Monday, March 17, 2008

Auction of Dome Items Should Go to Pay Debt

According to Inside INdiana Business, an Indianapolis law firm is suing to stop the dispersal of money from the auction of items from the RCA Dome in Indianapolis. Attorney Paul K. Ogden at Roberts & Bishop says the items are public property so the money should be used to pay down the stadium debt. The auction proceeds are slated to go to the Indiana Sports Corp. and the Indianapolis Colts Foundation.

UPDATE:
Thought-provoking post on Abdul Hakim-Shabazz's Indiana Barrister blog today (19 March):
"The Ballard administration says the decision was made by the Peterson administration to give the charities the proceeds. Former Peterson administration officials say the decision was made by the Ballard administration. If you take both sides at their word, then neither approved the sale, which means taxpayer property is being sold and the profits are going to private entities and no formal vote was taken. That can’t be good and it’s probably illegal."

UPDATE 2:
Surprise! As of 21 March, "most" of the auction proceeds will now go to the Capital Improvements Board, a quasi-governmental unit. Problems with that? Of course, but that's yet another topic for investigation, eh?

No comments: