Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said, he was “surprised” and “disappointed” to receive Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs’ memo raising concerns over the financing of the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts (DPAC), given that for nearly two years the City had indicated it would not move forward with the project, until a financially viable means had been identified to do so.
Dyer added that, the City had been working closely with Orange County officials and DPAC for the past ten weeks to identify solutions to challenges which dogged the project, thereby allowing it to go forward.
“Much of the content of Mayor Jacobs’ memo simply reiterated what we had discussed with her team and what we believed we were working on in terms of a solution for our community,” Dyer stated.
Jacobs earlier on Thursday, in a memo to Dyer, issued a scathing indictment of the project’s viability and funding arrangements, charging a lack of transparency, while suggesting that as structured, there were “too many risk for the County, the City and our citizens.”
Reiterating his commitment to creating a world class performing arts center for the residents of Orlando, Dyer said, the project would move forward with the “utmost accountability and transparency.”
The City is expected to provide a more expansive response to Jacobs’ memo next week.
