According to two sources who attended the recent city council meeting where a new lease for the boat shows was adopted, "acting" City Attorney Steve Kling (you remember him no doubt...) admitted to not having read the lease. And the council was voting on it....and did vote on it. Hmm....must be on this messy desk somewhere.....it's only worth a few million dollars to the city...not to mention that many of Kling's clients in private practice are boating businesses--some of whom, it is quite possible, are paying vendors at the popular October shows....
Speaking of the leases, rather than negotiating them in the standard manner in which a building or mall owner might do, which is to say, you get everything down but the signature in closed-door sessions so that the potential lessees don't know the other's terms....and then the lessor decides which lease to take..., we did things differently...and by the way, how much money has Hartman and his family who are the owners of the shows donated to the mayor and other elected officials either through the boat show enterprise or their Watermark Cruises company--which also negotiates a big lease with the city?.....and by the way, what was the big hurry with ratifying this lease anyhow???
A Third Source Weighs In...(CP received this comment from loyal reader Bob McWilliams after posting the original article above.)
I saw the Council meeting on tv, and was slack jawed when Kling fumbled around and finally said that he hadn't read the lease.
First, he doens't know if he's a lawyer or not, and now, he doesn't bother to read a million dollar lease that's to be voted on by the Council.
When Alderman Paone asked Kling a question about the lease, only to have Kling admit that he hadn't read it, the issue should have been tabled until the next meeting.
When the competeting lessee for the shows said in the Capital that he hadn't been given due process, he was right.
The lease hasn't been reviewed by the Economic Matters Committee; heck, the City Attorney hadn't even read the damn thing.
It's no wonder the Moyer administration is in the middle of 5 or 6 major lawsuits. Their gross incompetency was on full display at the last Council Meeting.
Bob McWilliams
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Indeed. What Mr Kling demonstrated was the same kind of competency and organizational skills he demonstrated to me when he represented the defendants in a lawsuit when I was the plaintiff--and for which they finally settled and gave exactly what I had originally asked. But let us not forget that he likes horses and he has contributed money to Mayor Moyer. That's what gets you jobs in the Moyer Administration. I highly recommend him as a lawyer for anyone on the OPPOSITE side of a legal matter.
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5 Comments:
Just a point of clarification--the lease is not VALUED at $1 million dollars. $1 million was the difference between the two leases for their duration.
The City has left $1 million dollars on the table it seems without even having a legal opinion on the lease itself.
This is not just an embarrassment on our infamous City Attorney, Mr. Kling, it is yet another example of the fiscal irresponsibility, and poor management of this entire Administration.
Did we not learn anything from the Market House disaster? Apparently not, we somehow just accept that a member of the Administration (City Attorney) is not doing their job; putting the City and ultimately, the tax payers at further risk for another potential lawsuit and/or lost revenue.
Where and when does it end? When will someone stand up and demand that Department heads who are not performing either step up to the plate and do the job we are paying and entrusting them to do, or be asked to resign. Perhaps this is too logical!
For an Administration that is so opposed to a City Manager form of government, they just keep giving their opponents more and more ammunition … As I have said before, it is like the gift that just keeps giving.
Please investigate the award of this contract further. I'd be very curious to get more of the details.
Sure. In my spare time. After I've worked a 12 hour day and still get foreclosed upon. I appreciate the support, but honestly folks, this is perhaps the third or fourth request this week for me to investigate and write about something. When did I become everybody's personal and UNPAID investigative reporter? The big question is why does the local newspaper not do that? Or similarly, when will my readers start paying me? Man, the list for scandals and corruption to uncover in this local government could stretch from The Market House to The Police Station and back several times.....luckily for the Moyer Administration the fifth estate is asleep at the wheel....You are of course welcome to send donations and I will consider your request....
Scott When does it end? Not until next January. I am standing up all the time to this madness but my advice to you is the same--pay me, get people to advertise here and support my current advertisers.....I am doing what I can.....thanks and keep those cards coming...
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