TKC BREAING NEWS!!! KANSAS CITY DOWNTOWN CONVENTION HOTEL GROUNDBREAKING PUSHED BACK AGAIN AMID ACCELERATED ORDNANCE TO THWART CITIZEN INITIATIVE PETITION AND VOTE!!!

Here's the latest from the local hotel debacle . . .

KANSAS CITY TAX FIGHTERS REPORT THAT FINANCING FOR THE HOTEL IS STILL SKETCHY AS CITY HALL REMAINS THE LARGEST INVESTOR DISCLOSED TO THE PUBLIC AT THIS POINT!!!

Remember that we were promised a Spring groundbreaking, then June . . . Update: Now we're looking at an October groundbreaking. Maybe.

Check the perspective . . .

Ordinance 170394... Let's Vote on the Hotel!

In our quest to get the voting taxpayers a say how $167,000,000 of taxpayer funds will be spent, we continue to try and get the downtown convention hotel on the ballot.

Ordinance #170394 the developers asked the council committee to approve today is nothing more than an attempt to stop the referendum petition we have circulated. Next week the election board will certify the proper number of signatures to get this Hotel on the ballot. We needed 3417 legitimate signatures and by tomorrow we will have turned in over 10,000 signatures on petitions asking for a vote on this project. That’s 10,000 registered voters the council should be listening to.

By placing “an accelerated effective date" on the ordinance, the developers will eliminate anyone from challenging it like CFRG has in the past. We asked the council to not grant this ordinance as written with the accelerated clause but were denied. This is a misuse of the Charter's intention. Developers say because they have added a walkway which is in the public’s best interest, the project is now a public project and the ordinance can carry the “accelerated effective date”. We tried to explain the the walkway was in the original MOU and has been part of the plan from the beginning. They also say they are adding land but the land is also in the original MOU, Exhibit B. The “accelerated effective date” should not be applicable for this ordinance.

Today council members Taylor, Shields, Lucas and Barnes once again heard testimony from the Downtown Convention Developer Mike Burke and his entourage. They heard for the third or fourth time that the developers have the financing in place (if you remember they heard the same thing several times from early on in this process and on December 22, 2016 when Troy Schulte stood up at a council joint session and stated he had seen the financing sheet (term sheet) and everything was in order and the financing was in place. This stopped the council from investigating the hotel further at that time. Nobody could get the term sheet?? Still haven’t today??

Here it is almost 6 months later and they now again the developer says they have the financing or will have by September or October. What happened to the financing they had in place in December or earlier today? Did it go away?

Supposedly here are the facts we heard today: I would take them with a grain of salt.

- JE Dunn gave Burke a “firm price” two weeks ago for the project. This has been one of the key pieces missing for the last two years. It is funny that they have had the price for two weeks and not told anyone? No one on the council seemed to think that was suspicious. I thought it was also suspicious that nobody asked what the price was. This is a taxpayer funded project, we should know what they price is. Remember, this is another NO BID DEAL using your money.

-First (Developer Mike) Burke said they would have the financing in place soon. They had just said they had the financing in place. Roxsen Koch, Burke’s attorney stated all the financing would come at the same time? I thought they had all the financing now?? This whole thing turned into a circus. Now it appears they will have the financing in September or October (I got confused) and break ground. I wonder if the Bond Company is watching this?

City Hall is pledging $167,000,000 of taxpayers money to a company which does not have a balance sheet. They have not produced one cent in assets. If this thing goes South, the City will have another Power and Light District on it’s hands. To allow this type of NO BID CRONY CAPITALISM to go on is unconscionable. It could all be stopped tomorrow if the council would say “present your term sheet before we do anything additional on this project.”

Citizens for Responsible Government
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