Councilman Tim Pape Jumps The Shark
Posted by Jeff Pruitt - 6/16/09 @ 11:19 pm - Filed Under Featured, Local Politics
I realize councilman Pape is probably getting more upset by the day watching his government-utopia dream fall by the wayside - The Harrison, Renaissance Pointe, Public Safety Academy, etc. Nobody likes to hear “I told you so” but his rhetoric against accountability is ridiculous. Here was his reaction to the city council asking for an updated report on the Harrison Square project’s expenditures:
Councilman Tim Pape, D-5th, said he was concerned with opponents to the project simply using this as another chance to criticize it. Pape, one of the more vocal supporters of Harrison Square on council, said he understands the project deserves public scrutiny, but said council members could have received all this information on their own had they simply asked.
Surely he’s not suggesting that council should be privy to the information but the public shouldn’t?
Pape said opponents have hammered on Harrison Square by saying they are looking out for the public good, but they have offered little scrutiny of any other project, such as the redevelopment of Southtown Mall. He said continued criticism discourages private developers who might be interested in investing in the city.
This one actually made me laugh out loud. Does councilman Pape not see the difference in the level of expenditure between Southtown and Harrison Square. Should HS not receive more oversight due to the larger investment? Really? And as for discouraging private investors, why would they be discouraged? The precedent has been set - they can come in, promise the world, deliver nothing and people like Pape will continue to support them no matter how much money they loot from the taxpayers. Doesn’t sound like much to be discouraged about to me.
“I hope the electorate sees what’s happening and votes these people out.”
Yes, I too hope the public sees that the majority of council would like to have $60+ million worth of expenditures accounted for. I guess Pape thinks a slap on the back and “Heckuva job Brownie” will suffice but the rest of us might want a tad more. In fact, where is the report from the city audit department? If they aren’t going to audit a project of this size then what good are they? Something to keep in mind come city budget cut time.
If anyone deserves to be voted out it’s those that have turned a blind eye towards the city’s negligence in enforcing their own contractual agreements…
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18 Responses to “Councilman Tim Pape Jumps The Shark”
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So was Pape’s diatribe about the ballpark opponents on city council needing to be “voted out” an attack on his fellow Democrat, John Shoaff who is one of our councilmen-at-large?
And how about Karen Goldner’s slamming of all of Fort Wayne residents of Germanic extraction? It sure hit a wrong note with this citizen(Kalb is a very, very German surname).
Way to go Demos - Pape puts down fellow Democrats and Goldner puts down half the electorate!
Maybe we will have a change in elected city government at the next go-around - WE HOPE - but not the one Pape wants!
Ironic that we’re talking about Democrats (elected or otherwise) in favor of benefiting the big out-of-town corporate interests and it’s the Republicans who are sticking up for the ‘little guy’ taxpayer…except, of course, for John Shoaff.
That’s right, local Republicans are only interested in corrupt projects that benefit big in-town corporate interests.
First of all, I am 3/4 German myself, or darn close to that. If I had to say it again I would probably not suggest any link to our German heritage, but I will say that I have never lived in a town as German as Fort Wayne, nor have I lived in a town as prone to negativity. So I made a connection, and that is probably neither accurate nor fair. For that I apologize.
The larger point I was making is that many, many people have commented to me about how proud they are of the ballpark, and that civic pride is something that we should cultivate, not simply dismiss.
Civic pride is certainly worth promoting and cultivating but it needs to be tempered with a modest amount of realism. I was appalled by the comments of selected council persons praising Leatherman and Haffner for “an excellant job of manageing the Harrison Square project”.They negotiated or acquiesed to one of the most one-sided contracts I have ever seen and then have drug their feet on enforcing even the most rudimentary rights which the City was granted.We as taxpayers invested 34+ million in a project which yields no income nor property tax(but we have liability of some $235 thousand/year for the maintenance fund plus utilities) while Hardball prepaid 5 million which gives them rent free use of Parkview Field,$150 thousand/year in naming rights and all the income from events and concessions except 10% of the profits from “City” events.
