Strike one on the ballpark fiasco: commissioners table exclusivity agreement.

Apparently hearing it when your re-election comes up does make a difference.

With so many questions and disclosures left to be revealed, a great deal of the smoke-filled room nonsense that has led the efforts to stuff this waste of money down our throats seems to be increasingly up in the air.

There are so many unanswered questions... like, where's the feasibility study (there isn't one) it's community college property (So, how does the city or the county run that again... and how much are these people paying for this property?) and how much will groups pay to use this thing and who gets the money? (The owners. All of it) And didn't Clark College just get a new ballpark built? And why did it only have 150 seats?

And what about the neighborhood?

The most problematic aspect here is that most people who buy tickets will pay less of a tax for this facility then those who go see a movie in the evening... many of them, half as much as the movie goer.

And this is OK for the baseball junkies?

Stuart, an ex jock and a democrat, has no problem wasting millions of our dollars without asking us. That's the problem when so many people have suspended their common sense and voted to re-elect a tax and spender.

But Boldt has other concerns.

He's SUPPOSED to be a Republican, but has increasing difficulty in voting like one.

Earlier, I indicated that Boldt would sell us out. The next democrat vote he takes, which may be this one, will cause a horrific backlash in what will be his contested primary as educating the people on his voting record may well prove that to Marc, "Republican ain't nothing but a label."

In any event, the rip off has been dealt a blow. How telling a blow is hard to say. But clearly, Boldt is hearing it, and he needs to hear it some more.
.

Q&A with the Vancouver Scammer's baseball rip off.

Actually, there's something of a Q&A over on the Oregonian website from the clown doing his very best to jam this nonsensical ballpark idea down our throats.

It was self-serving pap and total softball, like you might expect when the newspaper has an advertising dog in the fight; after all, we don't want to chase away any opportunity for revenue, do we?

But the tough questions... the right questions... weren't asked:

Questions such as:

How do you feel about requiring hundreds of thousands of people to pay for your ball park? (No problem with it)

What about allowing the people the right to vote? (No need.  If I can buy off the county commissioners and have THEM require the tax, I wind up smelling like a rose.)

Who did you first contact, and how long have you been talking about this?  (Good question.  Won't answer.)

Why did you do this in secrecy?  (Oh.  That question was asked, he just provided a bogus, crappy, untrue answer.)

Have you done any feasibility studies? (No.)

What about charging $10 per ticket to pay for your ballpark?  (What?  Why make it harder to get people thru then gates as it is when I can get the other 425,000 suckers who won't ever come here to pay for it?)

How much are you going to charge everyone else to use your ballpark? (Wouldn't you like to know?)

How much are you going to make on concessions and parking?  (Enough for me to drop a multi-million dollar check on this deal)

How much are you paying for the property?  (Nothing)

Do you understand that you're doing your best to burden the population of an entire county to pay for your scam?  (As I said, I don't give a damn about the people of this county.  If I did, I'd demand the ticket buyers pay for this thing.)

Our so-called political leaders don't care about these issues.  If they did, the agreement would require an affirmative, county-wide vote.

But we are cursed with a political leadership that doesn't care about the people or our money.  They have an agenda, and what we think doesn't matter because they are SOOOO much smarter then we are.

And if the reporter who did this really wanted to drill down on this guy, these are the questions he would be asking.

He didn't.  And that speaks for itself.

The scam continues...

Congrats to the democratian for 60 days of burying the Jim Jacks/House democrat story.

It's got to be tough on the lazy D.  When the democrats own you because they gave you a huge tax break while they jacked everybody else's taxes up, you know you're beholden to them, because you also know that switch flips both ways.

In this case, the democratian is repaying the favor by continuing to bury the Jim Jacks misconduct story as they have failed to engage in even 7th grade school newspaper journalism to get the facts in the hopes that everyone will "forget."

Well, I won't forget.  And every so often, I'll remind the reader that the local paper failed in it's duty to dig out the story, letting the supposedly "transparent" democrats completely off the hook and failing to report on then Rep. Jacks' rank misconduct, likely alcohol fuel but never the less, misconduct of a sort they don't want the average reader to know about... because the pattern of misconduct isn't recent... it's long term.

Our local paper has lowered the bar to unheard of levels.  The editor, who has had no trouble at all crusading against ME seems incapable of speaking truth to power and crusading against THEM.

Rest assured, gentle reader, had it been Rep. Hinton, there is no stone the local rag would not have turned over; no colleague or staffer they wouldn't have interviewed, no rumor they wouldn't have run down to the DNA level.

Because that's how they roll.

It's not unlike someone writing a column about how great it's going to be for the vast majority of the people of Clark County paying for a ballpark they will never set foot in while the paper makes bank off advertising... and doesn't pay a thing.

Others have asked Brancaccio about the idea of the paper paying a tax with the money to go to the ballpark; while they stand to make money off this endeavor is very appealing (and not mentioned by Brancaccio in his pie in the sky column) his response to the idea that maybe the newspaper should chip in as much as they want the rest of us to is greeted with a rather hypocritical silence... which apparently means "no."

It's not like that isn't the long term pattern of our local daily; they want us to go into debt by the billions to build their utopian idea of a bridge with loot rail... and they want to avoid paying a dime for that as well.

So, these two most recent episodes are not surprising, given the established pattern.

And frankly, that's just a damned shame.

There are so many other ways to pay for this ballpark that won't insult either our intelligence or our wallets.  But those would include making the fans responsible for paying for it; making the people of the city of Vancouver pay for it instead of ramming the responsibility down our throats county-wide without a vote (Imagine that... a bridge and loot rail that we had to vote on once before, but suddenly can't vote on now (to the silence of the newspaper) and a ballpark they don't want us to vote on, paid for by those of us who go to optional "entertainment" but not for those who buy an optional "newspaper."

None of this is surprising.

The cover up, the forced payments without a vote, the paper yelling the loudest for something they want and will make money off of but not have to pay one thin dime to profit from.

Why am I not surprised?

Lou continues to fascinate with his failure to answer: you want this team so bad, how about taxing your paper to pay for it?

It never ceases to amaze me how willing Brancaccio is to spend everyone else's money.

For example, in all of this suggested tax scam, I see nothing from him concerning taxing his paper to help pay for the team he wants so badly.

