Mayor Denny Doyle said Tuesday that any of the bond options are possible but he vowed to negotiate "the best deal possible for Beaverton residents.

Mayor Doyle: Hey, Beaverton resident! I'd like you to help pay for construction ofa ballpark.

Beavertonian: A ballpark? I like baseball. How much do you want? $20? $50?

Mayor Doyle: Oh no--about $30-40 million, paid over 20 years. But it'd only cost you about $55/yr for those twenty years.

Beavertonian: You want me to pay at least $1000 to help build it? What do I get for all that money?

Mayor Doyle: Why, baseball!

Beavertonian: But I can see baseball at PGE Park down the road, and major league ball on big screen TV at any sports bar, etc. Why a new stadium for a minor league team?

Mayor Doyle: Not enough, eh? Well, there'll be lots of economic benefits, too. Local businesses will see plenty of revenue increase from all those people coming to see baseball.

Beavertonian: But aren't all those people going to buy concessions inside the stadium, then go home after the game?

Mayor Doyle: Well...

Beavertonian: And what about study after study I read about showing that ballparks are almost certain economic boondoggles--except to owners? There's not a single ballpark anywhere where the local economy sees a significant change. And what about all that lousy traffic from people traveling to and from the game? 217 and the Sunset are already a mess.

Mayor Doyle: Oh, well, you see, baseball and apple pie! Beaverton pride! It's good for us, I say, good for us! Don't believe all those facts and figures compiled the past several decades--this is new, different! It's Merritt Paulson!

Beavertonian: So for a thousand dollars, I don't get anything except...wait, did you say Paulson? Why isn't *he* paying for it? He's a millionaire, and his dad could write a check tomorrow to cover it!

Mayor Doyle: Oh, this is about citizen involvement, sharing the risk and reward, etc. C'mon, baseball! Maybe even soccer!

Beavertonian: If it's a sound investment, why isn't Paulson financing it himself, or with private funds? Why do us taxpayers have to chip in?

Mayor Doyle: Because it's such a sweet deal, he won't do it unless we do!

Beavertonian: If it's such a sweet deal, why isn't Portland doing it? or Clackamas County? Or all the other places where it could go?

Mayor Doyle: (sigh) Oh, you just don't understand this sort of deal. Listen-I'll try to force feed you a bond measure and tax your property, or some other means of payment. You really just need to get over all this "critical thinking" stuff. And why don't you put down that calculator? It's giving me a headache...

Hmm. That's a switch. Usually in Beaverton they like to acquire the property, then tear everything on it down before they do any kind of math...

Any politician with half a brain should realize that supporting a frill such as minor league baseball in this economic climate is political suicide. The bond payments will add at least $55/yr. to the budget of EVERY citizen who pays a mortgage, uses natural gas and buys electricity. The VAST majority of these people don't care about baseball. Minor league baseball sucks in comparison to the major league game, and it's hard to develop a substantial fan base that allows it to become self sufficient. Let these guys find an abandoned cow pasture somewhere in a small town in the middle of nowhere because that is the only economic model that makes sense for the game at this level.

Let's see ... Paulson pays $8 million up front, but then gets to choose a no-bid developer to build the $50+ million facility. Call me a cynic, but it looks to me like he's gonna get that $8 mil back pretty quick.

Now he pays $500K a year for 20 years. That cash flow will pay debt service on about $10 million. But the city wants to borrow as much as $50 million?

THAT's how bad this deal is: Beaverton wants to pay for a $50,000,000 asset and hand it over to a millionairre for less than 1/5 of its value.

Denny Doyle IS a chump. the only question is are the other city council members this stupid?

It’s usually not a good deal when your expenses are spelled out to the dollar with certainty that you will pay for years. But your revenue is based on assumptions and guesses about the future. See South Waterfront.

I wish someone would do a simple comparison study of the cost of other minor league stadiums. I'm guessing you'd turn up plenty of examples of prefectly functional stadiums being built for less than $10 million, maybe even much less.