Stop the presses!
The downtown management district just published a report that says downtown events (presumably special events, not everyday events) drew almost 134,000 people last year.
The twenty one events generated “more than $1.5 million” or a whopping $11.94 in spending from each person.
Talk about underwhelming.
In fact if that is what the downtown management district has been able to bring to us they should be embarrassed.
Good grief. We taxpayers give away more than that in corporate welfare every year.
We deserve better
Brutus
elpasospeak 
They anticipate the ballpark is going to significantly add to those revenues, but I ask how are we supposed to get revved up about the “boon” this ballpark is supposed to bring to El Paso when the contract stipulates that the majority of the ballpark profits from games AND special ballpark events are going to the ballpark owners … not the city! I believe we’ll ultimately be getting the crumbs from this whole deal, not to mention the burdensome debt. Here we go again with the old “trickle down” scam that’s somehow gotten ingrained into some people’s thinking.
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How much did the events costs vs. how much they brought in? Was that mentioned? the true cost would be the amount MINUS expenses I would think…
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Downtown events should be held with the intentbof providing entertainment so the profit margin is not too discouraging although certainly nothing worth bragging about! What is more of a concern is how many resources such as city services or more events/programs with more profitable return, monetary or not, the citizens are being deprived of.
It’s just more “positive” twist for the city to justify dumping more and more money downtown while blowing off the rest of the city!
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Of the $11.94 per person, $5.00 was for parking…
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Here’s an idea for the city “event” planners: since a good chunk of money is made from parking fees, why not have a parking palooza where there’s really no event, just the intention of filling up all the for-pay parking spots downtown. There could some kind of billboard parking thermometer showing how close we’re getting to the 5000 or so full capacity goal with all sorts of hoopla and cheerleaders and bands playing and maybe a nice prize as the final spot is taken…then everybody can go home feeling good they supported a real city fundraiser and not the billionaire’s pocketbooks!
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Only problem is that the billionaires own most of the parking!
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Aw, for crying out loud! We are screwed!
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Once again the Times took a number given to them by a special interest group and failed to ask for any insight or explanation. They did not attempt to do any analysis. How was the $1.5 mil calculated? What were the city costs associated with the revenue? How much did the city spend to help the downtown district promote these events? Cheerleader Ramirez just presented the reported revenue and attendance as though it is a big deal.
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Downtown is a sink hole for tax subsidies and corporate welfare that only might benefit the downtown property owners. Wilson and the CC seem to be caught in some kind of spell cast by these parasites. The rest of us are going to be paying for their enchantment for the rest of our lives and will never see a cent of it reducing our taxes. Or schools, or roads, or libraries, or parks…or anything.
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