Others seems to share that view.  Here's a recent example from comments under his babbling column wherein he tells us how great those of us who don 't want this tax will have it if we just go along with paying it... all so he can watch baseball without paying for the facility.

Asked directly if he would tax himself the way he wants to tax everyone else, Brancaccio shows what level of integrity and guts he has by refusing to answer.

And this clown judges ME?

Brancaccio proves his cowardice and hypocrisy: after telling us WE need to pay HIS tax.

So, Brancaccio continues on with his pattern of demanding that everyone else in Clark County pay for what HE wants... and he lacks the testicles to tell us if he would have his paper be taxed.

I've known for years he's a cowardly bully, and added to that is his rank hypocrisy.

Here's the exchange under his moronic column telling us how great WE will have it as WE pay for the ballpark HE wants but that WE damned sure don't need.

Lou, you're not answering the question. You want this; your newspaper will make money off the advertising. Your sports reporter will cover it.

Are you willing to have your just-as-optional-as-entertainment newspaper taxed to help pay for it? Or is that only for those of us who won't ever go there?

NotBuyinIt — May 21, 2011 at 11:20 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal ) | Ignore User )

Lou, you have not answered my question either. Would you still be in favor of entertainment tax if this were for a soccer team? Or is this just because you like baseball?

luvithere — May 21, 2011 at 12:15 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal ) | Ignore User )

Lou, Would you support a tax on newspapers to fund the building of a stadium?

gto — May 21, 2011 at 12:27 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal ) | Ignore User )

Mike Briggs said: "It is not practical to have a public vote on every single item of interest for the public"

Yeah, I agree, Mike, ONLY TAX ISSUES!

MartinHash — May 21, 2011 at 1:34 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal ) | Ignore User )

I guess I shouldn't have a voice or an opinion unless I'm willing to be taxed gto? Silly.

Lou Brancaccio (Columbian Staff) — May 21, 2011 at 1:43 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal ) | Ignore User )

What a cowardly, gutless, weaselly response.

The answer, of course, is NO. He just wants US to pay for his little game palace, just like he wants US to pay for the horrifically expensive, absolutely unnecessary bridge and loot rail... all without asking us.

It's always been so easy for Brancaccio to demand that WE pay for what HE wants.. Now, when HE's asked.... what does he do? He runs away and hides.

Gutsy, Lou... really gutsy.

Brancaccio is guilty of a hell of a lot more then wanting to shove another tax down our throats for a ballpark.

So, Brancaccio pleads guilty to wanting to shove yet another tax or fee down our throats so 99% of US pay for something HE wants.

What he's NOT "guilty" of is volunteering his rag to be taxed to pay for this waste of money.

So what if you don’t like baseball or don’t plan to go? Could that still be a win for you?

Some would argue no. Fair enough. I respect that view. But I’d argue yes. There simply are certain things — like this ballpark and a professional baseball team — that show a certain coming-of-age aspect to the area. That would be good.

But what about this needed tax support to help build it? Aren’t we cutting back just about everywhere?

Yes we are. And that’s a valid point. But that’s the beauty of an entertainment tax. Essentially, only entertainment would be taxed.

You buy entertainment, you help pay for entertainment. Unlike a sales tax that impacts everyone, this impacts only those who use entertainment.

Gee.  What a surprise.... Moron.

Where have we seen that before?

How about this, instead:

You buy newspapers, you help pay for the newspaper.  Unlike a sales tax that impacts everyone, this impacts only those who buy a newspaper.

I sure don't see him volunteering HIS rag to help pay for this.  Why not?

While Brancaccio's babble is frequently bereft of sense, this kind of self-serving garbage is just that: self serving garbage.

What this REALLY means is that like every other downtown mafia type, he believes that this means their ability to steal our money for their uses has "come-of-age."

Of course, that also makes him guilty of being a hypocrite.

As a permanent member of the downtown mafia, Identity Vancouver types, Brancaccio is guilty of a wide variety of things.

He's guilty of a rank leftist bias.

He's guilty of doing the democrat's bidding like they were paying him by actively covering up Jim Jack's misconduct, pre-resignation, from the legislature.

He's guilty of using his position as editor and the column that position gives him to beat the hell out of those who are wise enough to oppose his utopian view.

He's guilty of running a paper that lies, exaggerates and avoids every tenet of journalism to push a position.

He's guilty of other rank hypocrisy: demanding that we pay yet another tax after his newspaper received a tax cut while the rest of our small business taxes were increased.

He's guilty of wanting to bury us under billions of debt for a bridge and loot rail that we do not want, do not need, and cannot afford.

He's guilty of slamming bloggers when THIS blogger has scooped his exulted rag on a few major stories, namely the fake Baird death threats, the Bittner arrest,and the Jon Russell, fake college degree scam.

He's guilty of demanding "civility" that he uses whenever HE feels like it, all the while unleashing his pit yorkie of an editorial page editor, my mentor, John Laird, who taught me everything I know about attacking opponents to an agenda.

He's guilty of a MASSIVE democrat bias in endorsements.

He's guilty of continuing to lie about the rag's lack of bias.

He's guilty of censoring and banning those from commenting on the paper's frequently pathetic efforts to slant the story... and an institutional failure to include the opposition to his positions in the paper.

He's guilty of shilling the lie that replacing the bridge will "ease chronic congestion."

He's guilty of failing to understand and seek out the opposition to his bizarre views on the massive waste of a bridge replacement until the level of hatred towards his view became so overwhelming he COULDN'T ignoring it any more.

He's guilty of running what amounts to fake polls and using their pre-ordained outcomes to support a false conclusion.

He's guilty of full-out public relations and damage control efforts on behalf of those he supports, such as rehabing Brian Baird's image after Baird's fake death threat, Nazi, Brown Shirt nonsense; a long term project that ultimately failed for him.... and that he continues in his efforts to rehab Leavitt over his months long, multiple lie-campaign on tolls.

He's guilty of shilling Baird's bogus 72 hour scam, never once holding him accountable for routinely violating his own rule.

He's guilty of failing to hold Baird accountable for voting on bills he hadn't read.

He's guilty of attacking the veracity of bloggers when his own is MORE than under question, like he did Koski over his paper's failure to report on Baird's bogus death threat nonsense.

He's guilty of failing to hold Tim Leavitt accountable for his fraudulent election and subsequent lies.

