Greensboro Coliseum board chair Richard Beard (unposted) comes to director Matt Brown’s defense in response to the N&R’s editorial on Brown’s salary hike:
The critics will continue to harp on the annual cash transfer at the Coliseum Complex. Yet, while the city of Greensboro’s budget will show a deficit on paper, a recent study of the economic impact of the coliseum’s events show the actual tax revenue pumped into Greensboro’s general fund offsets up to 91 percent of the coliseum’s operating deficit.
Now that’s a great return on our investment! I question how much revenue is offsetting annual deficits of other city departments such as libraries and Parks & Recreation?
Seems to me unfavorable reaction to Brown’s salary hike cuts across the political spectrum, so winning friends and influencing people on this issue is a tough bid. Richard beard didn’t do himself any favors here, because one thing you don’t do in a liberal-leaning midsize city with seven colleges: crack on libraries and parks.
