In Raleigh, NC, Centennial Authority members yesterday
"rejected a proposal" from the Hurricanes to cover the $20M
"shortfall" for the new Raleigh arena, "a move that could
force taxpayers to dig deeper into their pockets," according
to Willis & Politi of the Raleigh NEWS & OBSERVER. After
meeting yesterday, the Authority "recommended turning down"
the team's offer, as members "apparently thought there were
too many strings attached." Board member Reef Ivey, on the
Canes' $20M loan offer: "[It] truly reads like a bank loan.
If you total all of this up, it costs millions of dollars."
Dean Jordan, President & COO of Gale Force Holdings, the
Canes' parent company, "issued a scathing statement" saying,
"We find it totally irresponsible that the statement said
our proposal would 'cost the public millions of dollars' ...
[W]e refuse to allow the authority to cast the Hurricanes in
a negative light regarding taxpayers' money." Willis &
Politi write that after the rejection of the team's offer,
it is "clear that using taxpayers' money is now the primary
option" for funding the overruns (NEWS & OBSERVER, 7/10).
