Past mistakes created current problems at Spirit Mountain

When the emotional card is played, it means there is no answer for financial responsibility. It (the emotional plea) can be surprisingly effective and can negate the need for prudent financial management when public money is involved.

Good luck with this one. The councilors are making the decisions, not the individual voters. Sure, they’re overbudget; sure, they’ve mismanaged funds. But it’s about the children! Do you hate children?

Turn it private and manage it properly or leave it publicly subsidized and assume proper management will never happen.

When Jim Filby Williams says, “Spirit really needs the city to be more engaged with Spirit in charting a path to restore Spirit Mountain to financial health”, it means Spirit gets the money and no changes whatsoever will be made; Mr. Williams has just declared the city responsible for the mountain’s finances.

When the mountain gave the ultimatum re: closing without cash influx, the City really just needed to say no. They’d only need to do it once to watch the panic, fear, firings … and eventual solutions… ensue. When someone gives my firm an ultimatum, we accept it wholeheartedly and watch the chips fall. On the other hand, if we were running Spirit Mountain, we’d do exactly as they did to exploit the city’s proven and unending accommodation.

It’s just a ploy. The city’s been played since the beginning.

Do you hate children?

Rule No. 1 in business: Study the sheep so you can predict their movements.

Spirit gets a passing grade.

One must realize from the day it opened back in the mid-1970s it was known it was going to be a financial nightmare. That is why the tourism tax was invented. Basically you are supporting the Mountain for business to profit.

Audit is needed to show what Mountain means to Duluth economy.

I wonder how much the administration at Spirit Mountain has control of their future? Feels to me like the City may have been advising, requesting or even demanding some expenses or projects happen without true support from the current staff. They may say things publicly because that’s how you need to play with the City. I wonder what the staff’s recommendations would be if they could speak safely. I know the City pushed for the Spirit Landing Park and Spirit Mountain had nothing to do with it or maybe even knew next to zero about it. I do know that the board knew zero about it. It doesn’t cost Spirit anything but it will cost the City plenty with hardly a return. What projects has the Spirit administration been in favor of? Where is the truth? When I see who from the City is involved, I really have a hard time believing that we know the whole story or ever will?