RAMSEY - Are you Experienced? Have you ever been Experienced? Darren has.

Certainly all this stuff detailed below must have been dlsclosed to City officials, with documentation on file, since downside disclosure should never be withheld and omitting material facts can have a misleading effect, even if the non-disclosure is innocent error and not willful deceit.

Yet, all I have seen in the original inducment papers disclosed by the City per a public data disclosure request, is a self-touting brochure provided Kurt Ulrich by Landform before the City had even closed purchase of the distressed mess from out of the bank's foreclosure effort.

Yet Darren would not sandbag, dissemble, hoodwink, BS, or tap dance around the full truth, we know that, so his downside disclosure must have somehow gotten lost by city officials or withheld from me for other unknown reasons.


However, now since I know of no other public disclosure - to the public of Ramsey, here 'tis:

Start, Wikipedia on Watertown MN, Carver County, with the above charming and bucolic view from Wiki images, here (you can see, they have a real town center, with nothing plastic-fantastic, transit-oriented-development TOD, made-by-Met-Council from an overpriced corn field, for Watertown's "historic area" -- Real Honest Stuff, evolved over time, instead).

And: They in Watertown also have something to face, called, "Tuscany Village." And: Darren is experienced.

Specifically, Darren is quite recently quite experienced; with shared-wall real estate projects that go SPLAT! midway to a finishing, hard-to-miss, big-time SPLAT.

And, surely, he has told all that to each Ramsey council member, including the three that voted against handing out millions of city money to Flaherty & Collins as if Ramsey were a commercial bank, (but where no commercial bank would even for a moment contemplate an eight million dollar second lien behind a first priority lien of twenty-six million).

Banks are experienced. Especially, a commercial bank would not touch such a thing, the market being what it is with the trend the bankers' friend - so don't buck the trend; and especially so, with no mention yet of personal guarantees to the city against loss, given by Mr. Flaherty and Mr. Collins, jointly and severally, nor any mention so far of whether either or both of them would have enough collateral to actually secure any such guarantee, collateral such as unencumbered cash flows from all their other realty adventures nationwide which could be pledged to Ramsey in good faith and without trickery or obfuscating delay or the interposing of judgment-proof hollow shell entities. Ponying up real money security for a prudent town not wanting improper risk of loss or loss or even embarrassment. That's a norm that a prudent bank would want, without even stooping to look at a naked second lien posture (i.e., unsecured beyond second place in line against the property adventure, itself). A pension fund, like a prudent bank shepherding other peoples' money, would expect the same - even the wildest hedge fund imaginable, these days, would be prudent about risk.

Two dated item pages, Watertown town council minutes, Nov. and Dec., 2009 (here and here, if you care to read more than is relevant). Click each image to enlarge to read of "Darren Lazan," "Landform," and project promoters and other hangers-on with the status of tapped out turkeys on a half-finished very, very distressed deal. Do read each, please. (Or later wish you had.)

Here - A Dec. 2010 City of Watertown survey - of the size of the Tuscany Gardens SPLAT. This quite informative Strib comment thread, still online, (although I could not find online the reporting to which it attaches).

These screenshot samples of current Tuscany Village pricing, a multi-selection screenshot, and detailed review of one of these choice properties.

NEXT: Tuscany Village, Flickr photo sharing here and here; with the uncanny resemblance to what Darren's seen of Town Center making it impossible for him to not connect the two and realize the situation of the one should be reavealed to the other, especially prior to any plunge into a land deal in these times, where experience of a failure directly might, when communicated to Ramsey officials, have an effect upon decision-making in Ramsey. One of the Flickr comments uses the term "zombie subdivision." Darren's experienced, with problematic zombie subdivision, if you like that term.


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I am certain that Darren, knowing his good faith duties, being experienced, and being the responsible person he is and not evasive or deceitful, has to have revealed all Tuscany Village detail to the city and what he'd learned from it; as certain as I am that three on council, Dave J., Randy and Jason will be pinning that truth down for the others - who doubtlessly are too short of time to check anything out, about anything. Elvig should be interested to join those three, being the one on council most aware of how when a real property related venture hits the shoals, insiders have ways of managing to direct as much of what's left of things to themselves as the law permits, with others left holding the bag.

