Let’s spend money we do not have

Does it hurt yet? Because you are going to learn to take it

From The Journal Times 8/24/16

“…

RACINE — A new study recommends a $40 million Downtown Racine events center attached to a 135-room hotel, though uncertainty about funding looms over discussions.

A conceptual plan presented Tuesday to the Racine County Board calls for a 3,800-seat arena to be built on vacant land at the southeast corner of Lake Avenue and Gas Light Drive.

In addition to the Milwaukee Bucks Developmental League team, officials say a United States Hockey League franchise has expressed interest in a Racine arena, which would also host concerts and other events.

A proposal on how to fund it has not yet emerged. An arena would cost about $40 million, according to the study from Hunden Strategic Partners….”

Lets be bold here did you think that Hunden Strategic Partners was NOT going to say that this the idea of an arena was not going to be the best thing since White bread? If they did how many more studies would they be hired to do, after all how much money will be generated in Downtown Racine even if nothing is ever built?Think of the Grants that could be received for this project! Think of the paid trips the Mayor and his pals could go on! Think of the booze that could be sold! Think of the cash only income near by business could make the sets of books one could have!

Of course we are told that crowds will come from Milwaukee and Northern IL to see our worse then Farm teams play, the backers of this plan must have not heard of

The Bucks

The Blackhawks

The Cubs

The Milwaukee Admirals

The White Socks

The Wave

Get the point?  The number of sports teams to see without ever coming near the Racine exits?

Looking at our population we are told that we would be the base of support to for the teams (right sure of course)

We would be paying the 40+ Million that this would cost this being on top of the 200 Million debit we now have oh the joy of the City of the Racine.

Now word is that the Hockey Team in the Newspaper is NOT the only Hockey team to use this but an NHL team owner will offer to move a Farm team here (and Big Foot is coming too)

Word is too that a “Named Hotel Chain” wants to come to Racine and build the Hotel with no ” tax payer” funds (you heard about Big Foot right?)

I will be following this story closely

 

Are you ready Racine for what is coming?

Are you ready for what is coming? You know you want it after all you been fucked by :

Point Blue

Team Porters

Machinery Row ( Wait til you hear the new idea AND who will pay the bills)

From the Journal Times 8/21/16

“…

The Racine County Board on Tuesday will hear the results of a recent study centered on the possibility of constructing an arena in Racine.

Moreover, the agenda for Tuesday’s meeting mentions the possibility of a hotel in connection to the arena. On Friday, Racine County Executive Jonathan Delagrave declined to provide details about the hotel in advance of the meeting.  …”

As much as Racine County Executive Jonathan Delagrave declined to provide details (and why should he he only works for us but looks like he is controlled by Mayor John Dickert)

I will speculate:

1. The location is Downtown Racine thinking the old WE Energy site on Lake St
2. The hotel a long time goal of Mayor John Dickert and will include a convention center thinking this be the filled in 5th St Marina that the County can not sell nor has found any interest in. What better way to dispose of a White Elephant then sell it to the tax payers?
3. The Sports arena will include an indoor Ice rink something else a long time goal of the Downtown Racine crowd wants badly maybe something called for in the Root Works plan
4. The Ice rink we will be told would be used by An NHL farm team we will be told would be moved or started in Racine
5. That the convention center of course would be ran by the same company Venu Works that only loss 300K last year and has trouble filling the Festival Hall in Racine
6. the cost (about say 50 Million) would be split between The City of Racine County of Racine and forced loans I mean donations from the Racine Business community

That local Sport player (s) from Racine we will be told will buy naming rights, to honor another local sports hero.

That there are a few 100K in grants to kick the project off (and pay the developer?)

Of course the report will say  there is a HUGE need for a Sports Complex and Hotel/Convention center. We will be told that many from Chicago would come to Racine to see the Sports team Ice Skate then spend $$ in Downtown Racine, after all just go downtown and see all the cars from IL, and the line of cars coming to Racine on Hwy 11 to visit this Hell hole I mean great city.

Now how will Machinery Row impact this when new details on that project comes out?

Overall just know your not taxed enough and need to pay more to allow the pals of John Dickert to make money off you now be good and bend over because its coming

 

 

Machinery Row! Is dead dead dead or a new set of lies? With update!

From The Journal Times http://journaltimes.com/business/local/racine-committee-to-discuss-machinery-row-in-closed-session/article_bfaacc4e-3fe7-5dbc-8bfc-bb987ff9130a.html

“… The Racine Executive Committee will meet in closed session at 7 p.m. today to discuss Machinery Row, the proposed mixed-use, riverfront redevelopment along Water Street. No open session will follow…”

Why what might this be about?

