If I understand Mr. Carney correctly, he is suggesting that I should be happy the LCCCA only has two paid employees. The LCCCA is charged with operating a convention center. Rather than do it themselves, they have given that responsibility over to a third party…probably a good idea except what 3rd party and with whose interest does the 3rd party represent first and foremost?
In this case, the LCCCA took whomever PSP brought to them. That would be the same PSP that value engineered the appropriate infrastructure (separate electric meters and a on site transformers that would have greatly reduced long term costs) right out of the project to the detriment of the LCCCA.
They LCCCA is virtually powerless and from where I sit, has little or no responsibility. They expect IHR to run the place and the PDCVB to market it.
In answer to your suggestion Mr. Carney, I am not pleased. One person, part-time, could open the mail and arrange their totally worthless public meetings.
What the LCCCA staff does is prevent the “private partners” from taking more than their share of revenue from the “integrated facility”. Without the watchdog role played by Kevin Molloy and Mary Ellen Davis (supervised and assisted by Kevin Fry and the LCCCA board), the “private partners” would easily be able to get away with taking a whole lot more from taxpayers than the “agreements” entitle them to (the terms of which were coerced onto taxpayers under the repeated threat of the “private partners” pulling out of the project).
You are correct, one part-timer could open the mail and schedule meetings. But that would literally be handing all checks and balances involving taxpayer dollars over to the “private partners”. Do you really trust the people behind this project to fairly manage OUR tax dollars???
OK to publish with my real name.
Randolph Carney
The ship sailed and we didn’t want it to leave port, But………some of the crew came back in a dinghy and stated we can prevent the ships return by building harbor defenses………..Hooray!
Maybe what we need is a court injunction to ‘re-open’ those agreements and have them be FAIRLY written to better protect the taxpayers and the hotel/tourist industry.
I wonder if the County Commissioners would have the intestinal fortitude required to see that this gets done.
When it comes to ‘Business As Usual’ with PSP and the ‘power elite’; we need to rewrite the parameters. Hoteliers, tourist industry associates, city and county taxpayers should NOT be held hostage!!!!