He's guilty of using double standards in endorsements: one moment, talking about a candidates experience or the lack thereof, the next moment, not even mentioning that experience, like they did in the Mielke-Brokaw race... as he endorsed the completely IN-experienced Pam Brokaw... twice.. over experienced candidates... who happened to be, you guessed it, Republican.

Coincidence, to be sure.

He's guilty of supporting a corrupt, gerrymandered C-Trans vote, both in the past and in the future, where tens of thousands of us will be cut out of the vote... but not paying the tax... all while his paper enjoys the largess of the democrats he supports so strogly and often through the B&O tax cut they're still working under.

He's guilty of failing to hold candidates who don't bother to vote, even thought THEY'VE been elected (Leavitt) or those who have NEVER voted (Janet Seekins, Van Nortwick's opponent) accountable in any meaningful way. 

He's guilty of using this blog as a source for stories, and then failing to credit the blog or me, or link to this blog as the source.

He's guilty of protecting Jim Moeller by refusing to remind people that Moeller (and his unbelievable arrogance) authored the moronic "some things are, some things aren't" candy tax, destroyed at the polls last November.

He's guilty of using the Storro story as a campaign piece for TV Tony Golick.

He's guilty of attempting to professionally destroy Brent Boger, Peter Van Nortwick, and, well, me.

Brancaccio is guilty of a long list of crimes to this community.  And to that list, sadly, we can add theft, as he works to steal our money to pay for his ballpark under nebulous crap like that published in his despicable propaganda sheet that would put the fricking Nazi's to shame.

Will Stuart and Boldt sell us out on the ballpark? Of COURSE they will.

So, the ballparkers have been busily working behind our backs to jam this crap down our throats so we get to pay for their special deal. The split? 99% of us get to pay for a ballpark usable by 1%. 100% of us bear the responsibility for paying for this crap pile if Portland gets another AAA team... and all for the privilege of watching just barely out of high school baseball, baseball that people don't watch now at any of the schools in question.

We get to build this $23 million facility; they get to pay around $750 or so every day they play in it. That's "fair," isn't it?

Stuart and Boldt, who vote together 100% of the time like the good democrats they are, will certainly screw us, just like Stuart did when he lied about a vote on loot rail as part of his "Leavittesque" campaign strategy, wherein, like Leavitt, he would say or do anything to get elected, only to forget all about his promises the day after.

So now, we're confronted with this: will these two, with their proven lack of integrity, sell us out so Stuart and Bomar can watch baseball?

Will they jack the tax up beyond 5% so that all the other groups can suck out our tax dollars, all under the guise of the "public good?"

Absolutely. Expect this 5% to magically increase in order to shut the many other groups, much more deserving, up. In fact, I wouldn't at all be surprised if this scam was entirely to finance THOSE groups because, as we should all know by now, the primary purpose of all of this is to jam Yakima into selling THEIR soul to keep the team... a feat I sincerely hope they accomplish.

But if the Bobbsey Twins jam us with this tax; since there is no way Mielke will go along with them, hanging THEM out to dry, for once, instead of their usual course of the other way around; will it go away if the team stays in Yakima?

You know better then that.

So, when the vote takes place, expect Boldt to vote like he always does: democrat.... ramming yet another tax (this is certainly not the only one) down our throats.

Dear Yakima: You're kidding, right? (Do us a favor and PLEASE keep your baseball team.)

Dear Yakima,

My name is K.J. Hinton and I am one of the increasingly unfortunate to live in Clark County.

We have a wide variety of problems here with non-responsive government.  Our services are suffering, our cultural organizations which have , in many cases, existed for decades are going under, and those leading us have tin ears almost as well developed as the President, if that's possible.

Lately, the more gullible, including the mayor of Vancouver and at least one of out county commissioners, have been sucked into the baseball team's scam of playing one community off of another.  These people have gone so far as to demand that we tax movie tickets to support a ballpark that less then 1% of the people of Clark County could ever use at any one time... while 99% of us are on the hook to pay for it... and these people pay rough $750 per game to use this $23 million facility.

In our county, where double digit unemployment is the norm, that kind of insanity cannot stand.

While the people of Clark County have many needs, kowtowing to special interests and the select few with a baseball fetish who somehow believe they have the right to ram this tax down our throat without our permission under some bizarre concept of "governance" and the "public good." 

Of course, those justifications could apply to ANY business coming here, yet oddly, that scam hasn't been tried to bring in, say, Boeing, or Ford or any other manufacturer, proving once again that this is the act of a select few who view themselves "privileged" to use us as serfs so they can have the game fields they want built, which will do absolutely nothing for this community as a whole and put the entire county on the hook for when these people screw us, as if they were dictators and more then the special interests of the downtown mafia.

This "let them eat cake" attitude is why I cordially detest and despise those governing us.

So, do us all a favor, and do whatever it takes to keep the team where you are.  And while you're at it, come and get these despicable characters shilling this crap.  Because if they truly believe that baseball is all that, then they surely would want to live where this barely above little league ball is played, sparing us their peculiar vision of empire building.

Sincerely,

Me.

Troubling news from the VanVoice Blotter on the stadium scam: Conflicting statements impede trust in stadium discussion

05/18/2011

Conflicting statements impede trust in stadium discussion

by MARCUS GRIFFITH


Silver tongue: In this internet posted photo, Amplify company president Ron Arp is smiling. I wonder if he was smiling when he made conflicting statements to me over the phone.

The following commentary is the opinion of the author and does not neccesarily reflect the views of The Vancouver Voice, the free world or the little boy who lives down the lane.

Ron Arp is the president of Amplify Media, the company that is handling the public information portion of the proposed baseball stadium. In addition to using potentially suspect numbers to support the feasibility of the baseball park, Arp made conflicting statements to me during an interview.

I am not amused.

In fact, I am quite upset. Not only because I personally distaste being giving the run-around, but when there’s millions of tax payer dollars at stake, Arp and crew have obligation to be honest with the public.

Based on Arp’s statements during an interview this afternoon, I can’t in good faith say he is being completely forthcoming with the public.

Much more here.

A discussion on the baseball scam.

