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Liberty University is standing by its decision to deny parking for Wednesday night’s Obama event, a move that’s drawing criticism from local Democrats.
City officials, meanwhile, are looking to Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign to pay for a last-minute shuttle service established to get attendants from City Stadium to the rally at E.C. Glass High School.
The city stepped in after learning Wednesday morning LU would not allow event parking at The Plaza shopping center.
On Thursday, Liberty officials said they did make an offer to supply the Obama campaign with paid — not free — parking at the shopping center, which is owned by the university.
No reply was received, according to administrators.
LU Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr. said that after initially declining to allow parking, the school was asked by the Secret Service to reconsider. Liberty then agreed to rent parking to the campaign at fair-market value, which it determined was between $5 and $10 per space.
“We said we would try to clear it with (the businesses in The Plaza) and see what was available,” Falwell said. “… We tried to accommodate them.”
LU, a registered 501(c)(3), said its tax-exempt status prohibits it from providing free parking to a political rally. Federal law bars exempt groups from contributing to political campaigns either directly or indirectly, according to the Internal Revenue Service’s Web site.
A spokesman for the IRS declined to discuss what would or would not constitute a violation of those rules, saying such decisions must be made on a case-by-case basis.
Falwell said supplying free parking would have amounted to donating the cost of the space to the Obama campaign, in violation of federal tax code.
LU has been criticized by some, particularly among Obama supporters, for closing off access to The Plaza.
The chairman of the local Democratic Party, John Lawrence, said Thursday the school was “making up excuses” to avoid helping a Democratic candidate.
“They did it to spite the Obama campaign,” he said.
Falwell said the university would have taken the same action with any public event, political or otherwise, that sought to use its property without permission.
“It doesn’t surprise me people are upset, but they should be upset with the Obama campaign for not working it out beforehand,” he said.
Organizers of Obama’s appearance at E.C. Glass initially directed ticket holders to park at The Plaza without the school’s knowledge.
Falwell said he only learned of the situation through television reports the night before.
A campaign spokesman operating out of Richmond confirmed Thursday that no one sought the school’s permission before announcing the arrangements.
“My understanding is some of our staff thought it was public parking,” said Kevin Griffis. “Once we were told it was not public, we told people not to park there.”
Griffis also said he didn’t believe the campaign was given the option of paid parking, but added such events usually rely on free, public spaces.
It was not immediately clear if LU’s offer was relayed to Obama officials. LU provided the name of the Secret Service agent it spoke with. He in turn said only that the agency does not pay for parking.
Further questions were referred to the agency’s Richmond office, which had already closed for the day as it was after business hours.
The Obama camp may still end up paying for at least a portion of last night’s parking costs.
The city intends to send them a bill for a shuttle service it quickly established after learning there would be no Plaza parking.
The city encouraged rally attendants to park at City Stadium, where six school buses awaited to ferry them to E.C. Glass and back. Officials said they were concerned a dearth of parking would create confusion and lead to a possible public safety hazard.
The cost of the shuttle service was not immediately known, but City Manager Kimball Payne said on Thursday that the city did expect the campaign to pay for it.
“The Obama campaign was told yesterday it would be sent a bill,” Payne said. “They created this situation. They coordinated it. … We don’t feel it was our responsibility to manage the parking.”
The city does not plan to seek reimbursement for other support services provided, including the presence of more than 40 local police officers.
Payne described these other forms of assistance as “customary” support that would be provided to any visiting dignitary.
“If John McCain comes, we’ll do the same for him,” he said.
The total cost to the city for the Obama event is not yet known, but will be compiled. Payne predicted it wouldn’t exceed five figures.
Griffis, of the Obama campaign, was not aware of any pending bill, but said he imagined if the city did provide parking it was in an effort to support a positive event in the community.
“Obviously, it did bring a lot of positive attention to Lynchburg,” he said of the rally, which was attended by more than 2,000 people.
Payne said while the campaign has not expressly agreed to pay, he expected it would.
“I’m assuming they’re honorable people,” he said.
Reader Reactions
Look, you all can bicker back and forth all you want but it boils down to the fact that all of Falwell haters have made Jerry Jr. paranoid over everything dealing with their tax status. When Liberty does something in good faith the haters are the first to jump on the tax status and threaten it. You can be your bottom dollar that if John McCain needed the Plaza for a “Town Hall meeting” the dems would be all over Jerry Jr. for Liberty violating the tax status. What a double standard? It’s no wonder Jerry Jr. did what he did, he can’t fart sideways without being critized and I truly believe he was protecting the status, which by the way is part of his job!
More Liberty lies. They are an disgrace to education, Lynchburg, and Christianity. Groups like LU and TRBC are why so many believe most Christians to be hypocrites.
Ms Cleo, a month sabatical? The only time you show your slum lord face around here is when you are spewing hatred. I haven’t seen you since the Carl Hutcherson fiasco when you man stole millons from his parishoners. Now you pop up again. Back to collect your rent check from your midtown tenants Cleo?
snooper and stir the pot are the prime examples of the brainwashed low intelligence TRBCer and LUer, they still don’t see the point, and think that everyone owes them something because they go to LU or attend church at TRBC. it doesn’t matter if Toys r us or dollar tree parking lots are never even half full, the fact of the matter is you don’t have permission to park there and it’s private property owned by someone else. and listen to the horror stories of people living near the old thomas road church, that shows you even more how privilaged these cult members think they are! private property..which is the whole argument of LU not letting people park at the plaza, peoples homes driveways, other businesses are private property that LUers and TRBCers don’t respect. the tax exempt argument is a complete joke so it’s not even worth mentioning, all parking was FREE at LU when the Republicans came!
snooper is the more traditional of the TRBCer in that he or she says no one can tell him where to park to go to church, it’s the brain wash privilaged attitudes of people like him or her is what defines the student body and church goers of that school. please its a second rate unknown school, and a church only known in the area, no one knows what liberty university or trbc is if you go outside of the state of virginia for atleast 100 miles into surrounding states, and that is streching it! heck some people in the state, and alot of people NOVA or the east coast of virginia haven’t heard of LU or TRBC either, so save it with your privilaged attitudes your a member and student of nothing.
