Former Alerus Center manager ousted from Sanford Center in Bemdiji, Minn.
August 9, 2012 at 7:00 pm in Grand Forks Herald
For the second time in less than a year, the Sanford Center is looking for an executive director to manage the city-owned building. VenuWorks, contracted to manage and operate the event center for Bemidji, fired Roger Swanson on Wednesday. Continue Reading
i bet he “felt” that coming.
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Meanwhile, in GF, VenuWorks employees get put on the city payroll.
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Cities are usually scammed one way or another to build these money pits so a few cna profit big, while everyone else pays and pays…Both for the facility, the upkeep, and the extreme ticket prices….Yet….They’ll do it every time. If these were such a great idea then private enterprize would be putting these up and raking in the bucks….But they’re not…So they get cities to put them up and pay others to run it so a few other buisness’ around town make big…While paying minimum wages……
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The Alerus was a scam from the beginning. Grounded in Fargo envy and the desire of a few to have everyone pay the tab. Built on empty promises (some might say lies), following a terrible business model whereby it took all the risks and suffered the big losses (Fleetwood Mac, Brittany, Neil Diamond, et al), and misdirecting funds from their original intention to other purposes. Then the invention of myths such as economic impact. All supported by a local paper which refused to even investigate the realities of the place, and continued to publish the vapid propaganda. In the private sector places like the Alerus would either be spun off or shut down. In the public sector more money just gets pour down the black hole.
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I like how everyone looks at the negative yet don’t look at the positive. Look at what the place can handle as a banquet facility… everyone just expects concerts, concerts, concerts. when we get them people cry about the prices well guess what cry to ticketmaster and the promoters. The Alerus is an amazing place, its sad that people look at it like the place is empty yet they’re doing banquets daily. if it wasnt for the banquets then yes this place would be pointless.
I swear you are all Terry Bjerke in disguise.
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God bless Terry Bjerke. He is “the” ethics of the Council. He’s the only person up there who consistently pays any attention to whether the taxpayer is getting screwed.
Owens and Carpenter should have been charged with malfeasance. Both should have gotten prison time.
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” everyone just expects concerts, concerts, concerts”
Because THAT was the central selling point proponents pushed ad nauseum…especially to prospective UND student voters. But the concerts never materialized to the extent they were promised. As for banquets, there’s the rub. The Alerus is subsidized by taxpayer-money, including businesses who specialize in catering. So you have a public sector entity competing with the private scetor, and using the latter’s bucks to survive and declare a profit. Maybe the city should run gas stations, barbershops, auto dealerships, and banks on the people’s dime too.
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Sounds like someone needs a visit from the Sexual Harassment Panda.
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