A group opposed to the prospect of a publicly-funded baseball stadium downtown has scheduled a Saturday rally where it plans to grill out and distribute campaign materials.
Members of the Vote No Stadium Tax group and their supporters will gather at Hugh MacRae Park’s shelter 3 near the Pine Grove Drive entrance from 8 a.m. to noon October 13.
Scott Harry, head of the group, decried in a press release the possibility of spending “millions of people’s hard-earned money … on a pipe dream that will only benefit a handful of connected people.”
The City of Wilmington and the Atlanta Braves with sports entertainment group Mandalay Baseball Properties have a 20-year memorandum of understanding in place toward bringing a Braves minor-league team to Wilmington. Under the plan, the city would build and own a 6,200-seat ballpark downtown, which the Braves would rent and operate. The ball team’s owners would also collect the ticket revenues.
But it’s contingent on the passage of a bond referendum this November. Harry’s group is urging Wilmington voters to turn down the general election ballot’s question of whether to approve the authorization of $37 million of bonds to pay for land, rights of way, easements and stadium construction.
To cover the public spending and generate capital reserve money, the plan calls for a 2.5-cent property tax increase in Wilmington.
Vote-No members at Saturday’s rally will distribute yard signs and bumper stickers to spread their message, according to the press release.
“We want to give people the materials they need to show their support and nail this bad idea into the ground, where it belongs,” said Josh Fulton, another opponent of the stadium plan.
But the proposal does have its backers, including Port City Baseball, “a constantly growing group of Wilmington residents who know that we have a unique opportunity to positively re-shape our city, starting on Election Day, November 6th,” the group’s website says.
Its members want residents to vote “yes” on the referendum for the plan’s potential to support jobs and improve the economy.
Groups on each side of the field have planted political signs on medians and roadsides across the city.
