Archive for the ‘Catharsis’ Category

The Answers From CenterStage

Wednesday, August 12th, 2009

Don here. When Eagle Eyes and I submitted our “Twenty Questions” to CenterStage earlier in the summer, I thought we were being very easy on them.

We didn’t ask about an artists endowment — there isn’t one — or the rumors that ticket sales for the CenterStage grand opening weekend have been slow. And we didn’t ask why there is so little of substance announced on the initial event schedule (BTW: Bringing in The Oak Ridge Boys is actually a good idea. In the context of a full and diverse schedule of events, that is. So where’s the rest? Or is this it?)

We didn’t ask about the parking situation, although there seems to be some problems there too. And we didn’t press too hard on how the Foundation intends to respect the history (ahem!) of the historic Richmond theatres they’ve been handed the keys to, and given considerable public subsidy to oversee and to safeguard. Perhaps, in light of recent events, we should have.

[Incidentally, it's always worth reminding people that this project is, was and will be funded by public tax dollars. So anyone who tries to tell you that CenterStage, or RPAC, or VAPAF — whatever you want to call them — should be able to do with its "history" what it wants — like a private company reworking a new sales brochure — has an awfully broad and somewhat shitty view of both history and what it means to be a leader in the public trust.]

No, we didn’t press Jeff and Jay at Capital Results PR (who officially handled our inquiries about the project — thanks guys!) about such things as the lack of an artistic director — we assumed there would be one. After all, wasn’t there a guy named Joel Katz? And didn’t he run the Carpenter Center successfully for ten years with very little city subsidy? He was fired for truth-telling too.

Why does having an artistic director — a “vision” — matter? Let’s take a look at a reputable arts venue named CenterStage — Baltimore’s CenterStage — which does not take city tax dollars and is overseen by a staff that includes a seasoned artistic director. If you want a good example closer to home, take a look at the diverse international arts programs that the director of The American Theatre in Hampton, Michael Curry, brings to Tidewater each season in a former second-run movie house (click here for the 2009-10 schedule).

Gee, let’s get even closer than that. Think of Kathy Panoff and what she accomplished in building UR’s Modlin Center.

Make no mistake, folks. This stuff matters. You can’t pass your programming and your artistic direction off to a hockey arena promoter (in this case, SMG) and expect to have a “world class performing arts center.” It just doesn’t compute.

Anyway, we promised the boys at Capital Results that we would print their official answers “as is” with a very minimum of linking and editorializing. But forgive us for pointing out facts when the answers fail to do so, and please allow us the opportunity to tell you why some of these questions might just be a wee bit important, and especially to those people who say they support this thing and want it to work.

There was also one “followup” question that we are still a little unclear about.

But you’ll read all about it… as you wade through…

[Cue trumpets, or "Elvira" — your pick] …

The Answers From CenterStage.

And for those of you coming in late to the CenterStage / Virginia Performing Arts Center story, feel free to plunder our archives. And start asking your own questions. After all, you are paying for this particular “serious fun,” whether you like it or not.

Posted in Catharsis, Richmond Arts Flashback, Richmond in the news, Uncategorized, armchair philosophizin', come the revolution..., fun with bribery, holy cannoli, life is filled with sadness and disappointment, moments of civic brilliance, number-crunching, our social betters, politricks, sheer terror, shell game, something smells funny in here, techmology, the free press, the inexplicably employed, whiners with websites | No Comments »

If You’re Healthy And You Know It, Pay Back TARP

Wednesday, June 10th, 2009


“We’re going to find out who are the strongest kids on the block and who are not,” said Bert Ely, a longtime banking analyst.

Eagle Eyes here. Yesterday, the Treasury Department gave the O.K. to ten of the nation’s seventeen largest banks to repay funds received from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (”TARP”). Former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke had forced the ten to accept bailout cash last fall, even though they may not have needed it, in a gambit to obscure the identity of the weaker, actual intended targets of the prorgam (specifically Citigroup and Bank of America), avoid runs on those banks, and preserve the nation’s teetering financial system.

