No one has ever said that the city wants to sell our beach--NO ONE. Do you understand that? Why then do we have some residents who continually believe that those of us who are against any private/public partnership and more commercial development on a long-term lease at our beach have said that? Why? They can't possibly be serious.
I must come to the conclusion that they are 1) not listening to what we have said, 2) have not listened to the Select Committee Audios and what Hudson Holdings has said that they want to do, 3) are delusional, deranged or both or 4) flat fibbers...take your pick.
You get a resident and a member of a city board who speaks at the lectern with NO clue. She is "'amazed that anyone thinks we can give away our beach...this comes up every 2 to 3 years...I am so disturbed about this whole movement about giving away our beach; I don't know what to do."
Then we get the local newspaper on this same exact schtick. The editorial in this week's paper says, "Now we see the actual proposals and the hype about selling the beach and a convention center turn out to be highly inaccurate." He says that these lies were spread during the campaign. Untrue. No one during the campaign has ever said anything about "sprawling buildings everywhere on the property like we have been seeing on the blog and reading in the paper (not this one)." No one ever said one damn thing about selling the beach or selling anything nor have they said anything about giving away our beach. If a newspaper can't tell the truth, who in the hell can?
What this is about is 1) the city can't take care of anything, 2) they need more ad valorem taxes and money but the bulk of that will go to the Lessee 3) it is about giving away control of our casino/complex including the parking and for filling in our pool and building another building, giving them a long-term lease that Hudson has asked for and by ordinance is an initial term of 19 years, 364 days. After that, Hudson Holdings can/will get an option to renew which probably will be built into the contract. Not only would this be unacceptable, even for one day, it would not be in the spirit of the referendum passed by the voters by 90%.
This is NOT about giving away or selling our beach. It is NOT about giving away or selling our casino/complex. It IS about giving away control of our property.
So, you peas in a pod, knock off the "typical drama push" (stole that phrase from the dogmatic LWHerald) and get your facts correct.
8 comments:
Nothing really new with this paper but the question that comes to mine is, does anyone read it? This paper has always been on the developer side of this city and is in bed with all of them. ugh, what a horrible vision. Sharp is his best friend and he learns all of his opinion from her and maxwell.
Hudson has revised its plans on 4 occasions. Michael said that it has cost them 1/2 million just for plans.
Hudson needs to spend 1/2 million to get started on the restoration of the historic Gulfstream. They promised 14 months to completion last November. Demolition by neglect is all they have accomplished in 6 months.
So far Steven Michael has presented a 50,000 sq ft plan to destroy the ambiance and public access to OUR beach that he knows won't fly, so that he can seem reasonable when he pares it down to 20,000 sq. ft.- a typical developer move.
Our administration, City Manager and Commissioners, are unable to lease our Casino at rates high enough to cover our expenses and have given away many of our public buildings for a dollar a year.
I wonder why they want to put us into 30 years of bonded debt and give away control of our greatest asset.
They keep screaming about the beach and the sand as a distraction method. Oh don't worry the sand will always be free, people are trying to scare you to think you won't be able to go into the ocean. Its all about framing the debate. Calling people crazy and calling people hysterical are ways of devaluing the message and getting others in the City, those that don't pay as close attention, to doubt what they are hearing.
We would be stupid, stupid, stupid, to give up control of our beach (which includes the parking, the pool, the casino, etc.). Once you give it up, you won't ever get it back. We have two or three pieces of land worth something in this city (the beach, the golf course and bryant park). HH is trying to get its hands on two out of three. Why? B/c they know undeveloped water front property is prime and worth a pretty penny. They want control of our prime assets and then they will develop and redevelop their properties (Gulf Stream among them, but they have bough up a ton of other properties as well), make their profits and go on their way, leaving LW ruined in their wake.
Of course all the realtors and developer minded folks are in favor of this, they make money off it. And, its actually not surprising that the elected leadership would be in favor of it, because, frankly, we do NEED the tax revenue.
I myself have three rental properties in this City so I'm all for a major turn around of the City so I can profit. But, I also live here and don't want to have the City ruined and have a big overdeveloped beach. What we have now is almost perfect. Let's get the top floor rented out and revisit improvements to the pool rest rooms in 5-10 years.
i was on the survey for the beach on your web (PBPOST)still cant figure out how to leave a comment.why do they keep bringing up the $6 million when its our money in the first place.also i have never heard of a business being in the black in the first two years.
Loretta sharp has b een running her mouth for years. I can't figure her out as I think she proba bly does have a brain. She didn't show it when she demonstrated against Dee mcNamara or when she put up an illegal banner on the Gulfstream Hotel. brain dead.
The fact that the Developer favored group is saying that the actual beach sand will not be sold does not distract me. The Casino Beach Complex and the actual beach SHOULD NOT be talked about as 2 different properties. If the Casino complex is over commercialized(and it is with HH plans) the beach will suffer. I quite honestly feel that if we were to actually seperate them as the Developer minded group wants us to do then the BEACH is way more important to be prominent, successful and enjoyed. That is what it us there for: mother nature, swimming, surfing, running, fishing... The complex would be nothing without the beach. The beach would be destroyed with all this concrete expansion. Not good for LW citizens, not good for Mother Nature and only good for the Profiteers and their blind supporters. WE CANNOT ever let this happen to our beautiful beach. EVER!
Loretta is not a successful business person or one who should be giving out advice. Sorry, but it is true. As for Mark....well he is obviously hunkered down with this hateful group. He probably has a hard time seeing the truth as he is 24/7 hanging with them and being fed the propaganda they spew. He is not leader, a follower and has proved himself. Too bad...so sad
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