Welcome to the end of another week, wherein I have bookmarked an article on why we never have enough time but haven’t found time to read it. I want to consider whether this qualifies as real irony or the Alanis kind, but I apparently don’t have time for that either, so it will have to be left as an exercise for readers — today’s comments should be fun!
And now, on to more things we didn’t have time for this week:
- The Metro Nashville council passed a bill on Tuesday to issue $760 million in bonds for a Tennessee Titans stadium — part of a larger $1.26 billion public commitment for a $2 billion stadium— even though nobody knows exactly where the money would come from to pay off the costs. This is one of those things where the council has to vote multiple times on the same thing, though, so the real final approval vote is set for April 4, by which time maybe some of those questions will be answered, but I wouldn’t hold my breath. “I don’t even think we should be going through the farce of the first reading on a bill this massive with this big of a price tag when we have an administration that didn’t answer our most basic questions and give us the information that we needed,” said councilmember Ginny Welsch, one of 10 councilmembers to vote against the bill, which is more than the eight who voted against a similar proposal back in December but there are 40 members on the council total, hence the recommendation against breath-holding.
- Maryland Gov. Wes Moore is preparing for lease extension talks with the owners of the Baltimore Orioles by visiting the Atlanta Braves‘ stadium district, which Maryland Stadium Authority chair Craig Thompson noted “is looked at and admired by some as a model.” Sure, okay, but it was also built on completely vacant land in the suburbs, while Camden Yards is in the middle of the city and surrounded by existing buildings, including a historic warehouse that was turned into an Orioles mall that is also looked at by some as a model, where are you going with this, guys?
- The Richmond Flying Squirrels‘ stadium is getting $3.5 million in city-funded upgrades even though it’s set to be replaced by a new one soon because MLB threatened to annihilate the team otherwise, as MLB does. “Richmond is just on fire right now and we’re really, really excited,” said Flying Squirrels COO Todd “Parney” Parnell, which, too soon, Parney.
- Hey, remember when Virginia “won” the race to host Amazon’s new second headquarters by offering up $750 million in subsidies? How’s that going? Oh.
- Haven’t had enough bullet points yet? Please enjoy this list of bullet points about the many ways corporate subsidies in New Jersey are messed up! My favorite is how the state Economic Development Authority gets more money for its own budget the more tax breaks it hands out, what’s yours?
On the article about not having enough time. TL;DR
It’s written in the typical _New Yorker_ style of being storytelling. And it’s a review of another book, which – skipping to the end – the NY author didn’t think was worthwhile because nothing much new is learned.
If I read that Amazon article correctly, and there are no other requirements for state grants than “new jobs,” Amazon could be eligible for hundreds of millions and never even build the offices!
Why would corporate mandate in-office time? Put the cost of connectivity, space, and power on the workers, then collect the boodle!