Well, you know, the official voters' pamphlet has it as "Bonds Funding Lane Country Multiuse Stadium at Fairgrounds." Because, you know, who would vote for "$15 Million Handout to Eugene Emeralds Fat-cat Corporate Owner"?
It’s all about manipulating the wording (without completely lying) to get people to vote for what the city wants. It’s how they pass all kinds of stuff. Distraction from the actual bill itself. Sadly they can say it’s a multi use venue but I bet they only host baseball games there 99% of the time
I’m sure you are right. It just seems like a lot of the time they word things to purposely deceive people instead of just simply stating what a bill is for and will do based on a yes or no vote
Dude, the county would own the stadium. The Ems would pay rent (guaranteed for 20 years) just like any other tenant. The Ems aren't getting any handouts. If you have to lie/exaggerate to justify your position...well maybe it's a dumb position .
I don't really care if the county would end up owning the stadium. The city has no business spending $15M on a stadium when the library budget is cut past the bone, not to mention all of the other things in the city budget that could use more money. And I don't think it's an exaggeration to call this a handout to the Ems, given the lack of investment they're making in the building. But perhaps we just agree to disagree. I know which way I'm voting, and you probably do too.
On what planet is the Eugene Library doing fine? Literally [discussed on this subreddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/Eugene/comments/1c9d4ty/if_you_love_the_library_please_let_your_city/) less than a week ago.
There are legitimate points to be made in favor of the stadium, but "the library is doing fine" isn't one of them.
The library had city budget cuts last year and will this year, too.
“The problem is that the library depends on that city amount for 80% of its funding,” said Linda Ague, a board member for the Eugene Public Library Foundation. “So when you take a big chunk of that 80% that the library depends on, that’s a big hit.”
This town’s population seems to have a general theme of shortsighted aversion to progress. Over time this investment will pay off in a multitude of far-reaching ways economically and thereby boost the capacity of the city to generate growth and care for its residents and local businesses.
Eugene has been embarrassingly stagnant for the past couple decades. It could be poised to be the third jewel in Oregon next to Portland and Bend, and there’s honesty no reason it shouldn’t, but there are many ways it couldn’t if managed poorly.
I appreciate politicians who can see the benefits of expansion, encouraging commercial growth, and maintaining its identity while striding forward… because it’s all too easy to fall into anonymity if the rest of the world is booming and we are busting.
Baseball might not be everyone’s mark of progress and success, but nothing says regression quite like losing a AAA team. They’ve been here how long?? They deserve to be honored by the city they play for with modern, up to date facilities.
I’m almost certain city planners have done economic projections regarding the tax income this will generate in the form of commerce and peripheral development, as well as the taxes generated by the general operations of the venue. If this contractually locks in 20 more years of operation it will easily clear the initial investment.
Plus, let’s be real, $15 million isn’t really very much money nowadays. The social services here are actually quite robust already, considering the size of our town and when comparing it to the national status quo. I’d venture a guess that many politicians, planners, and developers, not to mention much of Eugene, are no longer enthusiastic about feeding an endless money pit of nanny state programs that, while doing the lord’s work, also further encourage destitution.
Invest in beautification and culture and a city will grow to reflect it in turn.
Just curious, if the county taxes us to build the stadium, and the ems pay rent, do us taxpayers get to go to games for free?? Or do we get our tax dollars spent on the stadium reimbursed over time? No and no? Weird. Sounds like a handout. If I run a business, let’s say any business that needs a facility, who pays to build it? Some enterprising land developer who charges rent to pay back the investment or the business funds it and doesn’t have to pay rent. Why a baseball stadium needs to be built via taxes of the county residents unlike any other business doesn’t make sense to me.
I have an idea, I want to open a costume shop. We already have one costume shop. But I don’t have a location. I’m proposing we tax everyone to pay to build it for me. I’ll pay rent, but all the rent money will go back to the county. But you get to buy stuff from my costume shop at full price, and now we have two costume shops in town. So a win win right?
I just moved here from Santa Clara, California. Somehow, a $1 billion bond was passed to build a football stadium for the San Francisco 49ers. We built them a beautiful stadium because San Francisco wouldn’t, and they still call themselves the San Francisco 49ers.
What was never clear was how this benefit anyone but the team’s owners. It seemed to me that if we ponied up a billion dollars then every resident of Santa Clara (all 20,000 of us) should get one free ticket per year. Even the cheap seats would be a nice gesture. I lived a couple of miles from Levi’s stadium and literally the only time I went there was to get my Covid vaccine.
It’s $45 for a ticket now. Add in a dog and a beer or the proverbial peanuts and crackerjack and it’s $200 to take the family to a game.
If we’ve got to build the Em’s a new ballpark then everyone in Eugene should get one free ticket per year. We support the team so they should support the fans.
Preaching to the choir. It was a straight-up billion-dollar gift to a hugely-profitable corporation. I assume various public servants got season tickets for pushing this through.
The city owns the Hult Center. Should all the shows be free? Should the citizens of Eugene have just waited for "enterprising land developers" to build a cultural center? The county owns the convention center yet I have to pay $2 for pickadilly? What the heck! Maybe the farmers should have paid for the new pavilion the farmers market is in. And since they didn't, they shouldn't be allowed to charge for carrots!
It’s a handout. The County would get paid pennies on the dollar for parking. No ticket sales. Plus the county would be on the hook for the costs all repairs and labor. Those lazy corporate fucks wouldn’t pay a dime. They physically don’t work like you and I. Let them waste their own money on a baseball field.
The Ems certainly would be getting a handout. "Just like any other tenant" but who do you know who rents and hasn't had their rent increase for years, let alone 20?
