WBTV reports here that the Charlotte CC is offering free space for local businesses to hold meetings. This is not news.  The Raleigh Convention Center has been offering free space since it opened its doors last September.  The only way these money pits can operate is to offer free space and even pay people to use them. But city council members feel compelled to build these white elephants using taxpayers’ money.  

Get this from a local businessman:

Matt Sielsky, owner of Matt’s
Chicago Dog, said he has noticed fewer events at the Convention
Center than five years ago when his business first opened.

We reported in 2007 on the problems at the Raleigh CC and Charlotte CC here. In September 2008, we documented the free space and the $2.3 million in discounts offered by the Raleigh CC here.