STARK COUNTY POLITICAL REPORT
READS
THE "TEA LEAVES"
OF STARK FOUNDATIONS' LETTER
Virtually the only voice in Stark County questioning/critiquing the viability/transparency of the Professional Football Hall of Fame village expansion project (HOF, HOF-VP) has been The Stark County Political Report.
However, that all changed on Thursday, March 14th with the sending of what the SCPR believes to be "a bombshell of a letter" endorsed by Stark County's major foundation executives to Stark County community leaders who obviously fear that the capitalization of downtown Canton's Centennial Plaza/Market Square project, believed now to be up to $12 million from its original projected $6 million, will affect in a significant way the foundations' ability to raise funds from the private sector for infusion in to "other than HOF-VP interests"
Note: Readers will recall that the HOF-VP started out being an estimated $500 million project (now projected as being nearly $1 billion) and in particular, the former Fawcett Stadium rehab, at $22 million originally which has become at least $139 million.
The letter in its entirety:
- (note: Director Scheffler has not responded to the SCPR's request for a copy of the original letter and so this blogger typed up from an IPhone message what is hoped is an exact replication of the original but there may be typos)
Executive Director
Timken Foundation
March 14, 2019
Subject: A message from Stark County foundations: Centennial Plaza
Greetings!
The Timken, Hoover, Deuble and Stark Community Foundations have all received inquiries related to support of the Market Square/Centennial Plaza project in downtown Canton and those inquiries prompt us to share our position with you.
Those of us who lead the largest community foundations see real value in the ongoing transformation of the Kresage lot into Centenial Plaza that potentially draws people downtown and allows us to showcase ongoing downtown development. At the same time, it will celebrate the 100 year anniversary of professional football born a few blocks away. A vibrant downtown Canton is critical to regional development which is why our foundations have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in Canton throughout our existence.
Canton Centenial Plaza project has received foundation support for the design and planning for Phases 1 and 2. These first phases are being funded by the increased city income tax as well as funding from the State of Ohio. Phase 3 of the project, however, will not involve our financial support. Various project concepts have been developed for Phase 3 over the years but all have been plagued by questions of appropriate scale, lack of community process and sustainability. The current plan as presented has nearly doubled the original cost of the project and lacks the detail related to financial structure, project management and accountability that would traditionally be required for funding of community projects of this scale.
More than 40 years ago, community leaders with a vision for Canton/Stark County created a process by which large capital drives were evaluated to determine how best to allocate foundation and community resources. The Capital Campaign Committee structure, through the guidance of the Stark Community Foundation, was adopted for this purpose. In the case ofhe Centennial Plaza project, the failure to address the aforementioned issues in a timely fashion, and the avoidance of the vetting process that has served the community well for many years, may have an adverse impact on funding for other proposed projects.
We find ourselves in an unusual situation as for many years we have supported community projects of this scale. Those initiatives, however, have succeeded through collaboration, consensus, and respect for process and have had a lasting impact locally in areas of education, health care, housing and the arts. They have advanced because of a broad cross-section of individuals within the community who are passionate, reasoned, well-intended and are able to accept dissent just as well as consent. Community development comes in a variety of forms but never reaches it potential when a single purpose is served at the expense of others.
It is our hope, and the purpose for this letter, that ongoing private fundraising for Phase 3 does not impact the willingness and generosity of individuals and companies to support existing and important community development programs and capital campaigns and fundraising efforts.
Jack Timken, President
The Timken Foundation of Canton
Chuck Hoover, Chairman
The Hoover Foundation
Steve Deuble, Chairman
George H. Deuble Foundation
Mark Samolczyk, President & CEO
Stark Community Foundation
Mark Scheffler
Executive Director
Timken Foundation
This blogger has asked Scheffler to agree to an interview so that the SCPR can ascertain in particular what the foundations' somewhat "diplomatic and generalized letter" is speaking to.
So far, no response.
The SCPR is in the process of eliciting responses from Canton/Stark County political leadership. Hence, this blog is only the beginning of an analysis of the import of the letter to future Canton/Stark County development.
It is a bit ironical that Scheffler has not quickly and readily agreed to a SCPR interview (hopefully on camera) in that it appears rather clearly from the foundations' letter that one of their main beefs regarding the HOF-VP as its being an uncommunicative "elephant in the room."
It appears to this blogger that the foundations apply transparency/inclusiveness standards obviously directed to the likes of C. David Baker (HOF executive), Jim Porter (Repository publisher) and Denny Saunier (Canton Chamber of Commerce) that the foundation executives themselves are unwilling to accord to a Stark County media outlet.
Nevertheless, the SCPR will keep digging on what has to be a "firestorm" generated by the foundations sending of the letter.
There are Stark County leaders who have nothing to hide and willingly answer the questions of the SCPR.
And here is a list of those questions:
In future volumes of this series, the SCPR will provide readers with specific reactions on the part of Stark County leaders to the foundation letter.
For an overall look at the progress on the HOF-VP see this Repository report (LINK) by Alison Matas; last revision dated March 19th.
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