Transparency necessary with sports complex

The sports complex. It's sports. And it's complex.

City officials are combing over proposals that have been submitted thus far -- there were eight proposals, six of which are being considered.

But let's go back to the start for a minute.

The sports complex idea begins many years ago, predating the River Campus.

A hotel/restaurant tax increase was passed by voters, and the funds were to go to pay for the River Campus as well as funding the city's Convention and Visitors Bureau. A twin component to help pay for the River Campus, a separate bond issue, failed. Southeast Missouri State University found other private and public funding mechanisms, allowing the project to move forward, but a prominent executive with Drury hotels, Jim Drury, sued the city at the time for collecting the tax, saying the university's plans sidestepped the will of voters. The project was tied up in court for more than five years, as subsequent lawsuits were filed after legal losses by Drury. Finally, a deal was struck by Drury and former Mayor Jay Knudtson that legal actions would be dropped, but the hotel/restaurant tax -- which was passed by voters through 2030 -- would end when the River Campus project was paid off, and the tax would have to go to voters for re-approval if it were to continue.

And so, when the River Campus payments were near completion, city officials -- not wanting to have to go to voters with so many other tax initiatives nearing sunsets -- and executives of the MidAmerica Hotel Corporation negotiated once more.

Hotel executives said they believed the city proved itself responsible in the area of the hotel/restaurant tax and saw the value in the work the conventions and visitors bureau was doing to help bring people into the city. So they agreed to amend the legal agreement so the tax could be extended for the rest of the life span as originally approved by voters. But the hotel executives, whose customers pay a bulk of the taxes, wanted a seat at the table, along with other city and community members, in deciding what projects would be paid for by the tax dollars.

The committee ultimately determined a sports complex was the direction the city should go with the tax revenue. The city has been rather successful in recruiting sports tournaments to Cape Girardeau. The soccer complex, the softball/baseball complex and the Show Me Center have brought thousands of visitors to Cape Girardeau over the years.

But Cape Girardeau doesn't have an indoor sports arena capable of hosting certain types of indoor tournaments.

The idea is that such an arena would bring thousands more people to the city, adding to the tax base and the local economy.

So now the city is weighing proposals of what an indoor sports complex could look like and where would be the best place for it.

It's fair to say this whole scenario is abnormal.

There have been lawsuits and negotiations. There are potential conflicts of interest. It could be argued private interests have leveraged legal threats to gain a seat at the public table. In truth, it makes sense for hotel executives to have input in this process.

But all of this strange background necessitates transparency. The city has laid out plans that will provide it once the proposals are narrowed down.

The proposals so far have remained closed. The city says releasing the proposals to the public now could "jeopardize land acquisition or other related costs which could quite possibly escalate if everything was made public at this time." That is according to an email provided by a city spokeswoman in response to a series of questions sent by the Southeast Missourian editorial board.

But once the property issues are resolved, the city says, the finalists will be made public, and the residents of this city will have an opportunity to weigh in on the discussion.

The city says there were eight project proposals in response to the city's request for proposals. The committee that has reviewed them consists of Chamber of Commerce president and CEO John Mehner, parks director Julia Thompson and assistant city manager Molly Hood. Mark Lanzotti is the city council liaison, and city manager Scott Meyer is providing oversight as well.

Once the final site is selected, a staff committee will negotiate the development with final approval by the city council.

We are relieved to know that the public will have an opportunity to examine the final proposals and give input on this project. Millions of dollars will be spent, and private developers stand to gain from this tax-funded project.

It's important that the city puts everything on the table for examination.

Transparency is the only way to bring credibility to this complex process.