John -
Well said! For community based projects, the City is forcing us to somehow measure pride, convenience and aesthetics on their project-by-project profit and loss statement, in readily-identifiable dollars and cents. Which is impossible.
Right now in St. Paul, projects that bubble forth from communities and community groups - like the brewery renovation - are held up to a much higher standard than a Lawson Commons or sports facility. Gopher State Ethanol's (GSE's) operation at brewery has been one of the largest neighborhood issues in the City over the last several years. While on the one hand we're ready to hand over outright tens of millions for a new stadium, on the other hand the GSE/Brewery site gets a paltry $1 million City l-o-a-n and no guarantee that it won't become an ethanol plant yet again.
Which is not to say that the Lawsons and the stadiums have no merit at all, but that they should be judged on a level playing field, and that's simply not happening. As you said John, it seems to me that politics distort our priorities.
Bob Spaulding Downtown Homeowner
On Feb 13, 2005, at 1:25 PM, John Mannillo wrote:
I believe the City should always recover all its costs and then some on any
subsidized developments. The question is how do you measure return and over
what period of time. This is probably impossible to accurately determine.
That is why it is so easy to abuse. Return on investment can mean a greater
pride in community, more convenience, finer aesthetics and cultural
institutions, cleaner environment and of course improved services, just to
name a few. Ultimately such improvements, if real, will translate into a
larger tax base. What has been so objectionable to me is how politics has
manipulated and contorted decisions which efect the long term.
John Mannillo Highland Park and Downtown
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