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Convention Center Rip-Off of Public funds for Private Profit Ramps Up

Where’s the Money for Our Kids?

A gang of thieves—aka private developers—are celebrating in their St. Charles mansions over their latest scheme to rip off public funds and tax money. The Convention Center, with the blessing of their bought-off state and city politicians, will build a huge hotel with $114 million of public funds and millions more in property tax exemptions (Bureau of Governmental Research).

The policy of allowing private hospitality capitalists to profit from public funds, tax exemptions and the wholesale theft of tax dollars is outrageous. Only 3% of the city budget goes to families and children while the rich steal $160 million. It shows that the government is solidly in the pockets of the rich.
Just one example is the Convention Center hiring of State Rep. Walter Leger III as vice president for Strategic Affairs. While in office, Leger sponsored legislation to enable public funding for the Convention Center hotel. A high paid position is his reward. If that ain’t corrupt, what is?

DECEPTIVE “FAIR SHARE” IS A NET LOSS FOR RESIDENTS
While Mayor Cantrell boasts of getting a “fair share deal” with a return of some city taxes to the Sewerage & Water Board, most residents don’t know that she agreed to legislation which included public funds for the hotel.

The total tourist tax dollars bypassing the city budget and going into private profiteers’ bank accounts was $180 million a year. Now “only” $160 million in taxes are being funneled to these private interests. To offset the money that the hospitality capitalists “lost,” legislation was passed that grants them even more money by way of new taxes. They also scored whopping tax exemptions for themselves. The net result of this “fair share” is that the people are getting less, the tax dollars are still stolen and the Convention Center is getting even more money.

Knowing this deal is unpopular, Mayor Cantrell is now criticizing what she agreed to. Convention Center President and General Manager Michael J. Sawaya said, “the mayor, when we agreed to the PILOT [payments in lieu of taxes] and agreed to give her $28 million, she agreed to support the hotel project,” he said. “She committed to it in front of the governor, in front of all of us.”

So, who is really running the city— the mayor or the mainly conservative, white, super-rich capitalists pulling the strings? We need to build up the independent power of the working class to fight this theft and have money for our kids.

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Convention Center Hides Amount of Public Money It Will Use to Build a Private Hotel

By Gavrielle Gemma

Once again, big capitalists are trying to grab public money to make private profits. The Convention Center already receives $63 million in stolen tax dollars from hotel taxes that should go to the city general fund. Their recent scheme should land them all in jail. They want to take $340 million in public funds to build a private Omni Hotel, and pay no taxes on sales or real estate. But they will keep the profits!

As if it’s not bad enough, these unelected vulture capitalists presented a “consultant’s” report that deliberately attempts to mislead us. The Bureau of Governmental Research (a business group itself) revealed that there is a $100 million gap between their analysis and the Convention Center. BGR estimates they will use $330 million in public funds.

BGR goes on with a list of other misrepresentations and false assumptions. The Convention Center also claims this will add jobs. But BGR estimates this project will take 130,000 guests from existing hotels. What will happen to those workers?

Clearly we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg in what will be one gigantic financial scandal and rip-off. Who is getting paid off in all this? The big capitalists. Who will lose? The workers and residents of New Orleans.

A few elected officials have raised what amounts to a squeak in protest. But if one looks at their campaign contributions, the link between them and the Convention Center is obvious. Campaign contributions are bribes in reality. At a recent Board meeting, the Peoples’ Assembly, New Orleans Workers Group and the Hospitality Workers Committee organized to fight this theft.

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Activists Expose Convention Center for Stealing Tax Dollars

On Wednesday, August 24th, a delegation of militant activists went to a meeting of the Exhibition Hall Authority (the bureaucrats and wealthy capitalists running the Convention Center) to publicly criticize the Ernst E. Morial Convention Center for trying to steal $329.5 million in tax dollars from the city budget. The Convention Center wants this money to build a hotel for its own profit, even though $329.5 million is more than enough to provide health insurance to every uninsured worker in New Orleans and house every homeless person in the city.

Alec Arceneaux and James Ponder of the New Orleans Hospitality Workers Committee attacked the hotel project for being a “grand larseny.” In their joint statement, they said: “We demand an end to this robbery. Return the people’s stolen tax dollars back to the general budget, and use it to SERVE THE PEOPLE.”

Gavrielle Gemma of the People’s Assembly: “We’re not here to appeal to your morals, because we know you have none,” she said. “We’re only here to warn you that there will be an eruption in this city.”

Dylan Borne of the New Orleans Workers Group: “The NOPD is terrorizing and locking up black and brown youth every day. Yet the biggest gangsters and criminals in the city still aren’t behind bars, they’re sitting right here in front of me.”

Belden “Noonie Man” Batiste, Congressional candidate, exclaimed that the whole board should be arrested. He also shamed Robert “Tiger” Hammond, so-called union leader of the AFL-CIO, for selling out to the board instead of representing the working class.

Kim Ford called the Exhibition Hall Authority the worst board she’s ever seen and criticized its members for living like Kings while the workers who showed up to the meeting spend “our last dollar trying to park outside.”