Loveland voters have spoken. The old ways of politics in Loveland are gone – maybe for good. McWhinney cronyism is no longer the dominant force on city council.
Councilman Cecil Gutierrez, best described as a local reform candidate, was swept into the Mayor’s seat Tuesday night on November 3, while candidates Joan Shaffer, Cathleen McEwen and Hugh McKean were all elected as new members of Loveland’s City Council.
The only incumbent in the race, Daryl Klassen, did win re-election but against an unemployed 23 year-old machinist and Jan Brown who was booted from her previous position by a popular vote already. Klassen may not yet be celebrating as the “old guard” with whom he has found comfort are no longer a majority on the city council.
The most curious event of the evening was when Janet Bailey (who withdrew earlier from the race for city council) was reported to have a higher number of votes in the first count for Ward 3 than either of her opponents who stayed in the race. The County Clerk later removed her name from the vote results allowing Hugh McKean to prevail.
A special run-off election is now being planned for Loveland’s Ward 1 to fill the Council seat being left vacant by Mayor Elect Cecil Gutierrez. LovelandPolitics will closely monitor the special election and provide information regarding the candidates as we receive it.
Any impressions of the outcome?
Well done, Loveland.
I fear for our wonderful city.
I can’t but comment (though I don’t normally) on a stupid thing I heard from Walt Skowron after loosing his race for Mayor. Walt kept saying he wanted to see a CONSERVATIVE win instead of those people who did!
If Ayn Rand, William F. Buckley, Ronald Reagan or Barry Goldwater ever watched a Loveland council meeting they would all have voted for Cecil Gutierrez as Mayor because he was the MOST conservative candidate running for Mayor!
Giving Chad McWhinney even more corporate welfare (Loveland taxes) to compete against developers using their own resources is something nobody who really believes in the magic of capitalism or in preserving the private sector in this country would ever do!
Councilwoman Johnson is pictured in this morning’s paper celebrating the passage of the Lodging Tax. Sorry Walt, I don’t remember the last time a bunch of “conservatives” invited me to a party to celebrate a new tax.
David Clark, Glenn Rousey and especially Walt Skowron may know how to throw around political labels but have no clue what ideas are behind these labels. I can’t imagine ANY conservative in this country’s history ever applauding the constant interventions into the private sector to pick only McWhinney as a winner by giving him $112 million of public money to build crappy retail centers.
Almost any other developer in Loveland would have done a better job with the $112 million but that is not the point. Now Centerra will need to suck $500 million out of our local economy for the next 20 years to pay back Chad and Troy McWhinney’s spending spree with our dollars because the now the bonds are generating millions of dollars in new debt every year!
Chupungu Sculpture Park is not a gift by Chad McWhinney to Loveland but the result of a wealthy brat with poor taste going on a shopping spree with taxpayer’s money. How many other developments would look better if we sunk millions into their ugly ditch or sump (politically correct term is detention pond).
Get a grip people. No Republicans or Conservatives lost election last night in Loveland. Cronyism disguised as Conservatism is what lost.
Now the burden is upon Cecil and his new council to show the voice of all citizens can be heard again in city hall debating the issues. God bless America!
John, no need to fear, the good guys won last night!
congrats to those who won and thanks to those that did not win but served in city government.
Walter: The pieces of art work in chupungu sculpture park did not nor do they now belong to the Mcwhinneys. The land was donated by the McWhinneys for the park….as was land that the new Boys and Girls Club was built on….maybe we need more “wealthy brats”.
I still consider agreements with the Mcwhinneys as a public/private partership which allowed a sharing of tax dollars that were not there to begin with and would not be there today if development had not happened.
If you really believe that Loveland would be better if the land were still vacant and you enjoy driving to Fort Collins or Greeley for shopping, then so be it.
I just bought some items today at Target and Jax (also incentives involved). I’m gald they are in Loveland.
Mr. Rousey,
You are still operating under the false premise that if McWhinney were not heavily subsidized there would be no new development anywhere in Loveland.
