Harrison Square Voices of Authority

Who is Jack Swarbrick? Swarbrick wrote an opinion piece for the Journal Gazette about the marketing tools used to sell downtown development, the group of blue prints. But I wanted to know more about Swarbrick interest in Fort Wayne.

Jack Swarbrick is a partner in Baker & Daniels LLP in Indianapolis and former chairman of the Indiana Sports Corp. He wrote this for The Journal Gazette.

stated the article. So what is Indiana Sports Corporation.

Indiana Sports Corporation (ISC) is a private, not-for-profit organization that represents Indianapolis in the national and international sports marketplace. Created in 1979 to attract national and international sporting organizations and events to central Indiana, ISC coordinates and markets major amateur sporting events. Indiana Sports Corporation was instrumental in the process which resulted in the NCAA's decision to relocate its national headquarters and Hall of Champions to Indianapolis, and ISC supports and assists more than a dozen sport-related organizations in our city.

By targeting sports as a growth industry for Indianapolis, Indiana Sports Corporation's goals are to stimulate the economy, improve Indianapolis' image nationally and internationally, enhance the city's quality of life and provide opportunities for youth.

Since 1979, Indianapolis has hosted more than 400 national and international sporting events.

The Indianapolis sports community looks forward to welcoming the world as Crooked Stick Golf Club hosts the 2005 Solheim Cup.

Funding: Indiana Sports Corporation relies on corporate and individual memberships, private contributions, event revenue and charitable grants as chief funding sources. Call 317.237.5000 to learn more about sponsorship and/or membership opportunities.

Structure: Indiana Sports Corporation has a full-time staff and a volunteer Board of Directors and relies heavily on part-time volunteers to carry out its mission. Earl Goode serves as chairman of the board, and Susan Williams is president of ISC.

So is Swarbrick really interested in Fort Wayne becoming a great American city or furthering the business interest of the private not for profit company investors in which he served as former chairperson?

Go back and reread: Created in 1979 to attract national and international sporting organizations and events to central Indiana, ISC coordinates and markets major amateur sporting events.

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Swarbrick writes that you have to swallow the whole pill of redevelopment dollars. That Hardball is dropping $20 millions for downtown. That folks need to stop breaking pill of the redevelopment into just the $5 million piece representing the stadium. Because it's not being honest. And how does the taxpayer pay to match that $20 millions is yet to be revealed in this grandiose scheme? And this is the reason for calling Fort Wayne disingenuous?

But wait a minute, Swarbrick suggest taxpayers fund the private investors, and then the private dollars will follow:

When the success of this project spurs, as it almost certainly will, other development, the amount of private money being invested in downtown Fort Wayne (money that would never have otherwise been invested) will continue to climb.

But in the meantime, taxpayers are not to ask the hard questions concerning the spending of their money. Sounds like a good theme for a movie, Field of Dreams, but not at the expense of the hometown fans who are rooting for economic security for their families.