A comment was left this morning:

I would challenge everyone involved in this highly charged argument to consider what is positive to the community as a whole. Let's put aside the name calling and engage in civil discourse. This issue, public investment into a public entity, to benefit what is elementally a private sector entity, to then generate sufficient secondary benefit is in fact the crux of the issue at hand. Simply, the existence of said entity will in turn generate advantages to the public, i.e., a public good. While public/government expenditures on items such as a baseball stadium may directly benefit the direct consumer of that stadium, the team using it, there are other benefits, direct and indirect, which play to the public good, namely stadium employees, vendors, neighboring businesses. The item of debate, then, is whether the public expenditure will provide enough public good, and benefit enough entities, that the return on the expenditure is a positive benefit to the community as a whole. The related challenge is that public good cannot by nature be measured solely in dollars; but also by public safety, satisfaction, and sense of community worth. Urani in Hazel Dell.

While I disagree with the entirety of this comment because of some false assumptions and issues overlooked to support their position, it is worth responding to.

I would challenge everyone involved in this highly charged argument to consider what is positive to the community as a whole.

I considered that before my first letter was typed on my keyboard about this.

You see, this isn't ABOUT "the community as a whole."  This is about the interests of the owners of the team, who stand to make a fortune off of us in a facility they pay next to nothing for, on yet another taxpayer subsidized scam that will, at most, benefit a grand total of one percent of the "community" while the other 99% pay for it.

For me, my self-interest is precisely the same as the Bears': what's in it for me?

The answer is: nothing.

Using your reasoning, anybody could bring almost any private entity into "the community" and making this same pitch, extort taxpayer dollars from us, without our permission, as a way to pay for what will, in reality, benefit the very few.  You know, like a Class A baseball team?

A Winco grocery store?  A gas station.  A multiplex movie theater.  A restaurant.

Those things are here... and under construction.  To a greater or lesser extent, they ALL are "positive to the community."  But how is it we're going to be on the hook for a baseball team... but not a Shari's restaurant?

At least the entire community can use a restaurant like that around the clock, 365 days a year... and we don't have to pay extra on completely irrelevant activities because they've been mandated without our say so to get them built, either.  They rise or fall on their own merits... precisely like this baseball team should, without one nickel in taxpayer subsidies.

Would you and your fellow travelers, for example, be willing to pay an increased gas tax to build my dream of a full service, NHRA Nationals qualified drag strip here in Clark County?  There isn't one around here (PIR is not "Nationals" quality) so you'd chip in because 1/100th of the people of this county are into drag racing?

Of course not.  But what's the difference?  ALL of the principles are the same.

Yet that is precisely what is being demanded (Note, I said "demanded," not "asked," because those of you supporting this won't BE asking... you'll be TELLING) when you tell ME that *I* have to pay for something YOU want that, in fact, we do not need, and something that is NOT a function of government.

How will Amboy be better off?  Battle Ground? And where does the downtown Vancouver community that will be "benefited" by this begin... and end?  Will Cowlitz County "benefit" from this?  They will?

Then how come they aren't paying for it as well?

You see, there is no benefit for anyone that a. doesn't go to the games.  b.  doesn't work at the stadium.  C.  doesn't own or work for the team.

It's easy for people to throw around numbers that have no basis in reality for their decision making process when it isn't THEIR money that's paying for this... they want MY money to pay for THEIR baseball team and facilities.  And *I* don't want to pay for YOUR gig... because I ask you... what happens if they're wrong?  What happens if the projected income does not come in... like that joke of a completely taxpayer subsidized Hilton Hotel that was supposed to be the downtown game changer... and now has vaporized millions of taxpayer dollars?

How'd THAT work out for us?

How much better would this money be spent if it were dedicated to law enforcement and gang task force related issues?  For me, personally, keeping people alive is far more positive then baseball, yet we don't seem to have nearly enough money to do that... or pay for enough teachers... or school sports programs that will TRULY make a difference.

The community this thing will be positive for should pay for it if it's all that.  And that community does NOT include me.

Let's put aside the name calling and engage in civil discourse.

Forgive me, but I get REALLY angry when people who have been elected to look out for us lie to us as a matter of policy.

I call Tim Leavitt "The Liar" because his campaign was built on lies and he lacks the integrity to do the honorable thing and resign.

I call Steve Stuart "The Liar" because again, as part of HIS campaign, he promised us a county wide vote on light rail THIS NOVEMBER.  Do you see that happening?

Are we just supposed to forget about the lies?  Ignore them?  Cast aside the fact that these men are provably dishonorable and now are actively engaging in slamming us with additional millions of dollars of debt because of something THEY want at OUR expense?

How do we know they not lying now?  They certainly did when it suited them to get elected.  Why do you think they're telling the truth now?

And Bomar.  Who the hell died and left him in charge?  He's NOTHING in our community, any more then I am, but because he's a cheerleader of some sort, he gets the press as he joins with the others to steal my money to get something built that will allow him to relive his jock days vicariously through others?

I don't think so.

When people abuse the electorate, as these three want to abuse the electorate... where is there room for civil discourse?  Would you be civil to lying thieves who have already proven they will say or do anything to get elected?  And we're supposed to forget about that?

This issue, public investment into a public entity, to benefit what is elementally a private sector entity, to then generate sufficient secondary benefit is in fact the crux of the issue at hand.

Well, that's one way of putting it.

But like I said, the same criteria could be applied to ANY private entity.  Why should baseball get any special consideration that say, my consulting business doesn't get?  Or a Safeway?  Or an AM/PM?

It's because it begins and ends with baseball.  And if the public winds up getting screwed because they're terrible (and they are) or because Portland gets a AAA or major league team (which isn't an impossible scenario) then what?

Simply, the existence of said entity will in turn generate advantages to the public, i.e., a public good.

Like, say, a Burger King.

While public/government expenditures on items such as a baseball stadium may directly benefit the direct consumer of that stadium, the team using it, there are other benefits, direct and indirect, which play to the public good, namely stadium employees, vendors, neighboring businesses.

 Then let "stadium employees, vendors and neighboring businesses" pay for it.

The item of debate, then, is whether the public expenditure will provide enough public good, and benefit enough entities, that the return on the expenditure is a positive benefit to the community as a whole.

Not.
Even.
Close.

As I've repeatedly pointed out, the "item of debate" is that the same could be said for any business.

Why not apply an entertainment tax to help out HP?  Let's get another trucking company up and running to replace the one headquartered here over by the now closed airfield off about 90th and SR 503?  After all, as I pointed out, movie tickets have as much to do with baseball as gynecologists do with NASCAR.