It is a little like an abused wife staying with her husband because he convinces her she is too ugly and stupid for anyone else to be with her.
Loveland is a desirable location and better looking than you want to give us credit for as a place to land a business (especially retail). We don’t need to give-away 25 years of future tax base just to get retail here anymore than an abused spouse must endure physical abuse to stay in a bad marriage.
However, staying in that bad marriage means opportunities to meet better people are limited.
JAX in Loveland has nothing to do with McWhinney and scaled back their plans on what to offer here given the Sportsman’s Warehouse operates on land where the property and much of the sales taxes go to McWhinney’s metro district instead of the city or county.
Loveland taxpayers don’t need to get a black eye or a punch in the stomach every time Chad McWhinney wants to develop here. You remind me of an abused spouse constantly trying to explain how her husband isn’t really so bad.
You are leaving the city with a Metro District that may not be able to pay back its $112 million in public debt, declining revenue, none of the regional transportation projects funded to the extent promised by McWhinney and a county in financial trouble because all the Centerra property taxes go back to McWhinney.
At some point in a bad marriage the police stop asking the abused spouse whether or not she wants to press charges and take matters in their own hands. That is what the voters just did to you and the other McWhinney supporters on Loveland’s council.
Mr. Rousey, you laud the McWhinneys “land donations”, just as you and other boosters have lauded everything “they’ve done for Loveland”.
You fail to distinguish between good PR purchases and true benificence.
It is easy to give away hundreds or even thousands when you are in the process of raking in HUNDREDS of MILLIONS from the taxpayers. Yes…nearly $600 million, as reported, that YOU YOURSELF signed off on. You can defend them (and your actions) all you want but you are deceiving yourself and no one else. That is PRECISELY WHY you couldn’t even best Mr. Grewal, a guy with no prior experence who seemed to have just thrown his hat in the ring in hopes his name would get picked out of the hat.
Also, my congrats to all those who won.
A most interesting election.
There’s something that bothers me, however.
As of 5 pm on Wednesday, none of the contenders in the mayor’s race had called Cecil to say congratulations, good race, we’ll do what we can to help, etc. etc.
This can’t be just an oversight. It’s a lack of courtesty and decent behavior.
Most of them, after all, served on the council together.
Whether they agreed or not on specific issues, seems to me there ought to be a level of civility that they owe each other.
I fear that has been lost, which benefits no one
I expect more from those who run for office, asking for the public trust. Losing is part of that.
This is low-rent.
I’m confident that if Cecil had not won, his first calls would have been to the other candidates. Why? Because that’s his nature. And one reason among many that I supported him.
The voters got it right.
Tony Benjamin,
Loveland
Mr. Benjamin, while we agree with your general comments there is one slight correction. The above posting by “Ouch Rousey” is the Mayoral candidate Glenn Rousey.
He opened his post by saying “congrats to those who won.”
Not a phone call but still the proper sentiment was posted here today to all the winning candidates by Mr. Rousey at 1:14 pm.
Let’s give credit where credit is due.
Yes, we may have lost some of the civility from those leaving office; however, as I drove west on 34 last evening I saw something that was very encouraging.
On the corner of 34 and 287 were folks holding signs including our new mayor Cecil and the new councilwomen for Ware 2 and Ward 4 thanking the voters. Now that’s class. I assume they were tired from the previous night’s activities, but they still took the time to get out and thank the voters for their support. I expect this group of new representatives to continue to show this level of respect for the people that put them in office. They demonstrate a level of interest in the citizens of Loveland that I truly hope continues as they begin to wrestle with the issues of governing this city.
I wish them well.
Mr. Administrator,
I hardly think a general congratulatory posting on a website from someone using a quasi nom de plume qualifies as a courtesy call after an election. My exact point was that none of the mayoral candidates had called Cecil — as in actually talking. I was, of course, aware of Glenn’s posting. If you want to credit him for it, fine. In my opinion, it falls far short of the mark. As for the other candidates, maybe they’re now playing by the Musgrave Standard of Post-Election Petulance.
