Wichita City Council members wanted answers today about why the United States Bowling Congress suddenly canceled its planned 2011 Open Championships in Wichita. They heard from city attorney Gary Rebenstorf about the legal sticking points on a couple of items about Century II maintenance and contract arbitration that he didn’t think were "deal breakers." They heard some good ideas from City Manager George Kolb about how to avoid such situations in the future — and they passed a resolution giving the Greater Wichita Convention and Visitors Bureau the lead in future negotiations.
But why did it take so long for the bureau and city staff to wrap up a convention contract worth $100 million in economic benefits to the city? They received the contract last June and were still working on it this spring. And when, last November, the bureau heard of complaints about the delay from the bowlers, and then an impasse developed on a couple of legalese items, why didn’t someone inform the City Council sooner about the problems? Why didn’t someone pull out all the stops to finalize the contract as quickly as possible?
Posted by Randy Scholfield
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