corpse repository – The Original Lampasshole

Today Is The One-Year Anniversary Of The Ybarra/Ward Verbal Diarrhea Word Salad Radio Show – Biz Pork Still Empty.

Exactly one year ago, then-newly-hired Economic Development director Stacey Ybarra and Ryan “Gump” Ward went on the radio to blather some feel-good nonsense about the $7.3 million dollar “Business” Pork project.

For the first time in her miserable life, radio host Rhonda Witcher actually asked piercing questions and held Ward/Ybarra’s feet to the fire over what a complete joke the entire project has been for nearly TWENTY YEARS now. Here are some excerpts:

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! A lot of blabbering and zero information actually given. Shockingly, Rhonda didn’t accept that bullshit word salad and pressed on]

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”

Rhonda STILL didn’t accept that. He asks Ybarra: “what do you think of 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.…

Well, it has been a year for Ybarra making it her “number one priority” and cashing about $125,000 worth of paychecks and benefits from the citizens of Lampasas. Let’s see how the Business Pork looked today around noon:

Impressive!

Of course, it was a clusterf*ck long before Ybarra got here. A bunch of dummies declared it SHOVEL READY back in the fourth quarter of 2015 – a mere 100 months ago.

The ridiculous predictions go back even further than that….

“Ms. Toups said she wants to continue to provide infrastructure to develop the business park — which she said Harrison spoke against publicly. Ms. Toups said through the Lampasas Economic Development Corp.’s hard work, “we are on the verge of seeing large corporations come in [to the business park].” – April 21, 2017

“DeGraffenried said the LEDC was bold in its decisions to purchase the business park property and extend utilities to it. The city manager predicted Lampasas will enjoy many “spin-off benefits” throughout the city because of the utility work. ” – Oct 23, 2015

“Recent land clearing and development of a road at the business park, Mrs. Masonheimer added, have made the site more attractive to prospective businesses and U.S. 183 passersby.” – Oct 23, 2015

“Projects like this send a message that the city will provide the infrastructure needed for job growth,” [letter written by crusty, big-spending RINO fossil-dummy Roger Williams, U.S. Congressman] – Oct 23, 2015

“An economic study in 2001, [Neal] Leavell said, concluded a business park was the main item Lampasas needed to attract development.” – Oct 23, 2015

“We look forward to working with you and working to fill this business park with good jobs,” she said [Carol Faulkenberry, Texas Dept Agriculture] – Oct 23, 2015

“Mrs. Monroe noted the Lampasas Economic Development Corp. is working with the business park south of town on U.S. Highway 183, and she said she hopes the site will attract good employers to Lampasas. [Council member TJ Monroe] – April 14, 2015

“The incumbent said the city acquired the business park property several years ago but has lacked the infrastructure needed at the site. Soon, she said, the business park will be developed enough to be inviting to businesses. [Then-council-member Wanda Bierschwale] – April 10, 2015

“Grayson said he hopes to develop the business park and attract companies to the site.” [Then-mayor Grayson running for re-election] – April 3, 2015

“I feel like we’re getting somewhere,” board president Dr. Neal Leavell added. “I think we’ve really accomplished something. It’s taken a lot of patience, but we’re here.” – September 23, 2014

“Advocates of utility extensions have said entities compete vigorously for new jobs and that cities with ready-to-build sites have an advantage as they try to attract new businesses.” – August 8, 2014

“Economic development officials have said utilities for the business park are essential to make the 165-acre area attractive to companies.” – July 22, 2014

The LEDC was “proactive,” deGraffenried said, in acquiring the U.S. 183 property several years ago for a business park. The goal of utility extensions, the city manager said, is to develop the land into a site that can promote economic growth. – June 17, 2014

Biz Pork Implosion Begins. Finley Singing a Different Tune As Political Wind Changes. Hangs Ybarra Out To Dry Like The Weasel He Is.

First the Radiogram and now the FRONT PAGE of the local newspaper. Ouch. I never thought I’d see them turn on the Business Park like this.

Funny how things change in just a few years. Previously, Finley deGraffenreid was one of the biggest cheerleaders of the Business Pork project. Here’s what he had to say – these are quotes from the Lampasas Dispatch:

But now that hard questions are being asked about this disaster, Finley is quickly scurrying to the other side of the boat. Like a rat:

Oh. So NOW Finley admits we CANNOT “compete with neighboring communities in attracting new businesses and offering incentives“! My goodness, Finley! Now is a hell of a time to admit that – now that over $7 million has been incinerated by your goat pasture!

You didn’t have a million dollars in your pocket? You sure did. The City actually had almost TWO million in their pocket. A gift from Uncle Sugar for the “hardships” of Covid. The LEDC immediately pilfered $971,000 of that for the Business Pork Project (another $800k or so went for a new fire engine). Here is a picture of that night – and there’s Finley sitting about 5 feet to the left of LEDC president Misti Talbert as she begs for the money in February of 2022:

As I recall, Finley didn’t jump up at the time and talk about how we couldn’t compete and that this was a very stupid idea. No – as I recall, he sat there and parroted Misti’s bullshit story about how this was a great investment and how they were “the only game in town.”

Of course, a couple nights ago, he was STILL spinning bullshit to try and cover for this disaster:

[Belton, Belton, Belton! Finley sure does have a hard-on for Belton. He mentioned it multiple times Monday night. Does he realize that Belton is part of the Killeen-Temple metro area – which is home to 250,000 people? Quite a difference from Lampasas: population 7,200]

First of all, why is being far away from competing parks not an advantage NOW but will be “in the coming years”? That makes zero sense at all. That is pure Finley Bullshit being spun by the ton, right there. It reminds me of the time he admitted the City recycling program loses $10,000 per year but still “provides tremendous value to the community in terms of providing a recycling service.” – LOL. Only in the mind of an idiot bureaucrat does that make any sense.

Secondly, we are NOT far away from a competing park. Burnet has their own albatross in THEIR City. I’ve talked about it repeatedly. Surely Finley is fully aware that Burnet has a competing business park. So he’s lying his ass off here – as usual…

Hey! Burnet Has an Economic Development Corp Too! And Land!

Then we get some more bullshit from Ybarra

“We don’t have a site that meets their requirements”? BAHAHAHAHAHA. The LEDC has stood up in front of council THREE times now begging for more stuff – more water pipes, more electrical hookups, more roads. Council has given them everything they asked for – to the tune of $7.2 million dollars. But NOW Ybarra says we STILL didn’t get it right? Holy shit.

Larger acreage sites? You have over 150 acres there, sugar. That’s not enough?!?

Please.

Well, the die is truly cast on this dumpster fire. The time to bail was five years ago. That’s when the LEDC and council foolishly decided to throw good money after bad. Hell, they could have just sold all that land at a pretty decent profit 18 months ago. But no. Misti Talbert and the LEDC thought they knew best.

There is much more pain to come on this thing. Wait and see.

EIGHT YEAR Anniversary of Business Park Predictions That Were 100% Wrong

I love posting these every April….

From the Lampasas Dispatch eight years ago this week.

“Grayson said he hopes to develop the business park and attract companies to the site.” [Then-mayor Grayson running for re-election] – April 3, 2015

Mandy Walsh Lies Again. City Council Sagely Nods Their Heads

If I had a dollar for every time Mandy Walsh stood before council and lied, I’d have enough money to buy a pre-fab bathroom for Campbell Park!

As usual, the $6 million ~~corpse repository~~ ‘business’ park was the source of her fabrications.

If you go to the 1:21:10 mark of the latest City council video, you will hear her utter her usual nonsense:

“This is an effort to obviously increase our tax base here in Lampasas. So many businesses are looking to relocate…even local businesses looking to expand…this provides land for us to now use…ummm…for those businesses that are looking.“

Lies, lies and more lies.

First of all, the land has been there for 17 years and has been “shovel-ready” for almost 7 years now. Yet no takers! So your rubbish about “this provides us land to now use” is complete bullshit.

Which businesses are looking to locate? City council actually actually asked this question once, and it led to a hilarious “deer in the headlights” response from Mandy. Mandy told us the names of all these businesses are super secret and we aren’t allowed to know that.

Yeah, ok.

If that were true and you have “so many businesses” clamoring to use your land, you could have used that fact to apply for a “standard EDA grant“. But you didn’t…so there aren’t. Either that or you are deliberately passing on tons of ‘free’ government money.

Of course, Mandy and her predecessors at the LEDC have been telling this SAME LIE for over seven years now.

Local businesses looking to expand? I don’t think so. Name one. You ALREADY have a 5.6 acre “industrial park” sitting over there on 580 E that has been a vacant eyesore for YEARS. If you can’t fill a 5.6 acre “business park”, how are you going to fill the 165-acre one? You aren’t.

Also, we DID have a local business that was looking to expand a few years back. City council told them to fuck off. No, I’m not kidding. I already wrote about how the City told Anijimoto to take a hike five years ago when they wanted to expand and create 200 more jobs:

Mandy Walsh Begs Ajinomoto To Back ‘Business Park’. Ajinomoto Offered City 200 New Jobs AND $300,000 Back In 2016. City Declined!!

