TKC BREAKING AND EXCLUSIVE NEWS!!! DEVELOPERS SAY TERRORIST EVENT THREATENS KANSAS CITY DOWNTOWN CONVENTION HOTEL IF DELAYED BY PETITIONS!!! MEANWHILE, MAYOR SLY TOUTS GENERAL FUND SHELL GAME TALK!!!

Never again.

Just finished wasting hours of my life watching developers led by Mike Burke, Mayor Sly, City Council and the City Manager discuss a controversial Downtown Convention Hotel deal. Just like we warned, the City Council Biz session was a forum for talk of the EPIC project under the threat of petitions BUT most of the session was dedicated to reselling the project to the new council.

Here's how we saw it . . .

Most interesting thing first, while pitching the project to the Council in an open session, New York financier Steven C. Rattner was charming and seemed to win over the Council but something he mentioned stuck out . . .

When talking about a possible delay because of petitions that would force a public vote, Mr. Rattner stressed that "this was the right deal at the right time" over and over again.

"The deal only gets worse as more time passes," he said.

Apparently, market circumstances could interfere or worse . . . There could be a terrorist event that might shut down the markets, Mr. Rattner warned.

To wit . . .

THAT'S RIGHT!!! THE TERRORISTS AND ISIS THREATEN THIS KANSAS CITY HOTEL DEAL IF IT'S DELAYED BY THE PETITIONERS!!!

That line should have clued me in to the fact that the meeting was a B.S. session but I just couldn't stop watching . . .

Council Lady Heather Hall asked a lot of good questions . . .



She seems mostly concerned with the catering part of the plan that is guaranteed by the city and seems to be the weak point in the contract. Developers tried to reassure the Council Lady with guarantees about finding work for subcontractors. But it's worth noting that KC is on the hook for this part of the contract.

By Far, Councilman Lee Barnes made the strongest point about minority participation . . .



Councilman Barnes pointed out several instances where minority contractors were not included and projects didn't live up the City Hall MBE standards. Even Mayor Sly was forced to concede that Mike Burke had yet to reach out to minority biz when creating the project. Some may not agree with Councilman Barnes but to his credit, he didn't let the question go until he go until he got an answer and at least some interest in more minority participation.

Council Lady Katy Shields noted some financial inconsistencies in the City Manager's plan an even spoke of an ordinance guaranteeing that no general fund cash would be used to back the hotel project.



For those who know City Hall and listened closely . . . Council Lady Katy pretty much revealed that all of these General Fund reassurances are tantamount to a shell game. Money is moved from the General Fund to the Convention and Visitors fund time and again and only this year was a big surplus added . . .

City Manager Troy Schulte attempted to offset her question by answering another . . . Even worse, she won't get her General Fund guarantee ordinance because the Mayor says it's already part of the deal.

Patrick Tuohey from the Show-Me Institute was last up and offered an important fact check about room occupancy and the finances of the deal.



Mr. Tuohey: "What the proponents of this plan are saying is that it does not make business sense to build a convention hotel on that spot right now. And because it doesn't make sense, they need the taxpayers to be the first investors."

After that Mayor Sly provided what was essentially the round-up . . . He reiterated the general fund shell game fib, actually said "yadda, yadda, yadda" and then offered another pat on the back to developers . . .



Mayor Sly:

"You guys worked your tails off to put together a deal that protects this city . . . There is no such thing as a perfect deal. We've got a deal unlike any other . . . We have no risk, a cap of $35 million and you (the developers) take all the risk, build a hotel and operate it. It's not going to get any better."

Sadly, no word during this so-called "listening session" from petitioners who still threaten a lawsuit if their efforts are not placed upon the ballot.

You decide . . .