Tony Benjamin,
Loveland
Walter, get your facts straight. You said “Sportsman’s Warehouse operates on land where the property and much of the sales taxes go to McWhinney’s metro district instead of the city or county”.
Sportsman’s is not included in the McWhinney MFA or the URA. There are many uses that were developed prior to the formation of the MFA/URA and many of those uses are not included. The same goes for Target and the factory stores.
Please do a little more reseach before you make any more false statements. Thank you.
Thanks to LP.com. You guys really did a fantastic job of covering the current guys over the years and all the crap they were up to. i hope the new crowd doesn’t go crazy on spending now but understand the budget is short and employees need their raises after all. i was tickled to see the part about Don William saying he would leave his position if they were elected. I have a suggestion for the new members. how about making Don keep his campaign promise of quitting before starting on implementing all of their’s.
A fact no one has mentioned: the candidate The Reporter-Herald endorsed didn’t win. To me that suggests whatever influence the newspaper had in elections is gone.
Tony: I will congratulate Cecil in person this tuesday at our study session…not because of your comments but because it is who I am. On the 17th, when the new council members are seated, I will be on hand to congratulate each of them, regardless of who I wanted elected. In my opinion, better than a phone call.
Walter: We’re both making assumptions…I believe that land would still be undeveloped today had it not been for council action with Mcwhinneys…you believe someone else would have come forward to develop it without council help (although the land was owned by Mcwhinneys).
Sorry for the double posting.
Tony: You talk about courtesty and decent behavior and a level of civility regardless of agreement on certain issues. Regardless of your feelings as to how current council members voted on certain issues, where are your “thanks” for the effort? Dave (6 years), Walt and I (8 years)….A lot of time and energy in doing what we thought best for Loveland. You may not agree with some of the decisions but you could still show some courtesty and decent behavior that you expect from others.
I will see on the 17th, after I congraulate those who were elected, if we get the “thank you” from them that we didn’t get from you.
Steve, thank you for that correction. It was my error as my friend involved with JAX moving to Loveland said that sports place in Centerra and I assumed it was Sportsman Warehouse.
I spoke with him again this morning and it was Dick’s Sporting Goods he was referring to as being in the MFA, URA and other false subsidies (as that property was never an ‘urban blight’ requiring special subsidies to develop’).
You are right, Target and Sportsman Warehouse were developed before McWhinney perfected their control of our public officials so traffic impact fee waivers and other more common incentives were all they got to develop their grandparent’s farm as McWhinney Subdivisions 1-10.
JAX’s incentive is a modest 1% for 36 months on sales tax. I can’t see why McWhinney’s nickers were in such a twist since his sales tax subsidies for most of Market Place at Centerra and Shops at Promanade go beyond 20 years and reduce City tax revenue from 3% on sales to 1.75%.
JAX actually occupied an area blighted due to Centerra retail competing with Shopko. JAX’s incentive is nothing compared to Centerra’s because it was being used for its original purpose.
The fact everyone in the community supported an honest incentive to cure an authentically blighted shopping center really worried McWhinney supporters. It robbed you of the argument that those against McWhinney are against incentives and new business. We are not.
JAX did not use all of the former Shopko or offer as many sportswear options as these are already being filled by Dick’s Sports. Steve can you see the difference of REAL BLIGHT and the PHONY BLIGHT claimed on the open fields in Centerra?
I wondered what was the bigger lie in the balloon boy story as it was filmed for national news flying over Centerra.
The false claim a boy was in that balloon or the false claim that the farm fields below it are really urban blight and a menace to the community thus in need of special long-term subsidies paid by Loveland taxpayers.
Integrity Steve – McWhinney and their puppets just kicked-off council don’t have it.
