LEDC – Page 4 – The Original Lampasshole

Somebody Has Some ‘Splaining To Do Regarding Eco-Strong, Mike Cour and the ‘Business’ Park Money Pit

[There is a LOT of nonsense and lies to sort through in this story. This will be PART I of III]

So it’s time to find out once and for all who is lying through their teeth. Is it the LEDC (Lampasas Economic Development Corp)? Mike Cour of Eco-Strong? Alan Champagne the asshole Canadian CEO? All of the above? With all the evidence I have here (press releases, minutes, emails, etc) I have DEFINITIVE PROOF that somebody is completely full of shit and got caught RED HANDED spewing falsehoods.

Oh my. THAT won’t look good on any federal application for free money, will it?

Let’s start with a brief recap of the LEDC’s ‘business’ park boondoggle and exactly when Mike Cour and Eco-Strong came into the picture.

2004: LEDC buys 152 acres on south 183 – $909,835 value on tax filings. I am not going off into the weeds, but I believe it was smaller to start and more land was added later. Makes no difference in our story.

2004 through 2013: land sits as unused weed patch but money is wasted on it CONSTANTLY as vultures feast on taxpayer’s asses [See: Business Park is Huge Piece of Pork]

2012: land appraised by Herbst Real Estate. Now valued at $817,978 or down 10% in value.

2014/2015: LEDC and City council convince themselves that if they just spend ANOTHER million, the business park will see “high paying jobs” come rolling in. LEDC and City spend over a million bucks for pipes in the ground and wires for electricity. I have covered this ad nauseam. Park is now “shovel ready” according to all involved. Money is spent to promote ‘business park’.

2015 through 2019: ZERO companies move into the ‘shovel ready’ ‘business park’ despite all the promises from politicians and City employees – many of whom are STILL sitting in those positions.

September 2019: Eco-Strong is incorporated in Texas (yes, it was just formed).

September 18, 2019: LEDC minutes show “presentation by Mike Cour of Eco-Strong. That’s it. ZERO details. This is the first appearance of Mike Cour.

February 19, 2020: Mike Cour and Eco-Strong are never mentioned again in LEDC minutes OR City council minutes until Feb 19th. The LEDC agenda shows Mike Cour to make another presentation [page 1, item III]. The minutes [page 1, item III] show ‘Mike Cour not present‘. Boy…he must REALLY be serious since he bailed at the last second and couldn’t be bothered to show up, eh?

March 18, 2020 LEDC meeting – cancelled due to COVID.

April 15,2020 LEDC meeting – ALL that is discussed is how to throw $100,000 in free money to any local business asking for it. ZERO mention of any Eco-Strong or Mike Cour items.

Here is where it all gets interesting. Mike Cour/Eco-Strong/Eco-Flex start sending out press releases that are outright lies.

May 15, 2020: I find ridiculous bullshit “press releases” that Mike Cour and Eco-Strong/Eco-Flex are about to break ground on June 2nd on a manufacturing plant IN LAMPASAS. This is a lie. Who made it up? Why? We’ll get to that in Part II. Press release was sent out around May 10th, according to Ewan Scott of Tyre and Rubber Recycling Magazine.

May 20, 2020: Mike Cour FINALLY appears before LEDC a second time – EIGHT MONTHS after the initial ‘presentation’. LEDC changes meeting time to NOON instead of the usual 5:30pm. This prevents prying eyes from learning anything about Mike Cour.

At this meeting, Mike Cour says “would like to begin manufacturing in August 2020” [see LEDC minutes page 2, item V at bottom]. This is bizarre because Eco-Flex has ALREADY sent out press releases 10 days earlier babbling that they “will break ground on June 2nd“.

It is ALSO bizarre because according to EVERYTHING the LEDC and City council have been discussing, there is NO WAY the ‘business’ park will be ready in three months (August 2020). They are talking more like 8 to 10 months – which REALLY means more like 1.5 years if history is any guide.

[Gee – here we are now.. WELL past the month of August…and NOTHING has happened. As usual. Better revise those bullshit timelines again!]

Mike also presents to the LEDC that he is interested in a “10,000 square foot manufacturing plant” but his press releases say 25,000 square feet. Which is it, Mike? HUGE difference. Also, your current business (Equicare) sits on a piece of land that is BIGGER than the entire Lampasas Business Park (199 acres versus 165 acres, roughly). So I’m wondering why you don’t just go ahead and build your killer plant on YOUR OWN property! Why get the LEDC involved?