Now we see there is a correction to the statement of Leatherman about Hardball spending an extra $900 thousand-when Council gets an update and the basic numbers are not correct what if any thing can the taxpayers/voters believe.While it is true that part of Harrison Square is a reality and we need to make the best of it going forward ,it is not useful for certain Council persons to try to cover their backsides with obfuscating statements and a refusal to force renegotiation of the contract which Hardball has allowed to fall into default.Civic pride is no substitute for old fashioned common sense and a businesslike attitude to a very real problem facing the taxpayers.It is time to face up to the facts,take appropriate tough actions and move forward wiser but poorer!! The City has used all the Creed money,most of the Jefferson Pointe taxes,etc on Harrison Square and there is little if any left for other projects to improve our City.The only thing we have left is “civic pride” which is not a very good return on a 34+ million investment.
Lockwood, do you measure all of your investment returns on a 9 month window? Or do look a little longer term sometimes? Do you sell all of your stocks if you have not seen a big return after 9 months?
Karen - I too have commented on the excellant job that was done on Parkview Field and have stated that Fort Wayne can be proud of it —but, that doesn’t cover over the covert methods used to spend tax revenues on a product that just doesn’t make economic sense for our city! In fact, the projected attendance at Parkview Field for this year does not look like it will exceed the 318,506 that attended Memorial Stadium in 1993 during the first year of the Wizard’s seasons.
It was the “negativity” of our Downtown Baseball Plus Committee to choose one and only one developer to explore this idea and then stubbornly push only for that as the magic way to spark re-interest in our downtown.
It was the “negativity” of all but one hotel developer to fail to make a proposal - and then the one that responded added more realistic limits to it’s size, demanded a 20 year guaranty of a 16% profit, demanded a walkway that defeats the “walk downtown” idea proposed, and then has used a sneaky way to “weed-out” Allen County laborers from most of the work on this hotel even though it will be built with about 50% tax-generated money covering the hard costs.
It was the “negativity” of loan officers who could see that another hotel in downtown Fort Wayne(even with a 16% profit for 20 year guaranty)did not have a reasonable risk factor that met their loan approval requirements.
It is the “negativity” of baseball fans who are NOT flocking to fill all the seats at Parkview Field so that the city can meet the requirements of funding the contracted $230,000 per year into the Stadium Maintenance Fund.
It is the “negativity” of potential leasees for overpriced retail sales outlets in the Harrison that has caused Barry Real Estate to be unable to get more than one signed up.
It is the “negativity” of Fort Wayne residents to not buy overpriced condos in the Harrison that has caused Barry Real Estate to scale-back it’s scope and fail to get funding.
But, IT’S ALL THE FAULT OF THE GERMANS!
Mr. Green Jeans- Lockwood is not investing public tax revenue! His business dealings are not public information! But the money wasted on this boondoggle IS PUBLIC INFORMATION.
(And, Mr. G.J., if you really are a former city councilman who’s initials are ST,Jr, we continue to thank you every day-HA)
John B. Kalb, if that is your real name, didn’t you give up all rights to bash Harrison Square when you put a pot on your head and tried to force seeds upon our City’s children?
Keith - You must be speaking about that Swedborgian fellow with the same first name - but he only passed out apple seeds. Although I did wear a pot one night back in April when the Tin Caps played their first game at Parkview Field. And I did have a bag of seeds with me - bird food for the Tax-Paying Fort Wayne “pigeons” that were there that night.
Mr. Green Jeans,
Of course a long-term perspective is good for investing. But if every time you ask your broker how your investment is doing, and he simply tells you to quit asking questions, there is legitimate cause for concern.
John B. Kalb,
You forgot to mention the negativity of Mayor Henry who refused to invest in a condo. I believe the six current/former council members who supported this project have also projected such negativity.