Councilman Rousey, maybe you should retract your argument that Sportsman Warehouse and Target would not have been built without the extensive MFA and LURA subsidies to McWhinney. I think Steve just corrected Walter’s erroneous claims by pointing out they were built by 2001 long before the MFA or LURA.
Maybe that is why people are not jumping up and down to thank you or the others for your “service.” You make knee-jerk defenses of McWhinney without even understanding what multi-million dollar developments fell under the MFA or URA.
How would the public react if the Chairman of the Federal Reserve defended a billion dollar bail-out of a successful bank only to be corrected after learning that bank didn’t receive any subsidy?
Would you want to thank him for his public service or realize somebody else must be making all those decisions and he was just their rubber stamp?
I know, awkward isn’t it.
Carol: Please read again the previous posts…I never mentioned either Sportsman Warehouse or Target…My comments were with regards to Walter’s comments on McWhinney development under the MFA.
By the way, don’t forget that Sportsman Warehouse, Target and others not under the MFA were developed by those you seem hate. It must be awkward for you.
And no, I would never expect a mere “thanks for serving” from you or others of similar beliefs. I would assume that Oprah was so thankful of Obama’s election that she simply forgot about thanking McCain being elected to the house in 1982 then serving in the US Senate from 1986….After all she didn’t agree with him so why offer a thank you for his service.
Regardless of who won the election and how I or anyone else feels about the results, I find it very sad that out of a poulation of 60,000 plus, only 13,018 people voted for Mayor. Just goes to show that the majority of people in Loveland do not care what happens in their city.
Why is “Tony Benjamin” so worried about proper etiquitte of the losers? Some of these guys put forward a lot of effort and money – maybe they are upset because they haven’t received thier “Participant” ribbon yet. Geez man, get something better to complain about.
Sorry, I digress . . .to answer the original question: I’m excited about about the new look of the council – I found it very hard to be “heard” from the existing council – by the time I got to them they were already wooed by city staff and other. . . shall we say “those affiliated through an intergovernmental agreement.”
Councilman Rousey, I guess I am Oprah to your John McCain. . . I have thanked you in the past “for your service” even though it was usually attached to something I disagreed with you on. I truly meant it everytime, and mean it now – thanks for your service. You stepped up to the plate and put forth an effort that most of us whiners couldn’t even imagine, and you stood behind your beliefs that got you elected twice.
Now, let’s see what the next chapter has to offer. . .
Nice try but please don’t attempt to steal the victory John from our new Mayor by pretending not enough people voted to make his election significant.
The real turn-out was much larger than you pretended in your comments.
1. The average family in Loveland has only 2 voters in the household as the children are likely underage. Don’t confuse total population with the number of qualified voting adults. With 30% under 15 and almost 10% over 65 (higher potential for dementia or other illness) that leaves about 35,000.
2. State law requires the clerk to send-out ballots to every address of registered voters in a mail-in election even when no one voted using that registration in previous elections. That means many people who moved and failed to notify the county clerk got baallots at their old address.
3. The third catagory is misc. and includes felons who are not allowed to vote (Loveland has a higher than normal number of sex offenders in the community), elderly people who are too sick to vote, acute care patients in the hospital, military people overseas and lastly illegal aliens who are a growing segment of the Loveland population to support Dave and Larry’s growing construction firms and don’t forget CSU students who commute to Loveland for cheaper housing but don’t care about city goings on.
4. The biggest group might be those who live in Centerra. McWhinney’s website describes it as a community surrounded by Loveland and close to Greeley and Ft. Collins. Building islands of houses in former county areas that are not contiguous with the city’s residential areas makes people feel like they don’t live in the same city and for practical purposes they don’t since so many of their taxes support the “quasi” government agency of Centerra Metro Districts instead of Loveland.
Now add these up and see just how good a turn-out it was.
Neil,
I’m not so worried about the etiquette (proper or otherwise), but what a change in it might signal. It bothered me then; still does.
It’s not a complaint, but more of an observation.
