City Hall
Council Votes Unanimously for Licata MOHAI Compromise
The entire city council---yes, even Mayor Mike McGinn ally Mike O'Brien---voted unanimously to approve a deal, first reported on PubliCola this morning. with the Museum of History and Industry that would give the city an immediate cash infusion next year to pay for one-time projects and services like food banks, youth employment programs, and library collections.
Under the deal, which is opposed by Mayor Mike McGinn, the city would rearrange an approximately $47 million payout to MOHAI, allowing it to spend millions of those dollars, which are being provided to MOHAI by the state, now and reimburse MOHAI later, after the economy has improved. McGinn wanted MOHAI to give the city $7 million of that money, arguing that it was an unexpected windfall MOHAI should be willing to share with the city in tough economic times.
Council members noted that the city had negotiated in MOHAI in good faith; to take away some of their state money now would set a dangerous precedent for future deals. "A deal has to be a deal," said council member Sally Clark. "If we were making an agreement with a food bank we would want a deal to be a deal, and if we're making an agreement with a museum, we should want a deal to be a deal."
Council member Tim Burgess said it was "disheartening" that McGinn was representing his proposal as one that would help solve the current budget crisis. "That money [wouldn't be available] until 2012 or even 2013; it will do absolutely nothing to address our budget crisis," Burgess said.
Council president Richard Conlin added that the $7 million would be exactly the kind of one-time funding McGinn had just finished telling the council, in his budget address, that they should avoid using to patch the $67 million budget hole. "The mayor made a pretty clear statement of why we shouldn't just taken this $7 million from MOHAI," Conlin said.
O'Brien expressed some concerns about the MOHAI agreement---specifically, the fact that the city has promised to provide the museum with $300,000 a year for 40 years. "It's important to keep the restrooms at South Lake Union Park," where MOHAI will be relocated, "open, but I can't tell you that's more important than keeping libraries" and other city services open, O'Brien said. At the same time, he added, the city and MOHAI had an agreement, and "I feel like it's incumbent on us to abide by that agreement."
In an email, McGinn spokesman Aaron Pickus pointed to several proposals the mayor made in response to Licata's ordinance, including that the city forego the $300,000 annual subsidy; that MOHAI use some of its $7 million to fund staff that will be displaced from South Lake Union Park when MOHAI moves in; and that MOHAI pay for part of the money the city will lose when it can no longer rent out the Armory building for events.
Under the deal, which is opposed by Mayor Mike McGinn, the city would rearrange an approximately $47 million payout to MOHAI, allowing it to spend millions of those dollars, which are being provided to MOHAI by the state, now and reimburse MOHAI later, after the economy has improved. McGinn wanted MOHAI to give the city $7 million of that money, arguing that it was an unexpected windfall MOHAI should be willing to share with the city in tough economic times.
Council members noted that the city had negotiated in MOHAI in good faith; to take away some of their state money now would set a dangerous precedent for future deals. "A deal has to be a deal," said council member Sally Clark. "If we were making an agreement with a food bank we would want a deal to be a deal, and if we're making an agreement with a museum, we should want a deal to be a deal."
Council member Tim Burgess said it was "disheartening" that McGinn was representing his proposal as one that would help solve the current budget crisis. "That money [wouldn't be available] until 2012 or even 2013; it will do absolutely nothing to address our budget crisis," Burgess said.
Council president Richard Conlin added that the $7 million would be exactly the kind of one-time funding McGinn had just finished telling the council, in his budget address, that they should avoid using to patch the $67 million budget hole. "The mayor made a pretty clear statement of why we shouldn't just taken this $7 million from MOHAI," Conlin said.
O'Brien expressed some concerns about the MOHAI agreement---specifically, the fact that the city has promised to provide the museum with $300,000 a year for 40 years. "It's important to keep the restrooms at South Lake Union Park," where MOHAI will be relocated, "open, but I can't tell you that's more important than keeping libraries" and other city services open, O'Brien said. At the same time, he added, the city and MOHAI had an agreement, and "I feel like it's incumbent on us to abide by that agreement."
In an email, McGinn spokesman Aaron Pickus pointed to several proposals the mayor made in response to Licata's ordinance, including that the city forego the $300,000 annual subsidy; that MOHAI use some of its $7 million to fund staff that will be displaced from South Lake Union Park when MOHAI moves in; and that MOHAI pay for part of the money the city will lose when it can no longer rent out the Armory building for events.
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