August 2017

Probably another ugly loft building (Pretty Much)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=me_1Jw6kN50

It only took Lloyd companies 13 years to fulfill a promise (13 YEARS!) why wouldn’t they deserve a TIF?

Since the completion of Phillips to the Falls in 2004, significant investment of public and private dollars has occurred in the Uptown area. In recent years the City has made land available, resulting in several million dollars of private investment. This development will be constructed for an estimated cost of $43.5 million and will provide further economic benefits for our community including $400,000 to $500,000 in new property taxes paid each year. The City administration is supporting a Tax Increment Financing District for the project ($4.1 Million proposed).

Besides the fact that the developer drug their feet for 13 years and left the city holding the bag (and the land) the city council has NOT approved this project, and certainly has not approved a TIF. In fact, many on the council had NO CLUE a TIF was being proposed.

As far as I am concerned, since the developer was SUPPOSED to buy and develop this land 13 years ago, as they promised in front of a full council chambers (I was there) any discounts on property tax revenue should have ran out a long, long, long time ago. They were supposed to be paying on this plot of land for the last 13 years, and now they have the nerve to ask for a TIF as the taxpayers held this plot of land for them, for 13 years, at NO COST?

NO WAY!

I said Phillips to the Falls was Munson’s folly, and it continues to not disappoint being a money pit for taxpayers as developers continue to ask for corporate welfare. If the mayor is truly serious about ending subsidies, he can start right now with this project.

Just to Clarify

When you only have 30 minutes (about 20 minutes when news and ads are played) it’s hard to rattle off everything you want to say on a radio program.

Yesterday on the Patrick Lalley show, Pat asked a few questions I wanted to go into more detail on. The first one about being a ‘bomb thrower’. I guess I just look at things in a different perspective, and if I see things going on in local government that doesn’t pass the smell test, I like to dig in it a bit. I don’t consider that ‘bomb throwing’ I consider that ‘truth telling’.

But the other question Pat asked just to get some jollies out of me was, “Why do you hate the mayor?” OR he may have phrased it, “Do you hate the mayor?” I can’t remember, either way, as I said on the show, I don’t think about politician’s personal lives or personal feelings and went on to say that I may hate the policy decisions the mayor may make, but not the person.

But I wanted to also clarify something else. I know that I have been accused of being mean and ‘personally’ attacking the mayor and his family. Trust me, if I really wanted to attack the mayor’s personal life, or quite honestly anyone on the council, I would have plenty of ammunition. But I’m not the National Enquirer. I have been told all kinds of things about the Mayor and council, some I have verified, some is just gossip. But I want to reassure people, that most of the stories I hear are pretty harmless things in their personal lives that have more to do with being a little quirky even if lawyers have been involved a few times. But for the most part our local city politicos have pretty clean records, and for that, we can consider ourselves very fortunate. Now if we can just clean up the Fire Department . . . 🙁