PARTYING LIKE A ROCK STAR
We read in the daily papers this week that the UA’s student council
managed to lose nearly $1 million on the Jay-Z and Kelly
Clarkson concert at Arizona Stadium last week.
Yes, you read that right: They lost nearly a million bucks on a show
that was supposed to be a fundraiser for students who can’t afford to
pay their tuition.
Not only does this wipe out the Associated Students of the
University of Arizona’s reserve fund; it also means that the outgoing
ASUA leadership leaves the organization in such heavy debt that future
student councils will have less money to spend for years, according to
the morning daily.
This is an utter disaster that can be credited to outgoing ASUA
President Tommy Bruce and his brain trust, who decided they
would throw a big-ass party even if it meant leaving the tab for
someone else.
While Bruce blamed the weak economy for the losses, anyone with any
experience in successfully promoting concerts could have told him that
this had the potential to crash and burn.
Bruce got lucky last year when he booked Kanye West at McKale
Center and only lost a little bit of money on the show. So he must have
figured: Hey, anyone can do this!
Not so much.
Jay-Z was actually a late addition to the bill. Originally, ASUA had
planned to bring in Chris Brown, but then there was that trouble
with Rihanna. You see the trouble that abuse leads to?
Sadly for all concerned, ASUA could have worked with local
promoters—there are several in town—to produce a show that
would have turned a profit. Hell, they could have hired a long-haired
hippie to play a guitar outside of the Student Union for a few bucks
and done better.
The afterparty appears to have left Bruce delusional. He told the
Arizona Daily Wildcat that the show was a success, explaining:
“You have to prove yourself in the industry.”
Well, if by “prove yourself,” you mean “demonstrate that you’re an
easy mark who has no idea what you’re doing,” you nailed it, Tommy!
You’ll go down in history as the George W. Bush of the ASUA.
SPEAKING OF MONEY TROUBLES …
A new version of the Republican budget emerged this week at the
Arizona Legislature. Good luck with this one, guys.
We mentioned some of these financial maneuvers last week, when
details first started to leak out. Of particular interest is a plan to
swipe more than $200 million in impact-fee dollars from cities and
towns.
We’re not sure how you can take money from homebuyers who were
assessed special fees for specific purposes, and then use it for
whatever you want. That’s a gigantic legal challenge waiting to
happen.
Then there’s a sweep of nearly $300 million in school-district
funds. As far as we can tell, this is based on very screwy
interpretations of school-district budgets.
So right there is about $500 million coming to the state as the
result of some of those gimmicks the GOP always complains about.
And, of course, there are plenty of cuts, as will be necessary when
facing a $3 billion shortfall. People are losing health insurance; K-12
is taking a hit that’s somewhat alleviated by stimulus dollars;
university funds are getting swept; state agencies are facing lump-sum
reductions; general-fund support for the Arizona Commission on the Arts
is zeroed out; yadda, yadda, yadda.
But hey: While they’re swiping funds from local governments that
will force those local governments to raise taxes, the Republicans do
manage to eliminate a statewide property tax that raises $250
million.
Rep. Matt Heinz, a freshman Democrat on the House
Appropriations Committee, called the budget “legislative
malpractice.”
Added Heinz: “If I were treating a patient in the hospital the way
the majority is treating the budget, I’d be hauled off to jail.”
In related news, the Joint Legislative Budget Committee released a
new report last week that shows the state’s economic picture continues
to spiral downward. The state’s number crunchers are still trying to
make sense of the income-tax numbers—it’s tricky with all those
payments and refunds going in and out the door this time of the
year—but sales-tax collections in March showed a drop of more
than 19 percent compared to 2008. That’s the biggest drop the state has
seen in this fiscal year.
The report also notes that in the last year, the state has lost
183,000 jobs. The number of payroll employees in the state hasn’t been
this low since June 2005, and the unemployment rate of 7.8 percent is
expected to climb.
WAREHOUSE SHUFFLE
While state lawmakers continue to debate the fate of the Rio Nuevo
downtown-revitalization effort, the city and the Arizona Department of
Transportation are taking steps that could lead toward the approval of
a proposed development along Toole Avenue downtown. (For details, see
“East Side Story,” April 9.)
The city would give up a piece of property next to the Interstate 10
frontage road near Congress Street. In exchange, ADOT would hand over
two historic warehouses and a parking lot on Toole Avenue.
If the swap were to go through, the Toole structures would be
renovated, and a new housing complex for artists would replace the
parking lot.
Unlike the city’s earlier offer to give ADOT three parcels of
worthless property for 15 downtown warehouses, the Interstate 10
property is valued at $550,000. The Toole parcels may be worth more
than that, with an appraisal putting a $652,000 price tag on the
parking lot alone, but those values are now under review.
If the two sides can come to terms, the City Council could finalize
the swap in July. By that time, we might even know the future of Rio
Nuevo.
MEET THE NEW BOSS
Arizona’s new secretary of state, Ken Bennett, turned up in
town last week to talk to the Pima County Elections Integrity
Commission, a panel set up in January with representatives appointed by
the Board of Supervisors, the political parties of Pima County and
County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry.
The meeting gave Bennett a chance to address elections concerns and
topics that Jan Brewer, who was serving as secretary of state
before she ascended to the governor’s office earlier this year, didn’t
address during her reign.
Last year, Pima County officials turned to Brewer’s office to ask
her for guidance regarding the treatment of election-database files as
public records, but she never wound up defending the county in or out
of court during the public-record lawsuit proceedings. She was harshly
critical of the dozens of changes Huckelberry began making as the Pima
County Democratic Party shed light on elections problems during its
public-records lawsuit for access to the electronic database files.
Bennett, by contrast, addressed each question from the commission
with what seemed to be genuine concern and knowledge of the state’s
elections systems.
Bennett even said he’s interested in looking at discussing potential
changes in the state election-procedures manual, and working with
county officials on electronic election equipment needs and new
technology changes.
This article appears in May 7-13, 2009.
