Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed is term-limited out of office after next year, which means the city is gearing up for the election of a new mayor in 2017. And, as befits a city that just spent almost $700 million on a Falcons stadium and saw the Braves leave for the suburbs in exchange for $355 million in stadium subsidies and is facing a demand for $142.5 million in arena renovations for the Hawks, sports subsidies are becoming an issue in the campaign:
Candidates Cathy Woolard and Vincent Fort have come out swinging against the proposal, calling it a giveaway to a billionaire. Councilwoman Keisha Lance Bottoms, a key negotiator in the deal, is a hearty backer, while competitors including Atlanta City Council President Ceasar Mitchell, Councilwoman Mary Norwood and businessman Peter Aman, have been more sanguine…
Bottoms, who threw her hat in the ring to run for mayor just days before news of the Hawks deal broke, is also head of the Atlanta-Fulton Recreational Authority that owns Philips and will recuse herself from voting. But she said the project would be a boon to Atlanta’s hospitality community.
“It’s not just about sports,” she said. “It’s an arena that has a lot going on. It’s about being a good steward of a city-owned asset.”
By contrast, Fort said recently, “This is another instance where billionaires are making out like nobody’s business and the citizens of the city are getting very little in return.”
Yep, those would be the two stock arguments. Not that any of the candidates — except Bottoms, Mitchell, and Norwood, since they’re on the city council — will actually have any say in this matter, since the council is expected to vote on it way before the mayoral election, but the public debate could help influence how that vote goes. Especially with candidates saying stuff like this:
Woolard said there was little risk of losing the Hawks after Cobb County Commission Chairman Tim Lee was ousted by voters following his deal with the Atlanta Braves.
“I’ll call that bet,” she said. “I’m not sure the NBA would let Atlanta not have a pro team. And what other jurisdiction in metro Atlanta is going to do this deal after Tim Lee lost [re-election] after the Braves deal?”
That’s a good point! Also not likely to carry much weight, especially when we just saw the Texas Rangers get $500 million in subsidies for a new stadium to replace their 22-year-old one in part by dropping hints that they’d move from Arlington to Dallas even though Dallas hadn’t made any moves to offer them a stadium. But it’s nice to see mayoral candidates using logic as an argument, just for a change of pace.