If those seven had truely supported this City, then we would probably have already halfway reached the scaled down goal of half of a half of what the proponents originally suggested would materialize for the condo project.
But perhaps I’m being a little too negative myself. After all, we do have a newly built Subway sandwhich shop downtown now.
It is a rebuilt built Subway remember it first was moved for either the Library or Grand Wayne expansion then it got moved again for Harrison Square and then received an unlawful, eer, unkosher tax abatement even though it didnt meet the employment and production standards of previous and current City Code a/o Policies.
Tim Pape is like a sniffling trout who will get bounced out of the County’s (if the General Assembly has any sense left they wont let it go downtown) Riverboat Casino eventually.
John,
They aren’t guaranteed 16% profit. It’s 16% profit up to $250k/year. If it were a 16% profit guarantee then they would’ve had financing months ago.
So it should tell everyone something that even with $250k in their pocket, on top of tax abatements, the market still doesn’t think they will turn a profit.
I’m not sure they’re right, but I am relatively certain that the Hilton and the Courtyard can’t both turn a profit in this market - no way.
And if you were making a decision between the brand new Courtyard or the Hilton which would you pick? So who do you think is going to lose in this deal?
In defense of Councilman Pape,
I realize this will not be the most popular position to take in this blog thread, however, Pape deserves some defense, though his comments do make that somewhat challenging considering the topic.
Your post makes it seem the Councilman is someone shouting at the rain and, yes, sometimes this is true. In pleading for positive responses to Harrison Square, he negatively attacked naysayers and those who wish to intensively critique the project’s finances. There is nothing wrong, offensive, or malicious in critiquing this public project.
But I must agree with Councilwoman Goldner, this city is very prone to negativity, which is even seen amongst the councilmembers during some of their sessions.
I’m curious to know what time will tell, which could entail a number of consequences for the city undertaking this ambitious project. The very first season of the baseball team has yet to even make it to the all-star game, and the rumblings become louder to say, “I told you so.”
Pape, so filled with optimism, a curse upon all of us who are Democrats, only wants the project to progress, and not at every turn hear a plethora of emotions as to why the council was wrong even in the beginning.
Optimism can be harnessed back into reality, but when progress is not even allowed to breathe, it only serves to stroke the ego’s of those with an online connection and an opinion . . . kinda like me!
Charles
Charles,
I’m sure Pape wants the project to progress but I don’t think his actions or rhetoric are going to accomplish that.
What he seems to want most of all is for people to stop criticizing the project and let the status quo eventually flourish into the original concept. This may or may not happen and I believe that’s where the debate lies.
I think many of us want some level of fairness. Ask yourself this - if the shoe were on the other foot and the developers had held up their ends of the bargain and the city had not fulfilled the vast majority of its contractual obligations, would the city see the same reciprocity the developers are receiving?
Also, I believe your comments to be much more rational than councilman Pape’s. His comments suggest that anyone who demands accountability for the city’s largest project should be thrown out of office. That’s a far cry from the points you (and Karen) made.
I also believe that too much optimism can be just as damaging as too much negativity. I think the current financial disaster this country faces is a prime example of that…
Jeff - Do you honestly believe that the new Courtyard will show a net profit of $250,000 in ANY future year? Unless you are betting on the pending “Obama” hyper-inflation we have coming! Maybe that’s it - since if we keep going as Geithner is taking us - we can pay the $250,000 using $.01 dollars!
John,
Of course they won’t make 16% profit but that was my point. If they lose $500k/year they aren’t guaranteed a 16% profit - they are guaranteed $250k/yr. The difference could potentially be millions of dollars so I just want people to understand that the most they can get is $250k even if that still leaves them with negative profit
Charles,
Pape can indulge in all the optimistic self-pleasuring he wants–on his own dime. We he’s using mine, he’ll just have to endure my criticisms about how he spends it.