Last night, Dec. 10, the city council once again took up the topic of the Cain Center. Naturally, there is a lot of frustration and emotion being shared today, as well as confusion over what was decided, who voted how, and why. I’d like to bring some clarity to this complex topic.
1) I want the Cain Center up and running again. I wasn’t on the council when the city started this journey, but I am now, and my vote has consistently reflected a desire to see the doors open again, sooner rather than later.
2) There is no one on the council who wouldn’t like to see the Cain Center operating again — as long as it does not come at too great a cost to the residents of Athens who bear the tax burden. There is no one on the council who hasn’t sat through hours and hours of meetings to discuss this issue with staff and with one other. Therefore, even when some of my fellow council members vote in a way that may be labeled “anti-Cain Center,” it’s important to know he is doing so because he truly believes it is in the best interest of the citizens, not because he doesn’t care or doesn’t listen. In fact, I can say with certainty that every member of the council is deeply invested in doing what is right in this matter. We simply do not all share the same opinion on how to best move forward. This happens in a representative democracy.
3) About a month prior to last night’s meeting, on Nov. 13, the council voted to charge local businessman and city leader Steve Grant with the enormous task of forming a community steering committee. That committee has been asked, in partnership with city staff, to explore every avenue possible to increase the viability and sustainability of the Cain Center — funding possibilities, facility usage, potential alterations to the building plan, etc. — and to report back by early April.
4) At that same meeting, the council also voted 3-2 (I was in the three) to NOT pay the $5.3 million earmarked for the Cain Center project since January 2017 back to the lender, which would have defunded the project. The two dissenting council members expressed a desire to take the matter to voters in a bond issue next year, reasoning that it should have been done that way in the first place. (I think all council members agree on that last point.)
5) Two weeks later, at the Nov. 26 meeting, a council member expressed his grave concerns again about the sustainability of the Cain Center and asked that at the next meeting (which would be Dec. 10), we vote again on the matter of possibly paying the $5.3 million earmarked for the Cain Center back to the lenders.
6) On Monday night, Dec. 10, after giving everyone in the crowded room an opportunity to speak — all but one of whom spoke on behalf of moving forward with the Cain Center project — the council voted 3-2 (I was in the two) to place on the ballot in May 2019 a non-binding referendum. This referendum will ask
7) I voted against the referendum proposal with some trepidation because no elected official wants to be painted as someone who would deprive people of a vote. What I said to the gathered crowd and share now is this: I believe the residents of Athens have demonstrated over and over again — at town hall meetings, on social media
Toni Garrard Clay – Athens