Wow. What a find! Go to the link and start watching at the 3:43 mark.
After listening to this interview, I have to wonder if old Rhonda Witcher reads this blog, because she asked pretty much EVERYTHING I have asked about this “Business Pork” and made the same points I make repeatedly about the labor force not being there to support such a project.
Good job, Rhonda! You did the first valuable interview of your life at age 102.
Assistant to the City Manager Ryan Ward was on there in place of Finley (another sign that Finley is handing over the reins this year) and our new Economic Development Director Stacey Ybarra joined him. Between the two of them, they talked in circles spewed many buzzwords, and basically gave zero information on the entire park.
First let’s hear Ryan Ward’s bullshit:
Rhonda Witcher: “Well, the can of worms you get when you come here to Lampasas is the Business Park out on 183…the City has had that a long time…put a lot of money into it…it’s been built – has anybody come yet? Are there any renters?“
Ryan Ward: “That’s a great question! I can give you an update on that! Mandy did a great job…it is about 99% complete…the legwork that Mandy had done…there are several businesses that were waiting on the City of Lampasas to complete that… so once the electric is complete, we hope to get folks, uh, moving in as soon as possible, you know, some of these businesses that are really interested in being out there”
Great non-answer, asswipe! Rhonda asked if there were any renters and you just babbled a whole pile of bullshit without giving an answer. SHOCKINGLY, Rhonda didn’t take that for an answer, and pressed him AGAIN….
Rhonda Witcher: “But SPECIFICALLY, are any tire-kickers, ha-ha-ha, or anyone out there looking??”
Ryan Ward: “You know, uh, that would be a good question for, uh, our manager, Finley deGraffenreid….he worked real close with Mandy…that piece of it I didn’t work on it with Mandy…the interested parties…and…a lot of those things are kinda kept, nondisclosure…until they make their mind up…but yeah, I don’t have any of that information, I wish I did, to share”
Ah yes – pawn it off on Mandy (who is long gone) and Finley (who isn’t there and will ALSO be retiring soon! Pass the buck – classic bureaucrat move
I am shocked! The Big Wigs refusing to tell us who all these prospects are! Ward is completely full of shit here. The City ALREADY spilled their five prospects to me less than a year ago (Lawson, Pho-Licious,Legacy Awning, Nextlink and Eco-Turd). Since that is now public knowledge, why doesn’t Ward list one of those companies for Rhonda??? We KNOW that Pho-Licious is gone – are all the rest gone too???
Rhonda is STILL undeterred! He keeps at it. He turns to Stacey Ybarra and asks “what do you think about that?”
Stacey Ybarra: “I think it’s a great opportunity…at this moment in time…to be able to attract businesses, you need shovel-ready sites…you need those types of sites to be able to bring big businesses…it’s just about getting it completed and doing the legwork to bring them here, they will come…it just may take a tiny bit of time…but that’s what I’m here for….and making sure the money was worth the while. It is my number-one priority.…
Lots of talking in circles and lot of cliches in there. Also lots of misinformation. Stacey is new here, so I can forgive her for not knowing that the Business Pork Project has ALREADY been shovel ready for OVER SEVEN YEARS!!! And they have NOT come – despite many on City council telling us that landing a big business was imminent!
[Rhonda STILL keeps at it. Bravo Rhonda. Ward and Ybarra expected to sit there and babble more vague bullshit but you held their feet to the fire. Witcher asks for specifics AGAIN!]
Rhonda: “Hmmm…ok…how do you do that? You know…how do you go out and find, uh, businesses that want to move here?”
Stacey Ybarra: “That’s part of economic development…there’s a lot of different strategies…you have to continually reach out…it’s about staying the in know…what leads are out there and keeping your ear to the ground…and also cold-calling…”
A lot of strategies? Continually reach out? Cold calling??? No, no, no, no sweetheart. We have been told REPEATEDLY over the last TWENTY YEARS that “the Governor’s office calls us WEEKLY with RFIs (requests for information)“. That was told to us by EVERY economic developer and City manager since that idiot Mike Talbot back in 2004.
Talbert told us last February (when she pilfered $971,000 from the City) that the LEDC was turning businesses away, because the Business Pork wasn’t up to snuff!
Not ONCE did Ybarra say “The Governor’s office calls us weekly with RFIs”!! Not ONCE. Which just reinforces my belief that that line was never anything but a huge lie.
Rhonda then brings up ANOTHER great point of mine next:
Rhonda: “I wonder…does Lampasas have the labor…for these businesses“
Ward then piles on the shit BIG time and blabbers a big bowl of diarrhea word salad and cliches and bullshit:
Ryan Ward: “You know, that’s kind of an interesting thought…we have to reach further out…you hope you can find enough work force…to hire more staff…and that’s always the first priority…not only that there is housing…how are we developing those housing communities? But the growth is coming here…”
Oh, is the growth coming here? No shit! Then why have we been subsidizing all of these housing developments if “they are coming” anyways, you morons? Talbert (as mayor), Williamson, Monroe and the rest have given away hundreds of thousands of dollars to developers over the last couple years. Instead, they should be assessing impact fees to pay for the water, sewer, police and all the rest we will now need more of.
Talbert and the rest always tell us this will all “grow the tax base”. So fucking what? Will our taxes go DOWN? No, they will not. You can bet your ass on that.
So the bottom line? No, we don’t have any prospects for the park – despite 20 years and seven million dollars and lying to you for YEARS that “we get weekly requests for information”. No, we don’t have the labor force to fill any jobs we might get. Oh but don’t worry, we’ll subsidize rich developers like Deorald Finney for houses that would be built anyways and we’ll ship people in from Cove and Austin, if need be.
So at the end of the day, there will be more traffic, more crowding, more houses cramming in on 1/4 acre lots, and your taxes will not ever go down. In fact, you’ll be paying more as we have to now blow millions more on water and waste water.
So tell me again why this is a good thing? Sounds like dog shit to me.