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Press Editorial Raises Interesting Questions

GaryP

By GaryP,
in Grand Rapids

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GaryP Burg

GaryP

Posted
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http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ss...3090.xml&coll=6

Voluntarily zipping one's lip, however, is a far different thing than legally pledging to do so. The first says, "I won't comment." The second says, "I can't." The public good, not a developer's interests, must be first priority for government leaders. If taxpayer interest were compromised by this development, would the confidentiality agreement allow Mr. Heartwell and company to publicly object? Does the compact reveal a real or perceived bias against others who may want to bid for the city-owned land?

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tringr Whistle-Stop

tringr

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I simply do NOT see how they could be compromised. The public sale of the public land will be Public. Period.

Any other bidders will have to demonstrate how their proposed development will be more beneficial for the city. I'm sure the developers wanted to know if their plans would meet any govt. resistance before buying the private property. If somebody wants to paint your streets with gold, but wants to know the dimensions first, then tell them.. Before bringing the gold paint to town, they just want to know if there are any sinkholes that would waste money or prohibit the project. That's the quickest analogy I can give you.

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blueradon Hamlet

blueradon

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I noticed a couple of quotes from the woodtv8 article online that caught my eye:

"Langlois says its his understanding the developers have secured enough property to make this happen. He told 24 Hour News 8 the uniqueness of this project will put Grand Rapids on the international map. It will also help people view the city in a new way.

Langlois went onto tell us that the city's identity could go from the 'Furniture City' to something else."

This is getting more interesting by the day

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Prankster Burg

Prankster

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I noticed a couple of quotes from the woodtv8 article online that caught my eye:

"Langlois says its his understanding the developers have secured enough property to make this happen. He told 24 Hour News 8 the uniqueness of this project will put Grand Rapids on the international map. It will also help people view the city in a new way.

Langlois went onto tell us that the city's identity could go from the 'Furniture City' to something else."

This is getting more interesting by the day

Oh great, there goes my blood pressure again!!! Thanks a lot!!! :thumbsup:

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mgreven Hamlet

mgreven

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Oh great, there goes my blood pressure again!!! Thanks a lot!!! :thumbsup:

I know, now I'm all excited again...this announcement can't come quick enough! If it's enough to get London to go, it's gotta be big! Looks like he and Langlois might turn out to make some good money off this deal, eh?

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snoogit Town

snoogit

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I know, now I'm all excited again...this announcement can't come quick enough! If it's enough to get London to go, it's gotta be big! Looks like he and Langlois might turn out to make some good money off this deal, eh?

BTW, does anyone find it strange that FOX and WOOD are covering this, but I've never seen 13 do anything with this story? Thanks WOOD for digging around for us! =)

Maybe 13 wants to keep the credibility up a bit and not speculate on it? Or, 13 has something to gain by staying mum :ph34r:

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mgreven Hamlet

mgreven

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Maybe 13 wants to keep the credibility up a bit and not speculate on it? Or, 13 has something to gain by staying mum :ph34r:

I just moved my media comments to the media thread, but you beat me to it and responded before I moved it... :)

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Phizzy Hamlet

Phizzy

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Maybe 13 wants to keep the credibility up a bit and not speculate on it? Or, 13 has something to gain by staying mum :ph34r:

I've heard blurbs about Project X on Channel 13 news, so they aren't keeping quiet about it. They just don't have as much to report on as Channel 8 news, I think.

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Rizzo City

Rizzo

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WZZM 13 is my station, I love my station. What would really kick the ass on Wood TV is if the developer went public with WZZM 13 as the only media outlet for reporting it...

I give props to Snoog for a clever pun on Nitro... :rofl:

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Rizzo City

Rizzo

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No, Brad has cool curly hair that kind of smooths out and it kind of goes with his whole boyish charm look. Very cool, I would like to envision myself as a Brad. We both have B names, so cool.

On topic. The question failed to be asked is whether Mayor was solicited while in office. On the job? If not, I don't care where he goes, what he does, who he talks with. He could just land himself at one of the many establishments run by London and I really wounldn't care. Mayor Heartwell is his own man, correct? But if hes on the pay roll, then there's another story. But, seriously, Mayor Heartwell is just a figure head for Curt Kimball. I love Mayor Heartwell.

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tringr Whistle-Stop

tringr

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This is at least the third time I am explaining the lack of any chance of culpability on the Mayor's part.

This link explains the structure of the GR city govt. This is basically a "weak" mayor type of govt.

http://www.ci.grand-rapids.mi.us/index.pl?page_id=350

quote from description "In addition to attending these formal meetings, City Commissioners spend many hours as members of various other boards and committees, and meeting with both individual citizens and neighborhood groups." The same would go for the mayor, I'm sure. Not all of these informal meetings are documented or transcribed is my guess.

The Mayor's job is to increase the health and vitality of the city. His job would certainly include entertaing discussions on how this might happen. He may have even provided publicly available information about the direction of the city and other facts that would be helpful for developers. He simply signed an agreement to not speak about it. He is there to serve the city's best interest. The public land will be sold according to Hoyle. The developers just know that their project will win out; unless somebody else can produce 10,001 jobs and invest $1,000,000,001. So far, that is all he has done, I bet. The developers don't need govt. involvement to purchase private land. :aargh:

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