It was a minefield of legalese, financial jargon, and discussions of respect for human remains in a committee hearing held between city leaders and the Indianapolis City-County Council Tuesday night.
In the end, the council’s Rules and Public Policy Committee voted in favor of advancing Mayor Joe Hogsett’s proposal for a brand new soccer stadium at the current site of the Indianapolis Heliport with the intent of attracting an MLS expansion franchise to the city.
Committee Gives Initial Approval To Mayor’s MLS Stadium Proposal (wibc.com)
During the discussion between councilors on the committee and representatives from the mayor’s office, the situation was laid out quite bluntly by Indianapolis Deputy Mayor Dan Parker when asked by Councilor Jared Evans (D) what would happen if the mayor’s proposal was defeated.
“By the defeat of this proposal, we are hurting our chances of getting MLS and if we don’t get MLS we will not be building a soccer stadium,” Parker said. “PSDA1 would not be submitted.” ~ source WIBC News
PSDA1 is the technical name for the proposal to build Eleven Park, which was originally thought to be agreed upon between the city and owners of Indy Eleven and the Keystone Development Group. Both are owned by Ersal Ozdemir.
Tony Katz:
Kurt Darling from the WIBC newsroom was there and covered it all and I was following… The Indianapolis deputy mayor, Dan Parker said there was not a signed deal at all. There was a proposal that was vetted over the course of many, many months that did not become an agreement. This is him saying, hey, we never had to deal with the Indy Eleven. This is not about actually the Indy Eleven, although when the groundbreaking took place at Diamond Chain, there was, Joe Hogsett all smiles (below). You didn’t have a deal. You had something. You had something.
ICYMI, here is what has unfolded:
Joe Hogsett has found his guy – WIBC 93.1 FM
Joe Hogsett Doesn’t Have the Brains or the Courage to Act Alone – WIBC 93.1 FM
Owner of Indy Eleven Ersal Ozdemir Responds – WIBC 93.1 FM
Tony Katz:
It was all wonderful and terrific until a few months ago when the city of Indianapolis stopped talking to the Indy Eleven and started negotiating with someone at Major League Soccer to create a different team and a different ownership group. That led to, we can’t go forward with the Diamond Chain complex. My gosh, people, this is the site of a cemetery and there are dead bodies and, and, and, and remains and, well, it’s just disrespectful. And then the city said the Diamond Chain, the Indy Eleven people should sell this to us so we could remediate it properly.
Tony Katz:
Somebody came waving a check and Joe Hogsett came running. This has zero to do with whether or not Diamond Chain is an appropriate location for a stadium. It is a lie.
City County – Councilor Dan Boots (D) says that the MLS will not build or support a stadium on the Diamond site.
Tony Katz:
Dan Boots did not provide any proof at all. None. Zero. No proof at all. That the that Major League Soccer won’t build or won’t support a team at Diamond Chain.
Tony Katz continues:
You already have an approved site. You already have a tax district. That doesn’t go away. You could still have a team there. Unless, of course, you’re saying that Dan Parker and Joe Hogsett will proactively stop construction at Diamond Chain, that if they don’t get their way, they will stop the growth of Indianapolis. And they make a rather odd argument. By the defeat of this proposal, we’re hurting our chances to get MLS, and if we don’t have MLS, we will not be building a soccer stadium. Therefore, PSDA1 would not be submitted. That is Dan Parker threatening Indianapolis. Tough guy Dan Parker threatening Indianapolis. Make this change or there’s no stadium. I don’t know how that’s supposed to work when something’s already been approved. You’re saying it won’t be submitted to Major League Soccer? Ohh. Is this the part? Dan Parker Deputy Mayor, Joe Hogsett Mayor, where you tell me you’re protecting the taxpayer? Is this the part? We have to protect the taxpayer. You’re not protecting the taxpayer. You are protecting an unknown investor group. We don’t know who’s a part of this. Why not just tell us the Simons are part of it? Why don’t the Simons tell us they’re part of it? Who’s the investor group? Are they even from Indiana?
In summation, Tony Katz:
Joe Hogsett and Dan Parker are doing the bidding of Lord only knows who at the detriment of the city, because this is not how we should be acting. I do not know how it’s gonna go down. I wanna Major League stadium here and I want MLS. I have never shyed away from this. And I’m not saying that Ersal Ozdemir is going to get everything he wants as the owner of the Indy Eleven. I am saying that what we’re hearing is garbage. This is nonsense. This is bullying crap. And the city County Council shouldn’t put up with it. Neither should Indianapolis.
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