Doubling Down On Harrison Square
Posted by Jeff Pruitt - 3/10/09 @ 10:23 pm - Filed Under Featured, Local Politics, Uncategorized
I spoke tonight before city council to try and jump start a community discussion regarding where we go from here on the stalled Harrison Square project. The gist of the plan I outlined, Doubling Down On Harrison Square, revolves around 3 basic parts:
- Admit that the condo project is not the best option and evaluate alternative solutions that the public will support
- Come up with equitable financing that includes an equal third from the developers, local lenders and city government
- Protect the taxpayer by restructuring the contract - having the citizens take an ownership stake in the baseball team as collateral would be one option
What follows may not be a verbatim transcript of what I said but it’s close:
I, like many others, am frustrated by the lack of progress regarding Harrison Square. But my frustration is not reserved solely for the developers as government has not done its part either. Do we still believe in this project and its potential as a catalyst or not?
Whether or not one agreed with the project in the first place is immaterial at this point. Taxpayers are on the hook now and we need to do everything possible to make it a success. In that vein I’ve come up with the broad outlines of a plan entitled Doubling Down On Harrison Square.
The most important part of the project to me is getting people to once again live in the urban core. I do not believe we can financially sustain our current pattern of urban sprawl. I believe revitalization of the urban core is critical to the city’s future.
Young people drive revitalization. You see this time and again; I’ve seen first hand in the city I grew up in - Wichita, Kansas. Their downtown was in worse shape than ours currently is but now it’s vastly better. They achieved this by getting young people back to the downtown area and eventually living downtown.
If we believe in this broad strategy then we also must admit that the current condo project is not the most efficient solution. Shrinking the numbers of condos while making them more expensive will not work. How many young people do you know that can afford a $250k condo?
More importantly, and regardless of its inefficiency, we also must admit that the current condo plan is likely dead. Nationally, condo starts are at an all-time low and the credit markets are likely not to return to their previous levels for quite some time. But the current financial crisis isn’t the problem. The credit crunch began with the fall of Lehman Brothers on Sept 18, 2008, but they couldn’t sell these condos back in May before the credit markets tightened.
Let’s re-evaluate the project and alter it into one that bring even more people, including young people, into downtown. To do this will require us to recognize that this project will likely not get favorable financing terms in the private market. We need to step in and develop an equitable financing plan. Such a plan might involve one-third of the financing from Barry Real Estate, one-third from local lenders and one-third from city government.
So for a $15 million investment this will require the city to finance $5 million of the project. While this involves more risk for the taxpayer I believe we can structure the financing to protect us. One way would be to collateralize the baseball team. Essentially the citizens would become part owners of the team. As Barry Real Estate pays down their loan the city’s ownership stake would diminish accordingly.
I am not suggesting this is the optimal way to protect taxpayers - I’m sure there are many ways and others probably have even better ideas. But one thing we must do is include automatic penalty triggers into the new contract. The current contract, and it’s oversight by the city, has been a massive failure. The citizens will not buy into any plan unless they believe taxpayers are protected as much as possible.
We cannot afford to sit back and hope for the best. Malaise will solve this problem but creative solutions can. Everybody has skin in this game from developers to politicians and taxpayers. I started by asking if we still believe this project can be a catalyst for downtown revitalization. If the answer is yes then let’s not give up. Let’s not sit idly by while downtown continues to hollow out and more and more of our young people decide to leave this community.
Let’s admit to past mistakes, change course and start moving forward again.
Comments
54 Responses to “Doubling Down On Harrison Square”
Leave a Reply
So, what did Mr. Pape have to say about that?
Tim said that Jeff’s comments were very productive. I agree.
Jeff - How about including the requirement that Hardball repay the city the $1000 per year charge for the 3-way liquor permit, since doing it contrary to the way that the contract read, saves Hardball the $10,000.00 (plus) cost of getting to even get one of the available permits at auction! They sure don’t need anymore handouts!!
Abe,
I think councilman Pape wants this thing to get going as much as anybody. Right now the project seems like it’s in a holding pattern where nobody quite knows what to do next. What I’ve outlined may not be the best idea out there but it’s a start.
Karen, thanks
John, you’re right. That license would’ve cost them much more than $10k. I also believe that any plan should include a wholesale change of management on the city side but I didn’t want to get bogged down in unproductive details. Hardball, like everyone else in this deal, needs to show some flexibility and give a little.
Jeff, I completely agree that getting young people downtown is key. It’s time for local colleges to step up to the plate and reinvest resources in the downtown core, rather than add to the urban sprawl by moving further out to the burbs.
Why are we investing $26+ million for an Ivy Tech north extension when the same funds could be used to develop a downtown campus and regenerate the core? Get these young adults living, learning and working downtown. They’re the future of our city. Rehab the abundant vacant office space for higher education and dorms. Partner with professional firms already there.
Dave,
What motivation would Ivy Tech have to decentralize their already existing north campus? Oh and by the way, they got that land for free. They are renovating an existing building and adding new ones to the existing campus.
Also, the “we investing” part is not accurate. It is being funded via fee-replaced bonds.
Bring on the Pat White Water Park! ;)
Abe,
I’m suggesting that by moving/building a significant portion of the campus over 1 mile further north they’re already decentralizing. Downtown is just 3 miles away in the other direction.
What “motivation” do you want? How about for the greater good of the community? How about better use of fee-replaced bonds?
I don’t mean to pick on Ivy Tech in particular - they’re just the latest expansion project I found. My point is this - Is anyone approaching our state colleges to promote a downtown campus? Certainly warrants consideration in my opinion, particularly if they need to expand anyway.
Folks…until you can prove to a lot of people that the central city area is safe enough after dark to walk around in, you won’t have a lot of luck with attracting anything other than government sponsored building. Those loud popping noises you may hear around the downtown area almost every night are not fireworks. And, it isn’t just Fort Wayne. When was the last time you took a walk with your wife, girlfriend, boyfriend or kids on a city street after dark?
It ain’t pretty. But, I dare you to prove me wrong!
John,
Where’s your proof those loud popping noises are anything other than fireworks? I rarely hear news reports about violent crime downtown, but plenty of suggestions the area is unsafe from a few people. Living NE of Fort Wayne we’ve had our share of shootings, I’m betting more than downtown has seen.
I don’t disagree that the city has a perception problem. Unfortunately most “evidence” seems to be anecdotal not supported by hard fact.
BTW - My wife and I spent a lovely evening at Bourbon Street Hideaway last month, then strolled the Landing afterward. We felt completely safe.
John, you need to explain what you mean by central city. Some people think that means anything within the boundaries of I-69 and 469.
Your assertion is laughable. When I can walk down the middle of downtown streets in the middle of the night without worrying about seeing a car much less other people, your claim becomes even more ridiculous.
The easiest way to prove to people that downtown is safe is to have them experience it themselves.
Come down and visit sometime… if you’re willing to be proven wrong, that is.
Scott says “When I can walk down the middle of downtown streets in the middle of the night without worrying about seeing a car much less other people…”
So you’re the one with the fireworks, eh?
John,
I walk downtown after dark several nights a week- never had a problem at all.
The only flash coming from me is my camera.
Seriously, this whole notion of downtown being dangerous is a joke. How can you be in danger when there’s nobody around to mess with you?
The only people here after work hours are the few that live here and those eating at a restaurant or going to a show at the Embassy, etc.
You know, the people who are actually enjoying life, instead of being too afraid to go out.
Colgate -
When is the last time carriage rides have taken place where you live?
When is the last time you’ve actually witnessed a violent crime downtown?
You’re right though, fireworks are going to be happening, after baseball games and the crowd favorite 3RF.
Usually at night the only things heard downtown are trains and motorcycles.
Agreed. I am regularly downtown between the hours of 10 and 1. I have never been concerned for my safety.
Dave,
You have the right idea! Have you seen what Indiana Tech has done in the area? There’s more than one building project in the area that I call downtown, that doesn’t get much attention. The corner of Hanna and Lewis, for one.
FYI -
“In addition to our courses at Fort Wayne’s Coliseum and North Campuses and Rudisill Center, we also offer courses in downtown Fort Wayne,…”
http://www.ivytech.edu/fortwayne/campuses/communitycampuses.html
Colgate, your “loud popping noise” comment is nothing short of assinine.
No way is this based in any sort of fact whatsoever and now you put us in the position of trying to prove a negative.
What an irresponsible comment.
Ivy Tech is crammed to the gills at their Rudisill Center. There is no money to fix what they have, let alone add more. They will keep that there to maintain a presence where the need is.
The North campus is a different issue. They are just using existing building space (with bars ont he windows still) and it is sorely in need of improvement, lest I forget to mention the technology as noted in the latest HLC accreditation report. There is a new building going up and there will be some improvements, however Keith Busse had a big hand in that private development.
