These are busy times lots of things going on. I haven't gotten around to Mrs.HT's Christmas present shopping, we are getting set for big Christmas extravaganza at the HT compound for kids and grandkids and I wanted to start the poll today it will be up tomorrow for the HT Dick Jones Award.
I was given some information yesterday that I thought was important enough that it should get immediate attention. A lot of it is just common sense thoughts that many of us have already figured and concluded on the Hutt lawsuit against the City of Jeffersonville Redevelopment on the White Reach hotel and retail project.
What is important is not so much the content but the person that gave me the information and his thoughts. I practically begged him to let me use his name in the post, but he politely declined, citing friends, relatives involved on both sides of the issue and not wanting to jeopardize any friendships or relationships. In the interview I will refer to him as Mr.X. I will say without question he is one of the most respected members of our community, widely known, successful and as well liked as anyone I know. He has no political agenda but is as well versed in legal. political and business matters in Jeffersonville (present and past) and as informed and knowledgeable as anyone I know.
The Lawsuit
Contrary to what I believed, Mr. X actually thought Hutt's lawsuit had at least a 50/50 chance of being won by Hutt and Wilder. Stating that while he hasn't seen all the legal documentation or heard the legal arguments he thinks Les Merkley (City attorney) may have made the mistake of not crossing all his T's and dotting all his I's in the proposed purchase of the questioned property. He said Les Merkley is a fine attorney and a honest,good man and any attorney could have made the same mistake. These kind of deals usually aren't held to much scrutiny especially the appraisals that are cited as required in the lawsuit. He said normally no one cares about the appraisal value other than the buyer and seller, and if the buyer and the seller are in agreement it's usually a non issue. The circumstances of a private citizen filing suit in these type of matters is practically unheard of and was totally unexpected....
My interviewee Mr. X, thought the Redevelopment Boards's action of not renewing the deadline for White-Reach was very telling, he had two scenario's 1.) Merkeley came to the conclusion that Hutt's lawsuit had a strong legal position and conceded and advised the board so. 2.) White Reach was getting cold feet, they had already been delayed once while City council "diddled around" with the zoning, and with no immediate end in sight they just moved on.
I asked Mr. X since the White Reach project was apparently dead would Hutt and Wilder continue on with the lawsuit. He thought they would mainly because this lawsuit was basically a political ploy, whose main and probably sole intent was to make the current administration look bad. The continued publicity aimed at the Moore administration by going forward with the suit is just a bonus political plum. He continued "It's a farce" to think this is a "class action" suit to save the taxpayers money "it's all political'' with a mayoral election year coming up next year to stop an attractive project by the incumbent mayor could be a good move by the opposition. He went on to say "I wouldn't call it a shrewd or smart move" because in essence the Hutt lawsuit has hurt the community ... by delaying tax revenue on the property, denying local businesses additional revenue from the added influx of visitors a nice hotel would bring in and slowing the momentum of growth shown recently in the downtown sector. Not to mention the collateral damage this has done to the City going forward on attracting potential businesses and retail establishments and projects.
Mr. X went on to say that Hutt and Wilder are trying to paint this White Reach project as some kind of underhanded , questionable deal by the redevelopment dept. with a financially shaky( WR) firm where statutes were broken, and regulations not followed, which he stated is simply "not true". This was a legitimate, sound project with a well respected firm (White Reach) who has been in business for over 25 years and have done successful projects in the past in Jeffersonville and So. Indiana. If there were mistakes made they were honest oversights by Mr. Merkley nothing more who is "as honest as the day is long." there never was any "intentional" move to not follow statutes pertaining to this sale of this property.
Mr. X thinks the lawsuit could go either way but with the proposed project now apparently dead the ruling would be a moot point. Municipalities are given a wide range of leeway on these type deals in order for growth within communities. If the city would lose the suit it would be no big deal really because the project is dead already, but it would give the city and the redevelopment dept.additional guidelines moving forward for future projects.The alleged required appraisals would be no big hurdle in the future, the only real impact this law suit will have is increased skepticism by development firms and retail businesses in going forward with the City of Jeffersonville. This lawsuit puts up a roadblock and message for companies to look elsewhere for cooperation.....
End Part I
***Time restraints won't allow the finish of this interview...Stay tuned for Part II in the next couple of days...Mr. X has some interesting remarks on White Reach, local politics, and business and the aftermath of this lawsuit....
Must say I was disappointed by the recent arrest of Clark Co. Commissioner Rick Stephenson for DUI. I voted for Rick and have been impressed with his openness, candor, and transparency in his first couple of years in office and his performance as Commissioner , and he let me down. Though disappointed in Rick's bad decision to apparently drink and drive, I applaud his honesty and candor for owning up to and taking full responsibility for his actions. He stepped forward and publicly admitted without excuses his bad lapse of judgement and promised to accept the legal consequences that are forthcoming..
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