Q: When is a road not a road?
A: When it involves the Allied Drive neighborhood and the Mayor.
So, hunting down the details of what is going to happen on Allied Drive is some strange magical mystery tour. Along the way I’ve learned many things, here’s my top three favorites so far:
3. The Chair of the CDA, Stuart Levitan told the Housing Committee on Wednesday that the $3M from the Affordable Housing Trust Fund is going to be grant. George Twigg from the Mayor’s Office told the paper that it is going to be a loan. So which is it?
2. The CDA doesn’t have a budget. Hasn’t for years. I think, mostly, because they don’t have any money, however, they do have a reserve of about $100,000.
1. And, last but not least. The Mayor told the CDBG Commission that the $3M is not about building a road. He even made a snarky comment about “I don’t know where you heard that.” I later informed the CDBG Commission that the Capital Budget has exactly one line (see project 13) about how the $3M will be spent and it reads as follows:
Funding in 2008 will be used for the redevelopment of City-owned properties in Allied and for property acquisition of a building and relocation of the tenant to extend Atticus Way from its present terminus through to Red Arrow Drive.
Does that sound like a road to you?
What has been explained at the Housing Committee is that the City needs to give the land to the CDA with enough money to clear of all the buildings and put the roads and infrastructure in place. If the $3M isn’t going for roads, are we giving them even more besides the land and the $3M?
And, I guess it makes the point once again, that we simply do not get enough information in the budget to know what the money is really going to be used on.
