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June 29, 2009
Forest City in the News
The Cleveland Leader, How Hypocritical Can Sam Miller Get Before We Laugh Him Out of Town
Forest City Enterprises co-chairman and Treasurer Sam Miller says he’s willing to donate to the Cleveland libraries if budget cuts are made by the State of Ohio. Sam says that he will donate to keep libraries in poor areas open if the cuts are made.
Cleveland's watchdog journalist Roldo Bartimole explains how, Forest City Enterprises depends on reductions in property and sales tax to keep the company's projects fiscally viable. As these reductions starve local municipalities of the tax revenue used to provide basic services, the budget gap is made up by suckers who pay their full share of taxes, with Forest City occasionally tossing around some bread crumbs.
Associated Press, via CBS2.com, Las Vegas Mayor Losing Support For City Hall Plans
Another Forest City Enterprises politically backed boondoggle may be fizzling out. This time the local unions are against the project:
Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman's visions of a revitalized downtown may be in trouble as he loses support for a new city hall.
A re-imagined downtown with two new casinos, busy office towers and a mass transit line can't happen without a new hall, Goodman says.
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Goodman is hoping to finance the project using bonds that are based on the city making annual lease payments on the new building. City officials estimated the cost of the city hall at $150 million last year.
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The plan Goodman backs would give developer Forest City Enterprises a parcel to build a hotel-casino in part for building the new city hall. The current city hall and an adjacent 12 acres owned by the city would then be put up for development.
Posted by lumi at June 29, 2009 4:58 AM