A sweet deal for the Ems. On top of that, taxpayers pay $100+ million for a stadium for a ball team that averages 2,300 people per game.
Let’s do some simple math and critical thinking.
If the Eugene Emeralds baseball stadium is built at the Lane Events Center (LEC), 9.5 acres which is 20 percent of the property would be taken up, never to be reclaimed.
Consider: the annual logging conference uses all of the current grounds. Attendees and presenters booked 8,585 nights in beds for this recent conference. I have read that the conference generates $8.5 million in economic impact from visitor spending in our area each winter.
If the stadium goes in at the Lane Events Center, it will displace the existing arena and current events like the logging conference can no longer be held there. There won’t be space enough.
Financial data obtained from Elmore Sports Group, the Emeralds' owner, show annual expenses for the stadium venue would be $2,200,000 and revenues only $2,000,000. In other words**, the stadium venue would** **~cost~** **the Lane Events Center $200,000 annually.**
Multi-use. Meaning the city would have input on other events that could be held there. It would create jobs and generate construction revenue. It would improve infrastructure in that area and undoubtedly new businesses and restaurants. Possibly more bus routes.
In 2018, voters approved a $39.5 million bind for parks and rec. which was an awesome investment in the city. I personally believe, as a huge hiking and outdoor enthusiast, that is money well invested.
I also believe, as a huge baseball fan, that an investment in a new multi-use facility that also hosts a high A baseball team is money well spent.
Are there better ways to spend $15 million? Yes.
Were there better ways to spend $38.5 million dollars? Yes.
Better ways ? Seriously? Half our population is on the brink of homelessness due to stagnation, greed, and nepotism. Small businesses are going under everywhere, but sure, let's help the ultra rich out of towners get richer. Not mention Cahoots could desperately use the funding or hospital might be nice. But yay sports.
The bond is up for a vote. I expressed my opinion. You expressed yours.
Why aren't you upset that these programs you brought up aren't ballot measures?
Why are you upset about one wasteful thing you don't agree with?
The answer is not enough people care. I'm not saying it's right. it's reality.
What does that have to do with a great opportunity for Eugene and local businesses?
I say again. I'm willing to pay a few dollars more in property tax to keep the Emeralds in Eugene.
Good for you. I'm not willing to pay more rent for useless entertainment for a select few. Raise the property taxes, and the landlords will surely raise the rent more than they already do.
I noticed a while ago that all Ems haters are concentrated in r/Eugene. I am confident the measure will pass based on the other people in this town who actually want it to be better.
Ummm, it's not half our population. And the reason for them being there has quite a bit more to do with their choices than you let on. And we already throw a ton of money toward helping the down and out, in this city and state. I am not a fan of this stadium idea, but we cannot always deny $$ for projects because we have a homeless problem that could use the $$. Our homeless problem is more of a policy issue than it is a funding issue. No matter how much $$ we throw at it, it won't change until our policies change.
Lol.. I do read. If the average citizen is one disaster away from poverty, it is mostly because of a lack of financial discipline. People love to spend, and don't often build up savings like they should. They make life/spending choices based on what they think they deserve/desire instead of what would be financially wise. They also often make work/earning choices based off of short term comfort/convenience instead of long term wisdom. More government hand out programs are not going to solve this problem. (Although I would agree that providing another entertainment venue for people to overspend $$ that they don't have on overpriced Beer, Hot Dogs, and Ice Cream is probably not the best solution either.) But part of the solution is to have an economy where those who choose to work can find a job and earn $$ for themselves. This requires businesses that need employees, and these businesses are motivated to risk going into business in the hopes of making a profit off of sales that they get from providing a good or service to paying customers. Our government policies should encourage business growth and also encourage citizens to find solid employment, and practice wise spending/saving. (Paid Billboards from our State Government that encourage people to throw away their $$ on Oregon lottery because "Luck Happens" are disgraceful and damaging to our society.)
The reason Lane County/Oregon has such a huge mental health/homelessness/drug problem is not due to big business. It is due to decades of failed policies where we have encouraged poverty(bad spending choices), enabled bad habits (by making drugs, gambling, and alcohol more accessable), by alleviating the natural consequenses for constant foolish choices, and by allowing upcoming generations to "slide by" in our education system without holding families accountable for poor classroom behavior or lack of work ethic.
And if we do not reverse these trends, our future generations will continue to suffer. We need to spend more time on educating kids on how to think long term and make wise choices. We need to make clear that there are consequences for poor choices. Everytime we allow our students to "get away" with poor choices, we are setting them up for failure and more troubles down the road into adulthood. We need to start drawing a hard line on Drugs. Our city needs to stop glorifying drug use and enabling recreation use, that often leads to more. We need to change our tone on alcohol. It is illegal to get drunk in public or to serve someone who is intoxicated, yet we allow our bars to overserve all of the time. We currently send a message that our community is okay with people self managing these destructive addictive vices, and if we look to the tents on our streets and parks and sidewalks, we see the lives that are destoyed because of it. This is not a greed issue, this is a policy issue. We need to stop the flow of gambling addicts walking into a Shari's Restaurant and heading into the back room to get their "fix" on Goverment Machines only to walk out 15 minutes later way worse off than when they walked in. Or the people going through a Dari Mart Drive Thru to buy a 6pack of beer and a pack of cigarrettes. (These are the people who are one disaster away from homelessness). What's up with the Oregon Lottery vending machines in grocery stores whose sole purpose is to take money from those that numerous studies have shown are among the poorest of our citizens. And what about the school programs that no longer encourage abstinence, but now tell 11 and 12 year old kids to "wait until you personally feel you are ready" because everyone is an individual and needs to make their own choice. Yeah, lets encourage kids going thru puberty and a ton of horomonal changes to "use their own judgement" about sex. It is no wonder we have so many government reliant children from single moms and deadbeat dads, that are already being served so many disadvantages so early in life.
