Comments on: What You Won’t Hear From TV Or Radio About The Proposed Grand Prix

By: Edgar

Edgar — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 17:15:42 +0000

Jeez, those conservatives bleating about socialist wealth redistribution are the first hogs to the trough when it’s their pork. hypocrites. $6.9 is cocktail waitress tip $ to mcclendon. Let him blow his $ on it.

By: Larry OKC

Larry OKC — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 09:37:05 +0000

Not directly for the MAPS 3 campaign, but there is the money the City regularly gives the Chamber, so I can see where Cathy gets the idea.

From the 09-10 City Budget Report

(pg 28) The Convention and Visitors Bureau, a division of the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce, operates under a contract with the City funded by the City hotel tax.

(pg 39) The Hotel/Motel Tax Fund … dedicated to the promotion and development of convention and tourism …

Exactly what amount was funneled (legally of course) to the Chamber is unclear, but the total amount raised by the Hotel/Motel Tax Fund was in excess of $9M for that year.

What was the biggest item in MAPS 3? The $280M Convention Center. In addition to other MAPS 3 projects promoted as increasing tourism.

I am not disputing or suggesting that any thing was done illegally (all they have to do is keep the piles of money separate), but they did cross the line with other apparent violations of the law when it came to MAPS 3 (from the all-or-nothing, log-rolling Ballot, to the Mayor’s blatant endorsement in the Campaign etc etc).

And to clarify, the amount for the COX improvements were lowered from earlier reports and ended up “only” being $3.2M and (in theory) the MAPS for Kids Use Tax Fund will eventually be paid back by a ticket surcharge)

And like the Grand Prix event, that presumes that the Barons will actually be around that long.

By: slackmeyer

slackmeyer — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 22:32:06 +0000

Cathy – the city is legal prohibited from giving the chamber money for advertising and the chamber did not receive $5 million or even a dime from the city for campaigning for MAPS 3. The campaign fund was about $1 million, all from private donors. I’m not sure about the cost, funding of the roof deck at Ford Center, so I’m not going to address that.
Not arguing whether the overall theme of your comment is right or wrong, just wanting to ensure that erroneous information is corrected.

By: Blake Gibb

Blake Gibb — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 13:46:28 +0000

These promoters know nothing about sports car racing in America or anywhere else. I’m all for a race here as a long time race fan, and sports car racer. But you have to be kidding me when they think they will get 80-100K spectators for the race, not gonna happen.OKC is not Long Beach, sorry folks. Attendance for long time established races is at an all time low right now, due to the economy. Most true race fans hate street courses and so do the race drivers. There is a reason virtually all sports car street races have a life of less that 3 years, and not just in ALMS. Look at the history in CART, F1, IMSA, etc. As a racer, the only logical location in OKC for a road race would be the fairgrounds, which actually has a history of sports car racing going back to the late 50′s early 60′s. I’ll be the first to buy a ticket if they land the race, but if the return on investment is what the promoters say it is, why not let the private sector finance this project?

By: Cathy

Cathy — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 03:58:17 +0000

I thought the city is in a budget and economic crisis. Not too long ago (after the MAPS vote) the mayor, city manager, and budget director where on the news saying the economy is so bad, that the city will not be able to dig out of the hole they are in for at least another 3-5 years. Hence, the cutting of city services.

It is nice to see the city can find money when it suits the powers that be. 5 million to the Chamber for MAPS 3 advertising, 6 million for a party deck/ VIP area for the Cox Center, and now 7 million for this. All tax payer money.

If the Mayor and his rich buddies want this, I say let them flip the bill for it.

By: Kris Bryant

Kris Bryant — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 21:24:22 +0000

How can Mayor Mick promote walkability and the Grand Prix at the same time, especially considering its implications for Project 180?

By: slackmeyer

slackmeyer — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 17:31:50 +0000

This may a great event for downtown Oklahoma City. I’ve not seen anything that would indicate Trent Ward has anything but good intentions for the city.
I simply want people to be fully informed here and know what’s involved with this proposal.

By: Peter

Peter — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 17:17:09 +0000

Thanks for a real report, Steve. PR folks are spinning the broadcasters big time. KFOR and KWTV had the only full-length stories and they both parroted the promoters saying the money would be paid back “in a decade” and the city could make $30 million-$40 million in revenue without actually showing the math behind those claims or talking to someone with concerns about the series’ histories.

It also seems uneven for the promoters to place the series on the same level as the Thunder. NBA gets infinitely more attention than a city street race series (which I assume would be hard to televise).

By: John R. "Radar" Doyle

John R. "Radar" Doyle — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 03:33:27 +0000

A friend of mine says the OKC Grand Prix will not educate a single child. He’s right. Tax revenue fdrom this event, if it were profitable, would not be used for common education.

I’m just passing his comment along.