Tag: dunces

LEDC Wants To Waste a LOT More Money Advertising “Business Pork”

According to the latest LEDC packet [page 4 under VI – Business Park Strategies] Finley presented some more options to burn cash on the goat pasture that has stayed empty and devoid of tenants for over 20 years now.

Eleven dunces shoveling bullshit – nine years ago.

His brilliant idea? “Professional engagement with a commercial broker,” preferably one who “has experience with large projects.” Also to “seek outside guidance from brokers who reside outside Lampasas and specialize in commercial development.“

Are you shitting me? Wouldn’t that be the FIRST thing you do after realizing you blew over $7.4 million on a goat pasture that nobody has any interest in? I must ask for the fifth or sixth time now: what the hell have you been doing for the last 20 years?!?

Well, they actually HAVE been using “professionals” for a while now and spending a lot of money doing it. Let’s look at the MANY ways the LEDC has marketed this disaster – every one of them cost a nice chunk of change – all of them have been utter failures.

#1 – the “weekly RFI (requests for information) from the governor’s office.” I think we can safely say after 19 years of “getting weekly RFIs” and having zero tenants to show for it, that this avenue is and was totally useless bullshit. I called them on this exact bullshit nine months ago:

The Lie That Keeps On Giving: RFIs

City’s Hack Attorney J.C. Brown Won’t Even Release The NAMES Of The “Many” Companies Making Requests For Information On Business Park

#2 – Blow money on numerous videos, emails, digital ads, print ads, social media, etc. (Neon Cloud, Site Selection and Flyerview) – cost of over $15,000 in one year alone and WELL over $50,000 since inception. Results? Zero tenants.

#3 – Hire yet another Economic Development Director who said it was her “number-one priority” to find tenants when she was grilled by Rhonda Witcher on the radio. That was almost 18 months ago. Cost? Her salary and benefits are enormous. Results? Zero tenants.

#4 – Post the Business Pork on all sorts of commercial websites that already exist for this sort of thing. This includes ReSimplifi and Loopnet.com.

According to Loopnet, the Business Pork isn’t even listed on there anymore!

So after failing many different expensive ways over the last 20 years, Finley and the LEDC have come up with the genius idea to hire a commercial broker who “specializes in commercial development.“

LOL. I can’t wait to see what THEIR cut is going to be if they DO find someone to move in.

What a joke.

P.S. – bonus method #5: don’t forget the LEDC just recently DRASTICALLY lowered the bar on financial requirements to move into the Business Pork.

LEDC Lowers Bar In Sad Effort To Fill Their Empty $7.3 Million Business Pork. Tosses Out Many Financial Requirements.

Socialism Alert! LEDC Now Worried About ‘Affordable Housing” – And Allowed To Waste Money On It.

The deeper I dig into the Lampasas Economic Dunces Club, the worse it looks. On January 15th, they posted their most recent “Incentive Guidelines and Principles” [page 7] in their monthly meeting packet.

What is in there should alarm all fiscally responsible, hard-working taxpayers. The “gimme free shit” crowd and the trailer trash with five kids they can’t afford will love it, however.

Please turn your attention to Page 10: Not all Type B projects are required to create or retain primary jobs. The following projects are NOT required to create or retain primary jobs:”

A long list follows this, and when you get to “E” you see “Affordable housing”.

Say WHAT??? What exactly does ‘affordable housing’ have to do with economic development? Nothing. It is simply a handout. It sounds like something that moron Nancy Pelosi would say: “food stamps are GOOD for the economy because then the people can go spend it and stimulate the economy” (yes, she said this once).

That would be like taking all the money from the HEB cash registers and handing it out to bums in the parking lot so they can go shop inside at HEB. Idiot socialists/libs only look at ONE side of the ledger, ignoring that that same money is stolen from someone else.

“We need more affordable housing” is liberal/socialist talk for “take money from people who earned it and hand it to people who didn’t”. It’s really as simple as that.

The funny thing is that Deorald Finney and his Stone Valley housing development are selling houses now in the $200,000 range. Seeing as how there are plenty of houses on Zillow in the $120,000 to $140,000 range, I would say Mr Finney’s new houses are on the expensive side – and thus NOT affordable. Yet the City essentially handed him $70,000 in tax dollars for his new development.

The City of Lampasas and The Seven Goldfish voted to WAIVE electrical hookup fees for ALL 69 of Deorald’s planned houses. That is over $70,000 in foregone revenue for the City – all so Finney could make an extra 1% on each house.

Tell me this: if Finney had a house listed in Stone Valley and said “you can buy this house for $200,000 with NO electricity OR you can pay $201,150 for the house WITH electricity, how many people would say ‘go ahead and give me the electricity’? All of them – they would GLADLY pay an extra measly $1,150. NOBODY would balk at that extra pocket change to have power in the house. It represents far less than 1% of the price. Therefore, this $70,000 handout to a rich developer was a complete waste and did ZERO for the City coffers, ZERO for ‘development’ and ZERO for ‘affordable housing’.

The very term “affordable housing” is complete nonsense. It’s like a “livable wage”. It cannot be defined as it differs for each individual, therefore success cannot be measured, and therefore the socialist/lib (or LEDC) can always have a job redistributing the wealth as the ‘problem’ can never be solved.

It’s as idiotic as me whining that there are “no affordable Corvettes over at Hoffpauir Chevy” or “there are no affordable private jets around here”. You don’t have a RIGHT to ANY of that stuff.

To the libs and commies and SJW morons: you are NOT entitled to a house/apartment. You are NOT even entitled to an “affordable” house/apartment. If you cannot afford the housing that is in your area, either (1) move to a more affordable area (2) lower your expectations (3) work more hours and/or increase your value as an employee or (4) get a roommate or two…or three. PERIOD.

(Oh, and maybe stop having 4, 5 or 6 kids you cannot afford – since they will likely grow up to be the next generation of parasites asking for the same handouts)

Pretty sure we already have Section 8 housing around town…and those tenants always treat their “free” stuff so well, don’t they? We need Mandy Walsh and the Economic Dunce Club handing out MORE ‘free’ housing like we need colostomy bags on our hips.

If Mandy Walsh or any of the other LEDC geniuses are SO concerned about ‘affordable housing’, I suggest they open their own wallets, buy a house currently on the free market, and go ahead and rent it out at a very low rate. Maybe jam a white trash welfare family with five kids in there. Maybe even let them live there for free! See how that works out for you.

No? Well, if it’s not a good idea with your own money, it ain’t a good idea with mine. Go pound sand.

Eliminate the LEDC. Stop meddling in the free market. Let workers keep what they earn instead of stealing it to hand to someone else.