Oops. Everyone forgets about that, don’t they?

So, to recap:

The LEDC has been skimming millions for 23 years and have nothing to show for it. They have wasted millions on the business park, and have nothing to show for it.

There are “so many businesses” looking to get into the park, but Mandy can’t name one. There are so many local businesses looking to expand, but she can’t name one. There is SO much demand for 5 acre plots from all the secret prospects, but simultaneously the 5.6 acre “industrial” park has sat empty for YEARS.

A REAL company in town offering hundreds of REAL jobs (not pie-in-the-sky bullshit 7 years from now) was told to go fuck themselves. The ONE “prospect” that Mandy and the LEDC wasted a YEAR “negotiating” with (Mike Cour and Eco-Strong) turned out to be a scam artist and scum bag who tried to scam them out of $1.85 million dollars for a tire recycling plant and the deal then promptly fell apart.

Does that about cover it??

Eckermann Engineering Getting Sneaky-Paid ANOTHER $70,800 For LEDC ‘Business Park’ Debacle (PART I)

The goat pasture called a “Business Park” is the grift that keeps on giving to Eckermann Engineering, as I have covered in the past. Eckermann has engineered and surveyed the SHIT out of that goat pasture! Here are some past tithes the LEDC paid to Pope Eckermann to bless their corpse repository:

Month after month! Like a greengrocer paying off the mafia or something. Unbelievable!

That was a total of $168,740 back in the 2014 and 2015 timeframe.

The scam started WAY before that, however, as this photo of the LEDC 2004 Form 990 tax filings show [Schedule A – part VII]:

They blew $43,429 on “Engineering/Surveying” right off the bat after purchasing the goat pasture – and those are 2004 dollars!

This “business park” has been engineered and surveyed more times than Ronnie Witcher has cried ‘wolf!’ over Wuhan Flu!

At least back then, they called it what it was: “Engineering/Surveying”, which makes it easy to see and add up. Things then changed, apparently. In an odd way:

The LEDC finally filed their tax forms for the 2018/2019 fiscal year. I saw an odd line in there under “MANAGEMENT” for $57,338 [Part IX 11 a]. I have never noticed a “management’ number in their tax filings going back 17 years.

For instance, the previous year, there was ZERO on the “Management” line item – although you can see they wasted about $43,000 on “Legal”!!!

[Are you beginning to understand the SCOPE of the absolute WASTE OF MONEY all of this is??]

The year before that, same thing: zero money on “Management” and $41,244 on “Legal”:

And over and over again [2015/2016 return]:

SO! Why the huge “management” fee JUST this past year? The LEDC board works for free and Mandy Walsh is handsomely paid a six-figure package of salary and benefits to be “Economic Director”.

So who the hell was paid $57,338 for “management”?

Turns out Eckermann Engineering got the lion’s share. According to Mandy Walsh, Pope Eckermann “was paid $48,800 for engineering services of Business Park Phase 1 Roadway and Utility Improvements”

Why not break it out as “Engineering/Surveying” as was done many times in the past? Why stick it under the ridiculous line item of “Management” when it has ZERO to do with management?

Maybe because it makes it a little harder to see without a bunch of digging?

After requesting all checks written to Eckermann Engineering for 2019, it turns out that even MORE was paid out to him to “engineer” the business park for the millionth time. Specifically $70,800

06/13/19 [check #005015] – $11,800

09/03/19 [check #002533] – $17,600

09/18/19 [check #002536] – $19,400

12/27/19 [check #005017] – $22,000 (will show up in FY 2019/2020 tax filings)

The first three total out to the $48,800 placed into the “management” line item expense on the latest (2018/2019) LEDC Form 990 tax filing. The last $22,000 occurred after the new fiscal year and will (presumably) show up somewhere in the next tax form – which I’ll be lucky to see by November of this year, even though it is required by law to be filed with the IRS by February 15th.

A colossal $239,540 has been paid to Eckermann Engineering between 9/11/14 and 12/27/19 on this ridiculous ‘business’ park. How many times can you “survey” and “engineer” the same crappy goat pasture??

And you wonder why I beat on this Business Park disaster over and over again.

[I haven’t even asked yet how in the hell they wasted over EIGHTY-FOUR THOUSAND DOLLARS on “Legal” in only two years!!]

I’ve called the LEDC’s very existence nothing but a slush fund for idiots to play god with and flush money down the toilet with zero results. Disgusting tax dollar waste like THIS continues to prove me right.

