Rick Redding was an original founder of this website.
Jerry Abramson could have starred in one of those Southwest commercials. Maybe he saw what was coming when he cruised over to West Virginia for some adulation from outsiders, as he explained how great the merged government was working here.
Did he need to get away?
While the Mayor was gone, two major stories were brewing, both bone-crushing blows to his ego. First, Joe Gerth reported on Friday that the AFL-CIO had come out with a pre-emptive strike after hearing the idea that Mayor Jer wants to run with his buddy Steve Beshear for Lt. Gov. Unions don’t like Jerry, thanks to his dealings with them as the city’s chief during his two decades in office.
This followed a controversial press conference staged by local Republicans that had the sole purpose of urging him not to run again for Mayor, recounting every one of the many mis-steps made under his watch in city goverment.
So the union made some waves encouraging Beshear to choose someone else for his 2011 ticket. Given the rumors we’ve been hearing, that Abramson is leaning toward a run as Beshear’s #2 rather than a final term as Louisville’s Mayor, maybe Beshear is re-thinking the idea of putting Abramson on his ticket.
But the bigger blow came Saturday, when the C-J led with news that Cordish has kind of told city officials that, well, no, they’re not going to explain what they did with all that taxpayer money they took to re-design a bowling alley on Fourth Street.
Pressured by the newspaper to explain how it spent the extra $950,000 that Abramson championed giving them to remodel the failed Lucky Strike, Cordish said it had given all the detail it was required to do, and then the Mayor said the explanation was good enough for him.
Now we can confirm what we’ve known all along. Cordish might have, maybe, possibly, spent half that money on remodeling the space, but most of it went in the Cordish profit center. They sure aren’t producing any drywall receipts, and no one’s willing to admit what the facility paid to get Paris Hilton to show up for a few minutes Derby Eve.
Everyone’s outraged, and Abramson’s growing list of detractors has a bunch of new ammunition. The Mayor’s race is looking a lot more do-able for potential candidates like Jim King, David Tandy and Greg Fischer. And there’s bound to be a Republican out there ready to step up.
Abramson has promised a decision on his future soon. But right now he’s just hit one in the lake and is scrambling to make par.
Additional Reading: C.D. Kaplan recounts some of the Mayor’s history of love for Cordish. And Eric Crawford explains why Cordish’s track record in places like St. Louis spells more trouble for us.
11 responses so far ↓
1 john // Jul 13, 2009 at 8:54 am
“David Dzbinski, director of financial reporting for the Baltimore-based developer, said the money was used on ‘construction, fixturing, equipping and opening’ of the Sports and Social Club …”
This statement in the C-J article on Saturday really caught my eye. By saying that the money was used for the opening, it sounds to me that Bzbinski is admitting that the city’s $950,000 was used in part to pay for Paris Hilton’s visit.
2 AB // Jul 13, 2009 at 10:22 am
Agree that this sounds like a carefully worded and intentionally evasive response. It is critical that Cordish be compelled to supply detailed records – the reponse from the city that they’ll take their word that all is OK is bullshit. If we learn that any of the funds were misued (e.g. paying Paris Hilton a dime for anything), then I think there needs to be a movement to call for McCheese’s resignation, not just his decision to not run for another term.
3 ThereWasOne? // Jul 13, 2009 at 11:23 am
Has any media outlet covered our Mayor’s comments in W.Va that Louisville is “getting poorer and blacker”??
4 Punditarod // Jul 13, 2009 at 12:03 pm
Why are you guys, Crawford and kaplan (who wrote about the Cordish messes in Kansas City and St. Louis weeks ago) the only ones on this?
This is Boss Tweed caliber chicanery.
5 Mark H (Not Hebert) // Jul 13, 2009 at 12:50 pm
Cordish is using the same business plan other industries are using. The fact is that the politicians in many states and cities are so desperate to tout that they are bringing new jobs and development in their communities, that they have sold out the taxpayers for their short-term political gain.
Not to excuse them, but is Cordish’s “incentives” any different than GE, Ford, or UPS getting tax incentives and concessions for generating or saving a few jobs. I would bet that Ford and GE have received far more financial gain than Cordish has for the revenues generated.
Jerry and the governor are spineless to tell any of them no when they come with their list of demands.
The whole practice of competition for business investment is essential to attract growth. The trick is to be able to discriminate the good deals from the poor ones in an attempt to protect the taxpayers.
6 McCheese for Constable! // Jul 13, 2009 at 2:17 pm
Kids, there is one way for all of us to easily make this right. Just take a trip down to Fourth Street Live, order something, and when the bill comes, tell the server that Mayor Jer already picked up your tab. Wouldn’t it be nice if people simply started walking out of their checks at that overpriced tourist trap in protest?
7 Ed Springston // Jul 13, 2009 at 3:35 pm
Therewasone? The answer is yes. I reported it over the weekend and sent it out to all media outlets. they are covering it now as Rick and Jake are as well.
8 Rico // Jul 13, 2009 at 8:13 pm
Jeff Noble writes on his blog Jerry will announce his intentions July 20 or 21. Anyone, or Jeff, care to tell us why those days?
9 Raoul Duke // Jul 13, 2009 at 9:08 pm
the difference between Ford, GE and Cordish is that Ford and GE only get their incentives based on the jobs they create. Cordish gets money for nothing
10 Rob Mattheu // Jul 13, 2009 at 10:40 pm
Join my new Facebook group demanding a free meal from this place as compensation for receiving my tax dollars in exchange for nothing.
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home&__a=1#/group.php?gid=101110499530&ref=ts
11 Oops - Did I really say that? // Jul 14, 2009 at 1:54 pm
What’s fascinating about ol’ Raoul Duke’s comments is that he is actively working on supporting the Abramson agenda through groups like The Southwest Dream Team and the local Grass Roots Democrat club out in Valley Station.
Ol’ Raoul thinks so much of the Southwest that he joined a lodge in Jeffersontown, bypassing numerous South End lodges.
Good ol’ Raoul.
Leave a Comment