Could it be the fact that the loan from the city of Racine to Rodney Blackwell for this project even after an extension has not been repaid AND I can find nothing about another being granted. Might is be about that? From the records I can find (like none) there is no proof he has paid the City of Racine anything and with no signed agreement between the city and Blackwell approved by the Aldermen will he ever?

Did the City here unlike on the Main Street fiasco file a lean on the properties? Did Blackwell sign a personal responsibly note on this loan or could he simply walk away or in his case drive away?

Might it be what one discovers when searching Tax records on the properties making up Machinery Row will that be discussed?

This reporter thinks that Blackwell can not do this project and will claim to be looking for partners to help him finish something maybe low income housing maybe an Arena perhaps a Casino God knows what.

All bets are off if we ever see dime one back from yet what is looking like another failed project under Mayor Dickert

Note

there was a meeting of the Executive committee  last night on Machinery Row with no action taken, two points No action needing to be reported in the meting minuets taken. Any information given was not shared with the reporter from the Journal Times nor any Alderman said anything.

My guess and after living under Mayor John Dickert if all was going well there would have been a press event.

So the question is when will we know how bad things are in Machinery Row how will the City explain this away?

Take this opportunity to check on the project as I would and the J-T should with the property and tax records.

A search on how well Rodney Blackwell is doing with his projects in Iowa might be useful too.

Who is allowed to own “bars” in Downtown Racine?

Who is allowed to own bars in Downtown Racine? Lets see what the Newspaper might tell us

From the Journal Times http://journaltimes.com/news/local/liquor-license-denied-for-proposed-gas-station/article_93cecea8-c3d3-545e-8885-0946ba26f32f.html

we have this “… Phesal Ckadan and Bashar Qedan, the father-son duo which runs Twins Food Mart, 1812 16th St., appeared in front of the Public Safety and Licensing Committee Monday with their developer, Eihab Atout, seeking to exceed the city’s Class A liquor license quota at the proposed central-city gas station. The proposed location, 930 Washington Ave., is within 1,000 feet of two other liquor-selling establishments; the committee unanimously denied their request. That means the gas station, if opened, will not be licensed to sell alcohol…”  this continues ..

“It’s a million-dollar investment,” Atout said. “We have to succeed.”

When Fifth District Alderman Steve Smetana questioned Atout further on why the liquor license was necessary, Atout compared the potential gas station to other local businesses.

“We want to do the same thing as Kwik Trip,” Atout said. “We want to do the same thing as Walgreens. We want to do the same thing as everybody else.”

Mind you the owners of this Station are black and own stores in the inner city my understanding is the owners do a lot for the area that Twins is in in the inner City of Racine

but read what the City has to say .., ”

Deputy City Attorney Nicole Larsen told the committee that, in her opinion, the application to exceed the quota didn’t meet the four conditions necessary for approval outlined in the city’s ordinances. Those four conditions are: the submission of petition that outlines a business plan and relevant experiences; proof of ownership; evidence that the business will have “greater economic impact;” and evidence that the business will substantially improve the tax base.

“The ordinance sets out very clearly the requirement that you need to meet,” Larsen said. “It’s your obligation to show the committee that you can meet those requirements.”…”

Of course they weere unable to do so and FYI  the owners of Twins are Minorities

On the other side we have this, Right off the top we have this line that speaks volumes to me “…

From the Racine Journal Times  http://journaltimes.com/business/local/downtown-building-sold/article_bd8af615-018e-52f3-adb8-633df1d66e63.html

RACINE – Downtown tavern owner Doug Nicholson has bought the long-vacant 311 Main St. and said rehabbing it “will be our biggest project yet.”

is the owner of three Downtown businesses: Ivanhoe Pub & Eatery, 231 Main St.; Envi Ultra Lounge, 316 Main St.; and Carriage House Liquor Co., 220 State St…”

Word on the street is that this Building will be turned into a large Brew Pub

All three bars (if you can drink at a counter to me its a bar)

All three are within 1000′ of  other bars in the areas of Downtown Racine

So why can he keep getting more bars under his control in Downtown Racine what is different here?

Might it be that be because Nicholson is a long time pal of Mayor Dickert of Racine, who has worked on Dicker Campaigns and serves on the powerful Redevelopment Committee (who serving on this refused to vote on issues with Machinery Row conflict of interests perhaps?)

