Swami Sez:

Photo by Richard Whittaker

A month ago, I told y'all that F1 would be coming to city council at some point in the summer, asking for $4 million a year in tax money, on an emergency basis. They came to council last week, asking for $40 million, on an emergency basis.

Now let me tell you what's going to happen over the next week:

A breakthrough deal was announced Thursday afternoon, whereby F1 is said to be paying the city's portion of money into the state's Major Events Trust Fund.

Friday, it will be all over the news that the crisis has been averted, because Richard Suttle, meeting personally with Mike Martinez and Lee Leffingwell, assures them that F1 will cover all the city's expense. No one will ask just how this will work, or if they do, no one will know the answer, because the contract's still in negotiation. (Because, of course, the enabling legislation still requires the comptroller to withhold $4 million in city tax revenue each year, and put it into the METF. Reports are that F1 will deposit money directly into the METF each year, but is there a mechanism for us getting it back from the state, or is that just extra money that goes back to F1 organizers? Blank stares.)

The city council election is Saturday. This story should be a big plus for Randi Shade, but win or lose, the end game for Suttle and F1 is the same: Ride the good press and unseen contract right down to as close as possible to Thursday's city council meeting. At some point it will be revealed that, yes, the city does still lose the $40 million in tax revenue, but by then we're close enough to the finish line that the old shell game should work. Alternate saying:

1) We're putting in $4 million of our own money every year.
2) Oh, the tax money? Well, yeah of course there's that, but that's all extra money anyway, that you wouldn't even be getting if it weren't for F1.
3) Come on, you can't go back on the deal at this point, after everything we've given up in this offer.
4) If you don't sign today, the whole deal goes up in smoke.

Repeat until signing.