Ivy Tech would put more classes downtown if they didn’t have to pay for space and could ensure technology was available for use.
With the tremendous over 100% growth this past year, they are sorely in need of space AND qualified willing instructors AND the technology to support the growth.
At this point, they are at a hiring freeze, not filling several positions, and letting staff go.. all in anticipation of more education cuts at the state level.
Thanks Jeff for coming forward with some different ideas. Attracting young people to come downtown seems to be the ticket to success for other cities who have revitalized their downtowns. Considering our current economy, trying to sell $250, 000 to $300,000 larger than planned, condos doesn’t seem to me to be the best way to achieve this. From what I have read, the retail portion of the Harrison has drawn interest from restaurants, a niche grocery store and a fitness center. If we are to draw more young people to live in the downtown area, there has to be more reasonably priced housing options available.
A realistic option for the Harrison may be to offer more studio, urban-style, loft apartments which would be more in line with what a younger demographic is looking for. I just read in the JG this week an $18 million student apartment complex is planned for St. Joe Road. It’s too bad this sort of complex isn’t going to be located in our urban core. I’m hoping the Harrison will materialize, but it will probably have to morph into something more practical in order to still succeed.
why hasnt the JG called John Kalb a “gadfly” yet?
legalize sports beting and open a sports book in a corner of the ballpark, or in the gallery bar suite?
and march madness sports beting is still illegal. and since when did they legalize pulltabs for every bar in town? i thought it was only for veterans halls?
if the police cant enforce thegambling laws nthe books, how will theyever obey the laws if we get a wide open reno nevada style downtown casino/hotels resorts/nightclubs etc- like before prohibition, and the local bible thumpers killed the local econmy.
I guess if you dont mind living a life of poverty, chastity, and holiness…. I notice the cadre of amil order ministers, and scolds live quite well. and boycott john popp- hes as half baked as crazy aunt milly and her bread! ( giggle!)
thats all for now. please resume with the normal usual density and stupidity, idiocy, and foolishness. thank you..
Jeff. Thank you! You have added something POSITIVE to the Harrison Square debate.
Good for you!
I do not know that your idea will fly- but I think it is better to offer reasoned alternatives than to just bitch about it!
Good Job!
The Harrison Square mistake will have to play out with more government money wasted. At some point we have to admit that the Glenbrook area is the center of Fort Wayne and the engine of economic activity. That is where our investment should be. The Coliseum, Spiece Fieldhouse, Hefner soccer fields, the new, privately developed hockey center will continue to bring loads of tourist dollars to the area. None of these visitors will get close to downtown.
Young people don’t buy homes. They rent! Perhaps we can find a real estate company that is interested in leasing condos to Generation Y.
This is a great debate to be having, but I don’t hear many actual ideas for what can be done with the property other than a residential development. Anything?
I also agree the condo project is most likely dead in the water due to the lack of demand for homes that are way out of the market range in price. I think the demand to live downtown is there though(aren’t residential occupancy rates high in the rest of downtown?), the housing just has to be affordable. If the city were to lower the requirements for how much should be spent on the structure in return for an immediate building start of an apartment/retail with lower rents, we’d probably be getting somewhere. The developers would invest less, but the city would be able to start building, and more people would live downtown. If you want young people, direct the marketing as off-campus downtown housing within a 10 minute bus ride of IPFW/Indiana Tech.
I like the idea of bringing together different areas of the city, not making them compete with each other, but the core is what leaves the impression on visitors, not glenbrook or spiece. That’s why this is really about making our city better for US first, not for tourists. If we like to live, work, and play downtown and we enjoy our lives in Fort Wayne, other people will notice, and the rest will fall into place. No one else is going to make the city what we want it to be for us.
Kevin,
Thanks. I just feel like the timing is now right and people aren’t as dug in as they probably were. Everyone is beginning to see the writing on the wall that we need to do something different. Whether or not it’s what I suggest isn’t terribly important - but we do need to start the conversation.
BL,
I intentionally didn’t suggest anything specific regarding the property because I think that will be determined by market factors more than anything.
Having said that, I personally believe that altering the original design slightly (perhaps more units) and making the units rentals instead of condos would work. I think that gives us the best opportunity to get this thing moving again…
Everbody needs to remember that the Hardball/Barry Group does not have (or at least doesn’t want to use) investment dollars OF THEIR OWN on this project. They fully expect either the City of Fort Wayne to do the financing OR they want to SELL not rent because selling they get their money BEFORE they have to spent it. With renting, it comes in dribbles over a long time. This is the whole hang up as far as Hardball/Barry is concerned.
