Murmurs of meddling

It's hard to know whom to believe when you're getting two polar opposite stories.

But someone in a position of leadership in this community is lying through his or her teeth.

Seven outgoing Coliseum Authority board members and one former member said in a recent letter to the governor that the local legislative delegation meddled and micromanaged the affairs of the authority, which runs the James Brown Arena and Bell Auditorium.

Delegation chairman Quincy Murphy flatly denies that, saying "I have not been involved with the day-to-day operations or communicating with any of the authority members."

We've got eight people who say otherwise. And The Chronicle talked with several insiders who say Murphy and other legislators did indeed bend the ears of Coliseum Authority members.

Lawmakers certainly have the right to give input, even to meddle if they like. But at least be up front about it.

Moreover, the public has the right to know what the input is, and what motivations are behind it.

In particular, the authority members cite Rep. Murphy and fellow House members Wayne Howard and Gloria Frazier and state Sen. J.B. Powell as having tried, variously, to get the authority to keep then-general manager Flash Gordon (later fired) and then to hire promoter Jerry Dickerson. The plan for Dickerson: to build that new sports arena the community has said it doesn't want.

The latter cockamamie scheme seemed odd at the time. It smells even worse now. Why were legislators so keen to get Dickerson a job he seemed ill-suited for to oversee getting an arena the public hasn't said it wants?

"When there were not enough votes secured to hire Mr. Dickerson, Sen. J.B. Powell and other members of the delegation were furious and expressed this displeasure to authority members they had called to make sure Mr. Dickerson was hired," the authority members' letter says.

"Representatives Howard, Murphy and Frazier," the letter says, "communicated constantly with members during the controversial time and even met secretly with members on one occasion to give advice and direction. One of the tactics used was their constant support and agreement of authority members to not attend meetings in order for a quorum not to be met. Therefore, no official business could be conducted and this allowed Mr. Gordon to stay in his position longer."

One Coliseum Authority member told us that in one instance, a meeting was held in which a legislator on the phone insisted that Gordon be retained.

If the authority members' allegations are true, that begs the question: Why were the lawmakers so interested in first saving Gordon and then hiring Dickerson?

There are a number of suspicions regarding possible hidden agendas, including ego, power, race and money. We hope Coliseum Authority members will come forward with more information on what happened so that can be fleshed out.

Regardless, if the authority members are correct, it appears our legislative delegation, which hasn't exactly set the world on fire in the state arena, has poisoned and politicized the operation of the local arena.