U of W Asking for Stadium coin!

[wiff]

OK I'm trying to make sense of this but I can't, so I'm asking for some cooler heads to explain this too me. Because right now I'm hot.




The U of W is asking for 150 mil from state tax payers on the same Hotel Motel, restaurant and rental car tax, that were created and ok'd for the Mariners and the Seahawks but the well ran dry for the Sonics.

Doesn't this open up a huge can of worms? I know right now WSU is trying to raise the funds for a new football stadium as well. You know they are going to come calling if the UW gets the ok.

But guess who sees no problem with this? Mr. Frank "The Skank" Chopp.

The Seattle Sonics were practically laughed out of Olympia when they asked lawmakers for tax money to pay for a new $500 million facility for the NBA team.

But House Speaker Frank Chopp, D-Seattle, said he'd be willing to consider the UW plan.

"I'm open to talking to the university about it because it's obviously a public facility," Chopp said.

"It can be used for a lot more than just Husky football. They are talking about a series of high school football games. If you have ever been to Memorial Stadium in Seattle, it's in pretty bad shape.

"(Husky stadium) is not professional, it's not for profit and the players make nothing."

Compared with the Sonics, the university is a more sympathetic cause, Chopp said. "By light-years."

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/huskies/347776_stadium18.html

Umm....Hey Frank couldn't the "Multi purpose facility" the Sonics are wanting have more than one thing going on in it?

The Sonics want a stadium with a roof so correct me if I am wrong but couldn't that be used year round and not simply for seasonal sports?

Frank YOU

[D5150]

"(Husky stadium) is not professional, it's not for profit and the players make nothing."

there you go. its apples and oranges. there really is no comparison. and i think its a little personal as well. and you know what? bennett has never publicly said just how much he would be willing to contribute to the new arena. and he has never laid out his whole "plan" for that new arena, just a pretty artist rendition. sorry wiff, i want to be mad about this, but i think it is two seperate issues.

[sonichound16]

I don't think it is two seperate issues at all. It all boils down to whether taxpayer money should be used to fund sports arenas. There is no reason that a new arena for the Supes couldn't be used for other indoor activities. In fact, it would probably end up being more useful than a football stadium. You can hold any number of conventions/concerts in an indoor arena. The other obviuos option that I read in another thread is the Huskies using Qwest field. No reason that they can't use that state of the art facility. Take the $150 million that they want and apply it to a new arena for the Supes. People are making money in College sports, just different people than the athletes.

[Sweezo]

No, the athletes just get a free education and the training to become pro athletes. Is Chopp bent out of shape because the Sonics players are being paid? Because that's not the concern I got from his previous statements.

Thank goodness Chopp has no ties to the university which would call in question whether he's only willing to back arenas which...um...hold on...

Frank Chopp is the current Speaker of the House of the Washington House of Representatives, which is the lower house of the Washington State Legislature. He is a Democrat who represents the 43rd District, which covers the neighborhoods of Fremont, Wallingford, the University District and Madison Park, all in Seattle.

Born in Bremerton, Washington, Rep. Chopp was the longtime executive director of the Fremont Public Association (now known as Solid Ground) and currently is Solid Ground's President Emeritus. He was first elected to the House in 1994, and has been Speaker of the House since 2001. In the prior session of the Legislature, he was co-speaker of the House, as the Democrats and Republicans had equal numbers of members.

While still in high school in Bremerton, Chopp led a protest against the local Elks Club's refusal to allow black members. He graduated from the University of Washington in 1975, and while in college organized efforts to preserve low income housing in Seattle. He is married with two children.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Chopp

[wiff]

"(Husky stadium) is not professional, it's not for profit and the players make nothing."

The players don't make money but the school makes a boat load. And honestly I'm fine with schools making money, but where is it going to stop?

What if the Drama program wants a new auditorium?

Also if UW gets a fat new stadium, that will help them with recruits. Now you are going to need to give WSU the same playing field with them on their arena or is WSU simply going to get the shaft.

Then Central Western and Eastern are going to want upgrades with their stadiums.

The list doesn't end. Don't they have boosters for this kind of stuff.

Secondly if you can find the deep pockets for the Mariners, the Seahawks and the U of W, why not the Sonics?

[D5150]

great, so there is now officially no one left to blame. everyone involved can sit around the table and point the finger at each other and when it is all said and done nothing will get accomplished.

btw: is it not okay for chopp to be behind the husky thing? i remember some people criticizing prentice over some of her comments, saying it was sour grapes over the state shooting down the new renton arena. of course these people have personal interest in certain projects. they are politicians.

i dont know, i still think this is two different issues. privately held business vs. public school.

couple of other things: uw is paying for half of the project. did clay ever come out and say how much of the bill the sonics would foot? and wiff, the eastern wa schools cant really be included in your argument, this is a king county tax, not a statewide tax. i wouldnt expect king county taxpayers to help foot the bill for stadium improvements for wsu.

[wiff]

great, so there is now officially no one left to blame. everyone involved can sit around the table and point the finger at each other and when it is all said and done nothing will get accomplished.

btw: is it not okay for chopp to be behind the husky thing? i remember some people criticizing prentice over some of her comments, saying it was sour grapes over the state shooting down the new renton arena. of course these people have personal interest in certain projects. they are politicians.

i dont know, i still think this is two different issues. privately held business vs. public school.

couple of other things: uw is paying for half of the project. did clay ever come out and say how much of the bill the sonics would foot? and wiff, the eastern wa schools cant really be included in your argument, this is a king county tax, not a statewide tax. i wouldnt expect king county taxpayers to help foot the bill for stadium improvements for wsu.

I didn't go to the UW in fact it makes my day every time I see them lose (in anything).

But correct me if I am wrong, these are public state schools not private schools. What's the difference between Seattle and Pullman? Well other than the obvious, but what's the difference when it comes to funding state schools?

Oh I know the difference Frank "The Skank" Chopp graduated from the U of W in 1975 and I'm sure he'd love to see the U of W back on top in football.

This is so ridiculous.

[D5150]

my point was that the proposal calls for an extention of the existing tax in king county. if wsu wants to improve their stadium, that should come from taxes generated in their region. so that is the difference between seattle and pullman. who paays these taxes? anyone who eats in a resturant or stays in a hotel in king county. are some of those people from east of the mountains? sure, but it is a KING couty tax, not state wide. and this is still just a proposal, nothing has been decided.

you know what i cant help thinking? if bennett or the city had gotten off there asses buried the hatchet and actually come up with a proposal to present in this session, perhaps this could have been part of a larger project. perhaps they could have piggybacked on the uw thing. but maybe because of the new requirement on public money used for that type of thing needing to be repaid with interest equal to that of a tresury bond, that would block it. remember, there are new rules for using public funds for private business, (like arenas) the people of king county voted on that i believe. that is no small detail.