Cobb should vote for Boyce

The following guest column appeared in the July 10th issue of the Marietta Daily Journal.

Sophistry Becomes Hallmark of Lee’s Re-election Bid, By Lance Lamberton

The dictionary defines sophistry as the use of “an argument apparently correct in form” but is “actually…an argument used to deceive.” A blatant example of sophistry was the recent guest column in the MDJ by Cobb Chamber insider, Ben Mathias (Where Does Mike Boyce Really Stand?) In his piece he alleges that Boyce’s support for a public referendum on the Braves Stadium is really a ruse masking his real intent of opposing altogether the Braves move to Cobb County, and along with it all the fantastical benefits that all Cobb Countians will supposedly enjoy with the move. To which I respond: balderdash.

Allowing the voters the right to have the final say on a 30 year, $400 million commitment of their hard earned tax dollars to pay for a for-profit entertainment venue by a corporation that earns billions in annual revenues is not an unreasonable position. What is unreasonable, unconscionable and even unconstitutional is for the Braves organization to conduct months of secret negotiations with the Chairman on the Braves deal, to keep the other commissioners in the dark on what was going on, and then schedule a vote by the Board of Commissioners to approve the deal a mere two and half weeks after it was announced.

The real reason a public vote was not allowed is simple and obvious: There was a chance, a very good chance that the voters would have rejected it. But to Ben Mathias the ends justified the means. Mathias is totally unrestrained in ballyhooing the project in his column. That it will create thousands of jobs, millions in additional tax revenue, and unheard of economic revitalization. Well then. If it’s such a great deal, then why shy away from a public vote on it?  And if it’s such a great deal why not let the Braves build their new stadium without massive taxpayer subsidies? Surely the capital markets will recognize a great deal when they see it, and flock to invest in such a certain money maker.

On the other hand, maybe it’s not such a great deal for the majority of taxpayers forced to foot the bill but receiving little or nothing in return; those who are not Braves fans but must endure even worse traffic jams to enrich the bottom lines of the Braves organization and the Chamber members whose businesses will enjoy windfall profits at the expense of thousands of Cobb residents just struggling to make ends meet. Undoubtedly it was this constituency that Mathias and his Chamber friends did not want to face.

According to Mathias the only choice facing Cobb was economic boom or a referendum, arguing that the Braves timetable did not allow for a vote of the people. Such sophistry ignores the fact that the Braves knew for years in advance when their current lease with Atlanta for Turner Field was set to expire. The used this phony timetable to bamboozle the Chairman into negotiating a hasty and ill-conceived deal that was set up by design to circumvent the will of the people. What Mathias has unwittingly admitted by setting up the false dichotomy between economic boom and referendum is that this deal in all likelihood would not have held up under public scrutiny.

And yet, the campaign position of Mike Boyce is unassailable. He does not say, as I most certainly do, that if it came to a vote, that the voters should have turned it down. He simply says that the voters should have had the final say, and that a Chairman who does not permit that kind of transparency and openness in government does not deserve to be re-elected. If Mike Boyce becomes our next Chairman, we can expect a much higher level of accountability going forward. It will also send a message to officeholders throughout the state that if you try the same shenanigans in your county, then expect the same result.

Lance Lamberton is the Chairman of the Cobb Taxpayers Association; an organization which played a leadership role in opposing taxpayer support for the new Braves stadium.

Comments

Cobb taxpayers should have had the opportunity to vote to assume this debt.  The plan should have included all the elements of traffic abatement necessary to make this work.  Now the plan shows a lame, piecemeal approach that won’t work, because I-285 doesn’t work.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader