Sakry reporting, here. Go figure what is happening.
Then, harder, figure whether it would be good or bad to decertify the Town Center TIF toy.
Winds of politics wax and wane. Yesterday's champions are today's critics.
Because I do not understand TIF, why this thing ever was chased, why it now may be tarnished, I wish there was somebody who would explain TIF to me.
It seems like bribing businesses to move from one suburb, exurb, to another, ad hoc, each against the other, musical chairs with public money going to the transient business folks, from tax money, for perceived benefits.
I went to ask Ben Dover to explain TIF, but he just smiled, his paint fading from yellow to cream. Enduring Ben.
But all that probably is a simplistic view for which I apologize.
___________UPDATE___________
A bit of detail - Sakry's reporting quotes Bob Ramsey, Colin McGlone, Jason Tossey, Randy Backous, and Sarah Strommen about the TIF decertification in Town Center.
Each had things to say that readers should consider. The mayor and McGlone said about the same thing, but each of the other three had a different perspective on the issue.
Backous suggesting it best to leave the issue for decision by the new council in January seemed to make the most sense.
I am curious about the genesis of the McGlone-mayor decertification suggestion.
Did the two together come up with the idea separately or between themselves; or was it suggested to them by another or others; and did they discuss thinking with another or others before jumping the matter onto a post-election agenda item? As in whose bright idea was it to move this way now? And better, why?
Were statements on record a full disclosure of the thinking of the mayor, or of McGlone? Did either or both deliberately leave something unstated, or might there have been detail that Sakry, in writing a tight repor,t may have not emphasized?
Specifically, was Jim Deal mentioned, or does he still have "he whose name shall not be mentioned" status, with some? Sakry's report does not mention whether or not his name was part of any discussion or commentary on the record.
___________FURTHER UPDATE_________
Gold star, for most trenchant statement as quoted by Sakry:
Councilmember Jason Tossey said he wished the mayor and McGlone had supported his motion to decertify the district Oct. 23.
“TIF has clearly become a political football and it should not be,” he said.
"Political football." Yes, but from the very get-go, the entire Town Center mess has been nothing but a political football. Not entirely. Football has rules. And penalties. And fines and suspensions. And not just a beginning, but an end, even with overtime. All good things, in any gaming.
The Town Center fiasco, aka Clown Center, has been the great wild west, except, so far, no gun fights in the main street. No High Noon. Not yet. UPDATE: No championship.