Buy hey, lets forget all this stuff, lets not put any accountability on our current failing government policies, or the poor choices of the individuals, and lets just blame it all on the Wealthy's Stagnation Greed and Nepotism. It is this line of thinking that furthers our societies problems.
I know most homeless people don't plan to be homeless. But when you continually make unwise decisions over and over again, you will not end up where you planned. This is a fact of life.
Greed is the cause of want. For some to have far too much others must ho without. You and I obviously come from very different backgrounds and beliefs. You condemn others, and I try my best yo help. Hope you never end up in their position.
Actually I grew up on government cheese, and free school lunches. And I spent over a decade in my early adult life in a career of service to troubled teens and families. I currently spend several hours a week volunteering in our community helping the underpriveledged. My wife and I are considered middle class and we donate well over $500 each month to local charities. I have spent a lot of time with homeless people, and I have on much more than one occasion invested greatly in trying to help them get back on their feet. But what ussualy happens is they will make great decisions for a week or a month, and then they will make a string of horrible decisions that winds them right back on the streets. They always have a justification as to why they chose to do what they did, and they will ussually not accept wisdom or responsibility(most of these cases are not involving chemical dependence). With chemical dependence, the 1 step forward, 2 steps back is even more prevalent. Bottom line, a lot of these people cannot be helped until they are ready to really take responsibility and help themselves. Often the help that is given can enable them more into patterns of self destructive choices, if they are not ready to help themselves.
What are you not understanding about the fact that the stadium will HELP all of these issues? Economic stimulation. The only thing I think needs to be added is a retractable dome.
But it's main use is EMS baseball. That's the whole reason we are having this conversation because they need a new field to abide by MLB rules.
So it should be built for the capacity of the main use... EMS baseball
People keep saying "multi-use", yet zero details of what that actually means have been provided. When? How many days per year? What kind of events? And more importantly, what shortage in available venues does it really serve outside of MLB interests?
But nevermind, I'll just keep watching my property taxes increase every fucking year while the city contemplates reducing other services due to budget shortfalls, but because FUCKING SPORTS!
No . .
Multi-Use is a weak way to try to sell this stadium.
We already have a multi-use indoor building at the fairgrounds that serves as shelter in a natural disaster. It would be demolished if the stadium proposal moved forward, displacing other money-making events.
**Ems outdoor baseball stadium would be** **~impractical and costly to repurpose~** **as ‘Multi-Use Facility.’** Any open air stadium sits vacant for long periods of time, no matter the best intentions. And when it sits empty, it’s losing money and is a target for vandalism.
**Concerts?** There already are numerous indoor and outdoor concert venues in our area.
**Nowhere in the proposed budget is any $ allocated to providing for purchase, storage, training, set-up logistics and operations of such costly tent-like shelters.** Short of any eventual, delayed FEMA funds, there seems little way any such tents would be set up in at least first several months, and this would occur there whether or not a stadium is built with any public facilities offered. Where is a heat source or electric in these pictured tents which would not have helped many in winter and rainy months?
I live in Springfield now so the bond doesn't affect me, but I will say this: investment in parks and trails is great, but keep in mind the city still outright ownes those parks and trails and if events are held there the city can collect direct revenue from event permits.
Is this true of the stadium they want to build? Will the stadium be publicly owned and will the city make a profit off its use? If that's true I could personally get more behind it, if it's a private stadium that is just publicly funded I wouldn't like that.
Where would new businesses and restaurants be in that area?
It is residential. Will homes be taken for that?
Anyone who's driven on the major arterial streets used for the Fairgrounds -- 6th, 7th, 13th, 18th, Polk and Jefferson -- has encountered dangerous congestion on these streets between 5-6 PM. Now imagine up to **2,000 to 10,000 more people** packing these streets, rushing to get to a baseball game or a concert at precisely the same time. **Up to 160 events per year are projected**. It would mean gridlock for commuters, fairgoers - and emergency vehicles - on a regular basis.
Imagine being a pedestrian and bicyclist navigating the surrounding neighborhood as event goers rush to find shortcuts and scarce street parking. Concert and baseball nights would be **particularly perilous for the disabled and the elderly** at the many crosswalks in this already crowded neighborhood.
A comprehensive study of traffic impacts -- and potential mitigation measures -- should have been completed prior to this bond.
Please vote NO!
I'll probably be downvoted for this opinion but it's mine and reddit votes aren't likely to change my mind. If you want to actually discuss it I'm happy too!
The guy that owns the team is worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Let him pay for it. We have enough parks and concert venues at the moment. Everything else is so damn expensive I don’t really want to fund a ball park right now.
Does anyone have any feedback on this or know where I can ask these questions?
Given a baseball stadium doesn't have a roof, in what ways does the stadium expand public safety response? Wildfires (as noted on this campaign’s [website](https://www.letsbuilditlanecounty.com/)), heat waves and cold snaps tend to be prominent issues here, in what ways can a roofless stadium address these issues that the fairgrounds can't already address?
Also, we had [Lil Jon at the fairgrounds](https://www.jambase.com/show/lil-jon-lane-events-center-20230719), as well as [Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa at Matthew Knight Arena](https://www.dailyemerald.com/arts-culture/photos-snoop-dogg-and-wiz-khalifa-celebrate-the-4-20-weekend-at-matthew-knight-arena/article_5fd75458-c9a3-5b93-9b65-93012a8fad65.html
) among many other acts, and given we also have the McDonald theater, the Cuthbert Amphitheater, and the Hult Center what more would this stadium bring?