Wait, don’t tell me….you want some free shit, maybe?

May 26, 2020: Joint City/LEDC meeting. City and LEDC lament that property is NOT ‘ready’ [video archive at 7:30 mark – “we have the land but it’s not ready to go into”]. Weird, since they have been touting “SHOVEL READY” for almost FIVE YEARS now. Councilman Mike White refers to the current state of the two million dollar project as a “goat pasture” [9:40 mark in video]

A portly fellow at the table on right side of video (no idea who he is) speaks of a ‘current prospect’ but never names names [10:35 mark]. This ‘current prospect’ is “ready to pull this trigger on their side if we’re able to help them on our side“

[Help them on our side? Sounds like “hand them a lotta free shit” to me. But I digress]

The portly fellow then goes on at the 11:34 mark: “from what I understand, if we are able to commit, I think it would fit their [Eco-Strong’s] timeline”

Ummm…what?? Ex-squeeze me? Mike Cour already claimed he’s breaking ground SEVEN DAYS from this meeting! LOL. THEN, he said August 2020 during his second presentation. NEITHER of those “fits your timeline” of 8 to 10 months, buddy.

Somebody is lying like a rug here.

I finally emailed Finley and asked point blank what all the secrecy was about. Was the prospect Mike Cour and Eco-Strong? Finley confirms that YES, it is Mike Cour and Eco-Strong they are referring to as their ONE and ONLY prospect for their business park.

In other words, the LEDC and City of Lampasas are ready to squander $1.9 MILLION DOLLARS to have this park be “ready” for Mike Cour and his ‘business’. The SAME Mike Cour who is telling the world in press releases something ENTIRELY DIFFERENT. The same Mike Cour who already sits on a piece of property bigger than the LEDC business park land….and all for a measly 10,000 square foot building?

LOL. Makes total sense!

To recap:

Mike Cour and/or Eco-Flex/Eco-Strong sends out a false press release around May 10th that they will be breaking ground on a tire plant in Lampasas on June 2nd…

THEN Mike Cour gets up in front of the LEDC a week later and says they want to start manufacturing in August 2020…

THEN this portly fellow at the joint LEDC/City meeting sits there and says that the time lines mesh. Sorry but 7 days isn’t the same as three months which also isn’t the same as 8 to 10 months. Finley also says “we are VERY very early in this process [18:33 mark]” YET Eco-Flex has ALREADY been spewing out press releases that ground breaking is imminent.

Lies, lies and more lies. And ALL of this before the grant application has even been submitted!!

Finley scrambled with some bullshit [11:50 mark] about how they can maybe make a ‘temporary’ spot in the park for Mike Cour to get going. Really? If that’s true, then why spend the $1.9 million at all?

I’m guessing the LEDC and the City REALLY need to show the Feds they have a “legit” prospect for their grant application and they’ll spin as many yarns and stretch as many truths as they have to in order to do it.

So of course….I went digging to trap these morons in their own lies. Parts II and III will cover all the emails between myself, Mike Cour, Eco-Flex, the moron CEO Alan Champagne and Ewan Scott, publisher of Tyre and Rubber Recycling Magazine

Mike Cour, LEDC ‘Business Park’, Eco-Strong, Mr. Champagne, British Tyre & Rubber Recycling – I Have Stumbled Into Crazy Stuff!

I’ve suspected all along that there was something stinky about the LEDC relationship with Mike Cour and Eco-Strong/Eco-Flex. I’ve done a deep dive that took me from a British Tire publication to an arrogant CEO in Canada named “Mr Champagne” who writes like a third grader to a local businessman who can’t keep his stories straight…to a million-dollar ‘business park’ grant that may hinge on all of this crazy stuff somehow being true and holding together.

Hint: it’s all bullshit smoke and mirrors….and YOU might be paying for it!

Stay tuned for the wild twists and turns of the Lampasas Economic Development Corporation’s latest attempts to salvage their ‘business park’ debacle.

It’s Deja Vu All Over Again

Lest you think the grand proclamations and the multi-million-dollar money grabs for the ~~corpse repository~~ ‘business park’ are a new thing and you are actually BELIEVING them, let me take you back exactly SIX YEARS to the day:

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

That was when the LEDC and City council (with many of the SAME PEOPLE that hold those positions today) said we needed over ONE MILLION DOLLARS to bring water, sewer and electricity to the ‘business park’.

They got their huge chunk of money and put their pipes and wires into the park – then fed us some more b.s. about how awesome jobs were about to come pouring in! Let’s look at some failed predictions:

“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

“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

“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

The final side-splitter from September 23, 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. “

BAHAHAHAHA!!! Annual revenue of about $250,000? Good one. Here we are SIX YEARS LATER and about $350,000.00 in interest payments GONE (money vaporized)….and still no companies generating that $250,000 in revenue. No “high-paying jobs” in the park. There never will be. It is a pipe dream for morons.

Not only were they 100% wrong six years ago, NOW THEY WANT ANOTHER TWO MILLION DOLLARS!! Mandy Walsh and the Lampasas Economic Dunces Club are going to now go begging, hat in hand, to the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. They are taking advantage of (abusing, if you ask me) the new CARES act – which is SUPPOSED to be for Covid-related disasters.

Absolutely disgusting. Nothing but parasites looting other taxpayers in the US to pay for their failed ‘business park’ boondoggle. Every member of the LEDC AND City council AND Mandy Walsh are now officially welfare queens.

We Tracked the Last Time the Government Bailed Out the Economy ...

Lampasas Economic Development Corp Committed To Making Taxpayers All Over The U.S. Pay For Their Incompetence

Not content to just blow MANY MILLIONS of dollars of Lampasas city money on a 165-acre ~~weed patch~~ ‘business park’ over the last 17 years, the Lampasas Economic Dunces Club is now formally submitting a grant application (asking for free stuff from federal taxpayers) to the federal government. Which means that nurses from Georgia, bus drivers from Oklahoma and teachers from Michigan will now be funding the LEDC’s ‘business park’ boondoggle indirectly through their federal tax payments.

**The bullshit they sold taxpayers 7 years and millions of dollars ago – a pipe dream** ^^^

**REALITY – a shitty weed patch where corpses are dumped on south Hwy-183**

Langford Community Management Services will be charging the LEDC $7,500 to write up the grant. This money is to help pay for the nearly TWO MILLION DOLLAR “Phase I” (actually it’s Phase II but who’s counting) ‘improvement’ to the goat pasture they own.

I have covered this boondoggle of waste and (in my opinion) outright nest feathering HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE

Recently, the same idiots who said we were all set five years ago, NOW say we need to plow ANOTHER $1.9 million into this fiasco to get it REALLY shovel-ready (even though it was supposedly shovel-ready before). They are even brazenly (and DISHONESTLY) calling this “Phase I” of the ‘business park’ improvements. I guess the ONE MILLION you blew back in 2015 was Phase Zero?

Mike White HIMSELF called the ‘business park’ “a goat pasture” and a “poor return on investment” which has been going on for DECADES [5/26/20 Council meeting at the 10:08 and 19:30 minute mark].

According to Mandy Walsh herself at the last meeting [go to 6:34 mark]

“We have discussed the EDA (Economic Development Administration) CARES ACT…with our grant writers at length for community management services. What that is, is Congress appropriated $1.5 billion to strengthen and assist communities recovering from the coronavirus pandemic. So the EDA is accepting applications for grants that support a wide variety of projects…um, including, ah, infrastructure…and economic development projects, so that’s what we’re going to be applying for, is the disaster funding through the EDA”

Yeah Mandy….the ‘business park’ is a disaster, all right. But it is a disaster of YOUR making, NOT because of the coronavirus.

So, Mandy and the LEDC are going to try and scam the feds out of a huge pile of money EVEN THOUGH THIS BUSINESS PARK FIASCO HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH CORONAVIRUS and has been a disaster for “DECADES”, by the admission of Mike White himself [5/26 council meeting].

This enrages me just as much as when I see scumbag politicians in Illinois/Chicago or New York tell the Federal government that they need to fork over $41.6 billion to their cities/states “because of Covid” and Uncle Sugar should just hand over a check.