Jeff-
I truly admire your spirit and good intentions. But I disagree that “everyone is beginning to see the writing on the wall…”
Hardball Capital/Barry owns the land. They have no intention of a0 giving it up, since a new owner could exploit the view of the baseball field, b) building something that will lose money, since nobody is requiring them to honor their contract, or c) giving up their sweetheart deal on the stadium, since we haven’t even demanded performance on their obligations and are handing them a stream of new goodies. The status quo is just fine for Chris and Jason.
A new proposal might change things, but you left out the critical criteria for a successful proposal. Try again, answering these questions:
-How does the new idea benefit Barry Sturges?
-What’s in it for Martin, Goldstine, Knapke?
-How much for George Huber?
-What will it add to the bottom line at Baker&Daniels?
-Will it capture new tax revenue for the Redevelopment Commission?
-Can we boootstrap a big payment to the Rifkins for a polluted piece of land?
Get the right answers to those questions and the dirt will fly.
Well… it’s really good to see the juices flowing. Let’s try this… let’s assume the the center of downtown Fort Wayne is not just between Main Street and Douglas Street and extends two blocks west of Harrison and two blocks east of Jefferson. Now.. since my job requires repeated trips to the area of the Federal Building on Harrison street at all hours of the day and night and since I have some experence in the field of firearms, I feel able to ascertain the difference between fireworks and gun shots. But hey! Don’t take my word for it. While you’re strolling in the “middle” of the street, flag down the first police car you find. Ask the officer inside if he/she has heard what he/she identified as gun shots in the area I discribe. Has he/she ever seen what he/she discribes as bullet holes in buildings/cars in that area?
Nope. Haven’t been an eye witness to any violent crime myself in that area (saw a couple of drunks passed out in the grass one noon). Heck, I haven’t witnessed any serious car crashes in years. I guess that means we can stop wearing seat belts like the jerk that took a shot at an officer a couple of nights ago (oh, right. not in the “down town area”).
By the way. I’m not anti-Harrison Square. I’m anti-crime, anti-head-in-sand!
Fear is a powerful thing. If we used fear as a basis for not revitalizing any of our urban core, it probably wouldn’t happen. I would argue downtown revitalization would not have happened in the majority of American cities if we were paralyzed by fear. Crime happens all over the city, not just downtown. Check the crime report for Pierre’s parking lot on the NE side of town. You’ll find plenty of gun-slinging, knock-down drag-out brawling incidents that have happened there. Is NE FW a bad, scary area of town ? I would assume most FW citizens would say probably not.
In reference to crime, the majority of American cities who have successfully revitalized their urban cores have all dealt with the element of crime. Did that stop them from moving forward? No, and neither should it with us. Before Rudy Giuliani lead the charge to “clean up” Times Square it had a notorious reputation of being a cess pool of crime, drugs and prostitution. In less than ten years time, Times Square has been transformed into the hottest tourist destination in NYC.
Taken from the Wikipedia entry for Times Square:
“In the mid-1990s, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani (1994–2002) led an intense effort to “clean up” the area, increasing security, driving out pornographic theaters, drug dealers and “squeegee men” and opening more tourist-friendly attractions and upscale establishments. Advocates of the remodeling claim that the neighborhood is safer and cleaner.”
FW is definitely not NYC, but I believe we can adopt similar efforts here and make downtown FW a destination people in our city and surrounding communities will be proud of.
Mark,
Good to see you cannot add anything positive to the discussion!
So, let me get this straight, Colgate has made “repeated” trips at all hours of the day and night to his redefined “central city”, which I think extends to New Haven and is damn near half of Allen County. He has never witnessed any violent crime or even any car crashes. The only thing he can report is a couple of drunks lying in the grass at noon (10 to 1 they were sunbathers). Yet, the city is not safe to walk around in after dark.
Colgate, stick to your strength, regurgitating DNC press releases.
Colgate, you are correct, you certainly do not have your “head in the sand”. No, based on your comments, it is very clear that your head is firmly positioned somewhere else.
Fort Wayne News justed posted about this thread and crime downtown.
Abe -
So after reading your link….
