If You’re Going To Quote OKC Central….
I’m totally bewildered by some comments expressed at today’s city council meeting. I have not reported, or indicated on this site, that city staff is looking to change the site of the convention center. I did flashbacks to remind folks of how the site was chosen in light of conversations, comments I’ve heard in the community the past couple weeks. That’s it.
Thank you for joining our conversation on OKC Central. We encourage your discussion but ask that you stay within the bounds of our commenting and posting policy.
Comments
I’m going to have to disagree. Here is what I said when a question was posed about my flashback: “At this point City Manager Jim Couch insists there is no change on the site chosen for the convention center. But based on what I’m hearing elsewhere, I thought it important to refresh readers on what has transpired to date.”
The only thing I could have been clearer on is what I was hearing elsewhere. What I’ve been hearing elsewhere is confusion about how the site was selected, whether it was truly the final site selection, and what factors went into it being selected. To take that and say I’ve reported in any way that the city is looking to change the site is quite the stretch… I am on alert for any such changes, but as I said, the stop city staff is denying any such change is even being contemplated.
My issue is that the proposed site is only feasible if the price is right. I’m hearing the asking price is out of site.
I think there should be a cap of what we will pay for the site maybe 10 to 15% max of overall convention cost. Some agreed upon cost that is discussed out in the open not in the shadows as has become the norm for these city, urban renewal and alliance professionals.
I heard Councilman Shadid reference the blog in the meeting and understand why he said it. Steve, you have been making some very cryptic remarks and making re-posts about the convention center which some could certainly have thought or inferred that meant people within city government want the site changed (mayor wanted it different, city staff was previously working for a different site apparently, etc.). So, rather than leaving people to infer, how about we just get things out in the open? Who wants to change the site and why? What are the comments you are hearing and who are making them? Without that, we are just left guessing yet again. The people have the right to know who is working behind the scenes to change things whether those people want their views public or not. We are talking potentially hundreds of millions of the public’s money.