I’m sorry, but no, your finances aren’t a train wreck because of Covid. They have been a train wreck for decades because of wasteful and idiotic spending by liberals. Chicago and New York made their beds by electing socialists and morons who ran their budgets into the ground….they should lay in those beds WITHOUT a bailout from the Feds – i.e., the rest of us.

Same goes for Mandy Walsh, the LEDC and our own City council…many of whom I would assume identify as “Republican” or “conservative”. YOU made this mess. YOU kept throwing good money after bad. YOU made this bed and now YOU should lie in it….not some poor tax paying sap who lives in Georgia or Arizona.

I can tell you this: if it’s the last thing I do, I am going to try and stop this theft of federal money you are using to cover up LEDC and City council incompetence. Get ready for a flood of Open Records Requests from me. Who is your “viable tenant” for the ‘business park’ that you are pinning your hopes on and bullshitting the Feds with on your grant application? I sure hope it isn’t Mike Cour and his Eco-Strong scam, because I already visited his OTHER company (Equicare at 15500 S-US 183) and took photos of the absolute JOKE ‘Eco-Strong” is. It is a weed patch with some crappy rubber mats piled up that have been there for quite a while, by the looks of it.

[Not to mention, Mike Cour and Equicare currently sit on approximately 200 acres ALREADY. He has ZERO need for the business park unless he himself is trying to scam some free stuff from the taxpaying chumps of Lampasas. Don’t worry…I’m all over him like a cheap suit, too]

I’ll be there at every turn calling you all out as welfare queens and parasites, which you most certainly are. This is brazen theft and, in my opinion, fraud. The money you are trying to scam out of Uncle Sugar has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with coronavirus and EVERYTHING to do with rampant incompetence and fiscal mismanagement on the part of the LEDC, City council and Mandy Walsh herself.

Mandy Walsh and LEDC Go Full Federal: Will Become Welfare Queens By Scamming Federal Government “Covid Money” For Their Business Park Boondoggle

For those of you who live under a rock, the Lampasas Economic Development Corp (LEDC) has been wasting millions on a “business park” for YEARS now, with nothing to show for it. They have owned the 165-acre weed patch for about 17 years and plowed about $1 million dollars just in “improvements” into it back in 2015 – promising that “high-paying jobs” would soon follow. That did not happen. The weed patch has sat there as a multi-million-dollar disaster for another five years since then.

[I have covered this ad nauseam HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE]

Who would be stupid enough to hand Mandy and the LEDC ANOTHER $1.9 million for this failed project? A project that City council member Mike White HIMSELF called “a goat pasture” and a “poor return on investment” which has been going on for DECADES [5/26/20 Council meeting at the 10:08 and 19:30 minute mark].

Why, the Federal Government would be stupid enough, of course! According to Mandy Walsh at the 6/22/20 City council meeting, they will be applying for grants [free money] from programs established FOR CORONAVIRUS RELIEF.

According to Mandy Walsh herself at the last meeting [go to 6:34 mark]

Yeah Mandy….the ‘business park’ is a disaster, all right. But it is a disaster of YOUR making, NOT because of the coronavirus.

I can tell you this: if it’s the last thing I do, I am going to try and stop this theft of federal money you are using to cover up LEDC and City council incompetence. Get ready for a flood of Open Records Requests from me. Who is your grant writer? What percentage of the dough are they getting? Who is your “viable tenant” for the ‘business park’ that you are pinning your hopes on and bullshitting the Feds with on your grant application? I sure hope it isn’t Mike Cour and his Eco-Strong scam, because I already visited his OTHER company (Equicare at 15500 S-US 183) and took photos of the absolute JOKE ‘Eco-Strong” is. It is a weed patch with some crappy rubber mats piled up that have been there for quite a while, by the looks of it.

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

“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

LEDC Meeting Today Is Open To All – Of Course, It’s At Noon When People With Real Jobs Have To Work…

The good news? You don’t have to sign up for Zoom to watch the LEDC discuss how they will spend their hundreds of thousand of tax dollars. You can actually attend the meeting at the $1.5 million dollar Fish Bowl IN PERSON today!

The bad news? There will NOT be an audio or visual live-stream or recording using the City’s $96,000 no-bid A/V system they paid for last year. Oh, and the meeting is at noon.

Yep. Noon.

