Six of the seven LCCCA board members had nothing to do with the creation of this fiscal fiasco; neither did its executive director or office manager. I have feared for many years that whoever is in these positions when the convention center eventually has publicly-revealed financial crises will take the blame for something they had far too little power to correct. The truth is, the tireless efforts of the current LCCCA staff and most of its current board members have clearly postponed the inevitable.
Kevin Molloy, Mary Ellen Davis, and most of the LCCCA board members deserve to be highly praised for their efforts to limit the burden this project places on taxpayers. The blame must be placed on those government officials, former board members, plutocrats, and other individuals who created these inexorable problems in the first place.
EDITOR: The seventh member is Ted Darcus, the former chairman who brutally rammed through the convention center approvals. Otherwise known to be a very decent guy, we wonder at times whether he continues on the board and subjects himself to such humiliation out of a sense of penance. At the time that he was doing the work of the sponsors, they in turn were helping to fund and thus bring about his beloved Brightside Center on Hershey Avenue. Read the list of major donors in the Brightside lobby.
“The blame must be placed on those government officials, former board members, plutocrates, and other individuals who created these inexorable problems in the first place.”
I couldn’t agree more…….placing the blame is one thing however, how we get these people to accept the responsibility and accountablity is another thing entirely. This ‘inexorable problem’ was forced upon the tourist industry members, City and County taxpayers; and those that forced it upon us should be made to fund any and all operational shortfalls.
Somehow, i see a casino in the future.
As long as there is a Republican majority in Harrisburg, don’t expect a casino in downtown Lancaster (which is surrounded by one of the most ultra-conservative counties in all of North America). If the governor and state legislature are willing to balance the state budget by depriving our children and grandchildren of desperately-needed funding for education, why would they do ANYTHING to bail out a project which has a proven record of losing massive amounts of taxpayer dollars?
The downtown Lancaster hotel and convention center are indeed “too big to fail”, with nearly $50 million taxpayer dollars committed to the “private” hotel and well over $100 million already spent on the convention center (not counting unfunded municipal costs for both). All three current Lancaster County Commissioners have promised to not raise the “hotel tax” under any conditions, but the sad truth is that at some point they may have no alternative. I am convinced that rather than allowing the “integrated facility” to close, they will raise taxes.
There is yet another factor: the Penn Square Partners keep the financial performance of their “private” hotel a closely-guarded secret, in spite of the fact that Lancaster City owns the building they occupy, and taxpayers own all of the meeting rooms the hotel receives revenue from, the hotel kitchen, half of the hotel lobby, the facade of the Watt and Shand building, the surrounding sidewalks, and even the bridge connecting the hotel lobby to the parking garage.
The problem is, if the hotel does not meet its earnings expectations, the Penn Square Partners would most likely make additional demands on Lancaster City taxpayers, who own the hotel building and (thanks to former mayor Charlie Smithgall) guarantee the hotel’s financing. Under the threat of closing the Marriott Hotel, the mayor and city council would have little recourse other than to cave in to whatever demands are made by the Penn Square Partners.
Now that the Quilt Museum is closing, I’m certain the CC will also lose the visitors who come for the quilting conventions. Another blow for the CC. Many, myself included, said at the inception that the CC would serve well as a casino. The decorating is perfect for a casino…..garish.
As far as Lancaster County being too conservative for a casino, I think we will be surprised at what can happen when financial disaster is looming.