By Michael V. Hannigan
The Athens City Council changed its mind about Cain Center funding on Monday.
The new plan approved unanimously by the council calls for:
- $50,000 for general use by the Cain Center
- $100,000 for capital improvements to some commercial roofing companies in Aurora Colorado in accordance with the lease agreement between the City and the Cain Center (mainly exterior walls and roof)
- About $64,000 for water, sewer and insurance on the building
Earlier in the month, the City released information highlighting a budgetary focus on core services. The presentation also showed that the City planned to cut $130,000 in general use funds to the Cain Center, while continuing to pay for the water, sewer and insurance.
The planned cut to the Cain Center prompted an outcry that culminated Monday afternoon with a special City Council public hearing. Supporters of the Cain Center packed the largest meeting room at the Athens Partnership Center to let the City Council know they didn’t want to see the facility close.
The City Council responded.
The additional spending for the Cain Center is expected to come from a contingency fund, in part, and the rest, from streets.
Monday night, the City posted the following on its Facebook page:
“The belief is shared by all members of City Council, that the Cain Center facility, and the services provided to our citizens, are of great value to the community. In the same way that the City is addressing important service needs and much needed maintenance across water, sewer, streets, development, parks, police, fire and more, the Council felt confident that bolstering an important facility in the community would be a benefit to this, and future generations.”
“Thank you to the hundreds of citizens who voiced their opinions about this and many other important issues in our community over the past days and weeks. Keep the civic dialogue going forward and we all benefit in the process.”
Monday’s action, however, does not solve the problems at the Cain Center. As Cain Center Board President Cliff Bomer told the council during the meeting at the Partnership Center, there is a lot of work to be done.
And a lot of questions yet to be answered: What should be the county’s contribution to the Cain Center? Is there a way to clear up the ownership question? How do the needed repairs to facilities like the pool get funded? How can the Cain Center generate more revenue?
But Monday’s vote does give Cain Center supporters reason to hope and, hopefully, a way to move forward.
Let me get this straight … For weeks the city council has analyzed and prepared their proposed budget and how they can best serve the citizens with the tax revenue they have available. They’ve held forums, crunched numbers, and studied their “core services” needs (their words, not mine).
Through their examination they determined (and made public) their stance that the city was not in a financial position to continue their support (by means of “no strings attached” cash) of the Cain Center. They asserted that the needs of the city’s core services outweighed the benefit of helping fund a failing recreation center that has always ended their fiscal years in a deficit. Simply put, there just wasn’t enough money to go around; the city was looking to support their own needs (streets, infrastructure, bond rating, financial sustainability, and delivery of services) before forking over more cash to an organization (Cain Center) only to watch those funds to continue to be squandered away. I believe it was the smartest, bravest, and most rational decision that the council could have made.
Now, as if by magic, the city has found cash, not only the $130K that the Cain Center originally asked for but $150K, that they are willing to give away. Where will this money come from? Surely not the street program that the current council was so quick to criticize former councils from dipping into. Surely not from the emergency reserve that the current council was so proud to have earmarked. Surely not from emergency services (fire & police) that the current council has decried as being in need of major enhancements. Where will they ever find that kind of money.
Or, perhaps, was it there all along? Perhaps all of these manuveurs were really just posturing and rhetoric about something they had planned to do in the first place. Maybe they were simply rattling their sabres so they could swoop in at the last minute and “save the day” by saving the Cain Center. Could it be that they were setting themselves up to look like heroes?
If the above theory is true, shame on the city council. Tax dollars and your political position should never be used to manipulate public opinion or favor.
If the above theory is not true and the funds you have committed could have (this) easily been given to the Cain Center as originally requested, you should have never came out with you scathing opinion of how bad of an operation they are running. You should have just given them the money and kept your opinions to yourselves.
Perhaps what was most lost during this process was how the citizens trust you. After all, you said you didn’t have the money and you couldn’t afford it. We believed you and trusted your judgment. Now you say you have the money and can afford it. So how are we supposed to believe you in the future?
To the Cain Center board – you’ve got to get this under control and make it manageable. Future funding from the city may not be there for you – that is, depending on who you choose to believe.
To the city council – you should have stuck with your original plan.