Monday, October 29, 2012

Del. Loupassi and Paul Goldman question the “sweatheart” deal for new Redskins facility


In a letter addressed to Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones[1], former Virginia Democratic Party Chairman Paul Goldman and State Del. G. Manoli Loupassi (R-Richmond), scrutinized what they termed a “sweetheart” deal between the city of Richmond and Bon Secours to construct a new training camp facility for the Washington Redskins.[2]

In their letter, Loupassi and Goldman state, “We have chosen, in a bipartisan way, to speak out now in hopes of ensuring a serious discussion of the situation in time to protect the best interests of our city and taxpayers.”[3]

The proposed lease arrangement, which is for a period of 60 years at an annual rate of $5,000, amounts to a “giveaway” of a prime piece of taxpayer owned property, according to Mr. Loupassi.[4]
Loupassi commented, “I really felt that this was not a good use of a massive amount of taxpayer dollars. That’s prime property, right there on Patterson and Libbie. It’s worth an awful lot of money.”

While I am a lifelong Washington Redskins fan, I am not a fan of throwing the money of taxpayers away unnecessarily. That is, it isn’t clear that the Redskins would have forestalled their efforts to move their training camp facility to Richmond in the absence of a significant financial incentive. It is also unclear that Bon Secours would have taken a less favorable deal to secure a “prime” piece of property.

Instead, the city of Richmond must have been so eager to strike this “sweetheart” deal that it was willing to give away more than it should have.

Like Mr. Loupassi said, however, “I would hope they’re [the Richmond City Council] going to look at it extremely carefully. They’re dealing with the taxpayers’ dollars and it’s an extremely serious enterprise.”

Indeed, it is serious, serious enough to warrant an extended look by the Richmond City Council before final approval.

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