Eric and his psychedelic induced council are secretly searching for ways to use TIF money to fund his wet dream of a double rink hockey center without taking it to the public. Watch out, there is no accountability present here, they are all on a hallucinogenic journey following their own Jim Jones to the Kool-Aid stand.
Our people have placed a mole inside who has seen the light and no longer wants to throw themselves onto the sword of incompetence. At present we dare not reveal their identity for fear of being shunned from the rest of the group and thereby becoming ineffective.
Over the course of time the natural landscape of a town changes. People come and go, businesses also fall into that category; the new Park Inn Hotel fits that description nicely. Their doors are open to the public, people come and go, they mostly look and leave, some spend a few dollars but no serious money will ever be spent there on a regular basis, never enough to actually cash flow the place. There is nothing wrong with that; that place is a treasure to this city, it brings a lot of people to Mason City that otherwise wouldn’t come. Lets all hope it continues to keep it’s doors open.
I guess it’s now well known that the Quarry restaurant has bought the former Frank’s location. They are now in the process of minor remodeling, cutting a hole in the wall allowing free access from one building to another. The general contention this is being done to increase the capacity for the evening dining crowd. They are known for good food and this move will have an effect on some existing dining establishments.
The food business is highly competitive and the public is at the same time, highly perceptive as to every nuance that makes up their decision of where to spend their dollars. Without naming names I will predict that this expansion by the Quarry will ring the death knoll for a once popular supper club that is not in the downtown area. It should serve as a lesson to all food operators that you cannot make a living serving early bird dinners.
Change is the natural order of things; as life continually moves forward, not everything moves with it. People are born and people die, businesses open and close. Live your life now because once the rose has bloomed it forever dies…..
Peter Children
What I don’t understand, when they “restored” the Park Inn and the Frank Lloyd Wright building why did they change it so much you can’t recognize the original Park Inn?
Acually it looks almost EXACTLY like it did in 1910 when it was constucted…they did a GREAT job in my book!
The civic center should have been a dead idea long ago, but if it does go forward it has to be by public vote. If there was anyway an civic center good make money private investors would have been knocking on our door by now wanting to build they havent because everyone with any sense realize it is a money loser. The city should offer the land up to any investor who wants to build this thing and thats it as far as tax-payer money. I bet nobody comes forward.
The mayor is following the way of most politicians. He has now realized that he isn’t going to be able to deliver on the promise of jobs. So he’s got to accomplish something to run on next election.
What’s the politician’s ace in the hole? Spend money.
I do agree with you!!! I have never heard the TIF word being thrown around so much as in the past 2 years. That is his answer to everything. bookmeyer wants something people can look at when he is out of office. Lets see, Jolas the dead end on North Federal, Kew the Mall, Miller Music Man Square bookmeyer will not be remembered by Wright Hotel that was the Chamber (sorry bookmeyer) he wants the civic center so he can say when I was in office we got this done. Well, lets see how it is working out for Kew, Miller and Jolas. The Mall is a bust, the Music Man Square is on shaky ground and we all know whats happening on the North end of town.
the North end of town
I’m telling you people that bookmeyer does not want the civic center to come to a public vote but as yet he is losing the battle!! We the citizens need to keep letting our council people know that a vote is a must! If the majority of the tax payers want it then that is that. We then have no one to blame but ourselves if it fails, or pat ourselves on the back if it succeed. We have 3 council persons that will push for a public vote because they are thinking re-election. It will look good for their campaign speeches. bookmeyer doesn’t care about what sounds good on his campaign trail he is so into self he thinks he can win on big ego and bulliness!!!
Park Inn is a nice amenity for Mason City, no doubt. Yet, what this town really needs is jobs. I’m not talking about low-paying retail and food service jobs. We need jobs that can go a long way towards supporting a family. I think once jobs like these are established, a solid foundation is formed that helps other businesses flourish.
Of course you are correct. It should be aware by now that the fella hired to attract manufacturing jobs is inefficent. Bookmeyer is the captian of this ship and he is adrift with no land in sight.
Plain oldfashioned truthiness here. I will forward this to my friends and ex-mason city residents to read. Try to get you some more feedback. Don’t let your three critics bother you, the rest of us read all your articals everyday.
The events center SHOULD go to the public for a vote.I don’t think its the right time or design.I didn’t think pouring money into the library was the thing to do either but the majority of the 16%,if I remember correctly , of the registered voters thought it was a good idea.
Peter-great article. I disagree with you over the Park Inn but tha’s OK. My feeling is it will continuew to be a money pitt and will draw money away from needed things like street repair and maintenanace or infastructure to attract more jobs to the city which should be a concern of everyone. Does anyone else wonder why all the small towns around like Clear Lake, Lake Mills, Osage, Charles City,Hampton and Garner can attract new business and Mason City can not. Why is that?? What or who is the problem?? What can we do to change it. Putting in a hockey rink and a old hotel isn’t the answer. Thew other towns don’t have them.
We get WAY more tourism than those places and that “old hotel” brought a TON of people to this town in the last few months not to mention how well it is doing financially! It is a huge hit, people are coming to Mason City just for that building!
Peter, for once a great column. I absolutely LOVE this. You can see and you have proven again how the mayor wants to tif us into the next mileneeum. Thank god you are here to show us the truth, keep up the great work.