Proponents, especially those in charge of the effort to bring a PAC to downtown Greensboro, are in the game for one reason-- profits. They own land in downtown Greensboro, they want its value to go up and don't mind spending your money to do it.
Profits aren't necessarily a bad thing but when profits come at the expense of the taxpayers then the taxpayers should share equally in the profits. If the performing arts center is built under the auspices of the Greensboro Coliseum Complex and Matt Brown-- the highest paid person on City payroll-- then we-the-taxpayers will never share in the profits. It's not Matt Brown's fault, it's the fault of the writers of the laws that established the Coliseum in the first place. You see, the law says Matt Brown cannot operate the Coliseum Complex at a profit.
Silly law, I know, but I didn't write it and so far no City Council has sought to change it.
The people who brought up the idea of a downtown PAC will profit. A PAC will raise property values nearby where it is placed. Mayor Perkins will profit from a downtown performing arts center because he is the realtor for several downtown properties including Roy Carroll's Center Point which was built with financial support from the City of Greensboro. As property values rise so does the realtor's fees. Why aren't we worried about property values throughout the rest of Greensboro?
There's concerns that the News & Record is about to close its doors and will need to sell its $20 Million Dollar downtown property.
Construction on the Downtown Greenway continues while other Greensboro neighborhoods get nothing.
The United Arts Council and others think the planned downtown venue to be too large and I agree. This is a high risk game and if the taxpayers are being forced to take the risk then all the taxpayers and not just a few downtown developers, should share in the profits.
You can try to make any argument you want against an East Greensboro Performing Arts Center but you cannot make the argument that asking the working class to subsidize the rich is in any way, shape or form, right. For them it's about profit, for the rest of us it's about what is fair. If a PAC is to be built then it should be built somewhere other than downtown. There is more than enough city owned property in East Greensboro to build a PAC.
Further taxpayer investments in downtown should be stopped until the rest of the city is equally vested and invested-in.
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Continue to article #23 Greensboro Performing Arts Center: Apples To Apples
