Stop stadium subsidies

City Manager Wayne Cauthen’s desire to continue shoveling money into the sports complex in the hope that neither the Chiefs nor the Royals will leave has left me thinking Cauthen is clearly not in touch with the current fiscal reality of Kansas City and its residents (3/6, A-1, “More layoffs suggested; Funkhouser also advises ending stadium subsidies while avoiding increases in property taxes and police cutbacks”).

Nor has Cauthen learned anything from sports history about some teams being as greedy as some of the worst robber barons of the 19th century — their goal being one of seeing how loud they can cry “poverty” and how far they can dip their hands into taxpayers’ wallets — even as they pay themselves and their players hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars annually.

Mr. Cauthen, the Kansas City taxpayers who pay your salary — people who are losing incomes and jobs — can’t afford these “giveaways” you so dearly like. Please stop giving taxpayer-provided charity to these wealthy sports franchises.

Lew Hughes
Kansas City, Kan.

Comments

[solomon]

JJ,

You sure won't catch me ever defending a politician in the Kansas City area. It is always a painful vote I cast as a civic duty.

I do get tired of people who live outside the city limits bitching and moaning and saying the team owners they can pack up and leave, but that's just a lifelong sports fan who can remember the period between A's and Royals. I know the county taxes go to the complex, so even our resident idiot has a stake. People who live in Kansas make up around 40% of the KC earnings tax, so all these things come together.

But its not the Olathe Royals or the Blue Springs Chiefs, so as I said, the sports fan in me gets defensive.

[JUNGLEJACK]

lucius0729 |and Solomon - let me tell you why my opinion SHOULD matter to the Mayor despite the fact I live in JOCO.

This mayor has repeatedly proposed projects that would require a regional tax base of support (the latest being the upkeep at the stadiums). If he is going to take funds that have been specifically allocated by his voting constituents for one specific purpose and then simply dump those funds into the general fund and use them at his discretion - why in the world would anyone trust his handling of future collected tax monies?

Further - this blatant disregard for holding up the city's end of the bargain is like flushing the 500 million already spent on the stadiums down the toilet. In about five years (or sooner of one of them has a streak of success) these teams will be back at the bargaining table asking for more money - because the city has (once again) defaulted on the lease.

[KC Educator]

Maybe the mayor is playing a different game. This seems to me to be the same old game though. Politicians throw out statements aimed at scaring voters into approving tax increases. When he says that the choice will be either cutting the payments for the stadium upkeep or layoff police and firefighters he knows that different constituencies will get fired up. Is he honestly expecting me to believe that there is not enough wasted spending on pet projects of the city council that the only choices for cutting spending deal with safety issues or the stadium? This sounds to me like nothing more than a scam.

[BudRog]

Hey Lew Baby, I live in Jackson County, and I pay part of my real estate taxes every year (thanks to the idiots who bought the Chiefs/Royal's whine) to subsidize this private enterprise, and it is a disgrace! You are absolutely correct, and Bravo to the Mayor for pulling the plug on these spoiled babies. Anybody who has the nads to charge someone $36 to park a car for a few hours sure as hell does not deserve our tax money on top of it. Disgusting, simply disgusting. I hope to hell they do move, I will volunteer to help the losing sorry sobs pack!

[solomon]

Lew of KCK, considering you pay nothing for the stadiums your opinion means nothing to me.

Anybody who thinks the Royals or Chiefs are leaving here anytime soon suffer from the "Boy who Cried wolf" syndrome. The stadium upgrades have turned both the K and Arrowhead into 21st century facilities.

Nobody is 100% fine with all gov't expenditures on a city, county, state or federal level. Case in point, I'd rather upgrade a local facility than spend another dime studying light rail or giving bombs to foreign countries.

[lucius0729]

Seeing how you do not live in Kansas City MISSOURI, you can keep your opinion, it's not worth anything. When will idiots like YOU understand that cutting taxes is what got us here. No tax money coming in no subsidies going out.