P.S. – that is a grand total of $323,540 wasted JUST on Eckermann and “legal” fees for this corpse repository, for those keeping track at home.

OK – Can We Get Back To Lamenting The Money Wasting?

Now that ‘racism’ has been solved by a couple of teen kids (who have probably never been more than 50 miles from their hometown) who ‘shared their wisdom’ with adults twice their age, can we get back to the money wasting?

Specifically, that these LEDC and City council FOOLS are going to plow ANOTHER $2 million dollars into the failed ~~goat patch~~ ‘business park’??

That’s IN ADDITION to the millions ALREADY wasted on this thing.

I remember the heady days of 2015 when Chris Toups was mayor and City council had the EXACT SAME DISCUSSION about this ~~corpse repository~~ ‘business park’ boondoggle.

The thinking then was that they had held this property long enough and it was time to shit or get off the pot: either sell it or spend close to a million dollars to “develop it” into “shovel ready” parcels by bringing electricity and water into the ‘park’. The theory was that AFTER wasting another $1,000,000.00 THEN the high-paying jobs would come pouring in. THAT was the story that was used to sell this pipe dream back in 2014/2015.

Of course, they made the WRONG decision. Goaded on by Toups (who was ALL FOR this ‘upgrade’), instead of selling this piece of shit they poured another million into it. I have LOTS of dummy politicians and bureaucrats [Monroe, Toups #2, Finley, etc] on record claiming that a ‘business park’ BOOM was imminent.

That was five years ago. It’s still a weed patch today.

NOW the EXACT same dummies are making the same argument: we need to shoe this horse or sell it (actual statement by City council). Except THIS time it will cost the taxpayers TWO MILLION [see page 4]. And like clockwork, the dummies made the WRONG choice yet again. Here are the estimated costs to make the corpse repository SUPER DUPER ‘shovel ready’ this time:

[OF course, all these estimates come from Pope Eckermann, who will also be handed large sums to bless this project]

Total roadway and drainage: $1,396,272

Total wastewater to support Phase I improvements: $279,566

Total water to support Phase I improvements: $298,041

Grand total: $1.974 MILLION DOLLARS

I know what you’re thinking: how can they be SO STUPID as to waste ANOTHER $577,000 on ‘water and wastewater’ when they ALREADY paid Qro-mex somewhere north of $800,000 five years ago to run water and wastewater to the ‘business’ park.

Great question. I guess it’s the same stupidity that allows them to pay to have the same piece of property surveyed over and over and over again. Or to waste over FOUR MILLION on an idiotic project like this.

Just a sample of how wrong they were last time:

“I feel like we’re getting somewhere,” LEDC board president Dr. Neal Leavell added. “I think we’ve really accomplished something. It’s taken a lot of patience, but we’re here.” – September 23, 2014

“Economic development officials have said utilities for the business park are essential to make the 165-acre area attractive to companies.” – July 22, 2014

TJ Monroe Five Year Anniversary Of Being Wrong About Business Park

Another jog down memory lane….five years ago today in the Lampasas Dispatch. As a reminder, the ~~corpse repository~~ ‘business park’ still sits there an empty weed patch and TJ STILL sits on City council making poor decisions:

It has, in fact, attracted ZERO employers…good OR bad. The bill for that boondoggle is in the millions of dollars. It still looks like a useless weed patch and is nowhere NEAR ready.

These are the same people that think their judgement is so sound, they can ‘help’ local businesses during the Chinese virus scare. Ummmm….ok, sure.

More Money Torched By LEDC – ‘Professional Services’

From 2004 through 2013, the LEDC incinerated over $250,000 of taxpayer money on ‘professional services’ (later labeled ‘contract services in 2012 and 2013). I stopped listing at 2013 because I have already covered 2014 onwards by a records request previously. That’s where Pope Eckermann really had his snout in deep and I didn’t want to double count. For instance, ‘contract services’ was $138,516 in 2015 – which overlaps with the $168,740 I previously showed him scarfing down.

What are ‘professional services’? Who the hell knows. Nice and vague. The IRS Form 990 gives you a LOT of categories into which you can slot your expenses. But LEDC chose to enter their own. Here is a list I made by compiling them by year:

In 2003, they just used the term “other services” which is even MORE vague. It is a whopping $185,794!!! (or over $250,ooo in today’s dollars). I have to think if a quarter of a MILLION dollar line item popped up in the LEDC today and it said “other services” it would seriously raise some eyebrows. Looks like these idiots got away with murder back then.

