LYNDON LANES CLOSING: ANOTHER LOCAL BUSINESS GOES BUST

It is starting to become a habit. Metro giving away money to Downtown and out of State developers at the expense of small local owned businesses outside of the Downtown area or in favor of paying non local companies to compete against our locals. This story is one more example of failed leadership.

According to an open letter from the owners of Lyndon Lanes Bowling alley they are going to close. I received an email from a reader alerting me to this and found an article here Louisville Mojo: Lyndon Lanes Closing, Government and Banks Blamed confirming it.

According to the McCarty family, who owns Lyndon Lanes, several factors were involved but the two that stood out to me were the smoking ban and the unwillingness of banks to loan money to local small business.

While many would disagree with me this is just one more example of just what is wrong with the decision makers in this City.

Many of us fought against a smoking ban because based on evidence business would suffer. When the business loses money we lose jobs, tax revenues, and we all suffer period. This is not the first business that is falling to the wayside partially because of this one issue.

Charities have fallen to the wayside as well. Many charities that were self funded by bingos, etc had to get out of the business of providing for themselves for a variety of reasons with a smoking ban being one of the leading factors. And of course they then have to beg for money from the Metro Council to help fund them when they were funding themselves.

And no this is not just local but Kentucky as well who have made asinine rules that force charities out as well in hopes of forcing slots on us all.

Banks who have received our bailout money are now refusing to make loans to help small business opting instead to hoard the money to raise their stock price and give themselves millions in bonuses.

All at the expense of our local business and all on our tax dollars.

The Cordish group, a Baltimore Md company, was given millions to put a bowling alley at 4th Street live and develop a 4th Street entertainment business, yet when O'Malley's Corner one of the largest local owned entertainment complex needed help they were denied.

We gave Cordish $950,000 to change their bowling alley with a sports bar into a sports bar with a bowling alley. Yep you read that right we all said....huh? When asked to tell us how they spent the money our leaders in David Tandy and select others signed a confidentiality agreement so we could not know.

And now a local business in Lyndon Lanes needs $140,000 and is denied after this Cordish fiasco?

Another local business gone.

These are just a couple of examples of just what is wrong with our leadership. We continue to fund out of State or special areas of our City with ALL of our tax dollars and refuse to share the wealth or help those who have helped us.

Lyndon Lanes has been a part of our community for 50 years. Locally owned, local jobs, local tax revenue, and local spending. Is this not important to the local community?

So I ask now where do the those who want to be Mayor stand on this issue?

How does each Mayor candidate feel about this and what do they plan to do to avoid it happening now or to someone else in the future.

Hal Heiner, Greg Fisher, Jim King, David Tandy, Chris Thieneman, Jonathan Robertson, and Tyler Allen care to respond?

Here is your chance candidates. Let us know your thoughts.