LANSING – The Legislature controls the fate of the North American International Auto Show, a Senate panel was told Wednesday. But while there is a chance the show could move to a location like Chicago or Los Angeles, the panel was also told every effort possible to keep the show in Michigan would be considered and newly-elected Detroit Mayor Bing is searching for support for a change that would keep ownership of the facility with the city instead of a regional authority.

But time is of the essence, NAIAS Co-Chair Douglass Fox told the Senate Commerce and Tourism Committee. Already the failure of a deal to transfer ownership of Cobo Center in Detroit to the authority which would improve and expand the center has raised alarms with German auto manufacturers, he said, implying they may pull their commitment to the show.

The committee did not vote on SB 585 , SB 586 , SB 587 and SB 588 , and another committee meeting has been set for 9 a.m. Thursday to take more testimony on the package. No amendments expected to be entertained and voting planned for Tuesday.

Committee chair Sen. Jason Allen (R-Traverse City) said he hoped lawmakers would be able to reach an acceptable compromise on the package which would give the Detroit City Council one more opportunity to approve the transfer. But if no action is taken by July 1, the package also permits state funding to assist in an expansion of the Rock Financial Center in Novi.

But Fox told the committee his group’s first priority is to keep the show in Cobo in downtown Detroit.

Members of the Detroit City Council have reacted angrily to the package, with even some members who supported the transfer in February suggesting the state is attempting to strong-arm it into agreeing with the deal.

Sen. Tupac Hunter (D-Detroit) warned the committee if the legislation were to pass then the council might react even more strongly against the proposal than it did in February when it rejected the agreement then.

George Jackson, Bing’s point person on the Cobo issue, said the new mayoral team is looking at a revision in the terms of the agreement between the city and the regional authority under which the city would retain ownership but lease the convention center.

But he also said he does not view as realistic a hard requirement for hiring preferences for city residences, especially in light of the regional authority’s agreement to accept responsibility for Cobo’s annual operating deficit which now is in the range of $15 million-$20 million a year.

Matt Marsden, spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop (R-Rochester) said any change would mean bringing back all the stakeholders who worked for five years to work out the agreement the Legislature already passed and is up again to give the city another shot at expanding Cobo. That, he warned, could lead to a prolonged debate and risk losing the auto show to another state.

Under the agreement, reached on the last day of the 2007-08 session, ownership of Cobo would be transferred to a regional authority which would oversee the renovation and expansion of the center. The council rejected the proposal saying the city was not getting enough out of the arrangement.

The package was introduced because Senate Republicans were worried about the chance the annual January auto show, one of the most important in the world, could be moved out of Michigan, taking with it economic benefits of as much as $500 million a year.

Fox, who also owns the Ann Arbor Automotive dealership, said there is growing competition in terms of major auto shows, especially from Asia, and that the cost factors of operating the show in Cobo under its current state of disrepair are almost twice those of other major shows.

The NAIAS has two goals, he said, to maintain the stature of the show as the premiere show in the country and “to keep the show in Michigan.”

Staying in Detroit is the organization’s clear first choice, Fox said, but if that is not possible then the organization would look at other venues in the state. The Rock Financial Center in Novi could be an acceptable center, he said, emphasizing that executives from the Novi center approached the NAIAS and not the other way around.

Other venues in the state may also come forward if action on Cobo cannot be reached, Fox said.

The NAIAS is committed to staying in Cobo through the 2010 show, but action has to begin soon so decisions can be made regarding the 2011 show and beyond, he said.

While Hunter said did not support moving the auto show away from Cobo, he said people in Detroit still not fully realize how seriously the chance the city could lose the show are.

This story was provided by Gongwer News Service. To subscribe, click on Gongwer.Com

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