Plano reassessing Stars arena financing after Prop A fails

Plano voters struck down Plano's tax plan to help pay for the new Dallas Stars Arena. Good evening, I'm Clarice Tinsley. With nearly 55% of the vote against the proposition, city leaders must now also grapple with the message sent by voters. Fox 4's Lori Brown live in Plano with the latest. Lori. Clarice, this proposition was primarily a tax on tourists and visitors to Plano, so the defeat shows that suburban voters here in Plano saw this as their opportunity to vote against the venue itself. But in this showdown, there is still time on the clock. The grassroots effort dubbed Stop the Stars scored big, defeating Plano's Proposition A by a 9% margin. I am telling them it is time to move forward in a new direction, learn from what we did here, write it down so that future councils don't fall into the same rabbit hole. Plano has committed $700 million to the Stars Arena at the site of the Willow Bend Mall. Prop A would have helped the city pay back the debt faster. Plano homeowner Karen Dubrow is chair of the Stop the Stars PAC. She says they only spent $1,500 on their campaign. This is called grassroots hard work by the citizens who have full-time jobs, just like our council. I want our council to work as hard as we did. But the game ain't over yet. The Dallas Stars released a statement saying, as Proposition A was a component of a broader financing strategy, we look forward to continuing our partnership with the city of Plano as it pursues a project finance zone to be created by the Texas legislature. We remain committed to advancing this important project that will create jobs, attract new visitors, and generate economic benefits for the Plano community for decades to come. The Plano City Manager, however, appears to to be tapping the brakes without authorization for these venue taxes. The proposed financing approach would need to be reassessed before city council considers any actions related to the arena. Our focus will be on providing them with a clear understanding of the financial implications and options available moving forward. Meanwhile, two Dallas city council members, Paul Blackman and Adam Bazaldua, released a statement saying the city of Dallas is willing to negotiate. If I was a part of the Dallas Stars organization, I would I would first and foremost want to make sure that my team is in a place where place that they are welcome and that will be welcomed from the people that live there. Bazaldua took a moment at his daughter's golf tournament to talk with us. It's important for the stars to realize that they still have a city that not only do they use as their namesake, but that want them here. The residents want us to do what we can to keep them. And so there is still room to negotiate, and there's still an opportunity for us to keep the Dallas Stars in Dallas. Traffic and a lack of public transportation to the former Willow Bend Mall area is one of the big hurdles Bazaldua says the team wouldn't face if they renovated the American Airlines Center. I think what I've heard the consensus of from Dallas residents is what is wrong with the American Airlines Center? And why aren't we doing what we can to ensure that the stars stay here in our city? And I want to just reiterate to everyone that nothing's done until it's done. I asked the Stars spokesman for a response to the offer to reconsider their move from Dallas. He said that at this time they're not making any public comments beyond the statement that they already released to us.