Should we just run away and abandon downtown with our tails between our legs ? After viewing that report, maybe we should just hand over the downtown and other neighborhoods in FW to the criminals, drug dealers, pimps ? If you want a sure-fire way of creating a culture of fear which in turn causes people to think twice about relocating to FW, starting a business in FW or leaving FW, then print the crime results on the front page of the Journal Gazette on a daily basis. Just to warn you, by doing so you will have more than a good chance of seeing property values decline, store fronts with bars in the windows pop up, businesses close, loss of tax revenue for the city, and not too mention it will do wonders to the whole, “Fort Wayne City of Dreams” branding campaign.
I would bet almost every city in the US with a population exceeding 200,000 people deals with some sort of crime. In no way am I denying that crime does not exist in downtown FW. I just happen to feel it has been overemphasized, over blown and used as a wedge by some to paralyze us and keep us from moving forward with downtown revitalization.
To reiterate, crime happens all over the city. I don’t think anyone has ever said, “Downtown Fort Wayne is 100% crime free.”
Downtown Fort Wayne is a densely populated area, with many areas of mixed of incomes. The 46802 area code has offices, bars, slums, and very nice areas. What it lacks, is an abundance of subdivisions where people are constantly in their cars and barely know their neighbors.
Personally, I don’t need seclusion to feel safe.
But when talking about downtown, should we really include Illinois Road and Ardmore?
I’d like to see the report of other zip codes. I didn’t see any reports of gunfire. Hell, half those reports of suspicious persons are probably about John Colgate lurking around the federal building at all hours of the day and night.
Colgate’s comments have managed to unite me, Green Jeans and Knuth, an unholy alliance.
Andy,
Nice try at putting words in my mouth. I offered nothing other than the link. I’m retired and don’t have a dog in this race.
Quite frankly I could care less what happens with the whole mess. Graham Richard has left all of the taxpayers with a half-ass proposition of downtown redevelopment.
For the record, I rarely go downtown and it’s usually only to go vote early so I don’t have to stand in line to vote for the next round of republicans. I have everything here southwest that I need. Good restaurants, great shopping, a nice school system and decent neighbors. Oh, I should also mention very little crime.
As for sports, a single-A minor league team with a guy pretending to be retarded dancing on the field isn’t my cup of tea, not to mention the horrid over-priced food. Give me a Cubs or Colts game any day.
Abe -
So, you just so happen to post the link with no intention what-so-ever ?
Based on your comment:
“I’m retired and don’t have a dog in this race. Quite frankly I could care less what happens with the whole mess.”
I’m left to assume you really don’t care what happens to our downtown. Like you said, you’re retired and could care less. And to top it off, you just want to post links to downtown crime statistics just for the hell of it.
Thankfully, there are many citizens, business leaders, community activists here in the city who are trying to do everything they can to make downtown FW a success. I’m not even close to retirement so my hope and desire is to have a successful, revitalized urban core which is healthy, alive and has the potential of drawing new people to our city. Keep in mind, a healthy downtown is a representative of the soul of a city, and is a crucial factor in bringing new business and tax dollars to our area.
I see no benefit whatsoever in having a dilapidated, vacant, run-down, peopless downtown.
Although revitalizing our downtown has been and will be an arduous process full of successes, failures and standstills, it still needs to continue to happen. Jeff was proactive and took a public stand in trying to bring new thoughts and ideas to make the Harrison a success. I applaud him for his efforts and hope there will be more ideas come forward on how to not only improve the odds of success for the Harrison but the downtown in general.
Andy,
I applaud Jeff as well. However, with the current administration he could as well be pounding his head against a wall. I watch the city council meetings on TV and the disdain that most of the council people show the citizens of this town amazes me to no end.
They’ve been trying to fix downtown since the mid 1970’s and have failed every time. Pumping taxpayer dollars into revitalization rarely works.
I’ve been watching them try for close to 40 years. I’ll be dead before they get it right, if they ever do.
This is just an objective question: Is there a record or track record of how the suggestions of consultants has gone? It seems like if there’s a problem then there’s a solution.
