More on the Civic Arts Center boondoggle
I’ve covered this plenty of times but here’s the latest at The Daily Times:
Citizens for and against a proposed civic arts center have one thing in common: they’re busy lobbying their county commissioners this week.
The Blount County Commission will decide Thursday whether to fund its $11.9 million portion of the $55 million facility. Because the rest of the funding already has been committed by Maryville College, the cities of Maryville and Alcoa, and the state and federal government, the future of a civic arts center hinges on the commission.
Citizens for a Civic Arts Center held its last rally Saturday, when about 120 people including U.S. Rep. John J. Duncan Jr. walked from the Blount County Public Library to the site of the proposed center on the Maryville College campus. Co-founder Carolyn Forster said Monday that the group is working this week “making phone calls, writing letters and doing what we can to voice our support.”
“We know this is a one-time shot, make it or break it,” Forster said. “We’ve been working on this for over two years, but it all boils down to one night.”
I generally like John Duncan but the man has never seen a bit of taxpayer funded pork he won’t support. Now, from the opposition:
Meanwhile, the anti-tax group Citizens for Blount County’s Future is holding a meeting tonight for all taxpayers against using taxpayer money to build a civic arts center, said spokeswoman Linda King.
She said the taxpayers she talks to — “And I do talk to a lot of them” — all feel the same: that a civic arts center should not come from taxpayer dollars. The meeting is an opportunity, she said, for those people to get together and brainstorm the best way to make their opposition known to commissioners.
The group successfully rallied against a wheel tax in July. Commissioners decided that night to send the wheel tax back to committee and ultimately voted to hold an August 2006 referendum on the issue instead of voting in a wheel tax themselves.
I would say this boondoggle is a done deal and when the day comes (and it will) that it’s largely unsuccessful, I can take comfort in the fact that I told them so.
Update: In comments:
We could have had a new school or two
Heh.
November 15th, 2005 at 12:41 pm
Remember the V8 commercial when the guy smacks his forehead and says, “I could have had a V8 cocktail.” Years from now the people of Maryville are going to smack their foreheads and say, “We could have had a new school or two.”
This is even dumber than when Knoxville did the same thing.
November 15th, 2005 at 4:08 pm
Yeah, I asked him about it in email since he hadn’t made a peep about it. The benefit to the county supposedly is bringing in folks (conventions, shows, etc.). I think that’s a pipe dream. Plus, MC isn’t exactly convenient to hotels.
November 16th, 2005 at 9:56 pm
Good Lord these Convention Centers are sprouting up everywhere. Sadly, I hear the movers and shakers in Vonore are talking about how they can become a new tourist mecca if they build one. I would not be surprised if Oak Ridge turns their deserted shopping mall into one. Everyone is doing it.
http://www.brianarner.com/weblog/archives/001861.html
November 18th, 2005 at 4:38 pm
Well the Blount county commission did us right. Lets be sure to thank all of the commissioners who killed this.