Smaller, regional and local banks, also struggling in the face of surging loan and investment losses, lobbied hard and were subsequently included in the program. On February 6 of this year, Richmond-based First Market Bank received $33.9 million in bailout greenery.

Almost immediately after the worst of the financial storm passed, stronger banks chafed under the increased government scrutiny on executive pay and risk-taking and fought hard to gain clearance to repay the bailout money:


[Jamie] Dimon, calling money received through the Troubled Asset Relief Program “a scarlet letter” and “the TARP baby,” said on a conference call with reporters today that the New York- based bank is awaiting guidance from the U.S. Treasury Department. “We could pay it back tomorrow,” he said.

BB&T CEO Kelly King told analysts the TARP funds are “destructive” to the company.

“Our plan is to repay the [TARP funds] as soon as it is humanly possible,” Kelly said. “It creates excessive controls, it has a negative impact on our people and our strategies” and “it runs a great risk of politicizing the lending process, which is very unhealthy.”


“The company believes it has sufficient capital and access to capital to operate without the TARP money,” CEO W. Moorhead Vermilye said in a statement released last month when Shore Bancshares applied for permission to repay TARP funds.

In the March press release, Vermilye echoed that sentiment, saying: “It has become clear to us that the public, including many members of Congress, view institutions that participated in Tarp as having done so because they are weak, and not because they wanted to do their part to foster economic recovery.”

Weaker banks, with too little capital to pay back TARP, instead fired up the PR machine (I’m guessing “Troubled” is not a word loved by their marketers):


First Market gets TARP infusion of $33.9 million
“The TARP funds are meant for healthy banks,” said Katie Gilstrap, spokeswoman for First Market. “First Market has a very conservative credit culture. We have never been involved in subprime or risky loans.”


Bailout’ it’s not, Virginia bankers say
Virginia bankers cringe at the word “bailout.”

Many have applied for money that the federal government began offering last fall to boost lending in frozen credit markets.

But banking officials don’t want to be included with AIG Inc. and Citigroup Inc., or the automobile-manufacturing industry, as beholden to federal taxpayers for their financial prosperity…

However, now that certain banks have been deemed strong enough to return bailout funds (about two dozen smaller banks have already mailed Timmy G. the check) there is an easy way to accurately differentiate between “good” and “bad” banks. As a result, there will be tremendous pressure on banks to repay in order to avoid being lumped in the latter category. We should all pay close attention to those that cannnot.

It will be very interesting to see if First Market and its new suitor Union Bankshares (which received $59 million in TARP) can return the money. I’m guessing they don’t have the quan.

First Market has operated on a relatively thin capital base since a 2005 reorganization that saw Markel Corp replace SunTrust as a minority owner. Losses on loans and investments eroded their capital further.

And the news isn’t getting any better. First Market’s major lines of business include construction loans, home equity lines of credit, commercial real estate loans and auto loans, all showing significant deterioration at First Market and industrywide. Last week, large local builder Prospect Homes declared bankruptcy. Prospect owed First Market $4.2 million, or about 5% of First Market’s pre-TARP equity capital. Ouch! A few more losses like that one and they might have been graced by a late Friday knock at the door.

But, of course, Jim Ukrop leads a charmed life. With the taxpayers’ $33.9 million in his vault, he can keep the doors open and push though a sale to Union Bankshares that will reap him and his family somewhere on the order of $60 million+. But, if First Market is not going to pay TARP back, at least he can spare us all the “healthy bank” charade.

P.S. How about Richmondbizsense.com needing only about a year to take over as the source for local business news - well done guys!

P.S.S. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could all have a major newspaper give us tons of free advertising under the guise of journalism like this this this (only 6 sold?!) and this?

P.S.S.S. Ukrops Supermarkets only made a $465k profit last quarter and has about $100 million in debt. Better sell it fast…

P.S.S.S.S. Anthony Markel just sold more than $19 million of his Markel stock. Should you sell yours?

Posted in Catharsis, armchair philosophizin', come the revolution..., fun with bribery, moments of civic brilliance, number-crunching, our social betters, politricks, shell game, the inexplicably employed | No Comments »