Big Block, Big Ideas, Big Cost to Taxpayers?

[XLFD]

A front page article in last Thursday's City of Ludington Daily News (COLDNews) caught my attention.

What caught my attention was not Mayor Henderson's choice of horizontal stripes on his shirt to bring attention to his abdominal muscles, though that may have subliminally influenced my gaze.  What struck me as odd and worthy of attention, was that a public-private venture was being entertained to develop the old bowling alley block.

In the Development of Authority series, Malignant Growth Alliance series and others, it has been shown that these 'ventures' typically deal with the expenditure of significant local tax money-- what most people think goes to our infrastructure, public safety, necessary public works and utilities-- to the benefits of private individuals, many of those individuals being public officials, their families, their friends, or to their businesses.

In the article, Mayor Henderson announces "that a committee has been working on potential projects and has concluded a public-private partnership would be better and more likely for the block than solely a private one".  Why is this the first time we hear about such a committee?  What type of committee is it?  Who's on the committee?  How did they come to such a ridiculous conclusion?

The article continues:  Attempts to develop a private project have not come to fruition.  So this new approach was being considered.  "We'll need your help." Henderson told those gathered.  His use of the pronoun "we" should trouble you.  His past partnership with Bob Neal, the main property owner of that block, may have cost the City some big money back in 2008 in the Jack Byers' lawsuit.

Speaking of which, Bob Neal then explains that the private approach just couldn't be made to work.  "None of the pieces ever came together well enough to make it happen.".  Excuse me, Bob, let me refresh your memory recall that you received an OPRA tax break back in 2009   OPRA Certificate   that will last until 2021, unless it is revoked by your friends in the City-- highly unlikely with the current batch, even though you are not living up to the standards of that tax break as further explained here about a year ago:   Kingpin Knockdown  You have already been receiving some great deals from the City of Ludington since at least 2005.  Now you want even more of our tax money, for your ends?

They later mention a work "team" consisting of Bob and Barry Neal, Henderson, John Wilson (of WLS fame, who were supposed to be developing this block back in 2008), and Dan LeMoore of Christman Co. (the people doing up to $19 million of work at the unnecessary hospital expansion who, emceed the event.) and hope to have groundbreaking of whatever they decide the fall of 2013.

Bob Neal had similar optimism back in 2005, and John Wilson had such a groundbreaking figured originally back in late 2008 for this block.  Mayor Henderson, more optimistic than both, was busy all that time bending over backward to give these two all the help he could legally give.  Maybe more.

The Ludington Fire Department was in full flight mode before I resigned that organization in late 2008, figuring they would be homeless, until John Wilson and friends built them a new station in mid- 2009.  They had already moved a lot of rarely used equipment elsewhere in preparation for an October 2008 demolition that kept getting pushed back, until it was finally cancelled the next year.  The LFD would have had their fire apparatus at the LHS bus barns and at OXY chem, according to discussions at the LFD meetings, in the 9 months or so without a fire station.

I don't like the idea of having 20 people rush to the three school area (every grade level) around the time school lets out, and then come out in emergency mode.  But this was what was envisioned as progress at that time, even though the City had not figured out where the new station would be put.

Anyhow, I sent this FOIA request out the next day:   "All records in possession of the City of Ludington and its attendant officials regarding the 9-26-2012 meeting between public and private concerns as related in the LDN's 9-27-2012 edition I include as attachments. This would include invitations, rosters, and any records received or made by those in attendance from the City of Ludington."  and I received the following, only:

Invitation to the Event

Invitee List 1

Invitee List 2

There was no rationale given for why some people were invited, and why some were not, who did the invitation list, or anything given out in what I thought was a broad request.  I can't figure why two people from the COLDNews were invited, but that nobody from any local radio station, or Ludington's most successful social networking/blog site was invited.  Why were some from the downtown area allowed to give their voice, but a lot of others being given no voice?  Who knows, the rationale is not given even though about half of the attendees are involved with local government in some way.

