” : Our mayor and council should be extremely skeptical of what your reporter describes as an “unconventional method” for developing a new Downtown park. The red flags are everywhere.
First, the cost: $23 million for a small portion of one city block, to be used as a park? Next: the additional description of this deal as being “complex in nature ... using separate financing mechanics to pay for the land and the park.” Then the kicker: “The deal relies on cash that the city does not currently have on hand.”
Plus, as your reporter notes, “The city has never financed a land purchase in this fashion.” Our City Council ignored similar warning signs when it approved the 101 Ash Street fiasco. That “deal” cost us $300 million-plus.Our mayor should put the brakes on this proposal until it’s thoroughly vetted by an independent expert with no financial stake in the project.
What could go wrong?