Bob Yancy said:tamufan said:
From that KBTX article: "The City recognizes the property's critical importance and potential as a transformative catalyst for economic growth and revitalization in the surrounding area. We're committed to pursuing all viable opportunities while ensuring a process that maximizes the property's potential and aligns with the long-term vision for the community," the city said in its most recent remarks.
Critical importance. Transformative catalyst. Maximizing potential. Long term vision for the community....
Wow! I am so proud. I'd like to know who wrote this so I know who to credit when I see "The City".
I didn't write that, and I don't altogether disagree with it. However, the Macy's alone would be hard pressed to serve as a catalyst for transformative change for the surrounding area. That kind of transformation would require the unanimous agreement of all 5 owners of the mall.
The whole matter raises significant questions regarding the proper role of government, both in the decision to acquire the property without proper due diligence, the lack of transparency in what led up to the acquisition, and the amount of time it's now sat vacant.
Malls require foot traffic, and an empty anchor that once was the main entrance to the mall being shuttered hurts the businesses currently located there.
For all that, I'm extremely motivated to find an answer, have two potential solutions I'm formulating, and really want to artfully extract ourselves from it in a way that benefits the taxpayers.
Respectfully
Yancy '95
Well said. Working on solutions is the way forward. But in order to prevent this from happening again and to instill confidence in council/city staff, the after action piece still needs to take place.
That means identifying and addressing the factors that led to this occurring in the first place. Be it specific individuals and the processes or lack thereof that enabled this. I know that most of that council has turned over by now but what role did current city staff have in this? Has this been addressed at city hall? We as taxpayers still do not have any transparent information on the how and why this decision was made.