I guess that’s cool if you have a government Nerf job posting #idiocy all day long. But for those of us with jobs and/or who own small businesses, it’s just a wee bit ludicrous.

The kicker: every single meeting in 2019 was at 5:30pm. The January meeting this year? At 5:30pm. The Feb meeting this year? Also at 5:30pm [page 3]. They were too scared of the sniffles to have a March meeting.

Every meeting in 2018 was held at 5:30pm also. Pretty much EVERY meeting in the sad history of the LEDC was at 5:30pm….until today.

So, it makes total sense the meeting is now being held at noon, right? What a bunch of d-bags.

I would love to know what the hell Mike Cour is going to “present” to the LEDC. Guess I’ll have to wait until June 17th to read the crappy, VERY brief minutes and make my best guess. Absolutely ridiculous and unacceptable, how the LEDC hides in the shadows.

HOW will we all survive today if Mandy Walsh isn’t at ‘work’ reposting Facebook posts from Putters and Gutters and the gym onto HER LEDC Facebook page?? Commerce in this town may just collapse and die!!

Miss Walsh…Tear Down This Wall

The LEDC will be meeting tomorrow (Wednesday) at the $1.5 million dollar Jack Calvert/Misti Talbert/Finley deGraffenreid Vanity Goldfish Bowl for their monthly pow-wow. We will finally get to see the minutes from the Feb 19th meeting, at least.

Will they EVER record their meeting audio and/or video using the City’s $96,000 A/V system that City council already uses twice a month? Will they make citizens sign up for some crappy third-party teleconferencing site like Zoom? Will they allow us to even SET FOOT in the $1.5 million building we paid for ever again?

How about it, Mandy? Finley? Misti? You have a very important agenda item this week: namely agenda item V: presentation by Mike Cour, who is apparently opening a tire recycling business in Lampasas, according to British industry magazines. He met with you all back in September 2019 as well. We’d all love to know what incentives and free stuff you are thinking of tossing his way.

The gauntlet is thrown: open up your meetings to the plebes and use the $96,000 no-bid A/V system that is sitting right there unused. Or would you rather keep more stuff hidden from prying eyes??

SCOOP ALERT Are The LEDC and City Council Making Secret Deals? Handing Out Subsidies To Canadian Tire Recycler? UPDATE

Did you know Eco-Strong LLC (the distribution arm of Canadian company Eco-Flex) will be breaking ground on a plant here in Lampasas in 16 days? Neither did I. Neither did the Lampasas Dispatch, apparently. All Dispatch archive searches for “Eco-Strong”, “Eco-Flex” and CEO “Mike Cour” came up empty!

Supposedly a 25,000 sq/ft tire recycling plant will be breaking ground on June 2nd….and nary a peep from Mandy Walsh or The Seven Goldfish. Very, very odd.

I DO know that the LEDC has been sneaking around a lot lately, and operating in secret…as I blasted a story about this way back on April 19th…ALMOST A MONTH AGO. My antennae always goes up when the LEDC and City council have meetings in “executive session” with their lawyers and talk about “economic incentives” – which is code-speak for “handing out free tax money to companies”.

Funny how this article hit the web on May 11th. ONE DAY after the latest City council meeting.

Apparently they STILL can’t be bothered to announce this thing, even though the ground-breaking is in 16 days. I had to read about it in a Tyre and Rubber Recycling magazine – a BRITISH industry publication!

How did I ever find this out, if they have been sneaking around and hiding it? Because I’m smarter than they are. I busted them on the ransomware attack back in August and I’m busting them now AGAIN.

The LEDC met with Mike Cour WAY BACK in September of 2019 (page 2, item V). But of course, since the LEDC keeps shitty minutes, we have no idea what the meeting was actually about. Furthermore, NONE of this was EVER mentioned to the local newspaper. Their archives are EMPTY of any of this.

Fast forward to the latest agenda for the LEDC May 20th meeting – and Mike Cour of Eco-Strong pops up again (page 1 item V).

So Misti, Mandy and the gang: what in the hell is going on??? I have a few questions about a tire recycling center being built in Lampasas:

Why has this NEVER been mentioned before when the groundbreaking is in 16 days??
How much money did you throw at them to start up operations here?
Where is the contract showing how much money you threw at them and what they are supposed to do in return??
Does your complete silence and all your sneaking around in executive session have anything to do with your fear that local citizens might go apeshit about possible environmental impacts like the stench of burning rubber in the air?

