You knew this was coming but it's still annoying. The Houston City Council will vote (hopefully) tomorrow to approve the Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone that will finally clear the way for construction to begin on the new Dynamo stadium. The TIRZ is expected to pass, but various city politicians are using the vote as one final chance to grandstand against the project.
The latest story coming out has politicians grumbling about a $3 million dollar sales tax kickback the team will receive over a 30-year period as part of the agreement. The deal is similar to the agreement the city made with the Houston Texans as part of the construction of Reliant Stadium.
Councilman Mike Sullivan conviniently doesn't remember anything about the sales tax deal from negotiations, but Houston Chief Development Officer Andy Icken says the sales tax kickback has been part of the deal all along and is an acceptable trade-off since the stadium is in the end being donated to the city.
Basically, same s**t, different day. This deal will be approved and the stadium will be built, but politicians have to get their final shots in to score some points with constituents. We knew this was coming and there is nothing to do but weather the storm of stupidity and be ready to fill the stadium when it's finally ready.
The more disturbing issue is the continued disgusting and often racist opinions posted in the comment sections on the Houston Chronicle website. The story I linked to above already has over 30 comments, and while many are perfectly reasonable opinions, there are several filled with vitriol, stupidity and racism. Here is one example I could get before the worst of the comments were blocked:
"$35.8 million dollars for an un-American sport spent by the city and county a building to collect and trap illegal aliens - priceless" -SLHaynes
There is always an element of any community that will be against any development deal involving a stadium and when you add in the sport of soccer, it always brings out the real trolls and mental cave people. No stadium project deal is perfect, but compared to some of the more upside down ones we've seen in America in the past, the Dynamo's deal is about as fair as you can get. In addition to the stadium, there will be a major effort to redevelop the surrounding area, something that is ultimately positive for the city and community.
Sadly, that's not enough for some people. Facts aren't enough for some people. So you will continue to get examples of idiocracy and as we all know, there is no better place for idiocracy than the internet.