2008 Woodie Awards
Texas Tech hockey, city council to negotiate new contract
Jon Vanderlaan
Issue date: 10/10/08 Section: News
Tensions rose Thursday morning at City Hall as the proposed Texas Tech hockey contract with the city was rejected, by a 5-2 vote, for the second time.
Council member John Leonard, District 5, made a motion which was carried to continue the negotiations and appoint councilman Todd Klein to negotiate with the organization.
Until a contract is agreed on by Tech hockey and the council, the team must rent the rink from the city, which costs $1,850 on game days and $925 on days that do not need game preparation.
Tom Martin, mayor of Lubbock, said the largest issue he had with the proposed contract, besides money, was the fact that Tech hockey would have the coliseum "tied up," preventing other revenue-drawing events from being scheduled at the location.
"The previous contract that is expired and the one they tried to present today both provide for the hockey club to pay on the day - the full fare - on days of their meets," he said. "But the rest of their time, for all intents and purposes, it just says they can just use the coliseum for five months with no payment at all for recreational skating, skating lessons and so forth."
Martin said if the new contract provides for the city the ability to schedule events on days the hockey team is not using the rink, the negotiated cost will be much less than if they want to use the coliseum exclusively.
During the council meeting, Martin said the negotiations between the council and the hockey team were a "political circus," and he was not interested in continuing until "cooler heads" could take part in negotiations.
Council members Floyd Price, District 1, and Linda DeLeon, District 2, have been on the front lines of helping the team, hosting town hall meetings in support of the team and originally voting to renew the contract.
DeLeon, who has organized town hall meetings among other services to assist the team, said she was not pleased with the remarks made by Martin, especially because the leader of the community would use those words about other council members.
Council member John Leonard, District 5, made a motion which was carried to continue the negotiations and appoint councilman Todd Klein to negotiate with the organization.
Until a contract is agreed on by Tech hockey and the council, the team must rent the rink from the city, which costs $1,850 on game days and $925 on days that do not need game preparation.
Tom Martin, mayor of Lubbock, said the largest issue he had with the proposed contract, besides money, was the fact that Tech hockey would have the coliseum "tied up," preventing other revenue-drawing events from being scheduled at the location.
"The previous contract that is expired and the one they tried to present today both provide for the hockey club to pay on the day - the full fare - on days of their meets," he said. "But the rest of their time, for all intents and purposes, it just says they can just use the coliseum for five months with no payment at all for recreational skating, skating lessons and so forth."
Martin said if the new contract provides for the city the ability to schedule events on days the hockey team is not using the rink, the negotiated cost will be much less than if they want to use the coliseum exclusively.
During the council meeting, Martin said the negotiations between the council and the hockey team were a "political circus," and he was not interested in continuing until "cooler heads" could take part in negotiations.
Council members Floyd Price, District 1, and Linda DeLeon, District 2, have been on the front lines of helping the team, hosting town hall meetings in support of the team and originally voting to renew the contract.
DeLeon, who has organized town hall meetings among other services to assist the team, said she was not pleased with the remarks made by Martin, especially because the leader of the community would use those words about other council members.
Disclaimer:
Opinions expressed here are not necessarily those of The Daily Toreador, the department of Student Media or Texas Tech University. Student editors have the authority to make all online content decisions without censorship or advance approval and are solely responsible for the content of this Web site. None of the opinions expressed on this page are previewed by any university official. Any postings, SPAM or otherwise, considered by the editorial staff to be campaign endorsements for political candidates other than opinions of users attached to articles pertaining to election issues will be deleted immediately.
View the online policy here.
To report questionable content, send an email to dtonlineeditor@gmail.com
Be the first to comment on this story