Why don't we tax the newspapers instead?  They're so hot to make this happen, yet THEY are completely off the hook for paying to build it, and in fact, stand to make money off it from advertising.  So, why not tax THEM?

For me, the issue is this: as I have shown, ANY business could make the same claims as this baseball team.  Yet, we certainly don't FORCE a charge on the rest of the county to pay for these businesses.  The fixation is that it's baseball, one notch above high school baseball at that.

This is a business.  No different, better (and arguably worse based on review of their press in Yakima) than any other business and no more deserving of our consideration or forced financial support as a result, particularly one that has likely scammed Leavitt, Stuart, Bomar et al to just get a better deal out of Yakima, then any other business.

And won't our political leaders who fell for this scam look good then?

The related challenge is that public good cannot by nature be measured solely in dollars; but also by public safety, satisfaction, and sense of community worth. Urani in Hazel Dell.

The city of Vancouver is a train wreck run by a thug.  And a baseball team paid for by tens of thousands of people who won't set foot in it, particularly when the team itself will be paying roughly $750 per game will do absolutely nothing to fix that.

The county wide effort to jack us for tax dollars is being done to spare the people of the city of Vancouver from the burden, but not the reward, of paying for this themselves... as they would if it were all that great.  They not only want to rip us off, they want to make sure that the risk is assumed county wide for THEIR gig.

And if you want to see Leavitt fold up like a cheap suit, then move this thing to the fair grounds where any such facility obviously belongs.  He'd throw a fit at warp speed and all of this "community benefit" stuff would fly out the window in a blink of an eye.

Put this to a vote.  I double-dog dare you.

Thanks for stopping by.  I look forward to your response.

Here's hoping Yakima is successful: Yakima makes effort to keep Vancouver-bound team

Screwing the people of Clark County over jamming this baseball nonsense down our throats without our permission so Tim "The Liar" Leavitt, Steve "The Liar" Stuart and Mike "Who died and left him in charge" Bomar can look good is not a recipe for success.

The majority of this community opposes the plan to shaft us with this this idiotic concept where the one percent of Clark County who can actually attend a baseball game under this plan actually do so because the other 99% of us paid for the privilege.

For whatever the reason, Yakima wants to keep this team.  The owners, of course, knew that, so they scammed a few politically ignorant clowns into doing the dirty work for them.  Threaten to leave, open up a bidding war, and voilà!  Instant stadium.

Well, with any luck at all, Yakima will be successful.  If the people there want this team so bad, then let THEM pay for it.

And next time, Tim... Steve... Mike... don't be so ignorant that you can't even figure out you're being used.

Suckers.

KATU blows it on the baseball scam.

One of the basic tenets of journalism is to present both sides of a story.

This story puts out the pro-rip-off the public side reasonably well, but it's factually challenged on a few levels.  And, unfortunately, they failed to find anyone capable of countering Bomar's idiocy by pointing out that unless the people of this county are asked, extortion in the form of an involuntary tax is not the way to go.

I know, by now, that this "tax the movie tickets" scam was actually Steve "The Liar" Stuart's idea, so, along with his bridge and loot rail fetish, we have that to thank him for.



One of the talking heads remarks:"They might even get 14 or 1500 fans per game."

Think about it.

Presuming an average ticket prive of $10, that means that a crowd of 1500 will contribute a whole $750 towards the construction of this multi-million dollar waste of money.

$750.

That means that most movie theaters will provide more money from one day's take then all those in attendence at onem of these ball games.

That's "fair," isn't it?

The KATU story at 1:15 indicates that "taxpayers would be asked to invest a little more then 16 million in the project."

That's factually incorrect.

No one is "asking" us to "invest" anything. They're ramming this down our throats and no, we will not get to vote on it, although we could, easily, this summer during the already scheduled primary election in the first week of August.

Further, no one seems to be thinking about the traffic nightmare, the impact on the already strained student parking problems and, of course, the impacts if the equally moronic bridge replacement/loot rail scam goes through.

If this crap pile is to be built, the place to build it is the fair grounds... the team owners should pay for all of it, and we should put this to a vote.

Otherwise... maybe Asotin could use a minor league group of kids who just got out of high school?

Because WE can't.

One of the baseball scum swung by, and left a rather cowardly pile on my porch.

Regarding your quote from Churchill: Having enemies might not mean you stood for anything, it might just mean you're an asshole who stands for nothing, but bitches about everything. It's easy to bitch; it's a lot harder to get off your ass and do something constructive. And then, it's even easier to bitch, bitch, bitch being a coward hiding behind some blog website. Oh, and have a nice day.

Impressive, and typical of the delusion these baseball slime use to justify their imposing a tax on US to pay for THEIR game.

Regarding your quote from Churchill: Having enemies might not mean you stood for anything, it might just mean you're an asshole who stands for nothing, but bitches about everything.  

You might be wrong, because I've got to ask: what is it YOU stand for?  What time, save that where you engage in your high school playground hyperbole, are YOU investing in this?

So, I want a voice in this tax you and your fellow scum are attempting to ram down my throat.  I disagree with your effort.  I speak to that disagreement.  I am, of course, standing up for the right to vote on this 20 year long enslavement.  And because *I* want a VOTE, this is the best your sort can do to respond?

You seem upset that I don't want to pay for your game.  Why, exactly, is that?

So yeah, there's an asshole here.  What's your name again?

It's easy to bitch; it's a lot harder to get off your ass and do something constructive.

Really?

You people have the money and the politicians in your pocket.

Tell me again how difficult it is for your sort to "do something constructive."

What you want is only "constructive" in the sense that you are ripping US off to pay for YOUR game.

How is that remotely constructive?  You are stealing from ME to get what YOU want.

Let me repeat: I have no trouble with this rip off.  I have no trouble with the gigantic astronomical rip off of 65,000 commuters every business day that will take place if this horrific bridge is built... as long as we are allowed to vote.

Both of these things, which are precisely the same in context, but with a facility being built for a private concern with public dollars (Hey... can I tax YOU to pay for MY 7-11?  That has a public purpose, so surely, you and the rest of you slime would be OK with that, right?) that we need even less then we need to replace the bridge witch, of course, doesn't need to be replaced... is that nobody is asking us.

You and the rest of the morons would tax 99% of us to pay for YOUR gig.  And while you obviously stand to benefit from this, either financially or by going to these post high school games at our expense, OF COURSE you and the rest of the baseball slime are going to support this.

