Priorities First! is a nonprofit organization representing a broad
coalition of groups and individuals who are opposed to the issuance of $10
million in bonds toward building a Triple-A stadium; they say the money would
be better spent improving city services or should not be spent at all if it
means a tax increase. Among the groups are Travis County Taxpayers Coalition,
El Concilio, Patriot Party of Texas, Austin Private Enterprise Committee, Texas
Citizen Action, and former Christian Coalition president Kirk Ingalls.
Here are some of the concerns Priorities First! has expressed about the
ballpark, both with regard to the city’s lease agreement with the team and the
proposed location of the park, along with an assessment of those
concerns:
* The stadium would be in the flight path of the new airport at Bergstrom,
thus hampering the facility’s attractiveness as an outdoor music venue.
Unknown, but not likely. According to Bergstrom airport Deputy Project
Director Arnold Rosenberg, the flight path has not been finalized, but “early
indications are that the predominant flow of aircraft will not be over the site
of the new stadium.” Certainly, the entire park is well away from the direct
path of the runway, and it would seem that circling traffic could be routed to
the relatively unpopulated area east of town.
* The stadium will built over land which contains toxic waste.
“That’s incorrect information,” says Mike Heitz, director of Austin’s Parks
and Recreation Department. “There is a small landfill, but it’s construction
debris – there’s nothing toxic.” Heitz points out that whenever the city
purchases property, an environmental study is done, and if any hazardous wastes
are found in the soil, the property owner is required to clean it up before the
transaction is completed. Such a study was done on this land, says Heitz, and
no traces of toxic waste were found.
* The city is helping to pay for skyboxes and exclusive clubs from which it
will receive no revenues, while the average fan is denied access to these
amenities.
This appears to be true. There will be 20 skyboxes at the stadium, the
rights to which will be sold to corporations or individuals for up to $20,000 a
year. There will be two private clubs – the “Dugout Club” at diamond level
behind home plate and the “Skyline Club” on the upper level – and membership
for either will run about $250 a year (although some seat option holders will
get free memberships for the first two years the stadium is open), and will be
largely restricted to seat option holders. The city won’t get a direct cut of
either revenue source, but “they’ll see it as a percentage of concessions sales
from those private clubs,” says Firebirds general manager Craig Pletenik. San
Antonio, by comparison, gets 15% of proceeds from the sale of skyboxes at its
new Wolff Stadium.
* The team has set up a non-profit, dummy corporation to act as a front in
signing the lease, so that it has a loophole to break the lease and cut
town.
Again, Heitz denies this is the case. “The non-profit organization is the
Austin Sports Development Authority – that’s owned by the city to administrate
the lease agreement,” he says. The contract, says Heitz, will be signed by team
ownership, which has established itself in Austin as the Austin Professional
Baseball Club, so named “because they didn’t know what the name of the team was
going to be.”
* It will be the team’s prerogative to develop the proposed Colorado River
Park, and the team will also reap the revenues.
“Anything like a water park would be developed as a joint venture by the
city and the team,” says Heitz, “and the revenues would be split 50-50.” He
adds that this doesn’t include the possibility of a kayak course on the
Colorado River near the stadium site, the possibility of which has been studied
by the Lower Colorado River Authority. “The team wouldn’t have anything to do
with that,” he says.
* Jack Haden, leader of Priorities First!, also would like to know more
about Firebirds’ owner Martin Stone’s background. “I sort of feel like Martin
Stone has made a bad first impression,” says Haden. “He came in through the
back door or the side door, not the front door.”
Stone is a St. Louis native and former professor of law who currently lives
in Tucson but also keeps a home in Lake Placid, New York. Stone made his
fortune in restrooms – in a manner of speaking. “He was working as an attorney
for Hughes Airlines and was negotiating with a company that was developing
airplane restrooms [Monogram Industries],” says Pletenik. “He was so impressed
that he went over to that company and eventually bought the company.” Stone
went on to purchase 75% of the Firebirds in 1984.
Haden is an independent video producer. His company, JMH Communications,
produces industrial videos, and Haden says, “I’ve been involved in politics
peripherally in a couple campaigns,” as well as being a member of the North
Austin Neighborhood Council. “I’m really just a member of the audience,” he
says. – D.C.
This article appears in September 22 • 1995 and September 22 • 1995 (Cover).