Councilman 'concerned' about stadium takeover
Rochester City Councilman Adam McFadden says he is "very concerned" about the possibility that the city could take ownership of PAETEC Park.
He says the city certainly would have the capacity to take over the stadium and hire a private contractor to manage the facility, but he questions whether the city SHOULD do that.
"You'd rather the thing work out in the private sector," he says. "That's what it was funded to do."
When asked about the possibility that a city seizure of the stadium would also mean a takeover of the project's massive debt, McFadden said, "I would hope not."
He says the soccer stadium project has lapsed into chaos because of a lack of accountability.
"When you have this much public investment in a project, it's critical that you have the proper oversight," he says.
He says the fact that so much public money has been pumped into yet another failing private-sector project is cause for alarm. With the fast ferry debacle fresh in people's minds, he says the citizens of the city are starting to call for accountability from their political and business leaders.
"At some point we'll be challenged to do better," he says. "We go to bat for projects like this, but we never tell the people about the possibility that we could end up subsidizing it."
He says local leaders should have discussed the project with citizens before ground was even broken. If the public had been involved in the discussions from the very beginning, he says, city officials and the Rhinos' ownership wouldn't have faced as much public criticism as they are now.
McFadden says he has approached the Duffy administration to request a dialogue with the City Council. He adds that he has been the only council member to raise the issue with the administration.
He says the city certainly would have the capacity to take over the stadium and hire a private contractor to manage the facility, but he questions whether the city SHOULD do that.
"You'd rather the thing work out in the private sector," he says. "That's what it was funded to do."
When asked about the possibility that a city seizure of the stadium would also mean a takeover of the project's massive debt, McFadden said, "I would hope not."
He says the soccer stadium project has lapsed into chaos because of a lack of accountability.
"When you have this much public investment in a project, it's critical that you have the proper oversight," he says.
He says the fact that so much public money has been pumped into yet another failing private-sector project is cause for alarm. With the fast ferry debacle fresh in people's minds, he says the citizens of the city are starting to call for accountability from their political and business leaders.
"At some point we'll be challenged to do better," he says. "We go to bat for projects like this, but we never tell the people about the possibility that we could end up subsidizing it."
He says local leaders should have discussed the project with citizens before ground was even broken. If the public had been involved in the discussions from the very beginning, he says, city officials and the Rhinos' ownership wouldn't have faced as much public criticism as they are now.
McFadden says he has approached the Duffy administration to request a dialogue with the City Council. He adds that he has been the only council member to raise the issue with the administration.
posted by Ryan Whirty at
8:37 AM
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