Oh boy—look who supports the High Point stadium

I’m not talking about the News & Record, which does— or editorial writer Doug Clark — who does—but I’m talking about none other than ultra-liberal columnist Susan Ladd, who who makes it sound all so logical:

What’s not to like about this major project for downtown High Point?

That’s difficult to say — even for the Guilford County commissioners who oppose it. Most of their stated concerns seem misplaced or focused on questions already answered.

All High Point leaders are asking of the county is to forgo collection of any extra tax revenue generated by the projects in the stadium district until the city can pay off the bonds it will sell to finance construction.

The county will not have to spend a dime. The county will not lose, or even put at risk, any funds it now receives.

The commissioners appear to be miffed that they weren’t consulted earlier in the process. Commissioner Alan Branson said High Point should have consulted with them from the get-go and claimed the project had not been vetted properly by the county or the public.

Do they keep up with the news in their own county? The city of High Point has been working on the stadium plan for two years.

….It is the worst kind of hubris for the county commissioners to block a city project that has crossed so many hurdles.

Especially when their motivation for doing so appears to be simply because they can.

Ladd’s condescending tone shouldn’t come as a surprise, because –you guessed it– Republicans control Guilford’s board. So if they don’t approve High Point’s tax increment financing plan and the project never gets off the ground, then it will be the evil Republicans’ fault. That’s convenient, but remember that High Point does not need commissioners’ permission to build the stadium if it’s built with private dollars. Regardless if commissioners “keep up with the news in their own county,” (as if they should believe what they read in the paper anyway) High Point is still approaching them seeking permission to engage in one of the riskiest and certainly most expensive government financing scheme out there. With that in mind, it’s commissioners’ duty protect the interests of all Guilford County residents, over 100,000 of which are High Point residents.