Tuesday night’s city council work session was a clear indication to us the current panel has done more right than wrong when dealing with the theater issue.

This council has endured, quite unfairly, the slings and arrows of a malcontent public whose only solution to the issue has been to burn the place down or put padlocks on the doors and let it rot and fester.

The work session showed us that council is indeed on top of this situation and is doing what it can to spare taxpayers the grief of a tax increase or of cutting services.

The lease agreement with HSV Entertainment LLC is working better than any other arrangement that has been crafted and whether it was through astute planning or just the luck of falling interest rates, the city now finds itself poised to be in control of the matter.

Council listened to a lengthy discussion of refinancing the 2007 bond series that brought the theater into existence and for one reason or another has caused them to be the target of rather meaningless criticism.

This council could not help that the theater was built so it became their obvious mission to find a way to make it work without burdening the city’s taxpayers.

The objective person will find the theater is actually a masterpiece of acoustic engineering brilliance as the tiniest instrument is heard with pristine clarity during an event.

To close its doors would have been the worst thing to do and now council stands on the threshold of a possible refinancing deal that could, if HSV agrees to buy, even make at least a portion of the payments tax exempt.

A refinancing arrangement would also take away a confusing variable rate interest payment and erase a longstanding letter of credit that went with the original deal. It means the venue would become un-encumbered and not have to be sole collateral for the refinancing loan.

No, a refinancing arrangement won’t make the payments any less for the city, but what it does do is give the city control like it has never really had before.

We believe council must study this issue more and then pounce upon the opportunity to refinance this loan and show the naysayers they have done more right than wrong on this matter — Editor