And then, it's even easier to bitch, bitch, bitch being a coward hiding behind some blog website. Oh, and have a nice day.

So, YOU leave ME an anonymous comment, and then claim *I* am a "coward hiding behind some blog website."

What does that make you?

Tell you what, stud.

You get back to me by proving you left the comment, say by giving me an approximate time that you left it here... and we can get together, face to face, to "exchange views."

"Cowardice" comes in many forms.  I've giving you the opportunity to address yours.

In closing, I'll have a swell day.  Because at the end of it, I'll know that I'm not you.  And that, my good fellow, is cause for celebration every day I'm alive.

I'm looking forward to hearing from you.  But given your issues... I'm not going to hold my breath.

More baseball slime.

You know, to listen to the scum behind the baseball scam, it's one of those, "well, gee, everyone else is doing it" kind of thing when it comes to stuffing a 5% entertainment tax down our throats.

It isn't, of course, and that other communities are stupid enough to engage in this perfidy, there's a couple of things the relatively one-sided article (You know, the usual democratian fare) forgot to mention:

First, the fact that this is being trammed down our throats is to insure that there's no time for any organized opposition.

Frankly, this is not a pressing need of any kind; that they "want" this ready in time for the start of opening day next year provides absolutely no reason or justification for ignoring what THE PEOPLE want.  But that's why people like Tim "The Liar" Leavitt are in such a hurry: because he knows his involvement is, in and of itself, reason enough to oppose this garbage.

But in this case, the main reason to oppose this crap is because 99% of us will be required to pay for a facility that only 1% of us could ever use at any one time.

That these punks would force us to pay this?  That Elie Kasab doesn't understand that adding this tax will increase the likelihood that fewer people will attend his, or any other, theater (I know *I* won't) in Clark County just goes to show the disease that is the downtown mafia's tentacles spread everywhere.

Second, there is absolutely NOTHING out there to suggest that the people of this community support this idea.  And isn't about time that we get asked?  Just for th4e sheer novelty of it?

Third, if these slimeballs get away with this, there's no telling what they'll steal from us next... all under the heading "quality of life."

Kudo's to Jack Burkman for stating the obvious:

Vancouver City Councilor Jack Burkman brought the point up during Monday night’s city council meeting. Burkman, who is also a Clark College trustee, said he would recuse himself from any discussions on the Clark College board regarding baseball.

While he said the idea of baseball in the city is a “phenomenal” idea, he criticized the project’s “fast” timeline to break ground in August and said neighborhoods were “blindsided” by the proposal.

He touched on the fact that an entertainment tax could be used for any purpose.

“I believe we’re obligated to have a conversation with citizens about whether we should impose this tax on them, and if this is the best use of those funds,” Burkman said.

This rip off needs to be put to a vote.  And the commissioners know that.

Will they have the guts to stand up to this crap storm of corruption?

Not One Taxpayer Dime for a Stadium in Vancouver.

The arrogance and self-enlightened idiocy of Greg Jayne, democratian sports editor.

It takes a real dick to blow off democracy to get what they want.

Screw the people.  Who cares what they want?

We have the chance to bring in some rank amateur baseball.  Nothing else matters.  Tax the people out of their homes.  For GOD'S sake, don't let them have any say.

Odd, isn't it?

Jayne moronically reflects, to perfection, the democratian attitude about the bridge and loot rail, because, well, hell's bells, only the rag knows what's right and wrong and everybody else is stupid. 

Because it takes a monumental level of arrogance to write garbage like this:

Let’s cut past the rhetoric about the evils of a public-private partnership, past the bombast about an entertainment tax, past the caterwauling about how government should never do anything that costs anybody any money, and let’s get to the point: The idea of bringing minor-league baseball to Vancouver is a quality-of-life issue.

It's not a quality of life issue; it's a "I want baseball" issue.

See, Portland seems to have a "quality of life," don't they?

What baseball team do they have over there, again?

None?

See, this is the problem with morons like Jayne.  If you're so damned concerned about "quality of life" then you move YOUR ignorant ass to some location that has a Class A team (Class A, one step above high school) and YOU pay for it.

Quality of life?

Don't make me laugh.  Because using Jayne's idiocy, there's nothing that couldn't be justified under the broad heading of "quality of life" and cost would be no object.

In Jayne's world, apparently, "quality of life" justifies absolutely anything.  Well then, certainly, a asshole like Jayne would support a tax on the newspaper, right?

Or is rank hypocrisy one of his personality traits as well as stupidity and arrogance?

Not One Taxpayer Dime for a stadium in Vancouver.

Not one.

Memo to Ron Arp: take this crap down the road.

I had the opportunity to review your bizarre response to Lew Waters, and I thought I'd weigh in with a reality check.

First of all, you say that you're a "fairly conservative person."  Bull.

No conservative would even think about imposing a tax on someone for any reason without a vote.  That's what fringe leftists do, particularly when they stand to benefit from it financially, as YOU do.

That's right, Mr. Arp.  I get that you say all this crap because you're getting paid to do so, so what I want to know is this:  Why the hell do you think that MOVIE tickets and other tickets should make up NINETY FIVE PERCENT OF THE COST OF YOUR PROJECT, a project that will PUT MONEY IN YOUR POCKET?

You and the rest of the slime behind the project are in such a hurry because you don't want opposition to get organized.  You don't want the community to have a say... you just want this rammed down our throat as a result of your enlightened self-interest.

Well guess what: we don't want this crap pile... if you can't pay for it, then feel free to keep it.

We muddled through before The Liar Leavitt and Bomar got together to address their baseball fetish, and we'll do fine if you take it on down the road.  But don't EVEN think the people of Clark County should have to pay because YOU want us to.

If this was such a great deal for us you'd demand that government put this to a vote.  But you're working double overtime to screw us, and when we get left with the bi,ll you're gonna be long gone.

And that, sir, is despicable.

Not ONE Taxpayer Dime for your Stadium.

Not One.

MORE rank hypocrisy by the democratian? What about STADIUM user fees?

The number one thing I hate the most about our despicable rag of a daily set of used toilet paper is their utterly rank hypocrisy.

I seem to recall getting into it with Brancaccio once over his moronic support of bridge tolls.

He asked me: so, you've got a problem with user fees?

