Indiana

The Notorious C.I.B.

By Abdul Hakim-Shabazz

I’ve been waiting all weekend to use that one.   Once again, things are never as simple as they appear.  Although there are numerous plans at the Statehouse to solve the Capitol Improvement Board operational shortfall, and whatever comes out of session will likely be a hybrid of them all, the news out of the Indianapolis Business Journal this weekend puts a nice little monkey wrench into things.

Greg Schenkel, Pacers V.P. of  corporate relations said they weren’t the ones who asked for $15 million to operate Conseco and that it was the CIB who came up with that number.   Here’s the excerpt,

“Greg Schenkel, the team?s vice president of corporate relations, said discussions about additional funding for operation of the fieldhouse were initiated by CIB, not the team, and that the $15 million annual figure also did not originate with the Pacers.”

This is not good.   If the Pacers didn’t ask for $15 million, who did?  Already there is tension behind the scenes with Indiana lawmakers on both sides of the aisle who don’t think the Pacers and Colts  are contributing enough to cover the operational shortfall at the CIB, and they may look for ways to “encourage” their participation.

But I have to say, if the Pacers didn’t ask for the $15 million, then it’s obvious they don’t need it.  So the operational shortfall must now be down from $47 million to $32 million.  I wonder impact that revelation will have on talks at the Statehouse.

Full post as published by Indiana Barrister on April 19, 2009 (boomark / email).