According to the Times our city manager is upset that a government agency can’t get it’s numbers right. She evidently wrote this to our chief appraiser:
“A (valuation) variance of this nature is egregious and on the surface seems either irresponsible or incompetent,” Wilson wrote. “Per the City Council’s direction, I am filing a formal complaint with you, the CAD (district) Board, and State Comptroller and asking that immediate measures be taken to prevent this from happening again.”
What about?
What will the real cost of moving city hall be? Her chief financial officer told us it would be $33 million. The costs we know about at this point exceed $70 million.
The ball park was supposed to cost $50 million according to her crew. We are now over $64 million without counting the $17 million in extra financing costs because they were either “irresponsible or incompetent”.
Responsibility
And then there is the question of why she did not make allowances for the huge increase in valuation when developing the city budget. The fact that she had to cut the budget mid-year is a testament to her actions or failure to act.
We deserve better
Brutus
elpasospeak 
do as I say, not as I do
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Wilson couldn’t balance my General Ledger. Great financing she did on the ball park also. Of course, Hunt downloaded it to her. For 10 years we wont even pay the interest with the HOT. At 3 percent bonds we could have, but at 5 or 6 we can’t. 10 years later we still owe the full amount(70 mill) on the stadium that is 10 years old and need of repair. The 400k rent will have to go towards the interest.
Does anyone realize that if we had told Foster that we will build it on your land(where the Fountains is located) and given him the stadium that we would begetting at least 2.1 mill in property tax each year. That’s better than 400k rent and we wouldn’t even own it. Actually, we may never own it now. The bond holders will when we default.
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We’ve been calling out this sham for almost a year now. We also call out those city repos who knew the value would be contested. There are e-mails from them saying they knew the valuation was contested every year and that it was probably undervalued. We posted her e-mail. Yet, she and her friends voted to approve that over-inflated budget, and then clamored over all the mid-year headaches. We also ask, what would the SEC and rating agencies say about a municipality producing budgets that omit material facts like a huge adjustment due to a big change in assessed property values and other public infrastructure investments. Not an expert, but isn’t that bad to trick investors like that?
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You watch. Wilson is 0 fer 2 on other job offers. If Escobar doesn’t push for Susie as the “County Manager”(if it passes) she might try to push Wilson for it. Nothing surprises me anymore. However, if she does I think she just signed a death warrant for her political career. Ask Steve Ortega about supporting Wilson.
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There was a rush to get it all approved if you recall. The critical thinking that we pay a CM and CFO to do on our behalf was bypassed to get the deal done. Since then there has been a parade of, “Oh oh…we muffed that estimate.” Both of them have to go as a part of any effort to restore credibility to our city government. You don’t get a 2nd chance on snafus this big.
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This is one of your best posts ever. It’s right on the mark and a point which would never be made by other local media outlets that are too busy promoting opening day at the ballpark.
Wilson is like the corporate welfare recipients who complain about government spending and bitch about individuals on welfare, but are themselves the beneficiaries of government spending and corporate welfare. Sound familiar? It should because the ballpark is corporate welfare for two of the most prominent “Conservatives” in all of Texas. It’s a double standard.
Wilson’s letter once again proves what we learned during the ballpark approval process — she is doing the bidding for Foster & Friends. It sure looks as though she, like members of Congress, is laying the groundwork to profit nicely from her private sector relationships after she leaves her current position.
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