A call to the victor on either election night or the day after is perhaps a relic now. It was once part of the process (and still is for many local, state and national elections). It’s personal, and at the same time a tradition I think ought not to be lost.
Elections can sometimes get nasty (although this one wasn’t), but the congratulatory call always seemed to me a signal that once the voters had spoken we’d get on with this American experiment in self-government. Not just candidate to candidate; losers to the winner, but a reflection of a decision by the people. A gesture of good-will.
It’s part of the quaint notion I still cling to that despite differing political views in the end we’re all in this together.
I like opponents who respect each other. And the process.
The way opposing teams line up and shake hands after a sporting contest. Not a week or two later. (although pro teams these days congratulate themselves. go figure).
None of that has anything to do with the straw-man argument that the work of anyone hasn’t or isn’t appreciated. That service is noted, issues and positions aside.
And finally Neil, I do agree with you that the new council gives hope. I’ve had the same experiences you have had with previous ones, past and most recent.
Regards,
Tony Benjamin
(no quote marks)
Walter, thanks for the correction. I thought I would clarify another incorrect statement or at least a really big reach. You say “JAX actually occupied an area blighted due to Centerra retail competing with Shopko”.
Shopko closed the operations of all Colorado stores in 2005. I think its a big reach to say the area was blighted becuase of Centerra retail. The truth is Shopko left Colorado in general and vacant big box stores are often very difficult to backfill.
I do see the difference in real blight vs. phony blight. I have lived in Loveland for over 20 years and I think the area is better now that McWhinney is here vs. where I think we would be. I am concerned about the McWhinney taxes but my family likes to shop at Centerra and they have brought some higher quailty and paying jobs to Loveland. We had HP, but they are pretty much gone. Its nice to have local companies where someone can make $50K or more.
I like to think when their MFA/URA expires, Loveland will have won the lottery each and every year as we will have leanred to live with a lower income stream and when the URA expires, there will be a substantial financial swing to Loveland. It doesnt seem that long ago that I moved to Loveland as 20 years can go by quick, especially when it is associated with city government.
I am proud of the City I live in and understand that nothing is perfect.
Thank you.
Having lived in Ft Collins for 15 years before moving to Loveland a little over two years ago, I have seen the extremes of both sides. Loveland should not wish to become Ft. Collins but something had to be done about the abandonment of locally owned small business in Loveland. I did not vote for Mr Gutierrez but I will wish him well,,,, I also will get in his face if he tries to make Loveland into Boulder. The Mayor’s race was extremely hard for me as I have little confidence that any of the candidates really understand the big picture…..
Steve, Shopko had only three stores in Colorado – all inside the same sphere of influence targeted by McWhinney developments including Centerra’s Promenade Shops
- Ft. Collins 20% impact on sales
- Loveland 40% impact on sales
- Longmont 15% impact on sales
Shopko Loveland took the biggest hit while the other two could no longer draw shoppers from south Ft. Collins or north of Longmont to compete with heavily subsidized higher end shops at Centerra. They actually sold all three because of declining sales then the buyer sold their inventory.
You cannot have your argument both ways – claim Centerra brings shoppers into the area but deny that impacts the communities they are coming from. The shame is the extra tax revenue is captured by McWhinney not Loveland.
Loveland is right now like someone who just bought a big screen TV on a 30 year loan. Right now you are happy with Centerra but the MFA will last longer than the profitable use of the big box retail. The same way a 30 year loan for a TV will still need to be paid long after the TV’s useful life has ended.
By 2029 Centerra (if it is still around) will be badly in need of redevelopment and cosmetic improvements but still not paying its fair share of sales or property taxes. I suspect by 2030 it will be obsolete and looking for government help to revive the dated shopping centers’ look with another subsidy.
Centerra was built on open farmland. Shopko was paying well over $100,000 a year in property taxes due to its building valuation while Centerra only pays the value of farmland instead of its actual retail value. Over $100,000 per year (that is just property taxes and not other subsidies) is a huge advantage to a low-margin retail business every year. In fact, that is nearly enough to hire two of those $50,000 jobs you mentioned.
