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Loveland – Aug. 29, 2007
A central theme used by McWhinney Enterprises to justify the use of tax dollars to subsidize their proposed Grand
Station project is that Grand Station will bring new businesses and tax revenue to Loveland and Northern Colorado.
Allegations have recently surfaced that instead of just marketing new businesses to come to Northern Colorado for
Grand Station, McWhinney also tried to recruit a large hotel developer away from Larimer County thus cannibalizing a
business already recruited by the county business development team to develop a hotel and convention center for The
Ranch along the I-25 corridor.
A former Larimer County Commissioner has provided information to LovelandPolitics.com that indicates the
McWhinney organization was found to have been secretly negotiating with John Q. Hammons or his company to
abandon or exit a deal with Larimer County to develop at the new county fair complex (The Ranch) and instead locate
an Embassy Suites Hotel in Grand Station where tax rebates could possibly be used to subsidize the development.
The Ranch (Larimer County's new fair grounds complex) is located in the City of Loveland but owned by the county.
If these allegations are true, than McWhinney Enterprises would be guilty of trying to lure their largest tenant for Grand
Station (the multi-story hotel) away from another Loveland location in direct contradiction to their recent public
relations blitzkrieg.
Only twelve days before resigning her seat on the County Commission, Karen Wagner, stated on the record at a county
meeting that the Embassy Suites Hotel and Convention Center was nearly taken away from the county by a local
developer. She didn't state which developer at the time but later said she received criticism from a colleague who had
apparently hoped to keep the matter secret. Wagner resigned her seat on the Larimer County Commission July 9, 2007.
According to Wagner, County Administrator Frank Lancaster learned about discussions between McWhinney and
Hammons'company at an RTA meeting when Don Williams, Loveland City Manager, told Lancaster that the planning
department in Loveland was working the details and he thought it was a done deal. Wagner said Lancaster immediately
reported this back to her and others.
Larimer County Public Works Director, Marc Engemoen, according to Wagner, contacted Hammons' organization and
reported that he was told the negotiations had gone on for more than a year with McWhinney. According to Wagner,
Engemoen was especially angry with McWhinney Enterprises and felt betrayed. Jay Hardy, director of The Ranch at
Larimer County's Fairgrounds and Events Complex, left that position a few months earlier to begin a new job with
McWhinney Enterprises. Engemoen had collaborated openly with McWhinney representatives, according to Wagner,
and never imagined they were involved in trying to unravel Larimer County's biggest hotel and convention center deal.
Wagner also stated there was talk of sending an open letter to McWhinney Enterprises expressing the county's deep
disappointment. Instead, Wagner said, Commissioner Kathay Rennels had a private lunch with Chad McWhinney and
subsequent to the lunch decided the letter didn't need to be sent. McWhinney owned or related holding companies and
LLC's contributed $2,400 to Rennels' most recent political campaign.
On August 14, Wagner sent a "Letter to the Editor" of the Loveland Reporter-Herald. She later contacted the paper to
find out why her letter was never printed. A shorter version of the same letter was printed in The Coloradoan without
objection.
Coincidently, the same day (August 28) that the Loveland City Council held a special public meeting to review
McWhinney requests relative to Grand Station, Wagner received an explanation from the Loveland Reporter-Herald of
why her letter was ignored.
Below is an excerpt of an email Wagner sent a friend Aug. 28 (reprinted with permission);
"He [Kent Amundsen] returned my call later with the explanation that he'd nixed the letter, because I had alleged that a
crime had taken place and that he didn't have knowledge of the statements made in my letter. When I said my letter
referred to ethical vs. 'criminal' issues, he responded that interfering with a contract is a crime, that should be covered
in a news story, rather than an LTE. To that statement, I agreed (don't newspapers like to undercover crimes?), and
said the situation was deserving of news coverage. "
To date, fomer Commissioner Wagner's letter has not been printed in the Loveland newspaper nor has the Loveland
Reporter-Herald run a story about these allegations.
LovelandPolitics.com wants to clarify that Karen Wagner and the people involved in assembling the information for this
story have no evidence and ARE NOT ALLEGING that a crime has been committed by anyone involved including
McWhinney Enterprises or John Q. Hammons. LovelandPolitics.com is not privy to the details of their conversations
(if any occurred on this matter) with either the City of Loveland or Larimer County. Both companies and their
respective owners are welcome to provide LovelandPolitics.com a rebuttal of equal length to this story (one per
organization) that will be posted on this website with a link from the front page for a period of one month. The same
invitation is being extended to anyone whose name appears in this story. The rebuttal must address these specific
allegations, however, in order to be posted.
In addition, we invite anyone who may have contrary information or collaborative information with what Karen Wagner
reported to please post such on the web blog
A central theme used by McWhinney Enterprises to justify the use of tax dollars to subsidize their proposed Grand
Station project is that Grand Station will bring new businesses and tax revenue to Loveland and Northern Colorado.
