Call to Action: How you can help stop this arena
Dear Friends and Neighbors:
If you signed this petition you understand how important it is to stop this sports and entertainment complex from being built in Alexandria.
Alexandria’s Potomac Yard is a terrible location for a sports arena:
· The roads around Potomac Yard are already congested. Do you want to see lots more traffic in your neighborhood? No.
· There is only one small metro station here. Contrast this with DC, where there are multiple large metro stations and numerous parking garages.
· There has been no accounting for a variety of environmental factors: Flooding risks related to climate change, further damage to sensitive wetlands, and more.
This entire boondoggle is corporate welfare for a billionaire: Why should taxpayers be giving a billionaire about $1.5 billion to build a sports complex in Alexandria? We shouldn’t be!
· We are giving more than a billion-dollar public subsidy to the owner of a $5 billion sports franchise with Qatari investors just so he can move across the Potomac River and erect a Taj Mahal sports complex at taxpayer expense.
· There is widespread consensus among economists that subsidizing sports stadiums and arenas rarely yields a net economic benefit for the local community but is instead a burden to local governments and taxpayers.
· The financing plan for this project is not new. Yet, supporters like Mayor Wilson and the City Alexandria Economic Development Partnership (AEDP) claim that their project is being financed differently. It isn’t.
· The economic report released by the City’s Alexandria Economic Development Partnership (AEDP) is nothing more than a PR document created by a consultant who helps developers get their projects approved and financed.
· Roger Noll, the Stanford economist and sports financing expert, reviewed an earlier report prepared for the Commonwealth by JPMorgan Chase. He says: “My conclusion from reading the report is that there is no reason to believe that the new business they forecast will come to pass, so the city may end up owning a white elephant with a very high price tag. Most importantly, the basis for the financial estimates is not explained but seems highly optimistic. Thus, the reality of revenue projections and the adequacy of the financial plan have no clear foundation. Reading this report would not constitute due diligence for committing public funds to the project.”
· The financial projections are based on a 40-year outlook when most such facilities last only about 20 before owners leave with their teams or the arenas need extensive and costly renovations. So, about half of their projected revenue is unlikely to be generated, leaving taxpayers with an expensive white elephant.
· There has been no effort to look at alternative development scenarios that offer more economic benefits but cause far fewer community impacts. It’s not an arena or nothing!
· Alexandria will lose hundreds of millions in local property taxes because the structure will be owned by a state sports authority over which there is little oversight.
· About 70 percent of the project will be financed using revenue bonds that will be backstopped by the taxpayers of Alexandra and Virginia. Taxpayers will be responsible for paying off any debt if the project fails to generate enough revenue to cover costs, which has commonly happened in other cities.
· This is a $1.5 taxpayer subsidy to help a billionaire build a sports arenas that he can afford to pay for and should pay for out of his own pocket.
The public has been told essentially that the deal is done and that their approval is not needed. The deal has been in the works for many months before it was announced in December by Mayor Justin Wilson, Gov. Glen Youngkin, and Ted Leonsis, owner of Monumental Sports.
· The City and Mayor are mounting a propaganda campaign ---not to engage with the community or evaluate alternative development scenarios --- to convince us that they know what is best for Alexandria. It’s certainly not a referendum.
· The City’s AEDP has already hired a lobbyist in Richmond to encourage lawmakers to approve the deal. This is your tax dollars at work.
· In short, we have a City government that has already decided to get behind the plan to finance a billionaire’s sports complex in the hope or belief that it is good for Alexandria, even if residents disagree.
· The City refuses to release their full economic study of the arena, which is just a PR report anyway. They are rushing to get the General Assembly to approve a sports authority BY FEBRUARY that can issue revenue bonds, etc., and own the land on which the arena will be built. And they are arrogantly and dismissively suggesting that if we or anyone else have any concerns or questions to contact them for answers.
What can you do to help?
Contact legislators in Richmond ASAP who will be voting on a bill to approve the creation of a sport authority.
Tell them that you don’t want them to approve any legislation or funding for this arena, and briefly why you oppose it. Financial issues are obviously critical but so are transportation issues. Don’t let them say that they can solve these issues – they can’t. Our local representatives, Senator Adam Ebbin, Delegate Charniele Herring and Del Elizabeth Bennett Parker have refused to say if they will oppose this deal.
Address your emails to Senator Louise Lucas, Chair Senate Finance Committee; Delegate Vivian Watts, Chair House Finance Comm; and Delegate Luke Torian, Chair, House Appropriations Committee and CC everyone else on these committees. Feel free to contact our NVA delegation too directly. The phone numbers of these members are easy to find too if you have to call their offices in Richmond.
Acrobat file of email addresses of members ofHouse and Senate finace committees https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:us:7be67f48-2961-4aca-aa0d-d9520f4cea88
Or you can paste from this list:
senatorlucas@senate.virginia.gov
delvwatts@house.virginia.gov
delltorian@house.virginia.gov
delrsullivan@house.virginia.gov
delmsickles@house.virginia.gov
senatordeeds@senate.virginia.gov
senatorlocke@senate.virginia.gov
senatormarsden@senate.virginia.gov
senatorebbin@senate.virginia.gov
senatormcdougle@senate.virginia.gov
senatorobenshain@senate.virginia.gov
senatorstuart@senate.virginia.gov
senatorreeves@senate.virginia.gov
senatorfavola@senate.virginia.gov
senatorsurovell@senate.virginia.gov
senatormcpike@senate.virginia.gov
senatorboysko@senate.virginia.gov
senatorpillion@senate.virginia.gov
senatorhashmi@senate.virginia.gov
delcmundonking@house.virginia.gov
delebennett-parker@house.virginia.gov
senatorlucas@senate.virginia.gov
delvwatts@house.virginia.gov
delltorian@house.virginia.gov
delrsullivan@house.virginia.gov
delmsickles@house.virginia.gov
senatordeeds@senate.virginia.gov
senatorlocke@senate.virginia.gov
senatormarsden@senate.virginia.gov
senatorebbin@senate.virginia.gov
senatormcdougle@senate.virginia.gov
senatorobenshain@senate.virginia.gov
senatorstuart@senate.virginia.gov
senatorreeves@senate.virginia.gov
senatorfavola@senate.virginia.gov
senatorsurovell@senate.virginia.gov
senatormcpike@senate.virginia.gov
senatorboysko@senate.virginia.gov
senatorpillion@senate.virginia.gov
senatorhashmi@senate.virginia.gov
delcmundonking@house.virginia.gov
delebennett-parker@house.virginia.gov
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