My reply?

No, I've got no problem with user fees.  And directly after you ASK US if we want this crap pile, if the people tell us at the polls that the majority want this, I would cheerfully shut the hell up on the subject because I defer to the will of the people.

Unlike Brancaccio, The Liar Leavitt, The Liar Stuart, et all, *I* do not fear the will of the people.

Why do they?

That said, when those actually going to this crap pile buy a ticket... they will be responsible for paying 5% of the cost of building it.

THE REST OF US WILL HAVE TO PAY 95% OF THE COSTS FOR SOMEBODY ELSE'S TOY.

What happened to your bizarre, situational concept of "user fees," slimeball?

I have yet to see any explanation as to why the rest of us should pay for this.  None.

If possible, this makes even less sense then replacing a perfectly serviceable and functional bridge to bring loot rail 5 feet into Vancouver... while burying us under $10 billion in debt.

And Brancaccio, who in the past was so fricking big on "user fees" as his excuse to take "bread and milk" off the tables of 65,000 commuting families, suddenly believes that a baseball stadium shouldn't get the same treatment; namely, you baseball freaks want it?

Then YOU fricking pay for it.

Not me.

It's time to tax the Columbian to make THEM pay.

I wish I could take credit for this but it was Lew Waters idea.

It's time to tax the rag every dime that they want to tax us.

The 5% tax they want to slam on us for "entertainment?"  The rag needs to pay it as well. 

The tolls on the horrifically expensive, unwanted and unneeded I-5 bridge/loot rail project?  Force the rag to pay the toll for each employee, whether they use it or not.

So, for example, presuming 100 people were desperate enough to work for that Nazi propaganda sheet?

Then the rag has to pay 100 times the monthly toll... every month.

This cancer on our society, that people like Craig Sayer falsely believe is somehow "is an important part of a healthy, vibrant community. We need The Columbian (with all its perceived flaws and actual shortcomings) more than we need to go see Johnny Depp in a movie." must share the sacrifice they so cavalierly demand of us.

Sayer's position, of course, is utter nonsense.  Our community would be a thousand times better off without this sewer of slanted information then we are now with it.

And we've already seen that they'll lie, extort, slant and bias coverage against those opposing their world view... and how many, many times have these scum urged that others bear a burden THEY want for projects that they, themselves, don't have to pay for?

Well, now the time to put that to an end.

You clowns in the rag want this?  Then you slime should have to pay the tax for YOUR product, which is typically just as fictional as any Depp movie ever made.

The downtown mafia, Identity Vancouver, the local rag, and the tin eared politicians want this crap pile, and they want the rest of the public to pay for 95% of it.

Here's how this works:  You slime balls want baseball?

Swell.  YOU pay for it.

This garbage about taxing the rest of us so YOU can go watch a game being played is just that: garbage.  Where does it end?  How many more nonsensical projects are these scum going to come up with to force us to pay for without asking us?

Don't know.  But any time the democratian urges us to be taxed, then those scum should be willing to step up and be taxed as well.  And oddly, they seemed to have left that part out of their oral fixation delivered on knee pads to tax us yet again, for something we don't want, yet again, so that downtown Vancouver tries to look good... yet again.

And if this crap passes, expect this to be just the start.

I already refuse to go into the Pollard Hilton unless it's absolutely necessary.  I already refuse to spend a dime in Vancouver.  And now, I will not attend a movie in Clark County as long as this nonsensical tax is rammed down our throats for something we don't even come close to needing or wanting... precisely like they're ramming this utterly nonsensical bridge and loot rail down our throats.

I am heartily sick of scum like ICC (Identity Vancouver) and the Columbian demanding that WE be taxed for something THEY want.

It's hard to find anyone who wants this crap-pile step up and demand that they pay for it.  And that's because, like the rest of the tax and spenders, they don't want to pay for their games.

Tax THEM.  Not us.  And tax the Columbian most of all.

I'm stunned. You stunned? The democratian: BRING ON THOSE TICKET TAXES TO PAY FOR LEAVITT'S STADIUM!

Given the local stain on journalism's history of supporting efforts to force people to pay for something they don't need, won't use, and don't want, is anyone surprised these scum came out "swinging" to impose yet another tax on us without our permission?

It's not that the rag is so predictable; there lack they really don't care how many or how much people get hurt in the name of their agenda.  Leavitt's and Bomar's unhanded, back door, smoke-filled crap is par for their course, and the rag going along like a blind duckling is precisely what we expected them to do.

The rag's knee-pad editorial, where they obscenely refused to address the two obvious issues: first, why the hell should people outside the city of Vancouver pay one dime of taxpayer money for this folly, particularly without asking us, and second, why anyone getting a movie ticket should have to pay for baseball... again, without asking.

They don't explain why the people who will NOT be attending these games, as I will never attend them, should be responsible for NINETY FIVE PERCENT (let me repeat that) NINETY FIVE PERCENT of the costs of this crap pile.

The stupidity of the asshat who wrote the obscene editorial cannot be overstated:

 Unlike a sales tax or a property tax, this shouldn’t be taking bread and milk off your table.

Unlike a sales tax or property tax, no one is ASKING us if we WANT an increase.

Is this where I point out how bizarre this "reasoning" truly is?

These people telling us this have no problem demanding the imposition of tolls for a bridge replacement we neither need OR want that WILL "take bread and milk off our tables," to the tune of thousands of dollars over time. So, THAT "reasoning" is no "reasoning" at all.

This position then, is just the TINIEST bit hypocritical.  But it's the democratian, so what else could we expect?

Build this.  But ASK US if WE want to PAY for it FIRST.

If this is such a great idea, you'll have no trouble convincing us... and we'll happily vote to further shackle ourselves to your utopian agenda.

No vote?

No tax.

Which begs the question: why is our paper... and our government... so afraid of the will of the people they would govern?

Why should the people NOT going to the Leavitt/Bomar baseball scam pay for it?

As is typical for Tim "The Liar" Leavitt, scurrying around like a rat, behind closed doors in secret, without public input or permission, we come to find out that not only does he want everyone ELSE to pay for his and Mike Bomar's baseball Utopia, he wants us to pay 95% of it.

That's right: WE, the NON-Baseball game attendees will be expected to provide 95% of the yearly tax revenue to pay for this set of brass balls on a monkey.

