Emily & Phil Hayes, Gary Moore
Here’s what’s interesting to me. We’re out here at North Port Sports doing this. Investing in the community, trying our best to make our little section of the city better, as well as providing a place to grow sports in underserved parts of our communities. Our budget- a FRACTION of a sliver of the cost of this outrageous proposal. We have tried to connect with commissioners and parish representatives and local tourism agencies; the response has been the same. We love what you’re doing but it doesn’t have a place in our community at this point. What I think they meant was “you’re not part of whatever political backdoor conversation we’re having, so this probably doesn’t work for us”.
We already host revenue generating tournaments that bring out of town money into our community. We host 3 growing sports clubs daily, all of whom benefit from our grassroots effort, not from another tax proposition that may or may not come to fruition. We’ve done it all on a shoestring budget, and while nothing is fancy, it’s a place that already accomplishes what this pie in the sky proposal will.
So think about us when you vote. We’ve asked someone from every entity listed above for help in our partnership, some more than once. We’ve even offered our spot of 25 acres as a proposed site, you know, since it already has 6 volleyball courts, 12 pickleball courts, 3 soccer fields and a stadium…. In one of the few areas of our city that is growing. But they aren’t interested. Doesn’t seem like the best interest of the citizen of our community is the only thing at play here, does it?