Apparently the following people representing the City of Ludington as City Officials didn't have any written records received or made at this event, just invitations (those sheets of paper that Ludington City Councilor's Castonia and Taranko have in front of them in the pictures in the paper were blank sheets!):   Bill Anderson (Ludington Historic District task force chairman), Marilyn Cunic (DDA-DLB), John Henderson, City Councilor Kaye Holman, Mike Lenich (Planning Comm.), Kathy MacLean (DDA-DLB), Barry Neal (DDA-DLB), Mike Necola (Planning Comm., CDBG), Budde Reed (Building Auth.), Shay, and Heather Venzke (CDD).  if they did, it would have been included in the FOIA response.

I find it rather hard to believe there was no extra records, and the appearance of both Taranko and Castonia defied the final invitation list seem to indicate that the 'final' list was not totally reliable.  All in all, this meeting was not open to the general public, and definitely not transparent.  But with the attendance of at least three City Councilors, three incoming County Commissioners, nearly half of the Downtown Ludington Board (DDA), there was a lot of political power around to be influenced, and just less than enough to not run afoul of the Open Meetings Act.  

[Willy]

X. It's going to be bread and water for you. Eye will see to that.

[AQUAMAN]

Yuk yuk, you guys are really funny today.

[Eye On Ludington]

Willy, I don't have any problem at all with this issues presented in this discussion. Have fun with yourselves!

[Willy]

Eye

My mother told me a long time ago that having fun with myself would make hair grow on the palm of my hands. But her advice was to late. I now have to shave my palms every other day.

[Eye On Ludington]

Willy, that's too bad!

[AQUAMAN]

One thing's for sure, if you ask questions of city hallers, ask for public information, seek out the truths, jump thru their hoops of finance and jolly seeking, then for sure you will be labeled a 14 year old adolescent, or some would so vainly boast. That's not how well-adjusted adults act, you know? We should all just pretend that everything is hunky-dory and mind our own business. Being concerned with government, however mundane and boring in our very own small town, is not in line with being Sheeple that the herders want us to be. Be scared and hide in your homes folks, don't talk to unless talked to first, shut up, sit down, take your pills, and go to sleep. City hallers know full well what they are doing, and don't need any public input or critiques from us dummies. So, have fun, look the other way, and don't let the bed bugs bite, right? That's my rant for today, have a nice weekend ya'll.

[XLFD]

Councilor Castonia may have pouted, Councilor Holman may have called a citizen warped (at least she didn't call me 'indigent' twice with a disgusted smirk), Shay may have gave me the extended evil eye for two and a half minutes, Mayor Henderson interrupted and talked out of turn, and Fire Chief Funk may have said his new catchphrase for the umpteenth time, but overall I thought the bulk of City officials passed themselves off as adults at the last meeting. 

They'll only be getting worse this month.

[XLFD]

The Ludington Torch is once again help settin the agenda for City Hall-- no not by another FOIA Appeal-- but by the more substantive one introduced in this thread head:  "Excuse me, Bob, let me refresh your memory recall that you received an OPRA tax break back in 2009 OPRA Certificate that will last until 2021, unless it is revoked by your friends in the City-- highly unlikely with the current batch, even though you are not living up to the standards of that tax break..."

 

Today the COLDNews announced that "END OF TAX ABATEMENT  The Council granted Bob Neal's Westnd Company a 12 year tax abatement on his former bowling alley property on Ludington Avenue when he planned to rehabilitate the building in 2009.  The building has now been demolished and City manager is recommending the council revoke the company's Obsolete Property Rehabilitation Exemption certificate."

 

Should have been done awhile ago, John, as Bobbles hasn't had anything close to progress happening there even before it was torn down, around nine months ago.  Good to see he was still rehabbing the property when it was a community garden this whole year, LOL.  Councilman Castonia got some big zucchini out of the deal at least. 

[AQUAMAN]

That's a very funny coincidence, doesn't anyone else think. I mean here we have a very wealthy financial group asking for tax abatements based on a promise, promise broken to COL after over 3 years of tax variances to the favored group. So now what? Dump it in the COL's lap? Ask for more grants/public funding to undue their own follies and waste of tax monies and time? Hope that the appearance of "generosity" plays on the pubic minds and feelings of do-gooders, instead of the truth of bunglers that couldn't get up the guts to invest in their own vacant run down property? Methinks the appearance of impropriety blatantly exists, and that both parties have their hands in the other's pockets too. Not rocket science to figure out whom protects who is this berg.