Legacy was being deceptive about connections to Hultgren Construction

The good folks over at the Argus Leader got the paperwork proving Legacy had over a 50% ownership in Hultgren Construction. Good Job.

I figured all along that was the case. I mean really, the writing was on the wall. 1) Aaron could not have financed this business by himself 2) A development company having it’s own construction company it could manipulate and break rules for them is a smart business move, unethical, but smart.

The public warned the city council before approving the Downtown parking ramp that this was likely the case, but they had this O’Shucks attitude that Norm Drake from Legacy was just stuck in a bad business situation while moving LLC’s around like it was a Chinese checkers board. Give me a break!

The sad part is there is probably little the city council can do now after signing the paperwork and breaking ground, they are stuck with their very, very, very, bad decision. To say they have mud on their faces is an understatement. They are chin deep in the hoopla, and it’s going to be entertaining to watch them spin this.

This was a bad deal for the taxpayers and it’s too bad we can’t pool our money and get a big city attorney to sue the city for misappropriation of bonds. Sadly, it would only cost us even more.

It’s hard to pinpoint if this is just government corruption or worse – blatant ignorance but when I watch our city council do things like this, I wonder why I even bother making a stink about it. It’s almost like we enjoy bad local government.