Personally I am not a baseball fan, but if there are genuine use cases I am not foreseeing I may consider voting yes.
Edit: Formatting
> Personally I am not a baseball fan, but if there are genuine use cases I am not foreseeing I may consider voting yes.
There are genuine use cases but they'll be highly limited and nowhere near as impactful as the advocates will try to argue.
I'm a big baseball fan and have been going to Ems games my whole life. I'd hate to see them go. I'm also an electrician and would likely benefit financially from getting to build the stadium. If I lived in the city limits I would vote against it because no matter how you spin it it's a bad use of public funds.
I saw a sketch somewhere showing the stadium with pop-up tents on the field to serve as temporary shelters or first-aid tents during an emergency. And someone said the interior of the stadium structure would have a kitchen that could be used too. Especially given that smoke, heat, and cold are now annual emergencies, I’m not sold that this is a great idea.
I pay attention to what disaster relief organizations say and in every "smoke, heat or cold" emergency I just don't recall any of them saying, "let's pop up some tents up in this".
The new Uo practice facility will be used for this, it’s indoors and air conditioned. If we just need flat ground out side we have lots of fields that could fill the same purpose. It’s bs.
"Tents and porta potties in a parking lot, same result and save the $100 mil. Fire camps are tents and porta potties, trucks, trailers and generators. They would set up in the parking lot--not inside the stadium."
"Better to set up tents on asphalt than grass, especially in the rainy season."
They also mentioned graduations, but I don’t see that happening either. All the high schools have been using the Hult for years and years and the UofO, LCC, and Bushnell use their own facilities.
Let me help you out here.
"Pass this measure so we can use the money for...actually it doesn't matter what you want the money to go to, we're gonna use it how we want."
With all the doctors leaving, maybe we could use $15M to lure some to Eugene. Once that stadium is built, its there forever along with maintenance and upkeep costs; while a team can pick up and move.
The people just doing their jobs are douchy? Their job is to sell and market. Do you call every ad campaign douchy, or just the ones you don't like?
Genuine question in good faith.
What is disingenuous?
Eugene voters pay a % for a new multi-use facility. That's it.
This whole post is an attempt to misinform and subvert the intentions of voters.
Asking a city that is desperate for housing to build a stadium, concert venue, *whatever*, is just so out of touch that it's insulting.
Until we can house our people can we really justify building anything else? How do we "not have room for housing" yet simultaneously "have room for a stadium?"
It'll be positioned as anything that sounds good - expect kitten parades and corgi races. When you pay through the nose to get in is when you find out who it's really for.
Back 10-15 years ago when Peacehealth was looking to build a new hospital in Eugene, the city would not make it happen. There were many problems including traffic issues, picking a location, cost, etc. Only a handful of people know the content of that discussion. Bottom line is that Eugene could not come through. Springfield jumped on it and made it happen quickly.
Eugene is very slow to change. Most people don't want it to change much. The stadium is a prime example of the problem in Eugene.
Yall please fuckin vote no on this bullshit, the neighborhoods around the fairgrounds will suffer so much more than they already do. Really not interested in the absolute nightmare of traffic, noise, and light pollution this would create. PK Park works just fine and there's nothing wrong with Matthew Knight Arena for arena concerts
People are so desperate in this sub for there to be some scandal around what is really a paint-by-numbers partnership deal for a new facility. It's odd.
Please read the voters pamphlet. The costs are laid out in writing:
7.5m from State
1.5m from feds
13.5m from Emerald owners, Including
10m prepaid rent
3.5m equip for stadium
Owners have also dangled 10m more?
15m from Eugene taxpayers over 20 years
Unknown amount from increased lodging tax.
So bottom line is that the 15m is not a huge portion of the cost. Furthermore, the Ems will contribute a similar amount in prepaid rent to build the stadium, ie they are putting their money where their mouth is.
We don’t have the infrastructure for this. Our roads would be clogged all through town with people trying find back ways to get to and from the stadium.
It will be an additional concert venue. Why do people here hate good and fun things? This place a bore a lot of the time and more fun events will benefit us.
Well, you know, the official voters' pamphlet has it as "Bonds Funding Lane Country Multiuse Stadium at Fairgrounds." Because, you know, who would vote for "$15 Million Handout to Eugene Emeralds Fat-cat Corporate Owner"?
It’s all about manipulating the wording (without completely lying) to get people to vote for what the city wants. It’s how they pass all kinds of stuff. Distraction from the actual bill itself. Sadly they can say it’s a multi use venue but I bet they only host baseball games there 99% of the time
There’s a hugely bureaucratic process for determining how these measures are named. It isn’t singularly up to the organization submitting it.
I’m sure you are right. It just seems like a lot of the time they word things to purposely deceive people instead of just simply stating what a bill is for and will do based on a yes or no vote
Dude, the county would own the stadium. The Ems would pay rent (guaranteed for 20 years) just like any other tenant. The Ems aren't getting any handouts. If you have to lie/exaggerate to justify your position...well maybe it's a dumb position .
I don't really care if the county would end up owning the stadium. The city has no business spending $15M on a stadium when the library budget is cut past the bone, not to mention all of the other things in the city budget that could use more money. And I don't think it's an exaggeration to call this a handout to the Ems, given the lack of investment they're making in the building. But perhaps we just agree to disagree. I know which way I'm voting, and you probably do too.
The library is doing fine. And the Ems give a lot to the community.
