attracting a organization that will commit to have multi year events in our city and perhaps move its headquarters like the NCAA or Bands of America.
How about a soccer governing body that would hold regional, national and international games in the Lucas Oil Stadium in the Colts off season?
Obviously there are those that do not realize how many conventions are held here and how many are unable to book because of unavailable dates or they are too large to fit into the old convention center....now that it is larger......more will come but we are a convention destination..I agree the weather, lack of oceans etc make it less attractive but the central location in the country and the numerous interstates make it a prime city.
You can promote the convention industry in Indianapolis without hosting a Super Bowl. To hear those folks talk the fate of Indianapolis' future as a convention destiny totally rests on hosting a Super Bowl. Originally, it was just a larger convention center, which they are getting. The RCA Dome will be torn down, notwithstanding the $75 million in debt on it so they can have the convention center space they say we need. By the time it is built, you can bet they will be complaining about the size of that space.
Challenging the $300 million windfall is this from the Dallas Morning News:
But some economists say such figures, which include multipliers as money gets recycled through the community, overstate the impact.
Allen Sanderson, an economics professor specializing in sports at the University of Chicago, says the impact is as little as 10 percent of what boosters claim because so much money is spent with suppliers or companies that aren't local.
"The money doesn't all stay in town," he said.
The predictions also don't take into account how much spending would have occurred in the area anyway and how much it costs to host the event.
"The Super Bowl is a party, not an investment," Mr. Sanderson said.
For a large city like a Chicago or Miami to host a superbowl, the effects might not be that great. But for a mid-sizes city like Indianapolis, the chance to host the superbowl and to showcase our city to all of the corporate execs that it attracts (that would not otherwise come to Indianapolis)is invaluable.
When I looked at the all brick new Colts stadium the other day, the palace that makes the Roman Coliseum pale in comparison, I could only say, "what have we done?" Super Bowl? Damn straight we better get at least that out of the pain we're extracting from all of us taxpayers to erect this monument to excess. We're paying for it, if we're going to be screwed let's at least get the party.
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