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  • From: alex kostelnik <bd189 AT yahoo.com>
  • To: RTP-area local music and culture <ch-scene AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Theatergate: (N&O, Herald letter)- we need a focus on bogus financials
  • Date: Wed, 9 Jun 2004 07:13:28 -0700 (PDT)

Dear Duncan

One way to get the financial evidence across is to sum
this up in a letter to the editor of the N+0.


--- Duncan Murrell <dvmurrell AT nc.rr.com> wrote:
> I offer these comments as a feeling-guilty
> bystander:
>
> Having read this and the H-S article, I'd say that
> perhaps a little
> more work could be done to get it across to the
> press that the
> objections of that "young crowd" go beyond
> objections to the Clear
> Channel. I read that PowerPoint presentation, and it
> deserved much more
> consideration than the throw-away line buried in the
> second-to-last
> graf of the N&O article, "a local technology manager
> ... presented
> data collected from theaters across the country to
> show they are
> money-losers." I thought the presentation was much
> more nuanced than
> that, and much more devastating. When the words
> "money-loser" and
> "Clear Channel" get equal weight in these articles,
> I think the effort
> will start to win over the people who, at the
> moment, aren't paying
> attention.
>
> If you all are still willing to put together a
> website, I'd help
> write/edit some stuff.
>
> d
>
>
>
>
> On Jun 9, 2004, at 8:30 AM, info AT durhamloop.org
> wrote:
>
> > Stifled debate unsettles council
> >
> >
>
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1317423p-7439885c.html
> >
> >
> > By MARGIE FISHMAN, Staff Writer
> >
> > DURHAM -- Three City Council members said they
> regretted their votes to
> > continue negotiations with the developer of a
> planned downtown theater
> > without hearing from nearly 30 people who had
> signed up to speak at a
> > public
> > meeting Monday.
> >
> > "It was probably not our finest hour," said
> council member Eugene
> > Brown, who
> > explained that he was suffering from "fanny
> fatigue and mental
> > fatigue" when
> > he agreed to curtail the debate shortly before 11
> p.m. Monday.
> >
> > Brown, joined by council members Thomas Stith and
> Diane Catotti, said
> > they
> > would have preferred more public comment before
> the vote, if only to
> > debunk
> > the perception that they were immune to criticism
> of the deal.
> >
> > Mayor Bill Bell quashed public comment on the $42
> million theater
> > project
> > Monday and pushed a vote that allows the city to
> continue negotiating
> > for
> > the next four months with a development team that
> includes Clear
> > Channel
> > Entertainment. He also directed City Manager
> Marcia Conner to set up
> > monthly
> > public forums on the project.
> >
> > "He was saying how important the public process
> is, and then he cuts
> > off
> > public comment," said John Schelp, who attended
> the meeting and is
> > president
> > of the Old West Durham Neighborhood Association.
> "It was actually
> > pretty
> > amazing. I've never seen anything like it."
> >
> > Bell reaffirmed his decision Tuesday, explaining
> that it was late and
> > that
> > opponents had an opportunity to voice their
> opinions by e-mail and at
> > earlier meetings.
> >
> > "We do care what they have to say," he said. "What
> I was trying to do
> > was to
> > provide a forum that was more meaningful." Bell,
> who routinely lets
> > members
> > of the public exceed established time limits,
> described his actions
> > Monday
> > as "an exception."
> >
> > Council member Howard Clement agreed with the
> move. Clement said he
> > knew
> > going into the meeting that most comments would be
> against building the
> > theater, which was "not on the agenda."
> >
> > Local artists and downtown residents have
> protested plans to have San
> > Antonio-based Clear Channel manage and book shows
> at the theater,
> > saying the
> > company excludes people on the fringe and tramples
> on free speech.
> > Now, they
> > accuse their elected officials of the same.
> >
> > Bell "wants an events center, and he doesn't
> understand why these
> > people
> > won't let him to do it," said Alex Kostelnik,
> artistic director of the
> > Scrap
> > Exchange, who was among the people muted Monday.
> "It's a power play."
> > On
> > Tuesday, Kostelnik said he met with other stunned
> project opponents,
> > all
> > asking the same question: "Did that really
> happen?"
> >
> > The theater extension appeared Monday on the
> council's consent agenda,
> > which
> > doesn't require a public hearing. Typically, the
> council disposes of
> > the
> > consent agenda at the beginning of a meeting, but
> Bell moved up a
> > public
> > hearing on the upcoming budget, after he said
> several residents
> > requested
> > it.
> >
> > Four hours later, after 70 people had jockeyed for
> their priorities,
> > and one
> > resident rehashed concerns over access to an Old
> North Durham park --
> > an
> > issue discussed at length during the last council
> meeting -- the
> > council
> > took up the 4,000-seat theater, what could be the
> largest theater in
> > the
> > state, subsidized by $24 million in public funds.
> >
> > Clement initially drew applause by criticizing a
> Clear Channel-owned
> > station
> > for making "racist" comments about American idol
> winner and High Point
> > hometown girl Fantasia Barrino. But he said he
> would support the
> > extension,
> > because he wasn't ready to kill the project.
> >
> > Bell then asked the 28 people who had filled out
> yellow cards to
> > select a
> > representative to speak for them. When they
> refused, the council
> > swiftly
> > approved the item 6-1. John Best Jr., the only
> council member to raise
> > concerns about limiting public comment at the
> time, said he dissented
> > because the city has more pressing needs than a
> theater. A majority of
> > council members could have voted to overrule Bell,
> according to the
>
=== message truncated ===





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