Invest In Public Use Facility - Not Corporatism

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Saturday's Janesville Gazette was the last big push by the newspaper before the Janesville city council takes action tonight on the Ice Arena proposal. The paper contained two articles and an editorial about the arena apparently designed to soothe taxpayers on the maintenance repairs and cost, and garner support for the hockey team lease agreement.

The Janesville City manager also believes future repair costs at the arena could be brought down by capturing stimulus dollars from the federal Recovery Act.

JG Editorial Excerpt:
He also suggests the city might save local tax dollars by tapping federal stimulus money to replace the Freon system because of likely energy savings.

That is questionable.

Reuters Excerpt:
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act money, to be distributed through federal, state and regional agencies, is meant to create jobs and help complete local transportation and public safety projects.

Believe it or not folks, the bicycle tunnel that some folks in Janesville are opposed to, qualifies for federal dollars under the recovery stimulus act. It is a public works project, shovel ready, transportation related and has safety as its primary purpose. I would agree that it is not at the top of Janesville’s priorities, but that shouldn't be an excuse not to bring the capital injection into Janesville. We'll be paying the same federal stimulus tax dollars, with or without the tunnel. The Jackson Street bridge is another qualifying project, except it's not shovel-ready believe it or not.

But we can't say the same thing for the Ice Arena, especially if the city council approves of the agreement with the Wisconsin Hockey Partners. It might be a tough sell as it is as a recreational facility to qualify for stimulus funds. The President has warned against using recovery money for amenities such as parks or to pay down old debt. By approving the lease agreement with the WHP, the city will relinquish primary control of the facility, changing the end-use from public to private. It would be a safe guess here that the Obama Administration would probably frown upon funneling tax dollars into Ice Arena improvements to benefit a for-profit primary user. The taxpayers relationship with the arena will be nothing more than serving as a proxy for the WHP, draining subsidy dollars for brick and mortar operations, while the end-user keeps the profits.

Tonight, the Janesville City Council is expected to take action on the Ice Arena proposal. I encourage residents to re-think their position on the bicycle tunnel and direct their attention towards the Ice Arena and demand the city council not surrender control of this public-use facility.