The Florida Panthers hockey team's owners & mgmt. are about to get a cold dose of economic reality falling on their head -no taxpayer money for you!

In my opinion, the Florida Panthers hockey team's owners and management are about to get a cold dose of economic reality falling on their head -no taxpayer money for you!
And that lesson may well come as soon as the Broward County Commission meeting I'll be attending on Tuesday when agenda item #31 comes up.

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South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Broward Politics blog
Florida Panthers asking Broward commissioners for $7.7 million loan
By Brittany Wallman
November 5, 2011 09:57 PM

The company that operates Broward County’s hockey arena in Sunrise and owns the Florida Panthers who play there wants a $7.7 million loan from the county to renovate the facility.

Read the rest of the post at:
http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/2011/11/florida_panthers_asking_browar.html

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I wrote to Broward County Comm. Sue Gunzburger -the presiding official here- and Comm. Chip LaMarca in June about the original $14.4 million request the Panthers asked for, and they responded quite reasonably that given the poor state of the economy in Broward County -and the sorts of belt-tightening that has taken place here, where salaries have been cut and job openings have gone unfilled- they will NOT support that request.

Given that, I can't imagine that Commissioners Gunzburger and LaMarca will change their minds for even for half that amount NOW, especially given that 99% of Broward County's resident taxpayers never utilize the BankAtlantic Center in a typical year, given what I and most reasonable people believe is its inconvenient location in Sunrise.


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Personally, I love NHL hockey -as has been stated here previously with my post on Les Habs, see the two links below- and exponentially prefer it to the NBA, but the best thing the Florida Panthers could do for all concerned is move to Kansas City after this season and end the pretense that they will ever be more than a largely-ignored novelty here in South Florida.

http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/in-which-florida-panthers-change-their.html

http://southbeachhoosier.blogspot.com/2007/07/john-edwards-model-behavior-on-cover-of.html

The number-one rule of politics and marketing is know your "universe."
In my opinion, the Panthers never learned that when it would've actually mattered, with completely with predictable results.

Below is the most recent list of myriad Panthers/Yormark/Sunrise Sports officials and lobbyists calling upon Broward County Commissioners, though given the apparent limitations of the county's website, and the all-too-obvious spelling mistakes, I'm sure there are likely more: http://webapps.broward.org/Lobbyist/VisitorContactList.aspx

I've re-arranged the info below to make it more legible as the columns on the county's website played havoc with the blog.

Michael Yormark

Principal/Employer: Sunrise Sports & Entertainment Center
Client:

Meeting-Other - provide specific detail
Improvements at Sunrise Sports Complex
Visited Comm. Kristin D. Jacobs on 10/13/2011 at 4:18 PM

William D. Rubin
Principal/Employer: The RubinGroup, Inc.
Client: Sunrise Sports & Entertainment

Meeting-Other Improvements at Sunrise Sorts Center
Visited Comm. Kristin D. Jacobs on 10/13/2011 at 4:17 PM

Heather L. Turnbull
Principal/Employer:The Rubin Group, Inc.
Client: Sunrise Sports & Entertainment

Meeting-Other Sunrise Sports stadium improvements and meetings with staff
Visited Comm. Kristin D. Jacobs on 10/13/2011 at 3:37 PM

John M. Milledge
Principal/Employer: John M. Milledge PA
Client: Sunrise Sports & Entertainment, LLP
Meeting -Other - provide specific detail
Improvements to the Sunrise arena
Visited Comm. Ilene Lieberman on 09/06/2011 at 3:21 PM

Here's the information on Agenda item #31 as it currently appears on the county's website:

FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES DEPARTMENT
	31.				MOTION TO DISCUSS capital improvement project funding request from the Arena Operating Company (AOC) in the amount of $7.7 million.
Attachments
	Exhibit 1 - Blended AOC Pro-Forma
	Exhibit 2 - Letter Dated October 27, 2011 from Sunrise Sports & Entertainment
	Exhibit 3 - Arena Payments through 2016 (Excluding New Request)

Below is 99% of the the original email I sent to Comm. Sue Gunzburger and Comm. Barbara Sharief, both of whom represent Hallandale Beach on the commission, and which I later sent Comm. Chip LaMarca as well.

Much as I'd like to, I can't provide links to the Bob Norman segments on Channel 10 involving the Florida Panthers owners that I reference below, who continue their attempts to get their hands on Broward taxpayer's money, because the TV station is currently re-doing their website and the story links I have aren't working.

(Wonder if they'll lose the archives of stories he's done since he moved over there from the BrowardPalmBeach NewTimes?)

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Friday June 17th, 2011

Dear Commissioners Gunzburger and Sharief:

As I suspect you both recall from my previous conversations and emails with you both, I'm a big sports fan, always have been, but personally, I'm completely against this proposed BankAtlantic Center bailout -regardless of what the Panthers officials might prefer to call it- as long as Broward County taxpayers are paying more than 60% of the total costs involved.

They NEED to do more of the heavy-lifting.

Given that this snake-bit, poorly-run organization has already received a loan from the county, which hasn't been paid back in full yet, it seems an especially ill-conceived idea to me for them to expect the public to buy-in to the abstract idea of making the product better, esp. when the ultimate product is wins and losses (and excitement) on the ice, something which the Panthers have been woeful at demonstrating to the public for well over ten years.

Especially when they haven't tried to engage the public first in a meaningful way BEFORE coming to speak to you all about it.

Talk about the cart before the horse...

That's a real disconnect for me!

I saw the Channel 10 interview by Bob Norman earlier this afternoon, having missed it when it first aired, and think he framed the narrative quite fairly and accurately.

That the Panthers refused the opportunity to say anything to him about the story, even if just another self-serving bit of tripe, only makes them look more confused and desperate, and makes me wonder if it wouldn't be better for everyone if they didn't just move to Kansas City.

http://www.local10.com/video/28238536/index.html

As it happens, as both a sports fan and a Broward taxpayer, per the LA Times story below from this morning, if the LA Coliseum Comm. can turn down USC, with all their history, I definitely think you all can turn down the Florida Panthers if they aren't willing to pay 60% of the renovation costs at the arena.

Growing-up in NMB, I always planned on attending USC, and didn't finally decide to go to IU until I received my financial aid package statement back from LA -I was devastated...

I mention this tidbit only as a way of mentioning to you that despite the ubiquity of you all usually seeing me wearing this cap whenever we've run into each other and spoken somewhere in the county,

it well could've been this instead.

It's the difference between calling red 'crimson' and calling it "cardinal' and

calling Home Sweet Home, Bloomington or Los Angeles.

Los Angeles Times

L.A. Coliseum officials tell USC they can't afford $60 million in renovations

The Coliseum Commission can't keep its promise to USC to make $60 million in renovations at the aging stadium. The university has several options under its contract.

June 17, 2011

Read the article at:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-coliseum-20110617,0,3529615.story