Publish the facts about soccer stadium

This is a rebuttal to Doug Robinson's soccer stadium column, "Guv, pals know more than we all" (March 13, Page B1).

One of the most frustrating things in being an elected official is that many times the papers won't publish the facts to properly inform the public, but they only publish emotional appeals. I read Robinson's column with interest and realized he is caught up in the same web, as are many of the proponents of the soccer stadium petition. Fact-finding is ignored. Get mad at the Legislature, the governor and Sandy Mayor Tom Dolan. Don't look at viable solutions. Just criticize.

I don't see in his column anywhere that he provided any research on economic facts. Did he look at the taxes that will be collected from the project and the businesses that will be generated by both Phases I and II? This is the same problem that Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon had. He did very little to address the economics of the total development. He limited his study to mainly the ticket sales, and this resulted in low-balling revenues generated for the state and communities. He also failed to publicize the fact that the $20 million parking money was budgeted four years ago and is already committed to the Expo Center. A portion of this money can now be recouped due to the parking fee bill just passed.

If the team had gone to St. Louis, we would have lost a huge potential investment (over half a billion dollars) that would come from outsiders to our state. The school district alone stands to gain more than $110 million over the next 25 years. The property, sales and hotel room taxes — which have a potential of more than 600 additional rooms in the vicinity — can add another $100 million to our economy. New developments would upgrade a blighted city block.

Also ignored are the centralized demographics of the site and the fact that this location, as in the case of the Expo Center and Jordan Commons, has shown to exceed all attendance expectations.

The money requested by the team is the lowest of all the MLS developed facilities and on the average at least half.

The return on investment is greater than 10 to one. The governor knows what he did was in the best interest of our state and community.

And what about the people who enjoy soccer as a sport? Are we going to deny them the opportunity to have a team in the state so they can attend the games?

Having been one of Robinson's long-term fans, I would expect a fair, pro and con approach.

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Bryant Anderson is a member of the Sandy City Council