Yeah, that didn’t go so well. This is the quintessential show down, the elected officials who think they know what is best, verses the people with the money. Can’t wait to see who wins!
That sounded a little harsh, didn’t it. But if you listened to the discussions about the Edgewater, the Mayor and others made it clear, they were elected to make the tough decisions! They felt comfortable substituting their judgment for ordinances and policies that they didn’t want to follow. So, by the elected officials, they made their point clear. On the other hand, we have people who are, as some have put it, holding a gun to the head of the council. Threatening the Overture will “go dark” if they don’t do as they are told. High drama, to be sure.
Yesterday I did a quick run down of the Overture and what decisions the council will be discussing tonight, and their “Overture” to the Overture. That letter was sent on Friday. By Monday, with no meetings to discuss it, the Overture had responded. Or at least the 201 State Foundation did.
No. Uh-uah. No way. No discussion about trying to go back to the banks. No discussion about what might make the banks change their deadline. No communications about how they could help make the process go quicker. Nothing. Just a flat out, we can’t do anything about it, go talk to the banks yourselves. Which of course, is kind of ludicrous because the City wasn’t a party to the agreements, at least not that we know of. The mayor said he was “standing outside the door” for some discussions, but that he played no role.
I can’t tell if MCAD, 201 State and Overture made a bad deal with the banks or if they did this on purpose. And I can’t tell what role the city did play in any of this. Of course, most of their meetings on this deal have all been done in closed session, so only those who were there know. Any which way . . . its showdown time. I wonder who wins, politicians or money? And no matter what happens, I think the public loses on some level.
The folks involved in the negotiations with the bank know the city government’s culture and processes quite well. The public will never be privy to the facts as to whether the Mayor was or was not involved or consulted on the negotiations with the bank.
Why didn’t you question the CCoC/BoE’s decision to go into closed session? Is that any better–at this early discussion stage in the decision-makig process–than when private citizens are creating the box for alders to get trapped?