Thursday, May 01, 2008

ESM - Business Plan

During the interview with Jeff Green, April 30, 2008, on 1370 WSPD radio, Maggie Thurber asked tough questions of Jeff and it was uncomfortable for him. The questions were valid, the answers were not available, in part because Mr. Green did not receive full disclosure of essential information needed to prepare an accurate, comprehensive business plan for the Erie Street Market.

I wonder why an Administration with a 1/2 billion dollar budget would recruit a "volunteer" who just graduated from college to attempt to write a business plan so critical to downtown development. It is a joke to believe the Mayor was serious when he allowed this. We can't seriously believe any experienced, knowledgeable Business Development Director would make an inexperienced volunteer responsible for the creation of this document. Then to add insult to injury, he was thrown to the front lines during a Committee of the Whole meeting with City Council.

Jeff is one more in a long list of scapegoats for this Administration.

He was an excellent candidate to intern on this project, but not as the developer and author. Unfortunately, the impact of an inaccurate, incomplete plan hits at the heart of the residents of Toledo who pay millions of dollars in taxes hoping they will be appropriately spent. With millions of wasted dollars, why would anyone believe the administration would rely on a young, inexperienced volunteer to produce this critical plan.