What are the issues on the new Falcon's stadium?

The media has covered the new Falcons stadium, when it comes to the public and private funding, but what about the issues curtailing the new stadium?  Issues like the Falcons moving to L.A. and the years of meetings on this decision.

On February 13, 2013, Mayor Kasim Reed and Atlanta City Council’s Finance and Executive Committee, meet with the Falcons president and CEO Rich McKay, the  Georgia World Congress Center Authority (GWCCA) and Invest Atlanta, on the new Falcons stadium.

McKay told the Council “We would have no choice but to consider pursuing another option in metro Atlanta (if negotiations break down)…Please don’t let anybody say that’s a threat.  No, that’s just a reality of what we have to do as our lease is about to end.”    This is just a business decision, and no pressure to side with the Falcons.

McKay tells National Football Post, “We think (downtown) is where the deal should be done, but it is our intent to play in a new stadium in 2017.”

McKay tells Fox Sports South, “That’s just a reality as our lease is going to end and we could do it for a lot less cost… It’s not a demand-or-else-project.”  Of course not, this is – you agree to pay for this deal, or we leave.

McKay wants to stay in Atlanta, because of owner Arthur Blank’s foundation helping the surrounding Dome neighborhoods.  The Dome's operational and maintenance costs are high, like the $4-5M per year just for the roof.  McKay rejects the idea of renovating or repairing the Georgia Dome, saying this would be a “short-term solution.”

McKay tells Atlanta Business Chronicle  “We want to give this opportunity every opportunity to succeed and that has been our focus 100 percent.”

McKay tells 11 Alive News “I think probably sooner than later in the sense that we've worked this deal for twelve straight months in trying to get to a final solution.”  Yes twelve months behind closed-doors, not with the greater public or democracy on this decision.

McKay told the Council “I'm not a big deadline guy…I've negotiated enough player contracts in my life to know that deadlines are usually nice when you first say them, and they sound all great, and then when you have to change them they're not quite as good.”

This makes Blank look like the Good Cop during a negotiation with a suspect (Atlanta), by helping the community; while McKay looks like the Bad Cop, saying they will leave if no deal.  If I recall, Blank is the boss of McKay right?

Atlanta's Chief Operating Officer Duriya Farooqui asked, why does Atlanta needs this new stadium – to host another Super Bowl?  The 2013 New Orleans Super Bowl was in a 38 years old Superdome, and spent $350M for a 8 year lease.  Farooqui said, the Falcons only wants a 30 year lease for $200-300M in hotel-motel taxes (and other hidden costs we do not know about).  The Falcons deal is either cheaper, or just a crafty way to manipulate the public to side with them.

William Pate, president of the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau; tells the Council of a conversation in 2010 with NFL's Commissioner Roger Goodell on how Atlanta may host a future Super Bowl?  Goodell told Pate “‘You need to get a new stadium,’...That’s straight from the man himself.”

Farooqui told the Council compared to other city deals for stadium construction – Atlanta is getting a good deal.  The percentages of public funding paid by other cities was:   Arizona (68%), Dallas (27%), and Indianapolis's stadium (87%).  She tells WSBTV “A new stadium today is proposed at 20 percent public contribution...With no new taxes, no increase in taxes.”

Other cities built their stadiums by increasing:  Sales taxes, ticket surcharges, hotel taxes, parking taxes, and other levies.  Of course in 2011, Atlanta already increased their hotel-motel taxes to 8% with S.B. 140.

Farooqui tells AJC “There are a slew of benefits,” from tax revenue, national and international recognition; since sporting events “are so sought after, and the competition is so cutthroat, that if you don’t have a facility that is competitive, we as the city of Atlanta will not be able to compete for them.”

Farooqui said the bonds would be issued by Invest Atlanta, the city’s development authority; paid mainly by visitors to Atlanta and Fulton through hotel-motel taxes, rather than the city or state.

Invest Atlanta's president Brian McGowan told the Council, if we do not build their stadium; Atlanta could lose major events.  McGowan said “We have events that have choices, that don't need to be in Atlanta...The SEC Championship, the Chick-Fil-A Bowl, the Bank of America Football Classic.  We believe a new stadium will help retain those events into the future.  And I'll add this: If I was the economic guy for Los Angeles, I would be actively pursuing the Falcons to move to LA.”

McGowan said bonds would not come from Atlanta's general fund, nor jeopardize Atlanta’s credit rating to issue bonds, for other projects.

Mayor Reed said Invest Atlanta would serve as a “backstop” on the stadium bonds, like Philips Arena, by not jeopardize other projects.

Falcon officials are willing to put another $100M, to reduce the original public commitment of $300M in hotel-motel taxes.  Also, the Falcons would pay off the $60M debt for the state-owned Dome, which would be demolished with no plans for the land.

The March 2012 GWCC: Master Plan Phase IV by Populous, reported the demolition of the Dome is projected to cost $8.19M.

