opinion

FC Cincinnati stadium deadline was more ultimatum than negotiation

Over the past few weeks, there has been keen interest in the deliberations between FC Cincinnati and the Cincinnati Public Schools Board of Education over the proposal to locate an MLS soccer stadium in the West End. As one of the newest members of the school board who participated in the talks, I wanted to offer my perspective to help the public better understand the process as it unfolded.

Reading the letter received last Wednesday, I was astonished to see that there was a 5 p.m. deadline that day – approximately six hours after I had received the letter. We had specifically asked FCC representatives when they needed an answer when we met with them the week before. They continued to talk about the date of March 31, with the understanding that sooner was better. But the first time we learned that their hard deadline was March 14 at 5 p.m. was on March 14 shortly before 11 a.m. It was more ultimatum than negotiation for the win-win we all sought. How in the world was this date not communicated to us earlier?

Those of you who work in business may think that in a process such as this, with all the demands on the club, changes unfold very quickly and officials sometimes need to make immediate decisions. I have worked in the corporate world for the past 20 years, and I understand this. But quick decisions are often bad decisions, and furthermore, private business is not conducted with taxpayer money. We must be even more careful when we are conducting the public's business. As I met with voters last year during my campaign for the board, I learned unequivocally that people are asking for a heightened level of transparency, fiscal responsibility and community engagement. Demanding a decision in six or seven hours is unreasonable and not compatible with the careful deliberations taxpayers deserve.

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A request for FCC to pay its fair share of taxes (an abated amount at that) shouldn’t be too much to ask. It takes a fixed amount of dollars to run our schools. That cost can be borne fully by taxpayers and working families, or developers can share the cost using the established rules of engagement as articulated in the agreement negotiated in 1999 that provides abatements, as we offered. The 1999 agreement was established between the City of Cincinnati and Cincinnati Public Schools to ensure CPS at least receives a portion of the taxes that would otherwise be due to the district.

The intent of this agreement was to spur economic development within the City of Cincinnati and to grow of Cincinnati Public Schools. Indeed, it has been a success on both fronts. As we see our city population grow, Cincinnati Public Schools is growing at record pace, making these tax dollars more important than ever. We cannot expect the burden to be unfairly placed on individual taxpayers in the city let alone the other villages, municipalities and townships that are part of Cincinnati Public Schools.

If the school board had known about the interest in the West End site before Jan. 20, there could have been time to explore and research this complex issue with the proper amount of community input to possibly amend the 1999 agreement. We weren’t the ones who chose to wait until after the mayoral race to spring the West End location on the community, and it wasn't our responsibility to make up for that lost time with a rushed decision – a decision that could have decades-long repercussions.

As chair of the finance committee, I take seriously our responsibility to ensure that Cincinnati Public Schools is on a solid financial foundation, which directly impacts our ability to educate our most important residents, our children. If CPS doesn’t hold developers accountable to paying their fair share of taxes when it has an increased amount of leverage as property owners, how can we trust city leaders to do the same for future developers when CPS doesn’t have control?

Even as Cincinnati City Council has already promised millions of tax dollars to FCC for the proposed Oakley location, cities across the U.S. have stopped giving sports teams carte blanche when it comes to stadiums. Hamilton County's disastrous deal for Paul Brown Stadium shows the consequences of ill-advised assistance in these situations.

Since first notified on Jan. 22 about the proposed West End location at the site of Stargel Stadium, the school board has continued to work towards a win-win solution through a very robust community engagement process, principled negotiations and transparent deliberations. No matter the outcome, I know not everyone in the public will agree with the decision we make. But I do want to make sure that everyone understands the predicament we have been put in – a predicament caused largely from a lack of adequate time and information from the very people seeking the cooperation of the school board. The school board has proven its willingness to cooperate in the interest of economic development and regional growth since it signed the 1999 agreement.

Ryan Messer of North Avondale is a member of Cincinnati Public Schools Board of Education.