What part of 'public arena' doesn't Global understand?

Full disclosure. Those two words are the linchpin of open government, the kind of government taxpayers in the Mahoning Valley are demanding in light of the investigations into bribery and corruption of public officials that have resulted in the convictions of a disturbingly large number of them.
Only under rare exceptions should government operate in secret and should official information be withheld from the public. And those exceptions certainly do not apply to a project paid for fully with taxpayer dollars. The $45 million Chevrolet Centre in downtown Youngstown is a "public arena." Everything having to do with the facility is in the public domain. And yet, city government, and by extension the public, is still having to fight tooth and nail to get information from the company it has hired to operate and manage the facility.
Last month, Phoenix-based Global Entertainment Corp. was berated by members of city council for keeping them in the dark about the facility's operations. Company officials who appeared at a meeting of council promised to do better. Lawmakers, to their credit, weren't willing to give in that easily. They told company officials that they have a standing appointment with council every second Wednesday of the month, and, in between, will have to respond to inquiries from a three-member legislative committee.
The bottom line: When city officials ask, Global officials will answer.
And yet, the December financial statement that the company recently submitted to the city does not provide a financial breakdown of each event held that month. Why? Because promoters of the events want to keep that information under wraps.
'Third party' agreements
Kyle L. Miasek, the city's deputy finance director, told The Vindicator that promoters are of the opinion that the contracts between them and Global are "third-party negotiated agreements" and are not public records.
"As long as we're being informed where they are financially with a detailed explanation" and the facility is making a profit, that information is not vital, Miasek said.
Given that the deputy finance director recently began working for city government and is not from the area, his opinion will be chalked up to inexperience with government in the Mahoning Valley. But he should understand this simple rule: All information pertaining to the Chevrolet Centre is vital. Therefore, full disclosure is demanded.
Fortunately there are members of council who have criticized the withholding of information and have made it known that they will not take no for an answer. And neither should the taxpayers.
As we have argued in the past, Global Entertainment has not invested a dime in the construction of the arena and isn't required to make up for any revenue shortfall. This is a public arena with a private firm hired by the city to operate and manage it.
It is not up to Global Entertainment to decide what information should be forwarded to City Hall. Full disclosure is the only standard by which it should operate. If that's unacceptable, the city may have to look for a company that understands it is managing a publicly-owned facility.