They dont have a plan!! Crazy Editorial-Transparency still an issue Marion Chronicle-Tribune December 28, 2014 The city administration still has plans for a sports arena to be built at the northwest portion of the interchange at Ind.18 and Interstate 69. Lets make clear that we are not jerking our knees in opposition to an arena or big plans for the site. We want what is best. We are, however, leery due to repeated troubles regarding the past and fairly radical development ideas for this interchange that range from failed high-tech Veriana village (along the lines of Silicon Valley, Calif) to a multi-purpose performance arena anchored by a team of young hockey players learning the game and playing in a league. Other events for the building would presumably be of a nature not already satisfied by the Honeywell Center in Wabash or other venues in Fort Wayne, Muncie, Kokomo or Indianapolis. Those project went by the wayside and not without millions of dollars of tax dollars being put on the line. How it will be recouped is unclear. We want good, solid development at the site. But we want it to be arrived at in an honest open way by Mayor Wayne Seybold, who unfortunately said last week that he would not talk about details of the plans — not because they would endanger the plans — but because he could be criticized for them. Were just not going to divulge any information until people are actually ready ready to pull the trigger, so we cant get blamed for projects that do or do not happen in the the planning stages, Seybold told the Chronicle-Tribune last week Nearly as we can tell, mayors and governors and senators and presidents getting criticized for public policy pursuits is how a representative democracy is supposed to work. All this really isnt about the mayor or city council and, heaven forbid, the criticism and second guessing they have to endure on a daily basis in a democracy. It is about the community we are trying building together. The arena has a place on illustrations developed as late as Oct. 28 by Randall Milller & Associates. Clearly something is in the works. It is the mayors job to be transparent about what he is doing in our name with public money. Assertions that the money involved in such projects is by tax increment financing and therefore covered by taxes garnered off the advancing development havent always held water in real life. When it comes time for bond issues to be paid back, debt for some projects have been refinanced with city taxpayers placed directly on the hook. We have been here before, and there is an old saying about doing the same thing and expecting a different result. We will continue to push by whatever legal means necessary to obtain public information about what the administration is doing in the name of the people of Marion. We certainly appreciate Seybold being candid about his reluctance to talk publicly about his plans. Its a shame that doesnt make it right. We all need to know what the plan is and certainly what public money is on the line.That is a good part of the duty Seybold undertook when he was elected. As far as finding out about any deals before they are done, city council also has a responsibility to be a watchdog. It would be great if the men and women we have elected from both parties could do this all in a relaxed, open and friendly way. If that is not to be, the resulting transparency still must be arrived at in order to make the city work as it should.
Posted on: Sun, 28 Dec 2014 22:29:47 +0000
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