Tom Whitehurst

Things that make you go hmmmm!

   There's this song, "Things that make you go hmmmm," that has been stuck in my head for days. I think it's because of what occurred, or never occurred, with the port's offer of land for the new arena.
   For those who haven't been following it, the city decided to pay $3.3 million for 2.2 acres across the street from the convention center, without entertaining the port's offer of 13 acres three blocks from the convention center. The port didn't want any money up front, but did want a percentage of revenue. Nobody said how much, and city officials seized upon this unknown as a good reason for dismissing the offer, rather than negotiating with port officials, who have indicated that they'd have negotiated expeditiously and weren't interested in shaking down the city.
   Let's review: 13 acres vs. 2.2, no up-front money vs. $3.3 mil, three blocks vs. across the street. Is it just me, or are these things that make you go hmmmm?
   Other port offers
   Also, the port was willing to demolish vacant buildings on the land and extend a road.
   "How long will all that take before we ever begin construction?" the Caller-Times quoted City Manager David Garcia asking.
   Excellent question. Does it make you go hmmmm that the city manager asked, rather than answered it?
   It turns out that Garcia does have an answer - 12 to 18 months. It's not an exact answer, but it's the best available from both city and port staff. Perhaps more important is the reassurance that Garcia bothered to find out.
   But, wait! Does it make you go hmmmm that three blocks is too far? Isn't that about how far you have to walk when you park at the airport?
   When you're at a convention away from home, and you're wearing a suit and it's South Texas outside, Garcia said, three blocks will make you go ewwww.
   Isn't the main issue
   Besides, the walking distance isn't the main issue. The city staff and council have been adamant about the idea of physically linking and co-marketing the arena and the convention center. The two would share loading docks, kitchen facilities and climate control systems, which the city says creates construction cost savings of 20 percent or more, plus operation cost savings. Some of the arena space would be used during conventions, which would help keep it filled and producing revenue, while helping the city attract bigger conventions that need more space.
   The city staff and council also have been adamant about avoiding delays. The sooner the arena is built and the convention center is expanded, the sooner the city can book those larger conventions.
   Cost-effectiveness
   This, they insist, makes spending $3.3 million and taking 2.2 acres of bayfront property off the tax rolls more cost-effective than taking the time to sit down with the port and negotiate a percentage-of-revenue deal - no matter how pliable and hasty the port is willing to be.
   Clearly, they do not have the time or the inclination to go hmmmm.
   A couple more things that might have made you go hmmmm:
   1. Councilman Mark Scott abstained from the vote on the land deal, and normally that would be a thing that keeps you from going hmmmm. But those who saw the explanation, and who know Scott, may have gone hmmmm. The explanation was that Scott works for Guaranty Title Services, which rents office space from San Jacinto Title Co., which is doing the title work for the arena land deal, and there's a perception that Scott works for San Jacinto Title, which he doesn't.
   All of this is true. But one detail was left out: The owner of San Jacinto, Alex Harris, also owns Guaranty. Plenty of people around town know it, there's nothing wrong with it, Scott doesn't try to hide it and, in fact, pointed it out with no prompting when asked last week why he abstained.
   2. You may have seen a nice Letter to the Editor by David Engel, chairman of Forward Corpus Christi, in support of the city's decision. Forward Corpus Christi campaigned heavily, and successfully, for the arena. The arena land purchase puts the city immediately on schedule to fulfill its promise to voters and to Forward Corpus Christi, as Engel's letter points out. It makes perfect sense that he, of all people, would be genuinely glad about the purchase, and that he'd write a letter saying so.
   Potential appointee
   It's also exactly what the council would want to hear from a potential appointee to the Port Commission. Engel is among several applicants and is rumored to be a frontrunner. The guy he'd replace, Kenneth Berry, has said that the city at least should have made more effort to explore the port's offer, and that it's impossible to make an informed decision without information.
   Engel says the port appointment was not on his mind when he wrote the letter. By reputation and conduct, his word should suffice. But the letter did cause a few people to go hmmmm.
   As for the project, now that an arena football team might locate here, time is even more of the essence. Football in South Texas, in the air conditioning, is bound to go over big. So if the city's dismissal of the port's offer seemed over-expedient before, now it just seems expedient.
   In the meantime, "Things that make you go hmmmm" is a great song and should be played incessantly.
  
  

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