"Tear It Down," Sayeth the Councilman, Part 2: "Just how has this been a corrupt process?" Hint: Secretive nonsense.

Part 1 is here.

The Facebook discussion began at the newspaper's page, and then shifted to Jeff's. Here's the tip-off:

More obstinacy and secretiveness in the face of possibility and resiliency with my elected district representative (who, like me, lives nearby) characteristically silent on what has been a corrupt process from the beginning.

And voila! The layers began peeling.

Greg Phipps
Just how has this been a corrupt process? I say tear the damn thing down!
18 hours ago · Like

Greg Phipps
The city has spoken to numerous investors and has worked with historic preservation in seeking funding to save the structure. I have spoken to many in the neighborhood who live around this eyesore and most are in favor of tearing it down. Historic preservation needs to be more proactive rather than reactive. They wait until the 11th hour to save building then panic. Not all old building are historic and worthy of saving.
17 hours ago · Like

Jeff Gillenwater
And "tear it down" is where you started, Greg, so when the City said $300,000 to stabilize to basic code compliance (an absurd number), you didn't question it. When the City did next to nothing to advertise the property as available or seek proposals and then declared no one was interested (based on that same $300K number), you again said nothing. And why is this building caught up in the $250,000 ask in the first place? Because Gahan and company are being obstinate, more interested in the ongoing Horseshoe feud than in actually salvaging the building. Why do you accept that City has a "plan" for the property but refuses to say what it is? Given that you're getting your preferred outcome, you've invested nothing in this process and implicitly supported ongoing, secretive nonsense.
17 hours ago · Like

Jeff Gillenwater
"The City has spoken to numerous investors..." Which ones? How were they notified and/or selected? What terms were they given for the property? Are those terms available to anyone? That should all be public knowledge, and would be if the process were even a smidgen honest and transparent. Do you even know?
17 hours ago · Like

Greg Roberts
Jeff, Do you want to buy the building?
17 hours ago · Like

Jeff Gillenwater
That's an impossible question to answer given the level of secretiveness thus far. Can you answer my questions above? What are the terms? Can you point me to where the City has publicly advertised them? In your opinion, are they realistic?
17 hours ago · Like

Jeff Gillenwater
So, you guys really don't know if the property has ever been broadly and publicly marketed, what the asking price was, or what if any stipulations or incentives were attached? Seems strange to publicly defend the integrity of a process you can't really...See More
14 hours ago · Like

Roger A. Baylor
Crickets they be chirping. All I want to know is: Where's the plan to fill all these holes we're making? We do have a plan, right?
13 hours ago · Like
Roger A. Baylor

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Part 3 is coming.