NIT Opinion –
The boy who cried wolf for over a year is back at it, again announcing a hotel development for downtown Mason City, to be set on the west side of City Hall.
The first time Phillip Chodur made the announcement was over a year ago. Apparently, for about 400 days or so, Mr. Chodur of San Diego has begged and pleaded with hotel tycoons to build in downtown Mason City, and he finally found a willing partner in Marriott.
Perhaps this time, the people of Mason city will believe him; perhaps it is all true. Other local media are announcing the development as a sure-thing – just as they did last year. Many say the overblown-lie propagated out of City Hall last fall was nothing more than an attempt to influence council and mayoral elections that were causing the powers-that-be to lose sleep at night. Ground was to be broken last spring on the project – then, poof, it never happened, kind of like Eric Bookmeyer turning down a free drink, or Jean Marinos having perfect attendance at council meetings.
So here we are today, NIT getting emails from readers with photographs of the Globe Gazette front page, bloviating about a pie-in-the-sky hotel development, just like last year. Will it happen? Your guess is as good as anyone’s. It will be interesting to watch the buffoonery in this town – which seems to have spread to San Diego like the Ebola virus – play out over the next few weeks.
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March 16, 2014: No downtown Hilton for Mason City in 2014; city now pursuing bigger development, including performing arts center
March 14, 2014: Shame on City Hall, shame on local media for Hilton hotel charade
This is so ridiculous, but not funny! We need another hotel like we need another Bookmeyer! And, if it did fly– the location is horrible. The Praise Community Church bought the Elks for their church- so now they will have no parking. Bookmeyer says it will complement the shops etc. What shops? The shops are in St. Ansgar, Osage, Hampton, etc. All the neat shops are gone. It will probably end up like the mall- an empty behemoth. Another play by our leadership.. doing things cuz they can
@Marybeth-I completely agree with your comment and sure wish I had said that.
Five star comment. MBG is one of the few truth-tellers left out there.
The ridiculous part of having power over the bully pulpit: you can announce any pet project you want, and the public and media will eat it up, hanging on your every word. It’s friggin ridiculous, and there should be a provision in the Constitution which forbids any government from using tax monies for private, special interest projects. Government money shall be used for generic, common goods: roads, schools, drinking water, sidewalks etc. Revolution.
@Philly-Damnit, I have to agree with you again. Some times when you sober up you make sense.
There is already going to be a new hotel in town where the Clarion is currently. I just don’t see the demand for opening another hotel and using tax payers money to help fund the project.
And that really is the question. We have all noticed the higher taxes now. How much more to fund these projects? What handouts will be required to grease the wheels so Marriott goes through with this? The rumor published in the Globe is nothing more than that until the council sees this project on an agenda or something is brought by staff for them to take action on. Remember, just because John Skipper types it, does not make it so. This deal will take serious help from the beleaguered Mason City taxpayers to get done. This could be a major campaign issue next year. Where does Kuhn, Lee and Marinos stand on this? (That’s an easy one, except, perhaps for John Lee) Do you want to foot the bill so the fat cats in this town can dig a new hole? Do you want to subsidize Marriott?
As far as I am concerned, we (taxpayers) have been screwed so much we are bleeding. What with Southbridge (Just paid off a couple of years ago) Northbridge (still being paid for) and all the infastructure out west we just can’t afford more. Throw them out and get someone in there that will serve all the people instead of just the elite.
You think they did a study and the results showed that this area was a hotbed for business? Is that what you think?
After all is said and done; more will be said than done.
I’ll believe it when I see it. Really, more retail space downtown when there are already empty store fronts? What a pipe dream. I can’t believe the city fathers are buying in to this farce.
@Grizz-Great comment.
Talk about a wet dream. The Globe devotes a front page story to this bull shit. Remember the four page story on the Globe did on the horse-shit Wendell Corey development deal? That clown wanted taxpayer backed money for his wild wet-dream. He ended up in bankrupt court after his deal fell through. Time to replace the entire city leadership team with people whose heads are not buried inside their own assholes.
It sound like the good old boy network is at it again. It will be interesting to see how long it takes for this deal to fall through. If a politician talks, his lips are moving and he is probably lying.
I’m just not sure this will help this town. Are we looking at another empty building down the road, and what is it going to cost the tax payers.