The only way Loveland could fill the ShopKo building was to include it in the downtown LURA or provide another incentive thus taking improvements to the building off the tax roles. Loveland now makes less than before but it is still more than Centerra’s ratio of taxes paid.
I respect your valiant effort to make the lesser argument look the better. It is tough defending the indefensible!
Greg -
Can we at least have trees and bushes in the medians? Our Public Works Director in Loveland prefers concrete because no one can complain about poor maintenance of the landscaping.
The uglification of Wilson is now continuing with Federal Stimulus dollars and almost complete. They removed the remaining grass and trees last week from both sides of Eisenhower on Wilson.
While tax dollars are used to landscape even McWhinney owned properties in Centerra those of us paying 100% of our property taxes, CEF’s and sales taxes are not allowed any landscaping on public medians in west Loveland!
In Ft. Collins “improving” a median means landscaping while in Loveland it means red painted concrete. I agree I don’t want a bunch of social engineers on council but how about someone with a conscience who isn’t continually destroying property values of current residents?
Walter: You are an intelligent individual so when you make statements, there are those who read this blog and take your comments as gospel, thereby perpetuating misconceptions.
No and no….Jax occupied part of the Shopko building after Gold’s Gym had moved into the west portion. Jax never made any statement that they could not use the entire building due to Dick’s. Jax came to council well after part of the building was already occupied.
Shortly after Jax located in Loveland, they told city staff that they wish they had done it sooner because of citizens support of the store and sales were better than expected (even with Dick’s). A class act like Jax will do well regarless of other stores of a like nature in the area.
Jax was NOT included in Lura! It was presented to council and turned down…even by those who were not elected this year. The presentation by staff to include Jax into Lura was made after Jax moved to Loveland and had occupied the Shopko building. Council, including myself, did not like the idea of placing it Lura after the fact. To be honest, the decision not to include Jax in Lura took staff by surprise.
Walter, my research shows Shopko closed their doors in the summer of 2005 and the Promenade Shops didnt open until the Fall of 2005. You really like to embellish when you say stuff like…..
“Shopko had only three stores in Colorado – all inside the same sphere of influence targeted by Centerra’s PROMENADE Shops
Shopko Loveland TOOK THE BIGGEST HIT WHILE THE OTHER TWO COULD NO LONGER DRAW SHOPPERS from south Ft. Collins or north of Longmont to compete with heavily subsidized higher end shops at Centerra. They actually sold all three because of DECLINING SALES then the buyer sold their inventory.”
Walter, how can you say Shopko Loveland took the biggest hit from the Promenade Shops when their decision to close was made even before the Promenade shops opened for business.
Walter, some of you points are very valid but when you make false factual statements like Sportsman’s being in the URA and Shopko Loveland was most impacted by a mall that wasnt even open…it really hurts your credibility. Going forward you may want to distingush between fact and opionion.
Thank you.
Steve, you are correct. That section of Centerra opened in later 2005 only months after ShopKo announced their closing.
I know you want to play some kind of game of gotcha but the facts and arguments remain the same. JAX filled an area of Loveland that was blighted due to McWhinney’s various retail developments along I-25.
What I believe I stated was “all inside the same sphere of influence targeted by McWhinney developments including Centerra’s Promenade Shops.”
I probably erred in using specific terms like Centerra or Promanade. Clearly the original McWhinney development of the Outlet Malls (with a number of clothing stores) followed by the Market Place at Centerra contributed to the demise of ShopKo’s stores.
The Promonande Shops only contributed in preventing the property owner from finding another comparable tenant to fill the vacant space thus creating an eyesore in the community for 3 years. So yes, it is correct to say they also contributed to Loveland’s blight.
