Officer CS
Judd Bradbury
Matthew Barnebey
                             

10/28/04  Grandpa Warbucks' $5 Million Con Job on Arlington voters.

For a college town, Arlington has some gullible geezers -- or so, Grandpa Jerry Jones would have us believe.  He sure is betting a hunk of change (chump change to him).

I don't think Arlington voters are as dumb as Grandpa Jones has been assured by his public relations people.  I certainly don't think Arlington voters are going to buy two clueless women and a goofy looking politician who's living in the past telling them that the town's shortcomings will be fixed with a stadium for Grandpa Jones.

Cowboys dig deep in push for stadium; Team pours $5.1 million into effort; opposing group raises $43,000 Tuesday, October 26, 2004 By JIM GETZ / The Dallas Morning News

ARLINGTON ? The Dallas Cowboys have contributed nearly $5.1 million to the group supporting construction of a new Cowboys stadium. ... Vote Yes! campaign treasurer Robert Rivera acknowledged that it will be a close election. He said the committee has been willing to spend nearly $5 million to gain what might be the few votes needed to win because "the citizens of Arlington are worth that investment. Our future is worth that dollar amount." ... "This is an obvious attempt to buy an election by an individual. And the question for Arlington voters is, can their votes be bought?" Mr. Barnett said. ....

You know what ticks me off the most in those ads?  That business about Grandpa Warbucks  giving millions for the benefit of the "youth" in Arlington is disgusting.  Grandpa Jones is going to dole back the taxpayers' money to them as if it's some kind of charitable gesture from him.  It's just like all politicians who convince one group to support a tax that they are promised will only be on someone else but they will get a cut of the action.

It's all a crock, and everyone who's saying otherwise are lying through their teeth.

Arlington has a budget shortfall now.  Even if Grandpa Warbucks delivers on his stadium lies, it will be several years before any (if any) dollars start flowing to Arlington from anything that happens in or near a football stadium.  Arlington doesn't have the money to spare, much less to gamble.  Grandpa Warbucks is an official Billionaire, he has the money to spare to build his own place of business.

It can't be helping when all these reports and stories are coming out debunking all the Arkansas promises regarding a new football stadium.

Irving ponders Cowboys' worth; Is franchise's value merely symbolic or economic substance? October 27, 2004 By JEFF MOSIER and ERIC AASEN / The Dallas Morning News

IRVING ? The Dallas Cowboys earned their reputation as a legendary franchise long ago. But after 33 years in Irving, the team's off-the-field legacy here is a little less clear.    City leaders and business owners disagree whether all the Super Bowl rings and Hall of Fame players helped their suburb thrive economically or merely gave residents another reason to cheer for the team." You've got the wonderful rah-rah passion because it's the Cowboys," council member Beth Van Duynesaid. "Putting the heart and feelings aside ... we need to reasonably ask: 'What is the impact to us?' " ... A failure in Arlington could give Irving another shot at keeping the Cowboys, but it also would mean that city leaders would have to decide whether that shot is worth it.    Economists have studied the Cowboys' impact on Irving since Texas Stadium was young, and have reached different conclusions. ... A spokesman for Irving Mall said Cowboys fans regularly shop there on game day. Mall officials wouldn't release figures but said there's a "noticeable increase" in mall traffic when the team is in town, said Les Morris, spokesman for Simon Property Group, the mall's owner. ... Mayor Joe Putnam, a member of the council on and off since the mid-1970s, said the team is only important symbolically. The Cowboys put Irving on the map and are a source of community pride, but the team hasn't exactly filled city coffers, he said. ... Even business owners who benefit from the Cowboys said a handful of games wouldn't make or break Irving's economy. ... The immediate area is filled with car and tractor lots, auto repair businesses and a sprinkling of budget motels.    Mr. Putnam can't explain the lack of development around the stadium. ... Stadiums nationwide don't typically attract development, he said, and commerce in Irving has often been drawn to the State Highway 114 corridor. ... The economic benefits of the Cowboys seem to be spread throughout the region rather than being focused in the area around the stadium, Mr. Patel said. He said many visitors who come to town for a game would stay in Dallas, eat in Dallas and come to Irving for the game.    Mr. Patel said other nearby motel owners tell him that they get only a 10 percent bump in occupancy when the Cowboys play at home. ... Some large Irving-based companies book as many as 20,000 room-nights in city hotels each year, up to five times as many rooms as are booked by Cowboys fans.    The stadium, with its signature hole in the roof, isn't even the biggest tourist draw, according to statistics provided by the Irving Convention and Visitors Bureau. Most of the city's visitors are in town for business. Only 14 percent of visitors are leisure travelers, according to a 2000 study. And they're more likely to visit area malls than attend a Cowboys game. ...

This is not rocket science stuff.  A drive around Texas Stadium any day of the week puts a lie to anything Grandpa Warbucks' PR team is floating out there about what's coming for Arlington.  The area around Texas Stadium is very accessible by car, but it has not generated development.  That's not to say Texas Stadium was not a good deal.  It was and is.  It was paid for by the people who bought the bonds -- users. 

You  can't get to the Ball Park easily.  Another sports stadium in that area will generate horrendous traffic, but at least it would normally be on a Sunday.  Think about a Monday night game or a Thursday night game!  Think about how long you have been tied up in traffic trying to get to Texas Stadium and multiply it by 10. 

What would happen if the Rangers actually get to play into October?  Well, that is a stretch, but Boston just won the World Series.  Anything is possible! 

Anything is possible except Arlington taxpayers getting a fair return on their dollars if they fall for Grandpa Warbucks' big lie.

As a Dallas County taxpayer, I would love for Tarrant County to be stuck with making that Arkansas freak richer.  They are still the Dallas Cowboys.  Even that Irving hotel owner says people who come to town for Cowboy games stay in Dallas and eat in Dallas.  I just don't think the people in Arlington will buy this $5 million con game.

If Dallas residents can drive over to Irving and see the lack of development around Texas Stadium after 30 years, you can imagine how hard it has to be for a sensible person to buy a gigantic football stadium is going to stimulate massive development when little or nothing has come from the beautiful Ball Park.

As far as sports facilities go, the Ball Park is gorgeous from the highway.  I've only seen the inside from the KRLD studios.  How many games have you been to at the Ball Park?

I heard several UTA students being interviewed about the promises being made by Grandpa Warbucks' campaign.  They weren't buying them either. 

They basically said -- Jerry Jones should pay for it himself.  Out of the mouth of babes ...

Common sense will prevail in Arlington, because Arlington voters have been voting NO quite regularly since they bought into the empty promises of a windfall from a baseball stadium.    Then again, Dallas voters bought a $4 million campaign that never rang true.  You can tell a lie very often and very loudly with $5 million.

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