« On the Agenda: Jamestown Council | Main | On the Agenda: High Point planning »

March 23, 2006

Simeon Stadium

The deal city officials had been working on for months died this morning when City Council rejected a 20-year lease for Simeon Stadium.

The council voted 5-4 against the deal that would've brought control of the stadium back to High Point. It was originally built by the city in 1974 and given to High Point City Schools nine years later in exchange for the Leonard Street School, which became police headquarters.

Most of the council members who voted against it expressed a desire to own the stadium rather than lease it. Mayor Smothers argued it was better to go into the lease now and then begin working on buying it back -- a process that she said would likely require an act of the state legislature.

One of those opposed to the deal, Michael Pugh, said in effect that it was inappropriate for the city to be doing a deal with Guilford County Board of Education at a time when so many High Point residents are upset with the BOE.

See how members voted after the jump.

Against:
Chris Whitley
Michael Pugh
Latimer Alexander
Lisa Stahlmann
Bill Bencini

For:
Bernita Sims
Becky Smothers
John Faircloth
Ron Wilkins

Interestingly, three of the four who voted for it also expressed some concerns about particular aspects. Sims asked that language be added to the contract giving the city first right of refusal, should the BOE opt to sell the stadium. Wilkins said he preferred ownership. And Faircloth had some concerns about the way the lease could be renewed at the end of the initial 20-year-period. He wanted to make sure renewal was the council's option.

Posted by Jonathan Jones at March 23, 2006 3:01 PM

Comments

Marti Sykes was quite adamant in her distaste of the entire situation. She was vocal last night about how much time and effort "staff" had put into this effort. She chastised the City Council for not having voted to go forward with this before bringing it to the school board.

Marti just plain hates High Point.

Posted by: quest at March 24, 2006 8:34 AM

The High Point city gov. has shown great wisdom in being hesitant dealing with this band of jackals.

Posted by: Skeet Club Savage at March 24, 2006 11:17 AM

Quest, it doesn't surprise me. Mayor Smothers was obviously upset with the council's decision too. The frustration is understandable, since both sides invested a lot of time in trying to come up with a plan. But I was kind of surprised it was put to a vote, rather than taken back for some more wrangling. I guess they felt it was time to make a decision.

SCS, I think that was the point Mr. Pugh was trying to make, in slightly different terms.

Posted by: Jonathan Jones at March 24, 2006 3:44 PM

Jonathan,

Please clarify. How did Lisa Stahlman vote? I know you reported she voted against. The High Point Enterprise reported that she voted in favor.

Thanks!

Posted by: quest at March 24, 2006 5:22 PM

Quest, it's too late in the day for me to double check with the city clerk. I promise to do that Monday a.m., but here's the way I wrote down the vote, in order, in my notes yesterday:

Whitley: No
Pugh: No
Alexander: No
Sims: Yes
Smothers: Yes
Faircloth: Yes
Stahlmann: No
Bencini: No
Wilkins: Yes

They did a roll-call vote, making it fairly easy to keep track. That's why I'm 99.9 percent sure that's the way it went. I was 100 percent sure until you pointed out the discrepency with the HPE story, which I skimmed this morning and didn't notice the difference.

I believe they got it wrong, but I will find out.

Posted by: Jonathan Jones at March 24, 2006 5:32 PM

Quest, you got me worried so I called Ms. Stahlmann. She said I had correctly recorded her vote. I'll still check with the clerk on Monday, but I wanted to share that with folks, since the question had been raised.

Posted by: Jonathan Jones at March 24, 2006 5:40 PM

Hey Jonathan,

Thanks - you're the best!

Posted by: quest at March 24, 2006 8:44 PM