Common Sense you actually have none. No Toys R Us isn’t a 501. But TRBC is putting these stores in Hot Water by threatening the financial numbers of the store as well the pocketbooks and wallets of their employees. And both would be well within their rights to sue TRBC for all the money they have lost because people can’t get in to their stores. And when the Store makes less money, the City gets fewer tax dollars as a result. Causing a business to lose money and causing employees hours to be cut is not an inconvenience as you put it. It’s travesty! Explain to those employees that they can’t buy for their children simply because some parishioners are too lazy to walk up a hill behind the church.
And please don’t give me the line that Liberty & TRBC are two different things. Corporations such as GE have many different companies Like NBC Universal that they own. Their are different entities, but they are still controlled by one main company. Liberty & TRBC are two parts of one entity. The Falwell’s control them and they work with one another. Unless Jerry or Johnathan want to quit and put either in the hands of someone not related to the family, I suggest you forget saying there is no connection.
And as for Liberty Events not having to park at Toys R Us I agree. But they do. But TRBC doesn’t have to park at Toys R Us either. But they do. They have enough parking as the liberty security will tell you. They will tell you that the parishioners are too lazy to walk up a hill.
The point is if the Falwells are going to claim that they can not allow people to use The Plaza’a parking, then they shouldn’t expect a businees to allow them to park in their parking lot either. Falwell can claim the 501 rule all he wants, but we know if it was McCain who had come to EC Glass, this whole issue would nevver have been raised.
And here’s one last Idea. Since Liberty owns the Plaza and there is plenty of free parking there, why don’t they tell their parishioners to park there and then bus them to the Church. Would save them at many of the businesses a lot of problems.
Yes my dear friends in Lynchburg, Ms. Cleo is back and full of energy after a month sabitical on the beautiful islands of the Mediterranean. I am back just in time for the democratic convention and to chat with my trailer park friends at WSET about the new sheriff in town, OBAMA. Have a great weekend!!
Boy are we splitting hairs here. Private Property, 501 (c), Renting spaces for $5 -$10, Liberty U vs Thomas Roads, Falwell Sr. vs Falwell Jr.
Enough already! This is about Bad publicity for the City of Lynchburg! We were thrust into the National Spotlight and we showed the Nation and the World how crude and intolerant we are to change. Hospitality used to be a plus in the south, Lynchburg has lost it’s way where are your manners? The only Hate on display is by the residents of this once great city and those who profess the love of Christ! An uninformed and uneducated citizenry taints a great legacy. One where I no longer choose to live.
Snooper you can easily go online to the City’s website and find out that Toys R Us owns the property. No one is telling people where to go to church. But most people understand that if you aren’t shopping at a business, you don’t park there. And if you do, most understand that any business has a right to tow your car if you do. If you were a business owner and were located acroos the street from TRBC you would be pissed too and would understand the hypocrisy of the Plaza parking situation on Wednesday. But you prove you a conservative that as always only cares about himself anf what he can get from everyone else. Conservatives are truly the laziest people on earth. Sit on their buts and expect to be payed a Multi-Million Dollar salary.
Stir the Pot, I suggest you visit the Toys R Us parking lot between 11 AM and !2 PM on any Sunday. You will see what so many shoppers there have to deal with. The parking lot if it is not entirely full is close to it. This happens on Sunday & Wednesday Nights as well. It also happens with any special events they have as well like the conference held last week at the church. Management there had to send employees home early.
And I have spoken to the management at Toys R Us when I tried to go shopping one Sunday Morning. I tried to shop at 11 AM and couldn’t find a spot. When I returned that afternoon, I had a long talk with their Store Manager who said he has repeatedly asked these parishioners not to park there and has tried different things to stop them. He said these people get rude, yell, curse, use obscene finger gestures and sometimes totally ignore them and park there any way. If you do not believe any of this Stir the Pot then I suggest you visit Toys R Us and ask to speak to any of their management or staff. And I suggest you take notice to how many citizens who write in have experienced the same problem. The parking lot doesn’t belong to them, but to Toys R Us. It’s on Record at the city. TRBC used to park in the Perrymount Elementary parking lot and many side streets as well when they were at the old church. They caused all sorts of problems as well, including damage to Perrymont Elementary’s parking Lot. Just because a parking lot is nearby doesn’t give you a right to use it. And even if the Parking Lot at Toys R Us wasn’t even half full, TRBC still doesn’t have a right to use it. If anyone doesn’t believe the people here about this Parking Lot, I suggest you go Toys R Us and Dollar Tree and ask the Management there yourself.
Haha Ms Cleo is back from her DC hideout to grace us with her comments. Welcome back, we miss you over at the WSET boards. Good to see you are still lacking in any common sense and still have no knowledge of the law.
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