Lately, it’s almost as if they’re testing themselves to try to set some sort of record for most number of screw-ups they can pull off in the shortest amount of time.
Take for instance:
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To think it all fell apart over what amounts to $200,000 for the Rialto Theatre leasing space for a green room and some offices from Stiteler’s and Martin’s Downtown Tucson Development Company, who still own the building. Essentially, the Rialto succeeded in irritating a landlord.
And in yet another example of how this council’s decisions are needlessly wasting taxpayers’ money, there’s the matter of as much as $950,000 the city may owe the Downtown Tucson Development Company for work it has already done.
• Downtown hotel. Blame it on the heat and their wandering without a place to sleep but some at City Hall are still trying to figure out a way to finance construction of a new 525-room Sheraton hotel downtown.
As outlined in plans back in April, the city is looking at one of four ways to finance the construction. The most ideal scenario could be dead if lawmakers tamper with Rio Nuevo district’s ability to sell any more bonds. Option two is a private-public partnership but that would mean the city wouldn’t be able to reap any of the revenue generated from the hotel. The third idea involves a low bond rating and a higher interest. The fourth idea — ding, ding, ding, we have a winner! — has the city losing out on taxes and fees that would otherwise be used to make up the difference not covered by the bonds.
Downtown Tucson doesn’t have any conventions now, how does City Hall figure pricing itself out of the market will fix that?
• Mercado District at Menlo Park. Touted as the showpiece for development of Rio Nuevo’s westside, developers of the residential part of the project are delivering some beautiful, high-quality homes. And the view toward downtown from some of those homes is obliterated by a mound of dirt the city dug out from a football field-sized hole in the ground.
The hole was supposed to be the beginning of a parking garage but now city officials are pointing fingers and saying the dirt isn’t going anywhere for the foreseeable future.
Redevelopment of downtown Tucson has suffered numerous setbacks from poor decisions — or no decisions — by previous city leaders but in the past two years, this city, led by this council, is matching all of the incompetence that has preceded it over the last half century.
Digging a hole in the ground and then not doing anything with it is this city council’s iconic legacy for what it has accomplished downtown.
Comments
Kevin Archbold wrote on Jul 24, 2009 9:58 PM:
The execution of a “one-off” project/program like Rio Nuevo is as different from maintaining ongoing services as the proverbial chalk and cheese. The skills, knowledge, and processes required to run or oversee projects and programs, otherwise known as project/program management, are very different from operations management. Unfortunately, many organizations – corporate, non-profit, and governments alike, fail to recognize this until it’s too late and their projects are over budget and behind schedule.
City officials should not be expected to suddenly transform from operation managers to project/program managers – but they should be expected to recognize that there is a difference and get the education/advice/staff to be able to initiate and manage these projects effectively. "
madcat wrote on Jun 24, 2009 4:30 PM:
The worthless Walkup need to walkout..please.
How can Trasoff defend spending $820,000 for a poorly made film short with lots of stock footage we pais about $911 per second. She said on a local radio show she thought the money spent was a good thing.
Trasoff also said we got a lot for the $163,000,000 she help to spend.
Trasoff help us to float that $80,000,000 city bond bond that we paid at least $20,000,000 more in excess intrest and fees but hey who's counting.
The gang of morons thought floating this bond would stop the state from taking over REALL NO WAY HO. The state has said the kids will no longer be in charge.
The $163,000,000 we spent is gone.
The sad truth is these morons could have hired a real downtown consultant group...the Main Street Foundation they have 1000's of downtown projects that were done right and they would have charges us just pennies on the dollar compared to the sky high millions we paid out of state consultant that the morons all ignored anyway. "