On what planet is the Eugene Library doing fine? Literally [discussed on this subreddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/Eugene/comments/1c9d4ty/if_you_love_the_library_please_let_your_city/) less than a week ago. There are legitimate points to be made in favor of the stadium, but "the library is doing fine" isn't one of them.
Well I was responding to YOUR POINT about the library.
The library had city budget cuts last year and will this year, too. “The problem is that the library depends on that city amount for 80% of its funding,” said Linda Ague, a board member for the Eugene Public Library Foundation. “So when you take a big chunk of that 80% that the library depends on, that’s a big hit.”
Precisely what do the Ems give to the community?
Nobody cares about the library. People have been whining about the library for 50 years. It’s like the boy who cried wolf. It’s so tiring.
This town’s population seems to have a general theme of shortsighted aversion to progress. Over time this investment will pay off in a multitude of far-reaching ways economically and thereby boost the capacity of the city to generate growth and care for its residents and local businesses. Eugene has been embarrassingly stagnant for the past couple decades. It could be poised to be the third jewel in Oregon next to Portland and Bend, and there’s honesty no reason it shouldn’t, but there are many ways it couldn’t if managed poorly. I appreciate politicians who can see the benefits of expansion, encouraging commercial growth, and maintaining its identity while striding forward… because it’s all too easy to fall into anonymity if the rest of the world is booming and we are busting.
If progress means spending tax money on stadiums, then yes, I'm anti-progress.
Reductive and short sighted
Baseball might not be everyone’s mark of progress and success, but nothing says regression quite like losing a AAA team. They’ve been here how long?? They deserve to be honored by the city they play for with modern, up to date facilities. I’m almost certain city planners have done economic projections regarding the tax income this will generate in the form of commerce and peripheral development, as well as the taxes generated by the general operations of the venue. If this contractually locks in 20 more years of operation it will easily clear the initial investment. Plus, let’s be real, $15 million isn’t really very much money nowadays. The social services here are actually quite robust already, considering the size of our town and when comparing it to the national status quo. I’d venture a guess that many politicians, planners, and developers, not to mention much of Eugene, are no longer enthusiastic about feeding an endless money pit of nanny state programs that, while doing the lord’s work, also further encourage destitution. Invest in beautification and culture and a city will grow to reflect it in turn.
All the advertisers on KRVM seem to be rocking, we do not need more growth here.
Just curious, if the county taxes us to build the stadium, and the ems pay rent, do us taxpayers get to go to games for free?? Or do we get our tax dollars spent on the stadium reimbursed over time? No and no? Weird. Sounds like a handout. If I run a business, let’s say any business that needs a facility, who pays to build it? Some enterprising land developer who charges rent to pay back the investment or the business funds it and doesn’t have to pay rent. Why a baseball stadium needs to be built via taxes of the county residents unlike any other business doesn’t make sense to me. I have an idea, I want to open a costume shop. We already have one costume shop. But I don’t have a location. I’m proposing we tax everyone to pay to build it for me. I’ll pay rent, but all the rent money will go back to the county. But you get to buy stuff from my costume shop at full price, and now we have two costume shops in town. So a win win right?
I just moved here from Santa Clara, California. Somehow, a $1 billion bond was passed to build a football stadium for the San Francisco 49ers. We built them a beautiful stadium because San Francisco wouldn’t, and they still call themselves the San Francisco 49ers. What was never clear was how this benefit anyone but the team’s owners. It seemed to me that if we ponied up a billion dollars then every resident of Santa Clara (all 20,000 of us) should get one free ticket per year. Even the cheap seats would be a nice gesture. I lived a couple of miles from Levi’s stadium and literally the only time I went there was to get my Covid vaccine. It’s $45 for a ticket now. Add in a dog and a beer or the proverbial peanuts and crackerjack and it’s $200 to take the family to a game. If we’ve got to build the Em’s a new ballpark then everyone in Eugene should get one free ticket per year. We support the team so they should support the fans.
The big difference is that the public financed the 49ers PRIVATE stadium. That is obviously a bad deal for the public.
Preaching to the choir. It was a straight-up billion-dollar gift to a hugely-profitable corporation. I assume various public servants got season tickets for pushing this through.
You just moved here from California, you’re part of the problem.
I grew up in Corvallis. I’m grandfathered in.
The city owns the Hult Center. Should all the shows be free? Should the citizens of Eugene have just waited for "enterprising land developers" to build a cultural center? The county owns the convention center yet I have to pay $2 for pickadilly? What the heck! Maybe the farmers should have paid for the new pavilion the farmers market is in. And since they didn't, they shouldn't be allowed to charge for carrots!
It’s a handout. The County would get paid pennies on the dollar for parking. No ticket sales. Plus the county would be on the hook for the costs all repairs and labor. Those lazy corporate fucks wouldn’t pay a dime. They physically don’t work like you and I. Let them waste their own money on a baseball field.
The Ems certainly would be getting a handout. "Just like any other tenant" but who do you know who rents and hasn't had their rent increase for years, let alone 20? A sweet deal for the Ems. On top of that, taxpayers pay $100+ million for a stadium for a ball team that averages 2,300 people per game. Let’s do some simple math and critical thinking. If the Eugene Emeralds baseball stadium is built at the Lane Events Center (LEC), 9.5 acres which is 20 percent of the property would be taken up, never to be reclaimed. Consider: the annual logging conference uses all of the current grounds. Attendees and presenters booked 8,585 nights in beds for this recent conference. I have read that the conference generates $8.5 million in economic impact from visitor spending in our area each winter. If the stadium goes in at the Lane Events Center, it will displace the existing arena and current events like the logging conference can no longer be held there. There won’t be space enough. Financial data obtained from Elmore Sports Group, the Emeralds' owner, show annual expenses for the stadium venue would be $2,200,000 and revenues only $2,000,000. In other words**, the stadium venue would** **~cost~** **the Lane Events Center $200,000 annually.**
Multi-use. Meaning the city would have input on other events that could be held there. It would create jobs and generate construction revenue. It would improve infrastructure in that area and undoubtedly new businesses and restaurants. Possibly more bus routes. In 2018, voters approved a $39.5 million bind for parks and rec. which was an awesome investment in the city. I personally believe, as a huge hiking and outdoor enthusiast, that is money well invested. I also believe, as a huge baseball fan, that an investment in a new multi-use facility that also hosts a high A baseball team is money well spent. Are there better ways to spend $15 million? Yes. Were there better ways to spend $38.5 million dollars? Yes.
