Indiana

WHEN THE PEOPLE SPEAK, POLITICIANS LISTEN

By Abdul Hakim-Shabazz

The Capital Improvement Board has formally addressed a controversial deal that would have given the proceeds of taxpayer-purchased property to a local not-for-profit organization. That decision resulted in a lawsuit.

The Board voted unanimously this afternoon to pay the Indiana Sports Corporation $200,000 to auction off public property from the RCA Dome. Under the agreement the Sports Corporation will sell the property which includes chairs and urinals, oddly enough, and will get to keep the first $200,000 of the proceeds, the CIB will keep the rest.

Under the original deal tentatively approved by the former Board the Sports Corporation would have kept the entire proceeds, however CIB chairman Bob Grand says this is a better deal.  News of the original deal sparked taxpayer outrage on broadcast airwaves and the Internet.

When asked about using the proceeds to pay off the debt of the RCA Dome, attorneys for the CIB said that debt had already been incorporated into the financing of the new Stadium, so the money, if any, will go toward the CIB’s operation costs.

Full post as published by Indiana Barrister on March 20, 2008 (boomark / email).