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How better to close, then with an image from one who apparently knows the full chapter and verse text of the Republicans' Conservative Manifesto, and who does not merely give lip service to its Book of Proverbs, but who's taken the full Koolaid communion:

Finally, for those not having the time nor will to check anything out, about anything, and with a major skill set being limited to spending city wealth as if it is going out of style, there is always at some point an affirmative answer possible, perhaps probable, to: The Question.

___________UPDATE__________
While previously getting a "404 page not available" error on the Strib item the comments attached to; now on a retry I got pages onscreen of the multipage item, e.g., here, and here.

The Strib reporting does not mention any tie of business or friendship between Lazan and the Lakeland effort; nor is it clear from Watertown records when Lazan involved himself into the SPLAT, or under what circumstances such as on behalf of what person or entity, when, and whether circumstances changed much as things went from bad to worse.

However, the full experience of the Lakeland financing of the Tuscany Village thing, and the Flaherty & Collins quitting pattern in North Carolina when projects went sour and they felt it in their interest to abandon things where others were left to absorb suffering, are things the Ramsey Council should explore in minute detail; with disclosure by persons given on paper, so later a paper trail exists should there be questions.

The two Watertown Council Minutes pages indicate Lazan/Landform represented Lakeland.

Strib laid out a story of total sleaze regarding Lakeland. Lay down with dogs, get fleas.

There is explaining to be done, and I have no official say in what the questions and reverberations at the council table will be. I certainly believe that consultants should be as pure as Ceasar's wife; and if not, they should be shown the way out of town.

_____________FURTHER UPDATE______________
I believe this is the same Lakeland that Lazan-Landform was assisting - with Lakeland accused by a bank of being a poorly run imprudent fraudster. A quality client, for Darren and Mike?

That page links to the Bank's complaint; here.

It is unclear to me what experienced role Landform played in things for Lakeland, when first involved, involvement if any before the SPLAT, how much cash flow to Landform, and in return for what services exactly? Not that they'd tell me. The point is, they should already have told it all to City officials, as a fiduciary downside disclosure duty. "We represented a scuzbag, to the extent that, ..." is relevant to guaging how Ramsey is being represented, as is the question of whether Landform is taking Flaherty & Collins money, while acting, ostensibly, as Ramsey's fiduciary advisor and agent, owing Ramsey, as principal, the highest degree of undivided loyalty. With Flaherty-Collins own past North Carolina history, and Landform bringing them to the doorstep of our town, the question of whose cat is dragging in this deal IS relevant.

And that bank complaint, its 72 page description of alleged imprudence and fraud, is helpful to those inexperienced, but having willingly plunged into the cold deep end of the pool. I hope the gang of four studies it in its entirety. History has lessons. Fiduciary responsibilities, of those elected as well as hired, should not ever be given short shrift. That's wrong when it happens.

Here are the opening two complaint pages - giving a flavor of allegations:

Here is an early complaint page beginning details alleging "an aggressive growth agenda based on unproven means." Perhaps that characterization of doing things sounds familiar, (e.g, Flaherty-Collins had an ill-advised aggressive growth agenda in North Carolina, while massive shared-wall rental housing growth in Ramsey is unproven, yet, some would risk taxpayer fiscal means):

This question is relevant: What did Landform know and do, and when did they know and do it; i.e., when did Landform first involve itself as agent of those so characterized, and what planning role might it have had along the way?

MOREOVER I think these links relate to the same Lakeland adventuring: here, here, here, here, and the "Lakeland" showing up repeatedly, for example, here. Of those documents, this one in opening appendix pages references existence of a Lakeland receiver, and it seems Kurt Ulrich might want Tom Bray to review files and make due diligence contacts with that receiver, regarding Lazan-Landform involvement, if any, in untoward dealings. Less than that would breach city official due diligence expectations, at least my expectations that way. Yours too? Go figure. Bray can report back his findings and view of how the city should vacinate itself with cautions. The city should, with council demanding it, instruct Bray to take every step in paperwork drafting and review; to protect the financial integrity of the city in the event these hell-bent-to-do-it gang of four members hang together and push into hitherto never explored City of Ramsey realty speculation and adventuring where they could, since SPLATS do happen, end up being a shared-wall high-density landlord of last resort.

It is an ugly thought, but without a change in course it is not an unlikely outcome.

I'd say more likely than not this rental housing experiment in Ramsey WILL go splat, but nobody has a faultless crystal ball, certainly not Mr. Flaherty or Mr. Collins; their track record proves their crystal ball is unduly defective. Overoptimistic and defective, but with others left holding the bag.