Comments on: City Has Poor Record On Land Speculation

By: cyclops

cyclops — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 03:08:11 +0000

Angry woman, do you think the mayor is telling the truth about Kenosha Wi.? Do you believe him when he says we have added 100 acres of new parks? Do you believe him when he said it was OK that the developer reneged on the hole in the ground because ” there are two or three other developers waiting in the wings”? My God! Just how many lies and half truths do you need? Because I can go on and on and on!!

By: untamedshrew

untamedshrew — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:17:21 +0000

Well, if you aren’t sure they’ve been deceitful, then perhaps you should stop using phrases such as this, taken from today’s post: “great examples of deception by the city.”

By: cyclops

cyclops — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 22:35:06 +0000

I don’t believe you have a husband Angry Woman. No one could be that vindictive. It appears that every time the city plays “land speculator” they get their butts handed to them. That wouldn’t be so bad, but they do it on our money.

By: untamedshrew

untamedshrew — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 21:10:25 +0000

To be honest, I don’t recall enough information about the land swap to answer your question, and I don’t have time to look into it now (and would need more information than what you’ve provided on this site).

But I can say that I approach questions such as this from a different perspective than yours and most of your readers. I know several city and state employees. I have been acquainted with the mayor for years. Without fail, my experience with all of them indicates that they are honest, hard-working people doing the best job they can – just like most of the rest of us. Therefore, the general theme and tenor of this site – that these people are intentionally deceitful and corrupt – is unfair and offensive.

EDITOR NOTE–We don’t know if they are corrupt. We have revealed corruption within the city in the past (Poop Farm, Public Works come to mind). Not even sure if they are deceitful. Inept, ill-advised, secretive are all accurate descriptions.

By: untamedshrew

untamedshrew — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 19:04:29 +0000

I have a husband? That’s good news – will you identify him for me? I have couple of projects around the house I could use some help with.

EDITOR NOTE–Ok. I admit to phishing on that one. Do you still think the land swap was clean?

So in other words, you support the city’s plan to sell the property. Funny, I missed that part in your first post.

By: untamedshrew

untamedshrew — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 16:28:29 +0000

When exactly was the land valued at $414,000? In 2007? And you’re challenging someone to show it’s worth the same amount today?

In June, 2007 you said you were “glad” the city was selling this property and getting out of “the real estate speculation business.” Since you argue today that the city “can’t be trusted” to use the proceeds in a way that you find appropriate, are you suggesting that you’ve flip flopped and now think the city should keep the property?

St. Luke’s now owns property the City once owned. Even though you don’t think St. Luke’s will build on the property, in which case the property remains taxable, you still suggest that the city somehow got snookered? Is this because St. Luke’s *could* build there, even though you doubt it will?

EDITOR NOTE–City inflated the value of the Citation rocky outcrop in order to come up with a “certificate of gift” to the docs for tax avoidance purposes (they could show a big deduction on their income tax return). At the time of the deal the assessor was absolutely adamant the land was not worth $414,000. Here is official value and history for that parcel http://www.adacountyassessor.org/propsys/ViewParcel.do?yearParcel=2009R3219910010

Your husband’s boss won that round. Our concession speech is here: https://boiseguardian.com/2008/09/30/council-bullies-eat-guardians-lunch/

With regard to proposed sale of surplus land, I still want it to happen, but based on past record, we doubt it will happen. Some of those parcels have been identified repeatedly as revenue sources for various projects.