I’m back to combing through the old minutes. If you haven’t been following the Business Pork Origins Series, you can START HERE.
Anyhow, back in in 2005, the LEDC board put the bond they wanted to issue up to a vote and let the citizens decide on it. This bond issuance was supposed to pay for utilities to the “business park”. It was a complete disaster.
[Now remember: the LEDC was ALREADY moving the goalposts even back then. The ORIGINAL pitch went like this: buy the land, get a legit prospect by pitching the land they now had, THEN get an EDA grant to pay for it all using this solid business prospect – as the rules required. NOW they were skipping item #2 and just trying to grab more tax dollars!]
Of 3,800 registered voters (this is taken from the 2/7/2005 minutes) only 207 voted in favor of taking on this massive debt to fund the Business Pork pipe dream and 395 voted against. So not only did 65.6% of voters say NO to this idea, but the YES votes comprised 5.5% of the voting pool.
In other words, 94.5% of the voters wanted nothing to do with this debt burden.
Not hard to believe, since the LEDC had just put the taxpayers on the hook for $1.1 million at 7% just to BUY the weed patch in the first place.
But back then, just like today, the LEDC refused to listen and charged forward with their moronic idea. This is taken from the minutes in February 2005:
Board member [Craig] Benton commented: Citizens went against the election because of the tax increase. The City needs industry. Have got to get utilities to this property. The land is still a good investment and the Board needs to continue the course. If required, can do utilities in small increments, even if it were five feet at a time, if they have to. This land is still a good investment.
[Gee Craig…are you trying to say the land is a good investment? Did they teach that in chiropractor’s school? Turns out it WASN’T a good investment, because 7 years later, the land was appraised at a value 10% lower than purchase price, but we already covered that]
I seriously hope this guy didn’t think you can lay down power lines and water lines five feet at a time as you got a little pocket change. But with this group, you really never know.
Board members [Steve] Hudson and [Sally] Yancy agreed with Benton’s comments [2/7/2005 minutes].
So the LEDC ignored the will of the people and charged ahead into the abyss. Just like they do today.
Furthermore, Mike Talbot (who was simultaneously the Executive Director of the LEDC AND the City Manager) had the following to say about it all:
“Talbot stated he felt the Board should not be deterred in their efforts in regards to the Business Park due to the failure of the Bond Election. He gave the following possible reasons for the Bond Election not passing:
#1 Voter apathy
#2 Voters envisioned the new business park would be just like the old business park [wtf? There is the “old business park” again!!]
#3 Voters thought they were voting on the Key Avenue/4th Street project
In other words, Talbot was egging on this idiotic project by telling the LEDC that maybe:
(1) voters were lazy
(2) voters thought (correctly, as it would turn out) that this new project would be as big a train wreck as the last one.
(3) voters are morons who can’t read.
“The Board agreed that they needed to keep moving forward with the Business Park”.
Of course they did! Here were the Board members at that time:
Paul Wilborn (prez), Craig Benton, John Cole, Sally Yancy, Judith Hetherly, Steve Hudson.
Conclusion: these six people went again the will of 94.5% of registered voters and charged ahead on this ill-fated project.
More to come….