On February 8, 2013 Mayor Kasim Reed tells AJC, “You’re going to get more transparency...We’re going to give the public every piece of data that we can possibly give them.  Everything is going to be known.  Questions are going to be answered in public and on television.”  Reed said “so that there is no sense that this transaction happened…behind closed doors,” which it has for over two years with Blank and the GWCCA.

In Jan 30, 2013 Reed told WAGA, he wants a decision on the new stadium funding plan within 60 days. 

In October 2012, the Los Angeles City Council approved developer AEG's proposal for a convention center expansion and Farmers Field, to be completed by 2016 – and now wants a NFL team.  Los Angeles lost the Raiders and Rams, in the 1990s.

On January 30, 2013 Reed tells NBC Los Angeles that “There are multiple business ownership groups, business groups, in Los Angeles, that are actively looking to place a team in Los Angeles...And, they are willing to pay a heck of a lot more than $200 million for that opportunity.”

The Minnesota Vikings wanted to move to L.A. and out of the older Metrodome, but in 2012 lawmakers approved the funding for their new $975M stadium.

Reed warned the Council in a January private meeting – L.A. is looking at the Falcons.

On February 3, 2013 again, Reed warned the Council in private meetings the Falcons may leave, like other teams.  The NBA’s Sacramento Kings, was sold and moved to Seattle.  The new stadium for NFL’s San Francisco 49ers is being built in Santa Clara, California; an hour away from San Francisco.

On January 29, 2013 Georgia's Governor Nathan Deal, told the Atlanta Business Chronicle the Falcons owner never hinted moving to L.A. saying, “Arthur Blank has never played that card, and I give him credit for that...I have not had any direct conversations about this.”

In 2006, Arthur Blank tells the AJC and GWCCA the Falcons would have a new stadium in over a decade, because it “is not in the back of my mind; it's in the front of my mind.”

Governor Deal tells Fox Atlanta “the argument is do you spend millions more dollars on repairs and perhaps even at some point having to replace the current dome roof, which is a major expenditure.  Or do you go ahead and make an investment now that will be good for 20 years and we will have a commitment that the Falcons will remain for that period of time in Atlanta, Georgia.”  A numbers argument.

This “commitment” suggests the Falcons may not move to L.A., but Common Cause Georgia wants Blank to pledge he will keep the Falcons in Atlanta.

Governor Deal tells the AJC he wants less than the $300M in public funding, which seemed “a little bit high of a number...We’re still talking and hopefully before too very long we will have a proposal that will save the taxpayers a lot of money.”  Deal wants Blank to pay an additional $100M, for the projected $1.2B retractable-roof stadium.

According to the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission; Arthur Blank has given donations to Governor Deal in 2010 of $6,100 and in 2012 of $2,000.

Blank, the co-founder of Home Depot, is on the board of directors of Cox Enterprises, which owns The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC).

Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation helps many Atlanta projects; and now wants to help train and hire Vine City and English Avenue residents, to work on the new stadium.  The Good Cop will help locals.

Blank's foundation president Penny McPhee said this, “doesn't mean they'll all get the jobs they're seeking, but they'll at least be ready to try...(Mr. Blank) has said all along, 'I don't want an iconic stadium on one side of the street, and an impoverished neighborhood on the other side of the street.'”

McPhee said "We want to be in a position now starting sooner rather than later to develop a pipeline of potential employees from the resident base of nearby communities...That'll require more than just job training.  It's getting residents ready for job training, and then the appropriate conversations that line people up with actual jobs."

McPhee tells Creative Loafing the foundation listened to community leaders, on improvements the area needs.  Residents “urged a focus on investing in "human capital" — programs that help students stay in school, learn job skills, and start a business — rather than the built environment.”

Dr. Rodney Paul, professor of Sport Management at Syracuse University tells Patch “If the training leads to locals getting the jobs - it will be more beneficial to the city than attracting outside workers (the current unemployed will now find some work).  I do not know that he (Blank) will guarantee this.  The political/ethical issues I leave to you and others.”

Ryan Splitlog, Assistant Director of Common Cause Georgia tells Patch, “What I believe the foundation was referring to was employment opportunities at the new stadium after construction, as well as community improvement money that is expected to go to the Vine City and English Avenue areas.”

Blank's foundation will work with Invest Atlanta and the Atlanta Workforce Development Agency, “a City Hall service that helps train workers, to potentially create a program that would prepare area residents with the skills and tips to compete for the estimated 4,500 jobs expected to be created by the stadium's construction.”

On February 3, 2013 Reed told 790 The Zone, “What I didn’t want to leave out there was this notion of some threat, because that’s not who Arthur Blank is, and that’s not the way he has been during this conversation...But that doesn’t mean we need to stick our heads in the sand, just because we have an owner who is committed to our town.”  Good Cop again, no pressure.

“Committed to our town” is vague, since most business are not loyal to a city; look at Detroit where manufacturing has moved elsewhere and is going bankrupt.  Commitment, is a business decision.

Splitlog when asked if lawmakers were lobbied by construction or other groups tells Patch, “I haven't heard of any construction companies lobbying.  I know there were concerns at our forum about minority businesses being given opportunities.”