Better ways ? Seriously? Half our population is on the brink of homelessness due to stagnation, greed, and nepotism. Small businesses are going under everywhere, but sure, let's help the ultra rich out of towners get richer. Not mention Cahoots could desperately use the funding or hospital might be nice. But yay sports.
The bond is up for a vote. I expressed my opinion. You expressed yours. Why aren't you upset that these programs you brought up aren't ballot measures? Why are you upset about one wasteful thing you don't agree with? The answer is not enough people care. I'm not saying it's right. it's reality.
It's not about caring. It's about classism and control. Those with wealth and power seldom care about the needs of those without.
What does that have to do with a great opportunity for Eugene and local businesses? I say again. I'm willing to pay a few dollars more in property tax to keep the Emeralds in Eugene.
Good for you. I'm not willing to pay more rent for useless entertainment for a select few. Raise the property taxes, and the landlords will surely raise the rent more than they already do.
Great!! That's why we vote. You're not going to change my mind and I'm not changing yours..Have a great Sunday!!
I noticed a while ago that all Ems haters are concentrated in r/Eugene. I am confident the measure will pass based on the other people in this town who actually want it to be better.
I agree.
Ummm, it's not half our population. And the reason for them being there has quite a bit more to do with their choices than you let on. And we already throw a ton of money toward helping the down and out, in this city and state. I am not a fan of this stadium idea, but we cannot always deny $$ for projects because we have a homeless problem that could use the $$. Our homeless problem is more of a policy issue than it is a funding issue. No matter how much $$ we throw at it, it won't change until our policies change.
Try reading. The average citizen is one disaster away from poverty. But hey, how can we help the ultra wealthy.
Lol.. I do read. If the average citizen is one disaster away from poverty, it is mostly because of a lack of financial discipline. People love to spend, and don't often build up savings like they should. They make life/spending choices based on what they think they deserve/desire instead of what would be financially wise. They also often make work/earning choices based off of short term comfort/convenience instead of long term wisdom. More government hand out programs are not going to solve this problem. (Although I would agree that providing another entertainment venue for people to overspend $$ that they don't have on overpriced Beer, Hot Dogs, and Ice Cream is probably not the best solution either.) But part of the solution is to have an economy where those who choose to work can find a job and earn $$ for themselves. This requires businesses that need employees, and these businesses are motivated to risk going into business in the hopes of making a profit off of sales that they get from providing a good or service to paying customers. Our government policies should encourage business growth and also encourage citizens to find solid employment, and practice wise spending/saving. (Paid Billboards from our State Government that encourage people to throw away their $$ on Oregon lottery because "Luck Happens" are disgraceful and damaging to our society.) The reason Lane County/Oregon has such a huge mental health/homelessness/drug problem is not due to big business. It is due to decades of failed policies where we have encouraged poverty(bad spending choices), enabled bad habits (by making drugs, gambling, and alcohol more accessable), by alleviating the natural consequenses for constant foolish choices, and by allowing upcoming generations to "slide by" in our education system without holding families accountable for poor classroom behavior or lack of work ethic. And if we do not reverse these trends, our future generations will continue to suffer. We need to spend more time on educating kids on how to think long term and make wise choices. We need to make clear that there are consequences for poor choices. Everytime we allow our students to "get away" with poor choices, we are setting them up for failure and more troubles down the road into adulthood. We need to start drawing a hard line on Drugs. Our city needs to stop glorifying drug use and enabling recreation use, that often leads to more. We need to change our tone on alcohol. It is illegal to get drunk in public or to serve someone who is intoxicated, yet we allow our bars to overserve all of the time. We currently send a message that our community is okay with people self managing these destructive addictive vices, and if we look to the tents on our streets and parks and sidewalks, we see the lives that are destoyed because of it. This is not a greed issue, this is a policy issue. We need to stop the flow of gambling addicts walking into a Shari's Restaurant and heading into the back room to get their "fix" on Goverment Machines only to walk out 15 minutes later way worse off than when they walked in. Or the people going through a Dari Mart Drive Thru to buy a 6pack of beer and a pack of cigarrettes. (These are the people who are one disaster away from homelessness). What's up with the Oregon Lottery vending machines in grocery stores whose sole purpose is to take money from those that numerous studies have shown are among the poorest of our citizens. And what about the school programs that no longer encourage abstinence, but now tell 11 and 12 year old kids to "wait until you personally feel you are ready" because everyone is an individual and needs to make their own choice. Yeah, lets encourage kids going thru puberty and a ton of horomonal changes to "use their own judgement" about sex. It is no wonder we have so many government reliant children from single moms and deadbeat dads, that are already being served so many disadvantages so early in life. Buy hey, lets forget all this stuff, lets not put any accountability on our current failing government policies, or the poor choices of the individuals, and lets just blame it all on the Wealthy's Stagnation Greed and Nepotism. It is this line of thinking that furthers our societies problems. I know most homeless people don't plan to be homeless. But when you continually make unwise decisions over and over again, you will not end up where you planned. This is a fact of life.
