Mason City still funds NI Events Center, even as Clear Lake refuses to

NIT Opinion –

The Mason City council will throw another $10,000 into the bottomless well that is the North Iowa Events Center, even as the city’s budget is as tight as a mayor’s belt whose belly is  full of wife-boughten-vodka and snow cones and Clear Lake gives nothing to the cause, while the county will only ante up if the city takes the leap.

If you ask the common citizen around Mason City what they think of the North Iowa Fair – the Events Center’s flagship annual event – at best, you would likely hear that the fair is less-than adequate. Some might even tell you not to go, because it is “lame” and “boring” and “there’s not much there” but “it sure smells nice”. Outside of seasonal car races, a couple hockey teams, some horse events and a few other minor goings-on, the North Iowa Events Center seems to be mostly an after-thought for the few thousand people that still live in the Mason City area.  It’s over-inflated 20-member board is known around these parts as a crony-stroking bad joke that does little and even sometimes does a lot for itself.

Clear Lake and Cerro Gordo county budget-makers seem to have taken notice.  Prosperous Clear Lake won’t give a dime, and Jay Urdahl down at the courthouse won’t make the leap unless the city does.  That shows some real faith in an outfit that operates on county property, now doesn’t it?

While some minor improvements have been made at the fairgrounds in recent times, the overall condition of the property seems to deteriorate year after year.  It’s even been said that the ice arena needs serious repairs to continue serving the community. Rarely, if ever, is a major improvement made at the fairgrounds. In fact, the fairgrounds is selling-off property and shrinking; a coffee-shop, restaurant and retail is on the way (also bolstered by generous hand-outs from the Mason City council, helping bring more low-wage jobs into town that no one wants.)  The funds from the sale will help the Events Center limp along for a few more years – and likely keep taking from the taxpayers.

At a recent Mason City council work session, the skullduggery of elected officials continued, mostly lead by the man who fears Youtube (and probably his own shadow) – Scott Tornquist.  He said the city should “lead by example” and keep sending a check to the fairgrounds.  The fleet-footed Tornquist, who has served on the council for years, echoed the age-old claim that in future years, “all three entities should be involved in the funding” since it is a County facility, but this year’s $10,000 provided the City “an opportunity to lead by example” – an opportunity Tornquist continues to babble about, but never took Clear Lake or the county to task over the years.

Editor’s Note: The only “example” Tornquist ever set is demonstrating how to sprint out of a council meeting before it is adjourned when his inner fear-o-meter reached the “save me mommy I’m skeered” crisis level.

Former Mayor Jean Marinos –  famous for putting the city millions of dollars in debt in the early 2000’s for backing Fareway’s move across Delaware Avenue while demolishing a church – also agreed, and wants to keep kicking in everyone else’s cash to further what many see as a lost cause.  (Yes, she actually attended that meeting; Europe was closed.)  Travis Hickey – the man who says the city should operate like a McDonald’s – somehow claimed at the work session that “there had been a lot of changes” at the fairgrounds and “if the intent was to help them further improve” then the city should spend more money.  This is the same man, rumor has it, that is backing his political savior and booze-aficionado Eric Bookmeyer in a behind-the-scenes bid to potentially help the jobless man take over for Brent Trout as city administrator.  (Does that sound like a man capable of sound judgement?)

Only Alex Kuhn had reservations; he seems to be the last bastion of common-sense thinking the city has at its disposal.  But his meek voice can only go so far; if only Jesus had bestowed upon him the cajones to actually stand up to the rest of the council – really put up a fight – Mason City might be going in a different direction.  Instead, the same decisions get made by the same cadre of under-performers and self-preservists.

And Mason City just keeps going nowhere, despite what the cheerleaders say.