I mean, this was BEFORE they bought the ~~corpse repository~~ ‘business’ park! These clowns start up a “non-profit” for “economic development” and then have the balls to spend $230,000 on “legal fees”, “admin and overhead” and “other”? Jesus Christ! These are UNELECTED BOZOS making huge sums disappear ($320,000 in today’s dollars!)

That “admin and overhead” number adds up too! It was $18,000 in 2003 ($25,000 in today’s dollars) then jumped to $24,000 in 2004, 2005 and 2006. Finally, it dropped in half to $12,000 from 2007 up until present day….or another $246,000 vanishing into thin air.

Admin and overhead for what, exactly? We already have Mandy Walsh ostensibly running the LEDC for $101,285 in salary and benefits. Soon, the City will create another Nerf job (Development Director) costing the taxpayer another six-figures. Yet the LEDC still needs $12,000 per year for “admin and overhead”? Lovely.

Start adding all these nickels and dimes up and you can see how the LEDC wasted the $4.1 million dollars they have skimmed since 2000.

Well, it’s not entirely wasted. We DO have a 165 acre weed patch with $800k of water/sewer pipes under the dirt. Eckermann is hard at work as we speak spending the latest $100,000 to ‘develop’ this shovel-ready site even more!!

Mandy Walsh of LEDC – Clueless or Stubborn?

I recently emailed Many Walsh, our very well-paid Lampasas Economic Development Director [$101,285 in salary and benefits – page 82], to ask her a few very basic questions about the ~~Eckermann retirement fund~~ ‘Business Park’. Simple things like the original cost of the land, the terms of the loan are and the appraised value.

Mandy has been on the job for almost three years, if I am not mistaken, so she should definitely know what’s going on over there. Furthermore, the ‘Business Park’ is by FAR their biggest endeavor measured in terms of tax dollars being incinerated. Yeah, she may throw $10,000 to the Lampasas Higher Education people every year, or throw Halff Associates a $120,000 bone to do her job for her…..but the ~~corpse repository~~ ‘Business Park’ is where MILLIONS of dollars go to die.

In short, Mandy Walsh should know ‘Business Park’ stats like the back of her hand. So when she answers my email request with “Thank you for your email. I will forward your email to Christina Marez, City Secretary, who has been designated to handle these requests“, it means one of two things:

Either Mandy Walsh is monumentally incompetent and hasn’t the foggiest notion what the answers to those questions are OR Mandy Walsh is being a deliberate pain in the ass to make my life a little harder. She has to know I WILL get all that info in the end, one way or another.

I’m going to go with “deliberate pain in the ass” on this one. Probably because I have spilled gallons of ink over the last year taking a shit on the entire concept of a Business Park and uncovering embarrassing truths about the (high) costs and (zero) benefits of this debacle.

Not to mention doing an expose on the “shovel ready” lie.

The only reason to hide all the numbers I requested is because it makes this whole project look even worse than it already is. So touche, Mandy Walsh. You win a small victory. It’ll be a few more weeks before I take yet another public dump on the corpse repository. You can trust that I will not be kind with the waste and incompetence I find in those numbers.

Until then, let’s revisit what Kathy Masonheimer (Walsh’s predecessor) had to say in the Lampasas Dispatch about the corpse repository. Remember, this is from September 2014:

“Of the LEDC’s loan from First State Bank Central Texas, $1.3 million is for the business park utilities. Another $465,000 is for refinancing of the LEDC’s debt on the business park land. The total $1.77 million loan is for 15 years at a fixed interest rate of 3.35 percent. Along with the infrastructure the LEDC will fund, Lampasas has $200,000 in the city’s upcoming fiscal year budget for electrical extensions to the business park.

“The LEDC’s new debt service payment will be about $150,000 a year, Mrs. Masonheimer said. The economic development corporation projects annual revenue of about $250,000, which will leave approximately $100,000 for operating costs after making loan payments.“

[“Annual revenue of about $250,000” – BAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Makes me laugh every single time I read it]

For those of you on the short bus (and the IT Department) that 3.35% interest for 15 years on $1.77 million totals up to $889,425 in interest payments – tax dollars going directly into the pockets of First State Bank Central Texas. That is $889,425 vaporized, for all intents and purposes.

Oh, and also in 2014: “The [Lampasas City] council also voted to guarantee funds for the LEDC’s loan with First State Bank Central Texas. The bank requested the guarantee in the event the LEDC becomes unable to pay off the loan“.

Translation: if this whole thing blows up and/or land values go to shit, the City of Lampasas will bail out the LEDC. Must be nice to be a bankster! Heads I win ($889,000 in free money) and tails you lose (taxpayer bailout).