Do the math.

a 38 game season; 3500 spectators per game, each paying 5% as a ticket tax.

How much does that equal?

Well, 38 X 3500 = 133,000

Average ticket price at $10? The revenue raised from baseball directly?

$65,500.

Per year.

The slimbag shilling this, who, of course, doesn't live here, indicates that $1,000,000 a year will come in from the tax increase the commissioners would have to shove down our throats.

Guess what, fellow Clark Countian?  That means WE, YOU and I, have to come up with $950,000 tax dollars per year.

This is a crock.  This isn't "opportunity."  This is theft.

We already know what a scumbag Leavitt is.  Anything he wants has to be automatically suspect.

The idea that the movie-going public gets screwed so a few people can engage in their baseball fetish is sickening.

Just thought you'd want to know.

Pre-emptive strike: what the rag will say about the baseball scam on Sunday.

Executive summary:

"This is the greatest idea since canned bear... or is it sliced bread?  We like the idea of everyone paying for something they don't want or need, again without being asked, because WE want it and Tim "The Liar" Leavitt should run for Pope."

Never mind that it's yet another horrific tax that will hurt families and movie theaters, along with jacking up the ticket tax to almost 14%.  Never mind that movie theaters have as much to do with baseball stadiums as gynocologists do with stock car racing.  They'll think it's a great idea and hell, compared with screwing 65,000 people on a daily basis, which they also want to do for a bridge they don't want to have a vote on and loot rail, so screwing movie goers to get the downtown mafia what THEY want is small potatoes.

There.  That ought to sum it up.
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OK, baseball freaks, here's what will make this work for me.

1.  Not one dime of taxpayer money.

2.  Not one foot of taxpayer-owned land that isn't purchased by the team.

It's simple, really.  If the owners of the team "bear" all of the costs, then I don't give a damn if they build it on Mars.

But don't charge me for something we don't need that serves no public purpose when, for example, we can't even get the Padden Parkway jungle cut down.

There are many more... DOZENS more needs that remain unaddressed by Vancouver and the commissioners.  THAT is where the focus should be.

So, what will a 5% tax do to movie tickets, fair tickets, golf tickets and the like?

The issue here is that Leavitt like Baseball.  Stuart like baseball as well.  Both of them like forcing us to pay for stuff THEY want... but let's look at the numbers, shall we?

The sales tax we're already paying will be almost 14% if this crap passes.  Again, this provides additional incentive to just not go to the fair, to movies, to plays and certainly not to this baseball whorehouse.

Unless, of course, they exempt the Fair, but they wouldn't do that, would they?  Or is it that the Fair isn't "entertainment?"

Those of us who won't be going to the stadium for any reason, far outnumber those who will.  Yet, these scum have the idea that they should make us ALL pay for what THEY want.

Frankly, we have a great many more issues remaining unresolved here locally that these clowns SHOULD have been spending their time on.  Instead, they waste it by doing all they can to hurt the movie theaters as if they had ANYTHING to do with baseball.

Government arrogance and stupidity.  It's what's for dinner.

Well, the scam is out there.

So, the slimeballs got their scam together.  And, as usual, they want to make everyone else pay for their project.

The one public financing component? Clark County commissioners will be asked to approve an entertainment admissions fee, which would add 5 percent to the cost of tickets to local entertainment events, including movies and the baseball games.

This stunt was tried once before, shortly after the people of this community and the state for that matter passed I-695, the car tab /vote on all tax and fee increase initiative that was supposed to destroy the planet if it passed.

I remember it well.  "Gavel Down" Harris voted to put this same 5% tax on movie tickets to use the proceeds for an Arts Center, claiming that she "wasn't going to let the results of the I-695 vote color her thinking."

Or much else along the lines of common sense.

This tax is, of course, unacceptable and short sighted, because implementing this moronic plan will just increase the incentives to keep people out of the desolate area called "downtown..." not that I spend a dime down there any way.

Placing the stadium in the current location is stupid; traffic and parking will be a night mare, and there is no room available, according to the lobbyist whining about allowing Clark College to build in the co-location with WSU.

Odd, that.  No room for school buildings... but room for a stadium.

How can you tell they're lying?

Well, if The Liar is involved, you can bet they're lying.  Otherwise, if their lips are moving, you KNOW they're lying.

If they want to build it, then let the people who own the team pay for it.  Jack up the ticket cost and have at it.

But the asinine idea of making everyone else, including those who, like me, won't ever set foot in this crap pile, is just an additional way to chase people out of the downtown area so they can spend their money in some other city (Portland immediately comes to mind) instead of that steaming pile known as Vancouver.

Then, of course, there's this lie:

The team would play 38 home games in a season that would run from mid-June to Labor Day. Thiessen said the backers will work with residents of the Arnada neighborhood to address concerns about traffic, lights and noise.

So... how'd that work out for the amphitheater?

What's that?  It was a disaster?

That's the kind of service local government provides.  They take what they want without asking, and the3n screw the people.  Just like this scam.

The stadium is a typically bad idea from the fetid brain of The Liar.  Any stadium should be built at the Fairgrounds, on land that the team pays for.  And if the team won't pay for it, then we don't need them.

And we also don't need public officials to negotiate in secret without letting the community they work for know... first.

But that's typical of a slimeball like Leavitt.  Being up front and above board, as well as allowing a vote on this would be so completely out of character for him.

Not One Taxpayer Dime.

Not One.

This blog will be used to keep those opposing Leavitt's latest scam informed.

Public officials who should know better have been working behind your backs to force you to pay for a baseball stadium in Vancouver on land that SHOULD be used for education purposes, and not for any private purpose... like minor league baseball.

Tim "The Liar" Leavitt has shown himself both incapable of telling the truth AND capable of ignoring the needs, wants and desires of the voters of this community.

First, he lied about his position on tolls.

Then, he blackmailed the CRC into forcing a vote only into a district likely to support his loot rail fetish.

Now, he's been working in private... in secret... to use taxpayer dollars to build a baseball stadium we do not need or want, and to charge YOU for the privilege.

That's going to be millions of dollars we cannot afford in addition to the BILLIONS of dollars this assclown already wants to waste.

This blog will be used to keep you informed of these despicable, underhanded, smoke-filled room activities.

There is much more to come.  But from Leavitt, we can expect lie after lie, extortion after extortion and backdoor deal after deal.

Stay tuned.
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