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Thursday, April 12, 2012

Ramsey, Flaherty and Collins, and an actual non-municipal bank. The partnership of those in the gamble - financiers, speculators - shoveling w/o toy plastic hardhats. Readers aware of any County or Ramsey or Landform-COR YouTube or other video found on the web are asked to send an email or leave a link as a comment.

ABC Newspapers photo, here, and in report, here.

Sakry reports for ABC Newspapers. Go there for the reporting of absolutely necessary pomp and pagentry. Photo included. As above. Showing three of the gang of four perps on Council who caused it to happen (mayor, McGlone, Wise). Also, keen for a photo-op, Mr. Look.

The shovel head on the far right of the photo, per the caption, apparently is attached to Dave Elvig, the fourth Council perp.

Flaherty is the guy next to Look, furthest left on the photo, for those not knowing what he looks like.

Here, Strib carries a Tribune Media Services feed titled, "America is turning into a giant casino." It is about, of all things, people gambling with their own money.

I hope Mr. Flaherty and Mr. Collins and Mr. Cronk have a chance to read that item and consider the thought.

From concluding paragraphs in the Strib item - about "organized gambling"

Organized gambling is OK if you know what you're doing. Some people like the thrill, even when they know the odds are stacked against them.

But get-rich-quick schemes prey upon people who are particularly vulnerable -- who assume they can't make it big any other way, who often find it hardest to assess the odds, [...]

Hat tip to Jeff Wise, the only one pictured having the good sense to not wear a suit when going to Town Center to shovel dirt. Hat tip to the ABC staff, for correctly identifying Ryan Cronk's key affiliation in the photo caption.


I feel good. Knowing my role, bankrolling "a 24-hour fitness center and yoga/pilates studio, a heated salt water pool and sun deck, tanning facility, club room with billiards and gaming area, dedicated parking in the newly expanded Ramsey parking ramp, tile and hardwood floors, Roman soaking tubs, granite counter tops and full size washer and dryers in each unit." It makes me wanna - wanna sing ---- 
Whoa-oa-oa! I feel good, I knew that I would, now
I feel good, I knew that I would, now
So good, so good, they got me

Whoa! I feel nice, like sugar and spice
I feel nice, like sugar and spice
So nice, so nice, they got me

{ play that sax ... uh, what's a yoga/pliates studio?}

Or is that David Flaherty singing, "... I got you" and not Ben singing "... they got me"? Ben not feeling so good? David Flaherty feeling good instead? Man of the hour. Man of the day. Feeling the love of "I got you."

_______________UPDATE____________
More of the same, more Flaherty feel-good -- this time with toy plastic hardhats.

“We’ve been talking about a downtown area in Orland Park for more than 20 years,” Orland Park Mayor Dan McLaughlin said March 21. “I’ve never seen a plan change so many times, but over a long period of time that’s going to happen. But I have every confidence it’s going to be a huge success for Orland Park.”

The project, however, featured plenty of controversy, with the village loaning the builders $62 million and longtime businesses in the former Orland Plaza having to vacate to make room for the new complex.

Despite the protests, McLaughlin said it will offer young professionals a place to live and is within walking distance of shops, restaurants, bike and walking trails and the train station.

Flaherty & Collins CEO David Flaherty said it should prove to be what the community needed in the long run.


____________FURTHER UPDATE____________
For those who give a hoot about marketing strategy and dynamics, consider the myth of "first mover advantage," aka "arrows in their backs." (Not that Jim Deal, as first mover in Ramsey Town Center will suffer any unsophisticated pioneer's misadventure as the Town Center's first mover. Nedegaard ended that way. Not Deal.)

Compare, here (a Paul Levy Strib Christmas Eve item reposted at Flaherty's website) and here. Being "first mover positioning for when the market rebounds" sounds okay - in the abstract and as long as it is not wasting millions of Ben's dollars.

It does seem some, McGlone and Landform, have a first mover bend to their view of what's in Ramsey-town's best interests. Look and the mayor too, piling on.

Forbes, briefly on first movers vs. fast followers. Do your own web search of those terms for more. Spending a ton to be on some perceived advantageous leading edge - it's a gamble because nobody can time the market and if a real estate recovery is years away, and not "around the corner," dumping cash into something highly speculative and illiquid now may prove to be unwise - at best.

___________FURTHER UPDATE___________