Thursday, January 6, 2011

Wade Watch: Are the Bucks losing the city any money?

Tea Party Wade-like figure rails on
I was listening to the Tom Wade show again this morning as he railed against the usual suspects: Obamacare, the democrats and anything else not republican. He did not touch on the tax cuts for the rich. It's funny how republicans forget all about the deficit that their  "grandchildren" will have to pay as a result of these tax cuts.  After all, who can afford it more, the rich or the tea party's grandkids?

Wade also went on record as saying that there is some deal being cut by our city council. He claims that an "up and coming" councilman is being promised a natatorium (inside swimming pool as Wade said) in exchange for his vote on some later shenanigans. It'll be interesting to see if there's some substance to this.

Since Wade is a self-proclaimed fiscal conservative, I wanted to ask him what the situation is with the Laredo Bucks. Are they costing the city of Laredo any money? If so, how much and why should the city pay? If not, how are they able to break even or even make money if their fan base is way down compared to the first couple of years. I remember reading in Laredos that last year, when the city was putting pressure on the Broncos to pay their rent, the Bucks were in arrears thousands of dollars. I want to say hundreds of thousands but I can't recall that with certainty.  I know some of Wade's starbucks freinds might stumble upon our local blogs once in a while. If so, have him address these questions. He hardly ever gives out his phone number or openly welcomes debate. I think the show would be far better off if there was an opposing viewpoint with him on the air.

3 comments:

  1. In talking to a councilman about missed rent payments from those leasing El Portal space, I learned that the Bucks weren't exactly the best of tenants. Like the Khaledis and the Laredo Broncos, the Bucks too were late in paying their rent.

    The mayor went on tv and cited the Broncos' delinquency as the team's contract wasn't going to be renewed. The city was ready to move on because, according to them, the baseball team wasn't keeping up its end of the deal. Yet at no time did the mayor or city manager ever mention that the Bucks were behind many thousands of dollars in rent.

    I remember Tom Wade making some mention about low attendance at the arena, but the issue has never been thoroughly looked into by anyone in the local media community, as far as I can recall.

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  2. Why don't we hear about corporate welfare anymore?

    Keep asking the question, Laredotejas, the city bleeds money from these special arrangements that then become an embarrassment (because of attendance or other shenanigans).

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  3. Thanks for the info/comment. I remember councilman Rendon also kept asking the question about the Broncos "have they paid their rent?" and "staff" would keep quiet. I thought it was strange that they did not jump and say "No they havnt" I guess they knew they better not overdo it because the Bucks were even further behind on the payments.

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