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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