Splitlog is referring to November 26, 2012 Common Cause Georgia's Atlanta RaISE up Public Forum; with panelists Frank Poe of GWCCA, Wye Orr of Common Cause and Dr. Benjamin Flowers.

Mr. Smith asked “Will there be a fair share of concession/vendor opportunities for minorities?  How will the MBE/FBE/SBE certified companies be selected for construction opportunity?”  Poe said, “we address the M/WBE disadvantaged business program opportunities both on the architectural and on the construction side.  The construction side is really where the most significant impact for disadvantaged businesses can occur.”

Poe told the audience since April 2010-11, he has talked with residents near the Dome of Castleberry Hill, English Avenue and Vine City; also their neighborhood associations and NPU-L planning units.  If some say GWCCA has not had public dialogue with the community or that “we’re not engaged in a public conversation at the most affected level is a bit disingenuous.”

Robin Gagnon, a resident of Castleberry Hill, felt disenfranchised with the stadium debate.  Her petition states, “We feel the process is proceeding without our neighborhood’s vital and concerned input.”

When it comes to infrastructure impact costs, Poe said “we don’t know, we haven’t quantified in total what those may be or what they might want to look like because it’s site dependent — those are going to be fully vetted to the City Council and Fulton County.”  Poe believes the “public input would be a component part of that discussion — so we’re not doing anything behind closed doors.”

Poe said “there is no design for the facility at this point.  We haven’t even selected the architect,” so GWCCA “can’t quantify something that you don’t know.  And you can’t know it until get to a point that A) you’ve got a deal that you can work with on the team and, secondly, you’ve got an architect that starts designing the facility that would start identifying what opinion those possible issues may be.”

Once a deal is struck, “then you take it into public forum.  To the City, to the County, and you lay out your case; and the City and the County make those determinations,” Poe said.  A deal needs to be struck, before costs are revealed to the City.

Since 2010 when Reed took office, Atlanta reserves have risen from $7.4M to $126.7M.

Atlanta has $922M in backlog infrastructure repairs from:  bridges, tunnels, roads, and sidewalks.  Reed wants to start an infrastructure bond package of $250M soon, for repairs.  Is this $250M part of the hidden infrastructure cost, around the new stadium?

An example of hidden costs is Southern Company (subsidiary of Georgia Power) and their overrun costs of nuclear Plant Vogtle.  Georgia's 2.4M customers have to pay more in their electric bills to fund the burden of building the plants, which is estimated to cost $14B.

Customers burden of building was $951M for the 2 nuclear reactors, originally budgeted for $660M, but could approach $8.9B.  Just like customers having to pay hidden costs; fans, hotel-motel guests and taxpayers may have to deal with overrun costs of the new stadium.  Since, most construction estimates will go over budget every time.

Reed tells AJC “We’re strong enough to fund certainly $250 million worth of infrastructure improvements, and probably more...That is not going to be impacted by this transaction in any real way.  We are in a strong enough position to handle this (stadium) transaction very comfortably.”

Reed wants “Within 60 days, everything about the decision can be known, and you can make an intelligent up-or-down decision.  This is not particularly complex at all.”

Reed tells AJC the Dome would need $250-350M in upgrades within the next 5-7 years (like roof repair).  Amazing how the upgrades for the Dome, is the same price range of the hotel-motel $200-300M bonds, and the start-up backlog infrastructure repairs of $250-350M.

Besides costs, there is the issue of representation.  City Councilman, Ivory Lee Young Jr. brought the Council a stack of detailed documents, on what residents want from their new stadium.  Such suggestions like:  “better parking enforcement, job training and jobs inside the stadium, millions of dollars for a housing trust fund that could help rehabilitate homes, repairs for the crumbling Herndon Stadium at Morris Brown College and a pedestrian promenade from the Vine City Walmart to Centennial Olympic Park.”

Councilwoman Yolanda Adrean (Buckhead) said, “Every time I hear the repair number for the Dome, it goes up,” and she wants detailed briefings on stadium topics.  One issue is what about the land of the demolished Dome, telling the AJC, “I have an open mind, but I also have a lot of questions.”

Junelle Thomas tells the Council her neighborhood needs revitalizing, but “If we're going to be a world class city, with a world class stadium, then we need to have a world class quality of life for people who live around the dome.”

City Council Howard Shook (Buckhead) tells AJC it is, “a hard sell for people if you tell them the stadium is outdated, when everybody who walks in is awed by it.”

City Council C.T. Martin is concerned with Reed's 60 day decision saying, “There are a lot of discussions going on right now...I think it’s a little early to be talking about deadlines right now, because things are so fluid.”

With all of these decisions for twelve months, if not these debates have been going on for years, since 2006-10.  Leaders have had public debates with some local groups, but not the greater public.  The greater public or all Atlantans have only heard of these issues, since 2012.  Now we have 60 days to decide without a confirmed price tag?  The real issue is who decides:  the voters or only the decision makers from Blank, McKay, Poe, Reed and others?

If local control and democracy is important for Atlantans, then more needs to be done by more Atlantans to be involved with these new stadium issues – since this decision affects us all.