The NASCAR Hall of Fame is such a great deal the public does not need the specifics. So says Charlotte city councilman John Lassiter:
The Charlotte City Council met for three hours behind closed doors on an “economic development issue” Monday night, but members refused to even say what it was about.
“We’re trying to recruit businesses to our community, and we need to treat those with a different kind of caution because they’re competitive,” said John Lassiter, chair of the council’s economic development committee. “The public had ample opportunity to weigh in (on the hall) when we put together the financing for our bid last year.”
Yep, that still secret bid. Ample opportunity. The bid that may — or may not — commit the city to paying NASCAR every year for the honor of building and operating the $137 million Hall for a multi-billion dollar entertainment operation. Once again, I challenge anyone in city government to prove that the original bid for the Hall has not been bid up in recent weeks.
Should council approve this secret deal Monday, it will be a black day for Charlotte. Another step in the long, slow slide to becoming Detroit-on-the-Catawba; a victory for making Charlotte a great place to visit, rather than a great place to live. And your Charlotte city council thinks that is just super.