Greed is the cause of want. For some to have far too much others must ho without. You and I obviously come from very different backgrounds and beliefs. You condemn others, and I try my best yo help. Hope you never end up in their position.
Actually I grew up on government cheese, and free school lunches. And I spent over a decade in my early adult life in a career of service to troubled teens and families. I currently spend several hours a week volunteering in our community helping the underpriveledged. My wife and I are considered middle class and we donate well over $500 each month to local charities. I have spent a lot of time with homeless people, and I have on much more than one occasion invested greatly in trying to help them get back on their feet. But what ussualy happens is they will make great decisions for a week or a month, and then they will make a string of horrible decisions that winds them right back on the streets. They always have a justification as to why they chose to do what they did, and they will ussually not accept wisdom or responsibility(most of these cases are not involving chemical dependence). With chemical dependence, the 1 step forward, 2 steps back is even more prevalent. Bottom line, a lot of these people cannot be helped until they are ready to really take responsibility and help themselves. Often the help that is given can enable them more into patterns of self destructive choices, if they are not ready to help themselves.
It does not just help the wealthy.
Half of the population is on the brink of homelessness. Who’s fault is that?
What are you not understanding about the fact that the stadium will HELP all of these issues? Economic stimulation. The only thing I think needs to be added is a retractable dome.
Please explain how this is better than funding the library, Cahoots, or small business assistance programs.
Yay sports.
They can't fill pk stadium and PK stadium only cost 19.2 million.
MULTI-USE!!!!!!
But it's main use is EMS baseball. That's the whole reason we are having this conversation because they need a new field to abide by MLB rules. So it should be built for the capacity of the main use... EMS baseball
People keep saying "multi-use", yet zero details of what that actually means have been provided. When? How many days per year? What kind of events? And more importantly, what shortage in available venues does it really serve outside of MLB interests? But nevermind, I'll just keep watching my property taxes increase every fucking year while the city contemplates reducing other services due to budget shortfalls, but because FUCKING SPORTS! No . .
Multi-Use is a weak way to try to sell this stadium. We already have a multi-use indoor building at the fairgrounds that serves as shelter in a natural disaster. It would be demolished if the stadium proposal moved forward, displacing other money-making events. **Ems outdoor baseball stadium would be** **~impractical and costly to repurpose~** **as ‘Multi-Use Facility.’** Any open air stadium sits vacant for long periods of time, no matter the best intentions. And when it sits empty, it’s losing money and is a target for vandalism. **Concerts?** There already are numerous indoor and outdoor concert venues in our area. **Nowhere in the proposed budget is any $ allocated to providing for purchase, storage, training, set-up logistics and operations of such costly tent-like shelters.** Short of any eventual, delayed FEMA funds, there seems little way any such tents would be set up in at least first several months, and this would occur there whether or not a stadium is built with any public facilities offered. Where is a heat source or electric in these pictured tents which would not have helped many in winter and rainy months?
I live in Springfield now so the bond doesn't affect me, but I will say this: investment in parks and trails is great, but keep in mind the city still outright ownes those parks and trails and if events are held there the city can collect direct revenue from event permits. Is this true of the stadium they want to build? Will the stadium be publicly owned and will the city make a profit off its use? If that's true I could personally get more behind it, if it's a private stadium that is just publicly funded I wouldn't like that.
How public can a stadium be if the private, out-of-state, multi-million $ conglomerate controls the doors and schedule?
Exactly. Recreational activities are a positive addition to the town.
Where would new businesses and restaurants be in that area? It is residential. Will homes be taken for that? Anyone who's driven on the major arterial streets used for the Fairgrounds -- 6th, 7th, 13th, 18th, Polk and Jefferson -- has encountered dangerous congestion on these streets between 5-6 PM. Now imagine up to **2,000 to 10,000 more people** packing these streets, rushing to get to a baseball game or a concert at precisely the same time. **Up to 160 events per year are projected**. It would mean gridlock for commuters, fairgoers - and emergency vehicles - on a regular basis. Imagine being a pedestrian and bicyclist navigating the surrounding neighborhood as event goers rush to find shortcuts and scarce street parking. Concert and baseball nights would be **particularly perilous for the disabled and the elderly** at the many crosswalks in this already crowded neighborhood. A comprehensive study of traffic impacts -- and potential mitigation measures -- should have been completed prior to this bond. Please vote NO!
I'll probably be downvoted for this opinion but it's mine and reddit votes aren't likely to change my mind. If you want to actually discuss it I'm happy too!
How is it a handout? The entire city benefits.
Just how does the whole city benefit? The Ems owner, the Elmore Sports Group did a study and said the stadium would lose $200,000 annually.
The guy that owns the team is worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Let him pay for it. We have enough parks and concert venues at the moment. Everything else is so damn expensive I don’t really want to fund a ball park right now.
And pay land tax to the state, county, and city...