Lemme guess: Mandy Walsh, the LEDC and City council will announce this with big fanfare as a tenant for the “business park” and try to look like heroes bringing jobs to the area, while failing to mention all the free stuff they handed to Mike Cour?

But why wait? Why rush it through at the last second? It is VERY unlike the LEDC or the Seven Goldfish not to toot their own horns about stuff like this.

I have a guess why: it keeps anyone from asking questions about what they had to give away in return for this “awesome” deal to put up tents here.

Especially telling is Mike Cour’s quote in the article: “Texas is the ideal location for our new facilities. Its strong economy, green-friendly attitude, and the willingness of officials at all levels to collaborate with us made our decision a no-brainer”. Translation: “moron politicians and bureaucrats are giving us all kinds of free stuff.”

Ah yes. It’s a no-brainer, all right. I can just see all the people with no brains who are involved in this tax-dollar giveaway – people like Mandy Walsh, TJ Monroe and Finley deGraffenreid. Not a brain between any of them.

Well, try as you might to keep this secret, the cat is out of the bag. Monday morning, I will be making an official records request for copies of ALL contracts, incentives, subsidies and/or deals being made with Mike Cour and this Eco-Strong LLC distribution concern.

You gotta love these dummies. They hold town hall meetings about every silly-assed minor item in the world (see: tree police) but they keep COMPLETELY SILENT on a tire recycling distribution/manufacturing concern breaking ground in a matter of weeks. Just like a cat burying a turd they are ashamed of.

Stay tuned!!

*UPDATED 5/18* – according to the City secretary and Mandy Walsh, there are no current deals/giveaways/incentives/promises with Mike Cour or Eco-Strong as of today. YET, that article exists AND Mike Cour appeared before the LEDC in September and will do so again this Wednesday, according to the agenda. SO – did Mike already make plans to start this operation and THEN decide to go beg for money? Guess we’ll possibly find out this week – assuming we’re allowed to see the Wednesday meeting

LEDC Director Job Description

Although Mandy Walsh is already currently holding the title of LEDC Director, if she ever left (why would she??) and they needed a new person, I have provided a job description for you:

LEDC Director position available! Salary and benefits of over ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS PER YEAR! Yes, we know the average wage in Lampasas is about 65% LESS than that, but this is an IMPORTANT JOB!

Must be able to: create stupid hashtag pages like #lampasasrising which actually do nothing at all but make you THINK you are actually doing something. Must be able to take credit for every single business that opens in Lampasas, even though they would have opened with or without your existence. Must ALSO be able to IGNORE every business that closes (Cafe 281, Rutlands, Toupsie’s, Mamma Jeans, Chinese Buffet place, that chocolate/bookstore place that came and went, etc, etc, etc) and pretend that never happened.

Must be able to also hand out hundreds of thousands of dollars of other people’s money and then bask in the credit. Must also attend quasi-retarded conventions several times a year (we pay thousands of $$ for your food and lodging, though!) and be conversant in useless buzzwords like “identifying community assets” and “encourage collaboration”!

Sound like an easy and overpaid job? What’s the catch? There isn’t one!! This is a typical government make-work job! Apply now!

**UPDATED**

Today’s Dispatch has a blurb about our Economic Developer completing some course at the Texas Community Development Institute (CDI). I had zero comprehension of how far you could take this “Community Development” scam! Not only are there scammers in every small local government milking the taxpayer to “develop their economy” but there is an actual INSTITUTE giving out credentials for this horseshit! I view this is about as meaningful as a masters in “Gender Studies” or “Art History” or “Sociology” – a totally bogus and useless circle jerk propagated by a group of navel gazers.

Just take a look at the absolute gibberish they printed in the Dispatch [5/12/20 page 6]:

The PCED exam content
is based on comprehensive,
current and applicable
information for community
and economic development
practitioners with questions
to measure both the
understanding of content
and the ability to apply the
appropriate methods and
tools to specific community
situations.

When you read nonsensical bullshit like that, your antennae should go up and scream “useless scam alert!”. Something tells me the City probably paid for her to ‘earn’ this particular pile of horse manure as well. They never stop burning money at the LEDC!