You may recall 2015’s dust-up over the Pawsox owners’ demand for $150 million in taxpayer dollars for a Providence ballpark were they to stay in Rhode Island. Fortunately, cooler heads from the community prevailed and the project was shelved. Nonetheless, the State, Pawtucket and the owners agreed to fund equally a$105,000 plus travel-related expenses for a new study of McCoy Stadium. That study was conducted by Pendulum Studio II, LLC whose co-founder has a long history of working with Larry Lucchino on his projects. The report was supposedly finished at the end of 2016 so with the opening of the General Assembly the pitch for taxpayer funds again can’t be far behind.

The softening up of officials has already begun. Mr. Lucchino has publicly stated that McCoy needs a lot of work, including fixing leaky roofs and eroded pipes in the kitchen, besides adding that “certain amenities” are needed to appeal to the fan base. A news report stated that one such amenity was a glass walkway linking some bleacher sections.

As part of its 2015 pitch, Mr. Lucchino et al traipsed off to Durham, North Carolina with some of Rhode Island’s “movers and shakers” in order to show a flourishing minor league baseball franchise. One key difference between Pawtucket and Durham was that the Bulls owners invested in land and businesses around the stadium with their own money. When asked point blank about whether the Pawsox ownership team was considering investing around McCoy, Mr. Lucchino dodged a direct answer by stating, "Our focus has been on the ballpark itself and not on ancillary development" (Providence Journal, September 27, 2016, page A13). That sure sounds like a “no,” but since the study was also geared to examine development around the park it seems obvious that the City of Pawtucket and/or the state will be asked to pony up.

While a pitch will soon be made to bedazzle the taxpayers it would be well to keep a few things in mind: Millennials are not baseball fans so the next generations of fans for the seats are just not there. In fact, the “perennials” don’t seem to be coming either. NPR Journalist Scott McKay reported on April 8, 2016 that the team had attracted more than 600,000 fans for many years but that the numbers dipped below 500,000 the prior summer. Rhode Island, therefore, should not be making a big investment of taxpayers’ money on a sport in demise.

Of course, diligence by the public is critical. Leaders seemed enamored of the last proposal until the public gave them a dose of reality. This state has been throwing a lot of money around for the so-called economy building. CVS tossed away jobs while nonetheless getting millions of dollars in tax breaks for "creating" them. Wexford’s jobs are phantomlike in that the job projection is apparently 10 times too high. Nonetheless, they are getting tax subsidies. Rhode Island politicians like fantasies and are far too willing to back specious job creation. The Pawsox jobs are seasonal and mostly minimum wage. Scrutiny should be demanded by taxpayers of any public monies being used to underwrite minimum wage jobs for popcorn and hot dog vendors. Pay attention to the next pitch!

Arlene Violet is an attorney and former Rhode Island Attorney General.