Commissioner Kummer has been touting the success of converting the Lake Calhoun Concession into a revenue-generating restaurant, based on the Park Board's cut of revenue for its first year. The Tin Fish cut a $50k check to the Park Board, I believe.
That's not the whole story, though. MPRB made significant improvements to the facility and plans further improvements. MPRB owns and maintains the facility, including daily cleaning and trash pickup. I suspect it will take many years to realize a return for this operation. Could Commissioner Kummer please lay out the business case for Tin Fish, including: - how much was spent on facility improvements - how much does MPRB plan to spend on further facility improvements - how much the Park Board pays in property tax for the facility - how much the Park Board spends to maintain the facility - what % of revenue Tin Fish pays to MPRB - the contract length - the annual revenue of the calhoun public concession over the last 6 years (for comparison purposes) - what happens if Tin Fish backs out of this arrangement before the Park Board has realized a return - whether the Board is contractually enforcing non-discriminatory hiring practices for this operation Additionally, the Board plans to privatize at least 4 more park concessions, starting with Minnehaha Park. Will all park concessions be privatized? Where does the Park Board draw the line with privatizing operations to make a buck? What questions does the Board ask itself before privatizing a public asset? What policy guides the Board's decisions in this regard? What's next? The Park Board has a 122 year history of public concessions, even during some tough budget times. I'm wondering how this swift change of course fits into a well-considered plan for the future of our public park system. Regards, Jason Stone Diamond Lake Candidate for Park Board, District 5 REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:mpls@mnforum.org Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
