Thursday at MCC Meeting: What Answers Would You Like About the Baseball Stadium’s Finances?

I forgot McHenry County College was having a meeting on Monday.

A friend of McHenry County Blog attended and sent these notes:

It pays to stay to the bitter end of the performance.

You and Emily might have been entertained by Robbins, Schwartz et al. Howard Metz and Joseph Perkowski took the Board of Trustees through “What To Do When You Receive a FOIA Request.”

[The two people would be Jane Collins seen below to the left of Sandy Kerrick and Marlene Kopola, plus yours truly.]

You would never have guessed that the reason they were invited to speak is that the Board had received dozens of requests when it tried to keep information from the public, except that Donna Kurtz [quoting Marlene] made that observation about how they had gone from no requests to over 150.

The attorneys’ approach:

Freedom of Information Act is all about Competing Interests — forget reading or citing the purpose of the Act, [tucked into the last pages of the handout].

Sandra Kerrick tried to talk about all the requests coming from only 2 people, but no one listened.

Also some Open Meeting discussion — how, if 3 Bd. members met to discuss business — even by Internet — it would violate Open Meetings Act.

Barbara Walters: What if 3 of us met in FL, we wouldn’t violate the law, would we?

Howard Metz: Well, it’s pretty hard to notice up a meeting for your constituents in FL — you can violate the Open Meetings in any state.

Scott Summers, at the end, stated that it is his understanding that any Health Wellness Athletic Center (HWAC, a.k.a the baseball stadium) plan is “now mooted,” April action no longer holds.

George Lowe: We’re going to talk about HWAC on Thus.

Sandra Kerrick: HWAC is not on Thursday agenda.

George Lowe: No, but ERA (Economic Research Associates) will make a presentation.

Donna Kurtz: Shouldn’t that be on the agenda?

MCC President Walt Packard: It [ERA] was pulled from tonight’s agenda; we changed it to Thursday. ERA wants to know what we want them to do in their 3d party review. (emphasis added) If you have not read the extremely negative summary of what this outside consultant wrote, please click here and do so. This was presented in April and the board members still proceeded.

Donna Kurtz: But we haven’t decided what we want — how can we ask them to review something we may or may not do?

George Lowe: It doesn’t matter — we should hear from a number of people [did not catch the end, but in my words: we should hear from a number of people, then maybe we’ll know what to do!].

No action is being taken.

If Board Attorney Sandra Kerrick had not asked, HWAC would have been on the agenda — without public notice, once again!@!

So, if you have desires from third party reviewed Economic Research Associates, come early to the meeting and tell the trustees during the public comment period. ERA’s Richard Starr is early on the agenda. The starting time is 7 PM. (There are actually two meetings, so you could speak twice, if you have more than the three minutes worth of time allotted to say.)

I’d certainly like to see the costs and benefits–financial ones, not ethereal “quality of life” benefits–quantified and specified for the educational component of the project and the entertainment side. I’d like to know if my rough calculations showing that the construction cost to be 38.5% of the total for the baseball stadium, while its revenues are only 36% are correct or not. In other words, will the taxpayers be subsidizing the baseball stadium or–if the stars are all aligned as baseball promoter?

I’d like to know if the extra cost of the taxable bonds for the baseball stadium, because it is not a non-profit addition, have been added to the cost-benefit study.

I’d like to know if cost of paying interest on interest because of the predicted delayed payback of significant money from the baseball stadium is included on the stadium side of the ledger.

I’d like to know if the opportunity cost of the use of the acreage that cannot be used for educational purposes has been calculated and added to the stadium’s cost.

I’d like to know if the risk that tuition will have to increase to bail out the project can be quantified and, if so, what that risk is.

I’d like to know if attendance figures have been cut because of the announced privately- financed minor league baseball stadium in Harvard, the one you see a drawing of with windmills.

And, those are my questions after only five minutes of thought.

Can you come up with others?

= = = = =
Obviously, all of these photographs were taken previously. Jane Collins, Sandy Kerrick, Marlene Kopola are in the top photo. In descending order, the rest are MCC Board members Barbara Walters, Scott Summers, George Lowe and Donna Kurtz. The head shot on the bottom left is McHenry County College President Walt Packard.


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