Comments on: Mayor peddling new fee to salvage USOC deal

By: Candice

Candice — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 04:36:47 +0000

It doesn’t make sense that only downtown business should be affected by a new Public Improvement Fee. I thought the entire city is benefitting from all the USOC, NGB’s, and all those local vendors they support. Isn’t it something like 300 million annually they pump into our local economy? I don’t believe all those companies are in the downtown district, the employees live everywhere in this city and certainly the USOC types will be staying at the Broadmoor-so wheres all city participation in this deal? I read its about 300 employees relocating to downtown, hardly enough to justify a BOON to the Tejon Street lunch/dinner crowd.
It fixes ONE million of a 16 million dollar problem. Maybe he should find a plan for the other 15 million before making more people RUN from downtown.

By: RJF

RJF — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 14:32:05 +0000

Mayor Lionel is an incompetent buffon. The LAST thing I need right now is a higher bar tab with the way these morons are driving me to drink! Can’t wait for the indictments and dirty laundry being aired in court via LandCo’s lawsuit.

As Avery Brundage used to say …”Let the Games begin …!”

By: John Whitten

John Whitten — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 23:24:10 +0000

You can’t be serious……MayorLionel is out commiting to deals that have no city council knowledge, much less approval, with the potential for a $27 million + hickey (or is it black eye?….or both…) on the city budget?

And it needs to be kept a secret? From who? The USOC certainly has no problem disclosing where they’re coming from……..

No doubt the mayor couldn’t raise any donations from the downtown business types, (I threw my letter away, in disgust…), so now its the downtown improvement district who needs to raise funds for this deal (and save reputations in the process….). The Enterprise Zone Credit is nice….but so what? You still have to write the check………..

Meanwhile, HP is announcing a new call center to employ some number of folks, after they got snubbed by the city and moved 200 families out of here….

Mayor Lionel should be out kissing a few…………..cheeks…………at HP, since they had no reason to come back here after the way they were treated.

Anyway…..anyone who thinks Landco (Real Estate Advisor to the Stars!) can raise $16 million is on something…..the deal appears to have become so toxic that no one will touch it. The only way the bonds get issued is if the full faith and credit of the city are behind them…anybody want to bet that?

This is the civic equivilaent of believing in the Tooth Fairy…..who, based on what has been made public so far, may have had some input in this latest plan……….

It would also be hard to believe that council would approve such a deal…….but then, in view of everything that has happened so far, maybe its not so far fetched…….

Maybe the USOC needs a way out….is it possible that the new Exec Director would like to make a dramatic statement about who’s in charge? And maybe repay a few of her supporters on the Board at the same time? Can you see them in Chicago? New York? Atlanta? Welshire Blvd in L.A.? I certainly can……….

When its all said and done, this maybe another reason to change the city charter, and get a paid mayor and council….and maybe merge with the county……..At least the prospect of getting decent leadership would be improved……