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The Charlotte City Council’s economic development committee last week discussed for the second time a plan to spend $650 million to renovate Bank of America Stadium.
Despite the huge sum of money at stake, and Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper’s checkered past when it comes to fulfilling public development plans, the five committee members showed little interest in asking hard questions about the proposal, which would keep the Carolina Panthers and Charlotte FC here for 15 years.
Mayor Pro Tem Dante Anderson said it has been “a great honor” to work on the deal.
She then asked Panthers President Kristi Coleman the very definition of a softball question: “Do you think that this will help make Charlotte a world-class city?”
Coleman told her “absolutely.”
Anderson was pleased.
“That’s excellent,” she said.
Malcolm Graham, the committee chair, noted that Tepper Sports and Entertainment has a “new management team” that’s different from the executives who worked there when the organization made two controversial decisions: killing the Rock Hill headquarters for the Carolina Panthers and pulling out of a plan to build a soccer headquarters at Eastland.
Graham seemed to be suggesting that those previous executives — and not David Tepper — were responsible for those decisions.
Tariq Bokhari came to the meeting wearing a Philadelphia Eagles cap (his previous favorite team), and then switched it to a Carolina Panthers hat midway through a prepared statement. He urged Charlotte transplants to “change hats” and support the Panthers.
Marjorie Molina asked Panthers executives about women’s professional soccer. She then told Panthers executives that she believes they are “committed” to the city, but she said a hurdle is that the public doesn’t understand that. She asked them how they and the city could work together to improve the image of Tepper Sports and the deal.
“Right now we’re dealing with public perception throughout the process,” Molina said. “How do you feel that we can work on the public perception from a Tepper Sports and Entertainment perspective?”
Ed Driggs was the only committee member to ask Tepper Sports executives about the deal itself. The proposal is for the city to spend $650 million over the next four years and for Tepper Sports to spend $150 million on everything from new seats to new HVAC and video screens at the stadium.
Driggs wanted to know more about Tepper Sports and Entertainment’s pledge to spend roughly $430 million more after those initial improvements are made.
It’s unclear whether Tepper Sports will be contractually obligated to spend that additional money on improvements.
“It would be helpful to have more detail on what’s going to happen and when,” Driggs said.
He also suggested that it would have been good for David Tepper to attend the meeting and talk to council members directly. (Former Panthers owner Jerry Richardson attended the City Council meeting in 2013 in which the city agreed to spend $75 million on the stadium.)
Driggs did add some sugar to his comments, noting that Tepper’s “good deeds and investments are underreported” and that the negative perception of him is “unfair.”
The full City Council is scheduled to vote on the plan June 24. There’s a special public hearing Monday at 3 p.m.
