CENTER CITY: A WASTE OF FUNDS

While running against Abramson for Mayor in 2006 I took a stance against the arena. While an unpopular one admittedly I still to this day believe it was the right stance. I compared the available Loeb and Bonham group reports and reluctantly agreed that if we were going forward regardless that the Water Co. site made the most economic sense. It provided better parking, easier access to 4th Street live and a general better feel than the LG&E site.

Forced to make a choice of location I backed Schnatter and Jones then as I do now.

Of course, this Mayor and cronies would not hear of anything but their chosen site by their chosen one the Mayor himself.

The argument was that a new arena would bring all these mega bucks to our Downtown and our entertainment district. Namely 4th Street Live. A vibrant downtown would help the entire community with new dollars etc blah blah blah. Cheer leading has never been a problem for Abramson. It probably is the one thing I think he does well.

The problem is cheerleaders do not win games and make no mistake about it the game of life is a game we all play to win.

With this in mind I have been against 4th Street live and the fallacies within. Race discrimination, bullying of people the district feels do not fit into their vision, and a company that generally does not fulfill its promises to the Cities it enters agreements with.

There is much information on Cordish Group available and much of it is very negative from other communities who bought into their hype. Fact is Cordish deals benefit one group exclusively in my opinion no matter the cost to the communities they enter.

The Cordish Group.

Here are some links for your review about The Cordish Group and their problems in other areas:

Niagara Falls Reporter

Kansas City Street Art: Cordish Empire out of control

The Ultimate Sports Road Trip » Cordish Group

Martin: Cordish Is Drunk on Power - News - The Pitchpage 1 - The Pitch

insidetoronto.com - CITY HALL: Council grants Woodbine project massive tax-break

Notice this quote about halfway down:

"The whole project is expected to create 9,400 full-time jobs. The Cordish group has agreed to hire preferentially from the high-needs neighbourhood in the immediate neighbourhood, facilitate apprenticeships with local unions, and use unionized labour."

Of course the Cordish Group has not been so accommodating to our local unions have they?

Cordish Dress Code Upsets Parks Board - NBC Action News KSHB-TV 41

I could spend hours on this but the bottom line is a simple one. These guys do not care about the communities they enter into they care about their bottom line. We continue subsidizing these guys with tons of free money that we essentially have to get somewhere. That money comes from us the taxpayers period.

Do we want to continually finance the well being of a select few like Cordish Group with no guarantees by them with their own money? I do not think so.

Based on the information available and the problems Cordish Group has in other areas that are similar to us, do we want them to be the representatives for us in a Downtown community?

Do not forget either that this Mayor has spent merger doing nothing for the old County residents so they get their money's worth. Backed as always by his pet monkeys Rick Blackwell, Vickie Welch, and Bob Henderson.

We have spent almost a billion dollars backing this Mayor and his cronies for their vision not ours. We have encountered constant delays due to financing and a credit crunch. We continue losing good paying jobs in our community for lesser paying ones. All blamed on the economy of course. With less money coming in lieu of wages and tax revenue overall how can we the people afford more of Abramson's only vision and his mantra "if you build it they will come. "

Louisville News and Politics: Abramson and his Field of Dreams......

These delays have one thing in common they are all financial delays based on a poor economy and lack of available money.

Now we want to give the Cordish group a $38 million giveaway for a guaranteed $12 million return. With no money and constant delays at other funded projects does this seem smart to any of us? Any ideas what we could do in our community with the other $26 million?

Check out this Point of view segment by Couoncilman Hal Heiner:

Pop Up Video

Let's stop this Mayor giving away our money like it is his own.

Call 3-1-1 and tell your council person to get over partisan politics and do what is right for all of us and keep The Cordish Group out of here.