Jeff,
I admire your efforts to get something(anything) moving on this project. However,it is becoming abundantly clear that before progress can be made and a new approach taken,the project supporters on Council,the City admin. and those responsible City bureaucrats need to admit they screwed up in not negotiating a busnesslike deal and that they refuse to enforce the limited remedies they managed to put in the agreements.Of course Hardball/Barry is not going to volunteer to change anything or move forward-they have the best of all worlds-a sweetheart deal and a partner who won’t even hold them to the few requirements in the agreements!!The excuse of the credit crisis is nothing but that-an excuse. Hardball/Barry had plenty of time to arrange financing after the agreements were signed over 18 monthe ago(if the proposed condo/retail business plans made any sense)!!I hope Councilman Pape and others are embarrassed now that they pooh-poohed the requests by Shoaff and Schmidt for a review by Council of the financial standing of Hardball/Barry prior to approving the agreements !! If Pape and Talarico had advised a business client to sign a deal under the conditions this one was done-they would probably be looking at malpractice suits or whatever they call dereliction of duty in the legal profession.JMHO
Mr. Marine,
I dont know you personally, but after reading your posts over the years and your letters to the editors over the same period, it must be miserable being such a negative force. To be the perpetual naysayer. I guess you figure that if you are against everything, you will always have a moment here or there to pump out your chest and say I told you so. I always wonder why somebody like you never ran for Mayor or something since you have all the answers. Maybe its because its just so much easier to be the guy on the sideline throwing stones.
For Harrison Square supporters, they may have their own “I told you so” moment, but it might not come for a few years down the road.
Your poo-poohing of the credit crisis made me laugh out loud. Yeah right Mr. Marine, what a lame excuse.
I can assure you L. Marine is not a negative or miserable person. I worked with L. Marine on a previous commission and when it comes to spending taxpayer $ he is very thorough and meticulous in his analysis. He is correct on this issue. It’s unfortunate when someone expresses another view, in this case the truth, some resort to disparaging a person’s character. Talk about throwing stones, Mr. Green Jeans…ooops let me stoop before you throw one at me.
His comments regarding failure to negotiate a smarter contract and not enforcing the requirements makes one wonder whether some officials have the best interest of the taxpayers OR their pocketbooks?
Great ideas Jeff and I really do hope Parkview Stadium is a great success for the good of the community!!!
An aside:
L. Marine,
You’ve shown your obvious lack of intelligence with this statement.
“If Pape and Talarico had advised a business client to sign a deal under the conditions this one was done-they would probably be looking at malpractice suits or whatever they call dereliction of duty in the legal profession.”
Not only is that ignorant, your grammar sucks as well. Malpractice relates to the health care field, and “dereliction of duty” is a specific offense of military law.
I don’t know what commission Parra claims you were on, (she conveniently left that out), I just hope you weren’t doing their newsletter.
Honest Abe & Green Jeans: I suggest that the two of you contact Lockwood Marine at his office (436-4180) ande make an appointment to meet with him. After a very short discussion, I am sure you will find that you are both wrong in your characterization of him. I can tell you HE IS NOT AS NEGATIVE AS I AM about happenings in our fair city!
Lockwood Marine is a person? I’ve been thinking all this time that that was a place to drydock my boat.
Kalb: Saying Marine isn’t negative because he isn’t as negative as you is kind of like saying someone isn’t a blowhard because they aren’t Knuth. To paraphrase the movie City Slickers, if negativity were people, you would be China.
Negativity is the mind’s immune response to bad ideas.
Messrs Jeans and Abe-what you think of me personally or my ideas is really pretty irrelevant to the topic under discussion-the Harrison Square deal and the followup of it by the bureaucrats stink and no amount of flowery words on a blog can clean it up or make it smell better.For your more general information-I spend almost 100% of my time volunteering for Community and charitable causes,I direct my positive comments to individuals(and politicians)directly and in person,I spent my whole career in senior corporate management and know from experience the difference between a “good deal ” and a “bad” one,and if someone doesn’t point out the miserable job done by many of our local politicians they will just keep making the same lousy decisions and mistakes-and the taxpayers will keep paying the bill !! Whatever happened to accountability to the voters?
Believe me Mr. Kalb, I never compared Mr. Marine to you. You are clearly much much worse and should be proud of your status. You make Mr. Marine look like a progressive.
“For Harrison Square supporters, they may have their own “I told you so” moment, but it might not come for a few years down the road.”
Mr. Green jeans might be right… but no one will hear the Harrison Square supporters “I told you so” over all the loud popping noises :)
It is midnight and 5 minutes ago I was standing on the corner of Barr and Berry. If I had Colgate’s cell number, I would call him and invite him down to sit on the curb and drink wine with me from a bottle covered by a paper sack so we could listen for gunfire together. If we hear gunfire at any time during the next hour, I would treat him to breakfast at the IHOP on Coldwater.
[...] or not one agrees with the ideas I presented in Doubling Down on Harrison Square is not important. What is important is that we move towards a plan that makes sense for this [...]