My point is that while Loveland was doing everything it could to assist McWhinney develop along I-25 the retail inside Loveland was losing ground thus creating blight. Now that McWhinney has tax dollars to build the Motorplex sign and other outrageous subsidies they have drawn new car dealers away from the Loveland city center again leaving behind new BLIGHT.
Any reason why the city should subsidize the moving of businesses from the city center out to Centerra where much of their taxes go to McWhinney instead of the city or county? Does this really sound like a prudent thing for the City of Loveland to be doing?
That is exactly what the MFA has allowed. Chad, Troy and the rest of the clan are very wealthy people. Why can’t they compete in business on an even playing field like everyone else?
Open farm land is not blight. Making an official “finding” that farmland is urban “blight” and a “menace to the community” as Mr. Rousey and others on city council did is plainly dishonest. The federal government never intended that Urban Renewal Authorities (URA’s) be used to assist in developing retail sprawl in open areas. The TIF (tax increment financing) was meant to rebate taxes to cover the costs of improvements to existing properties. It was meant to allow a developer to not pay any property taxes on brand new buildings for 20 some years.
Mr. Rousey – thank you for the clarification. If JAX wasn’t included in the downtown LURA than my point is even more valid.
The URA “Urban Renewal Authority” designation causing the return of property taxes each year is a favor reserved exclusively for properties purchased by Chad or Troy McWhinney. Anyone else who really is curing a blighted area dare not ask the city council for any further URA designations.
Thanks — you both better clarified my points.
This, I think, is a very important argument for Loveland’s future. No matter what their point of view, I wish more residents were involved.
All sides have their positions.
Is there really enough commerce for both Centerra and downtown to not just survive, but prosper? Along with two Wal-Mart supercenters. Has the playing field really been level?
Like it or don’t, local government these days is involved in economic engineering. It also influences social issues, such as quality of life. Council decisions on who gets what really do matter. (politics, after all, is just how we go about divvying up our common resources). It’s why the idea that this is a free-market economy rings false.
I’m sure that some will disagree, but I think the most recent election shows that the public is starting to catch on.
I’ve always had great faith in the public — that it’ll eventually work its work and will.
Still do.
Walter: Your last statement is just plain silly. Jax never asked to be included in Lura and if they had (before occupancy) I believe it would have been approved …… except I don’t believe they own the building and are only renting space. A tenant who is leasing a portion of a building is not going to get any type of approval to be included in any URA.
It just doesn’t make sense to say that only McWhinneys will be granted approval to have property included in a URA. Don’t forget the property downtown that makes up LURA (not owned by McWhinneys)
But what’s the use….any response to your comments will be twisted to fit a very narrow viewpoint.
Councilman, the downtown LURA preceded the McWhinney URA and involved real buildings and real blight.
That means the TIF (Tax Increment Financing) only applies to future INCREASES in value for existing buildings once they are improved (a very modest amount of money). Centerra’s phony Urban Blight means McWhinney retains taxes on 100% of the value of any building or improvement on their land (even when the Metro District made the improvement with tax dollars) for some 20 years.
The funny map of east Loveland’s Urban Renewal Authority that is in Centerra happens to also map the properties purchased by McWhinney and your authorization of phony blight designations. Especially ridiculous is the one parcel of land south of Highway 34 where all the surrounding properties (not owned by McWhinney) are not blight only the piece in the middle.
Chad McWhinney (I am told and don’t know for certain) enjoys being called KING MIDAS by other developers. That is because he can take a piece of empty property and turn it into GOLD as Loveland allows him to not pay property taxes (per the Urban Renewal), he has some $7 million waived for future CEF’s (per the MFA) and many other subsidies not available to poor slobs who actually pay the taxes this city needs to run.
It is your argument that is patently absurd Mr. Rousey. You voted for the “Flex-Plan” so McWhinney doesn’t even need to ask council for which properties within Centerra they can change the designation of “blight” to get back property tax rebates through Urban Renewal. This completely corrupts the entire purpose of Urban Renewal as they can now play whacka-mole with their “authority” by ensuring Loveland and Larimer County cannot accidentally receive property tax revenue on any property that improves in value.
