Further, when they put a pact in writing, they are so pressured to act quickly that serious concerns are countered only with more promises.

Sandy Mayor Tom Dolan more or less demanded that the City Council vote unanimously to approve an interlocal agreement so that Dave Checketts and Co. can get serious about construction.

The agreement sets out conditions for the deal to give Checketts' Real Salt Lake the first 15 percent of Salt Lake County's 4.25 percent hotel tax for 20 years beginning July 1 and $15 million from Sandy to finance land, parking and infrastructure for Real's $110 million stadium.

When three council members balked because of concerns about inadequate parking or simply because they hadn't had time to thoroughly review the document, Dolan gave them two hours to come around. Incredibly, they did, with just a verbal promise from RSL for another 1,000 parking stalls.

At the other end of the county, Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson was pitching a fit because, Anderson said, Checketts and RSL were reneging on a verbal promise to locate an international soccer academy in Salt Lake City. Anderson said he never would have supported the deal without the promise of the academy in his city and Real's pledge of $7.5 million for a Salt Lake youth soccer complex, to which RSL later attached all kinds of strings.

Now Real is saying the academy will be built somewhere "in Utah." Building it anywhere outside Salt Lake County would be a travesty, since $35 million for Real's stadium will come from county hotel taxes..

Sandy officials say they want flexibility in the agreement. That is a mistake.

The consequence of being flexible with terms and conditions and failing to nail down promises is that nobody now really knows what the public will actually get for its money.

Millions for a youth soccer complex? Maybe. A soccer academy in Salt Lake County? Possibly. RSL requesting more public funds when this pot is empty? We wouldn't be surprised.