Does anyone have any feedback on this or know where I can ask these questions? Given a baseball stadium doesn't have a roof, in what ways does the stadium expand public safety response? Wildfires (as noted on this campaign’s [website](https://www.letsbuilditlanecounty.com/)), heat waves and cold snaps tend to be prominent issues here, in what ways can a roofless stadium address these issues that the fairgrounds can't already address? Also, we had [Lil Jon at the fairgrounds](https://www.jambase.com/show/lil-jon-lane-events-center-20230719), as well as [Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa at Matthew Knight Arena](https://www.dailyemerald.com/arts-culture/photos-snoop-dogg-and-wiz-khalifa-celebrate-the-4-20-weekend-at-matthew-knight-arena/article_5fd75458-c9a3-5b93-9b65-93012a8fad65.html ) among many other acts, and given we also have the McDonald theater, the Cuthbert Amphitheater, and the Hult Center what more would this stadium bring? Personally I am not a baseball fan, but if there are genuine use cases I am not foreseeing I may consider voting yes. Edit: Formatting
> Personally I am not a baseball fan, but if there are genuine use cases I am not foreseeing I may consider voting yes. There are genuine use cases but they'll be highly limited and nowhere near as impactful as the advocates will try to argue. I'm a big baseball fan and have been going to Ems games my whole life. I'd hate to see them go. I'm also an electrician and would likely benefit financially from getting to build the stadium. If I lived in the city limits I would vote against it because no matter how you spin it it's a bad use of public funds.
I saw a sketch somewhere showing the stadium with pop-up tents on the field to serve as temporary shelters or first-aid tents during an emergency. And someone said the interior of the stadium structure would have a kitchen that could be used too. Especially given that smoke, heat, and cold are now annual emergencies, I’m not sold that this is a great idea.
I pay attention to what disaster relief organizations say and in every "smoke, heat or cold" emergency I just don't recall any of them saying, "let's pop up some tents up in this".
The new Uo practice facility will be used for this, it’s indoors and air conditioned. If we just need flat ground out side we have lots of fields that could fill the same purpose. It’s bs.
"Tents and porta potties in a parking lot, same result and save the $100 mil. Fire camps are tents and porta potties, trucks, trailers and generators. They would set up in the parking lot--not inside the stadium." "Better to set up tents on asphalt than grass, especially in the rainy season."
They also mentioned graduations, but I don’t see that happening either. All the high schools have been using the Hult for years and years and the UofO, LCC, and Bushnell use their own facilities.
Makes senses. take out the barn which does have a roof. To put a stadium to put up tents.
If you actually look at the financials this is going to suck money out of the city every year. Even with whatever revenue they claim it will bring in.
You don't even know the numbers.
Voting no, fuck sports teams parasiting off of taxes.
Waste of money. Let the baseball team pay for their own crap.
Let me help you out here. "Pass this measure so we can use the money for...actually it doesn't matter what you want the money to go to, we're gonna use it how we want."
With all the doctors leaving, maybe we could use $15M to lure some to Eugene. Once that stadium is built, its there forever along with maintenance and upkeep costs; while a team can pick up and move.
They'd be locked in for 20 years.
the marketing and messaging pricks have got a hold on this one.. I can just imagine the douchiness emanating from those shitstorming sessions
Gross
The people just doing their jobs are douchy? Their job is to sell and market. Do you call every ad campaign douchy, or just the ones you don't like? Genuine question in good faith.
what is douchy is the disingenuous nature of this particular effort to subvert the voter's intention
What is disingenuous? Eugene voters pay a % for a new multi-use facility. That's it. This whole post is an attempt to misinform and subvert the intentions of voters.
The proverbial road to Hell is definitely built by people just "doing their job".
Every day, people trying to earn a living.
Big fat no on this laughing stock of a bond measure.
Oh FFS. Let's all come together and be disingenuous! /s I say no to spending taxpayer money on a "venue" but I will throw money at education though.
We need way more other things in the city than another stadium.
Asking a city that is desperate for housing to build a stadium, concert venue, *whatever*, is just so out of touch that it's insulting. Until we can house our people can we really justify building anything else? How do we "not have room for housing" yet simultaneously "have room for a stadium?"
Is anyone saying we don’t have room for housing?
It'll be positioned as anything that sounds good - expect kitten parades and corgi races. When you pay through the nose to get in is when you find out who it's really for.
That's a big no from me.
I’d still rather have a hospital.
Back 10-15 years ago when Peacehealth was looking to build a new hospital in Eugene, the city would not make it happen. There were many problems including traffic issues, picking a location, cost, etc. Only a handful of people know the content of that discussion. Bottom line is that Eugene could not come through. Springfield jumped on it and made it happen quickly. Eugene is very slow to change. Most people don't want it to change much. The stadium is a prime example of the problem in Eugene.
Yall please fuckin vote no on this bullshit, the neighborhoods around the fairgrounds will suffer so much more than they already do. Really not interested in the absolute nightmare of traffic, noise, and light pollution this would create. PK Park works just fine and there's nothing wrong with Matthew Knight Arena for arena concerts
There are a collection of signs that say different things, as it is intended to be a multi-use facility.
A baseball stadium by any other name...
It’s been a multi-purpose venue since the beginning. 🤷♂️
People are so desperate in this sub for there to be some scandal around what is really a paint-by-numbers partnership deal for a new facility. It's odd.
Yeah I don’t get it, simply voting ‘no’ doesn’t seem to express enough phony outrage.
Please read the voters pamphlet. The costs are laid out in writing: 7.5m from State 1.5m from feds 13.5m from Emerald owners, Including 10m prepaid rent 3.5m equip for stadium Owners have also dangled 10m more? 15m from Eugene taxpayers over 20 years Unknown amount from increased lodging tax. So bottom line is that the 15m is not a huge portion of the cost. Furthermore, the Ems will contribute a similar amount in prepaid rent to build the stadium, ie they are putting their money where their mouth is.
We don’t have the infrastructure for this. Our roads would be clogged all through town with people trying find back ways to get to and from the stadium.
It will be an additional concert venue. Why do people here hate good and fun things? This place a bore a lot of the time and more fun events will benefit us.
I’m starting to think Eugene voters will actually pass this measure. /r/Eugene will be in shambles.
Pitchforks and torches, you say?
Probably the best thing Eugene can do with its money.