I am not aware of any other city in the entire country where elected officials abdicated their constitutional authority to a developer to determine which properties can be declared Urban Renewal for the purposes of not paying their future property taxes. You and Steve like to research – find me any city in the country with a city council as silly and irresponsible as you and your colleagues have acted by abdicating such authority directly to a developer.
I am sorry people but nobody involved in that outrageous and irresponsible behavior deserves any thanks for their “public service.” You have burden future Loveland taxpayers with unbelievable debt so McWhinney could pocket more money today for their developments.
The long-term consequences for the community are devastating.
Gayle,
I was simply trying to make a statement that not enough people care about what happens in their city. Apathy is a terrible disease and it is spreading.
I could comment on your statements, especially the one about 65 year olds having dementia and other illnesses (which is a funny statement, considering 100% of 65+ year-olds I know is in great health and does not have dementia), but I would be wasting my time.
Enjoy our new mayor.
John, I said those over 65 have a “(higher potential for dementia or other illness)” that may prevent them from voting. Assigning the motive of apathy or protest to everyone who didn’t vote is irresponsible and misrepresents the voter turnout statistics.
A disproportionately large number of nursing care facilities (both ambulatory and non-ambulatory) for the elderly in Loveland means quite a large number of our residents counted in the city’s population but may simply not be able to vote.
As a nurse who cares for the elderly I am certainly not trying to put anyone down. I just go to work every night and see hundreds of Loveland residents who didn’t vote and certainly not for the reasons you are trying to assign to them.
Around 10 to 20 percent of Americans over 65 are experiencing dementia caused from VaD, making it second only to Alzheimer’s disease as only one of the leading causes of dementia. Many are people not living in rehabilitative care facilities (you probably call it a rest home).
“A common complication resulting from stroke is loss of cognitive function, or intellectual abilities, often called vascular dementia.”
http://www.stroke.org/site/PageServer?pagename=VADEM
Here is the website where you can spend a little time educating yourself -
Vascular dementia is more common than you think and blaming people for not caring because they forgot to return their ballots is irresponsible especially given the very large number of elderly who decided to retire in Loveland. Our staff had to throw a large number of ballots into the garbage last week.
I think it is great we have so many octogenarians who want to be mayor or serve on council. If they didn’t make it you want to blame the good people who maybe were not in any position to support the campaigns of their generational peers.
I took statistics in college (a very difficult class) and do become a little persnickety when I see someone who doesn’t understand statistics trying to sell false data to the community.
Hope you have a long life and that I will never need to see you at my work! If I do see you what will your family want me to do with your mail in ballot? Submit it blank to help the turn-out statistics or toss it in the garbage when you keep telling us you are only 10 years old?
Gayle
Gayle: A quick “thank you” for what you do…It’s a difficult job. Both my mother and mother-in-law had Alzhimer’s disease and my wife and I appreicate those that took care of these two fine women in their latter years. Your work is appreicated.
Admin: I do not believe the money and maintenance required to put bushes and trees in the medians of arterials are good investments. Put trees and bushes on the sides of the streets, but keep them well back from the corners as I can show you at least a dozen intersections in the Fort that are extremely dangerous due to the shrubbery! Put an annual pricetag on you green medians and then let the citizens decide if it is a wise investment. By all means, let us put icing on the cake as the table beneath the cake is collapsing……
I can tell you trees and bushes are really important to property values. Show me a city that doesn’t care to install or maintian them and I can show you declining property values.
As a real estate professional I can tell you that lanscaping adds that something of quality, place and character most homebuyers are looking for in where they want to live.
Show me painted cement medians only in a city and it will be a slum. Any sign the city is not capable of paying its bills and people want to look.
So I vote to have Loveland more like Ft. Collins and less like a slum.
Magnificent post,I anticipate many more post from you.
Thanks for good article. Hope to see more soon. its really great to know more about it.