The Houston Dynamo are trying to squeeze city officials for a nice, taxpayer-subsidized playpen.
That’s certainly “olds” rather than news, but the Chronicle‘s recent characterization of the team’s latest demands of city officials struck us as interesting:
Shouts of “goal!” could replace “fore!” at the venerable Gus Wortham golf course under a plan to provide a permanent home for the Dynamo soccer team and keep it in Houston.
City officials quietly have been looking into converting the old East End course into a soccer-oriented youth facility, which the Dynamo is requesting along with its own stadium as a condition for staying.
Quietly? If it’s such a great idea, why are city officials sneaking around? Let’s get the proposal out there and have a look at it.
When such taxpayer-subsidized boondoggles are in the offing, the public deserves more from its elected officials than skulking around and backroom dealmaking.
Somehow, reporters Lori Rodriguez and Matt Stiles did track down this bit of information:
Andy Icken, planning and development director with the city’s Public Works and Engineering Department, said the city’s goal is to present a package to the Dynamo within a month in hopes of keeping the team from moving to the suburbs.
“We have been investigating a broad range of opportunities,” said Icken, who has briefed Mayor Bill White on the effort. “We haven’t really put pen to paper yet, as far as the economics and how we would pay for all this.”
Oh.
