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Keep Major League Soccer out of Portland and it will solve all of our crime problems!

Join up today with the racist rhetoric!  Is there anything more American than sweeping generalizations & discrimination against minorities? 

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posted 3 years, 2 months ago
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Mr. Masur's comments comparing any taxpayer risk to the risk of wall street credit default swaps - Sir, you can do better than buzzword alarmist rhetoric.

Perhaps if AIG's managers had put their personal wealth on the line and had money in the bank to back those CDSs - like Mr. Paulson is doing with his family's personal wealth to back the city bonds - this would be a fair comparison.  But it is not, at all, and you know that.

Let's debate the actual merits here, instead of stirring up general economic fear with no rational basis.

posted 3 years, 2 months ago
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Jerral - Portland gets revenue from a percentage of ticket sales and base rent. This goes into the spectator fund that would then pay the proposed bonds. If the team does better than expected, the spectator fund will be overfilled - beyond what's needed to repay the bonds.

posted 3 years, 2 months ago
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To some of the commenters & callers who are saying that we should not be spending money on sports when we need money in schools, streets, etc:

Please review the task force recommendation and note that the public funds for this endeavor are not coming from the general fund or any fund that can be used for education, transportation, or other uses.  They are identified only from the Urban Renewal and Spectator Funds.  In no way will this proposal impact the spending on schools & other public projects, except perhaps to benefit them.  Remember, the city of Portland owns PGE Park.  With improvements for MLS, they can charge higher rent, which goes back into their coffers. 

The entire task force report is available online:

http://blog.oregonlive.com/tailgate_impact/2009/03/Report.doc

posted 3 years, 2 months ago
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GoodManPeter -

Portland has a professional soccer team.  It is named the Portland Timbers.  They are paid soccer players, who have gone on to play for teams in MLS, tried out with European premiership teams, and been recruited at the national and international levels.

Your assertion that Soccer City USA is a new 'marketing scheme' by anyone only shows that you're new to this conversation and not familiar with the history of the team and the sport in this city.

Study up and get back to us:

http://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/entry/view/portland_timbers/

posted 3 years, 2 months ago
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Whether or not you love soccer or sports in general, Major League Soccer in Portland makes sense.  The city has a rich history with the sport, and has shown that the community and interest is there.  Investing in something like this is exactly what our city needs during difficult economic times: it creates good, local jobs and there is zero risk to taxpayers.  Zero!  Merritt Paulson has put his personal wealth on the line to back every cent the city invests.  Try finding that kind of guaranteed return anywhere else in ther market today. 

posted 3 years, 2 months ago
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