I don't think it's a secret we think the Arvest Ballpark was a poor excuse for economic development not to mention the feeling that taxpayers were duped into paying for it. Two years later, a couple of driving ranges are the only proposals that have surfaced for the area.Not so says Perry Webb "This area transformed from people raising chickens and a bunch of hillbillies to the forefront of the corporate world."
A bunch of hillbillies. Really?
There has been a lot of discussion all across the country about sports stadiums being touted as the key to economic development and yet study after study finds they cost far more than they return.
The New York Times recently reported that "deals that were used to persuade taxpayers to finance their construction have in many cases backfired..."Dale Rubin, of Salem, Oregon is an attorney who specializes in public subsidy issues. He recently finished a brief for a public policy group in which his concluions of law were that municipal subsidies for sports stadiums are unconstitutional. He said 'Almost all state laws say that no public entity should be aiding private enterprise...'
Brad Humphreys, Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Maryland says "on average, professional sports reduces inflation-adjusted income per person by a small but statistically significant amount, roughly $40 per person per year. That figure is for every person ... not just people who attended games. So professional sports do not form the basis of a viable local economic development program.
Here are a few more articles. The list goes on and on and on...
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ReplyDeleteGee, I just returned from a trip to Fayetteville's Sam's Wholesale club and came thru the busiest intersection in Springdale, Sunset and 71B,
"forefront of the corporate world" indeed!
And Jim Holt, Springdale's favorite son, just announced he will announce for U.S.Senate.
click here.
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I am shocked - literally sitting here with my jaw on the floor at this so-called leader of our community calling us all a bunch of chicken farmers and hillbillies. Some nerve.
ReplyDeleteAnd to think that he is the face of Springdale. Our community leaders must have been scraping the bottom of the barrel when they landed this one. How hard would it be for them to admit they made a grave mistake and hire some real talent. Oh I forgot, he tells them when to jump and how high. We do still have real men in this community that wouldn't wipe their boots on his kind. Nor would they continue to pay him for his non-performance. Have you seen our latest Ecomomic Developement venture? They have a billboard at Jimmy Johns. "We are Economic Developement" Springdale Chamber of Commerce. And pigs can fly!
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ReplyDeleteNo anon 6:02PM
We were chicken farmers and hillbillies. Just remember your Chamber delivered you from that and they can return you to being chicken farmers and hillbillies at their pleasure.
It has nothing to do with the UA in Fayetteville bringing in the best and brightest nor Walmart and their best, brightest and most diverse. Springdale CoC has yet to welcome our diverse communities much less seek more enterprise from the same.
Mister Webb can take all the credit his deficient ego needs but when Sam Walton moved to Benton County I seriously doubt any CoC had anything to do with it. John Tyson was homegrown and doing well when Webb was but a boy.
I doubt the local corporatacracy had much to do with JB Hunt's move from cotton hulls to Long Haul freight.
But let him rant and buy some billboards. Just stay away from ventures which won't even pay their own way.
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