Nashville metro councilmember Bob Mendes has already cast himself as the main antagonist to the Tennessee Titans‘ stadium demands, from rewriting bad newspaper articles to questioning the team’s insistence that the current stadium can’t be renovated for less than $2 billion to declaring “there’s no way on Earth that ‘first class’ stadium requires a three-story sports bar or a luxury songwriters lounge or a covered rooftop area with grass and trees on top of Nissan Stadium.” Now Mendes, who is chair of the council’s stadium committee, has issued a statement that the planned council vote on December 20 on the team’s proposed term sheet is premature, because the mayor’s office still hasn’t provided a ton of details on how the finances would actually work:
The Term Sheet says plainly that it “is not a binding commitment” and “is delivered solely for the purpose of facilitating ongoing discussions…” (page 23) The timing to get to a final agreement on all open terms is listed “as expeditiously as possible.” (page 23)
Among the items still not locked down, according to Mendes:
That’s a little bit!
Mendes also released an email exchange he had with the mayor’s office last week in which he asked for more information about how much city money would be spent on what, and city legislative director Mike Jameson replied that the city only has “preliminary projections” and releasing them while still in negotiations with the team “would significantly impair our negotiating ability” and “significantly muddle our message to rating agencies.” Jameson then wrote back asking what exactly is still being negotiated; if he got a response from the mayor’s office, it hasn’t shown up on his website yet.
Is Mendes prepared to delay the December 20 council vote if he doesn’t get more answers? That sure sounds like where things are headed! Has J.C. Bradbury already responded with an appropriate Simpsons meme? You bet he has!
I’m sure a $10,000 donation towards a playground or something will alleviate his concerns.