By DUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZThe Paz Files
HARLINGEN, Texas - Well, most of it finally came out. Thanks to the local daily, citizens here now know that semi-pro baseball team they're lugging on their shoulders has cost them some $100,000. That's a lot of taxpayer money for a form of baseball played by the Rio Grande Valley WhiteWings most would call less-than-minor-league quality.
The city has acknowledged, according to the Valley Morning Star, that the WhiteWings have been slow to pay the lease and utilities for using Harlingen Field. Rumors had moved through this struggling town like word of neighborhood sexual affairs, each of them seemingly worse than the previous one. Were the WhiteWings paying anything at all, went one.
Confirmation of the debt and loose-ended relationship will certainly allow city leaders to assess its future. Nothing ruins a welfare program like news that it is being abused. The city should be faulted for not admitting the deal's failure much earlier, when the delinquency was nowhere near the $100,000 range. And the WhiteWings should have held up their end of the contract by paying, by being a good resident and not some outfit out to scam the city.
Pay the bill, WhiteWings. Pay the $100,000.
Pay every penny you owe and be glad the tired citizenry doesn't haul you into court, which is what the city should do, or should have done long ago. This is low-rent baseball, not some business the city and its people could be proud of and perhaps endure paying a bit of the fare on this losing economic journey. This baseball is at the same level as small college baseball, like that played by Tarleton State or Hill County College. It draws on players who either failed or never made it to the Big leagues, on foreigners who arrive with absolutely no loyalty to the community and who can't even play in the playoffs because of their immigration status.
For this, Harlingen goes $100,000 in the red? A few firings at City Hall are in order and a full accounting should be demanded from the mayor and the city comnission. The Star reports that the current agreement has the team paying $1,000 in monthly rent and $833 for maintenance of the stadium, in addition to utility costs. That electric bill is what brought out initial reports that the team had fallen $40,000 in arrears.
The WhiteWings have alleged that the utilities bill is high when compared to other stadiums, but that is lame. Trust is a big part of a business relationship. Is the team saying the city is lying? Bad move, it says here. Pay the bill, WhiteWings.
As the newspaper noted, "Other cities have not worked with teams for such a long period of time to get bills paid."
Harlingen has a litany of bigger issues to resolve. Throwing a questionable enterprise on its back while battling local unemployment and a lack of jobs is bad administration, bad politics. The citizenry is owed a professional approach to the handing of all business conducted at City hall. So a few fans enjoy the games. The price for fielding this team is too high.
They seek fan loyalty and promote the team as a Harlingen team, but the Whitewings are owned by people in Dallas who really could care less about local taxpayers.
One of Harlingen's own - blogger Jerry Deal - has pushed the team as a veritable collection of Babe Ruths. Deal is a former editor of the Valley Morning Star, a journalist with enough experience to know that something stinks when a team begins welching on its contractual obligations. Yet, Deal, who sometimes says he works for the league and at others says he doesn't, never wrote a word about the ongoing business problems, the ones dragging the city down. Instead, when this site begin posting stories about the team's problems, Deal wrote, "Give it a rest." Some journalist. It'll be interesting to see what Deal writes about his old newspaper's findings, if anything.
It's not world-beater money. That $100,000 could have done wonders for local kids sports like Little League or, perhaps, paid for the availing of swimming pools. It's less than $1 million, but it's still $100,000 big ones. The team should square the ledger with local taxpayers.
It certainly cannot show up again this spring and take the field as if everything's just dandy...
- 30 -
16 comments:
deal is going to ignore it all.Trust me. he's never going to be a newsman on the WhiteWings.
Whitewings are in it to make a buck. Why should they acre about the citizens? Harlingen is to blame. They make the deal.
Hey, I just checked JERRY DEAL's blog and he has posted NOTHING about the Whitewings debt. NOTHING! What a disappointment., And he kept saying he was a big time reporter for San Antonio! Guess he ain't anymore.
Deal is a has been, him and his Wings need to go, take Eddie Dennis with him to Brazil.
Harlingen disconnects your water tap if you don't pay the Bill, get rid of the poor excuse of the baseball team. $100.000 is a lot of money, owed to the tax-payers.
the city commission must be getting free tickets. Checkj into that!
I have a feeling someone is getting a little mula on the side. The Wings play sandlot baseball, mostly rejects. The Wings owe the city quiet a bit of revenue. Pay up or go play somewhere else.
No other city has a baseball stadium, like historic Harlingen field. That is why they stay in Harlingen.
The Harlingen ISd is remodeling Boggus stadium, at a tune of $800,000 dollars, they are remodeling, not rebulding.
A new baseball stadium (a small one, about 5.000 occupancy load) would cost around 4 to 5 million dollars. What city in the Valley is going to invest so much money, for a league of rejects. And Bozos like Eddie Dennis and Jerry Deal.
Don't hold your breath on Jerry Deal writing anything about the whitewings debt. He won't do it. But he loses his standing as a fair Journalist. that's the price you will pay, Jerry.
Deal is only a reporter when he wants to be. A lot of the time he takes shots at people. He sucker punched Danny castillo while rubbing Gail Moore's back in the last election. Just retire, Deal!
harlingen should kick this team out! No brainer. Maybe Brownsville will them., ha ha ha
Deal is missing, may be with Chili Perez.
Where are Olivia and Daisy and Norma and all the kitchenairres on this story. No comments, sweethearts? Boo hoo. All of you are only around when you want to throw crap on people. The city gets ripped off by the Wings and you say nothing. Pobre gente mensa.
The wings owe Harlingen 100K. If the city had that money they could give both the City Manager and the City Attorney 50K raises.
Jerry Deal is under the weather, we all get sick, get over it. Jerry is a good man, remember he is 80 years of age.
Some of you won't go past 72,by the way he helps out with three weekly dailys, Chapa can't even move away from the table. No vale madre
Born on Main Street, Diasy is in Hawaii, and Olivia has gone physical fitness crazy, spends time swimming, and Dora has taken one month off from nursing job. So ease up, Daisy is a sports fanatic, don't know about the other two.
Post a Comment