Allegations have recently surfaced that instead of just marketing new businesses to come to Northern Colorado for
Grand Station, McWhinney also tried to recruit a large hotel developer away from Larimer County thus cannibalizing a
business already recruited by the county business development team to develop a hotel and convention center for The
Ranch along the I-25 corridor.
A former Larimer County Commissioner has provided information to LovelandPolitics.com that indicates the
McWhinney organization was found to have been secretly negotiating with John Q. Hammons or his company to
abandon or exit a deal with Larimer County to develop at the new county fair complex (The Ranch) and instead locate
an Embassy Suites Hotel in Grand Station where tax rebates could possibly be used to subsidize the development.
The Ranch (Larimer County's new fair grounds complex) is located in the City of Loveland but owned by the county.
If these allegations are true, than McWhinney Enterprises would be guilty of trying to lure their largest tenant for Grand
Station (the multi-story hotel) away from another Loveland location in direct contradiction to their recent public
relations blitzkrieg.
Only twelve days before resigning her seat on the County Commission, Karen Wagner, stated on the record at a county
meeting that the Embassy Suites Hotel and Convention Center was nearly taken away from the county by a local
developer. She didn't state which developer at the time but later said she received criticism from a colleague who had
apparently hoped to keep the matter secret. Wagner resigned her seat on the Larimer County Commission July 9, 2007.
According to Wagner, County Administrator Frank Lancaster learned about discussions between McWhinney and
Hammons'company at an RTA meeting when Don Williams, Loveland City Manager, told Lancaster that the planning
department in Loveland was working the details and he thought it was a done deal. Wagner said Lancaster immediately
reported this back to her and others.
Larimer County Public Works Director, Marc Engemoen, according to Wagner, contacted Hammons' organization and
reported that he was told the negotiations had gone on for more than a year with McWhinney. According to Wagner,
Engemoen was especially angry with McWhinney Enterprises and felt betrayed. Jay Hardy, director of The Ranch at
Larimer County's Fairgrounds and Events Complex, left that position a few months earlier to begin a new job with
McWhinney Enterprises. Engemoen had collaborated openly with McWhinney representatives, according to Wagner,
and never imagined they were involved in trying to unravel Larimer County's biggest hotel and convention center deal.
Wagner also stated there was talk of sending an open letter to McWhinney Enterprises expressing the county's deep
disappointment. Instead, Wagner said, Commissioner Kathay Rennels had a private lunch with Chad McWhinney and
subsequent to the lunch decided the letter didn't need to be sent. McWhinney owned or related holding companies and
LLC's contributed $2,400 to Rennels' most recent political campaign.
On August 14, Wagner sent a "Letter to the Editor" of the Loveland Reporter-Herald. She later contacted the paper to
find out why her letter was never printed. A shorter version of the same letter was printed in The Coloradoan without
objection.
Coincidently, the same day (August 28) that the Loveland City Council held a special public meeting to review
McWhinney requests relative to Grand Station, Wagner received an explanation from the Loveland Reporter-Herald of
why her letter was ignored.
Below is an excerpt of an email Wagner sent a friend Aug. 28 (reprinted with permission);
"He [Kent Amundsen] returned my call later with the explanation that he'd nixed the letter, because I had alleged that a
crime had taken place and that he didn't have knowledge of the statements made in my letter. When I said my letter
referred to ethical vs. 'criminal' issues, he responded that interfering with a contract is a crime, that should be covered
in a news story, rather than an LTE. To that statement, I agreed (don't newspapers like to undercover crimes?), and
said the situation was deserving of news coverage. "
To date, fomer Commissioner Wagner's letter has not been printed in the Loveland newspaper nor has the Loveland
Reporter-Herald run a story about these allegations.
LovelandPolitics.com wants to clarify that Karen Wagner and the people involved in assembling the information for this
story have no evidence and ARE NOT ALLEGING that a crime has been committed by anyone involved including
McWhinney Enterprises or John Q. Hammons. LovelandPolitics.com is not privy to the details of their conversations
(if any occurred on this matter) with either the City of Loveland or Larimer County. Both companies and their
respective owners are welcome to provide LovelandPolitics.com a rebuttal of equal length to this story (one per
organization) that will be posted on this website with a link from the front page for a period of one month. The same
invitation is being extended to anyone whose name appears in this story. The rebuttal must address these specific
allegations, however, in order to be posted.
In addition, we invite anyone who may have contrary information or collaborative information with what Karen Wagner
reported to please post such on the web blog
| Did McWhinney Use Fratricide Against The Ranch to Promote Grand Station ? Former County Official Claims County Discovered McWhinney Tried to Lure Famous Hotel Developer Away from Agreement with County - Developer Stayed With County |
| According to a former County Commissioner, Loveland City Manager Don Williams (above) leaked to his freind, County Administrator Frank Lancaster, that McWhinney was secretly negotiating a deal to lure the Embassy Suites Hotel developer away from The Ranch. Also alleged is that William's leak caused considerable discomfort for county officials who thought the McWhinney representatives betrayed them by participating in efforts aimed at promoting the region as a whole while also pretending to support the county while secretly trying to undermind The Ranch |
| The Leaker? |