Might in be because unlike the Owners of Twins who sought to open a liquor store as part of their proposed Gas Station (and got turned down) is White, that Nicholson is allowed to open/buy Bar after bar in Racine?

This will be a very interesting story to follow, and time to look into past meetings of the RDA to see if past meetings of that group might shed light into this.

 

 

 

 

 

How do you lose 800K

From the Racine Journal Times 8/6/16  link http://journaltimes.com/news/local/mayor-aldermen-discuss-k-loan-in-closed-session/article_bb6b4cb7-a371-5659-81b3-0414b556c72a.html

… “RACINE — The City of Racine’s Executive Committee met in closed session Thursday evening, at least in part to discuss an $800,000 loan the city proposed writing off in June.

The Executive Committee includes Mayor John Dickert and five aldermen — Dennis Wiser, Q.A. Shakoor II, Melissa Lemke, Jeff Coe and Terry McCarthy. Dickert said Friday that the meeting was called to keep the aldermen informed on the latest with the loan, made to the now-defunct Main-Lake LLC, between 1993 and 1995 to fund housing at 419-425 Main St.

“It was really just advising the council as to what’s going on,” the mayor said. “A lot of council members have been asking about it so we just wanted to say this is where we’re at.”

State law allows city officials to meet in closed session to discuss strategy with legal counsel. Dickert couldn’t comment on the exact progress made on evaluating the loan. …

when last we read the City of Racine was going to write off the 800K loan made in the 1990’s for the building had been sold twice (if not three times) and if I understand right a lean was never placed on this building and as the story,

… “According to the June release, Elaine Ekes, the city’s consulting attorney, determined that the city would be unable to recoup the loan because the Main-Lake enterprise has dissolved. There was also no collection agreement with Main-Lake’s former parent company, The Alexander Company Inc., a Madison-based real estate developer, or any sort of mortgage taken out on the loan.

The Alexander Company’s president, Joe Alexander, said his company ceased involvement in Main-Lake in late 1997.”

Strong word on the street is that the City of Racine is going to sue to recover the loan.

Who would they sue? The current owner has a clean title, as my guess is the lat owner did, as we will find, all owners did, So then who will the City sue?

How do you not follow what must be SOP anytime  the city makes a loan THAT big?

Or maybe something else might explain what I can only call gross misconduct.

What do you think happened?

Begs the question what is going on with Machinery Row, after all  been three months and no word on what is going on with the loan the City gave on this. Why?

 

 

 

Welcome to The Police State of Racine WI

In Racine WI you are being watched..

From Channel 6

RACINE (WITI) — Should police be able to monitor what you post on your social media accounts? The Racine Police Department is looking to get a new tool — and it has at least one organization concerned.

Racine’s police chief has asked that the Common Council waive bidding requirements and use federal funds to purchase a service called “SnapTrends.”

The “SnapTrends” website describes the service as real-time location-based social listening. Social media activity is analyzed — to include Tweets, Facebook posts, Instagram photos and YouTube videos.

The Racine Police Department is looking to add this service to its arsenal — in an effort to hone in on crime in the city.

“Really the only crooks they`re going to catch with this are going to be the ones that are so stupid that they`re bragging about, you know, what they`re doing on Facebook,” Chris Ahmuty, the executive director of ACLU Wisconsin.

Ahmuty says a social listening tool raises several issues. He says the Racine Police Department’s use of such a tool can invade privacy.

“To see what people are posting on Facebook, what they`re posting on Twitter — it turns everybody into a suspect whether they`re up to no good or perfectly harmless,” Ahmuty said.

Alderman Henry Perez says he supports SnapTrends as a policing tool — saying it could be a good tool to provide intelligence while using open source information.

Ahmuty says he wishes city leaders would be more open about how they plan to use the technology, and where.

“They say that they`ll be able to zero in on areas where there is crime. If they`re zeroing in on areas of Racine, the ACLU would be very troubled if that means that they`re going to concentrate this police tool in poor neighborhoods — in neighborhoods that are mostly people of color,” Ahmuty said.

Alderman Perez says it’s important police don’t share too much information on how they might use this tool — saying getting too descriptive might help some people catch on, making the tool less effective.

A spokeswoman with the Racine Police Department says they don’t provide specifics regarding investigative tools, tactics and strategies — including SnapTrends, because they don’t want to compromise future investigations

————————————————————————————–

This program been going on for about 0ne year in this time at least one person has been arrested from a post that person made on Facebook.

I know that a search on You Tube “Racine” will bring up a lot of videos of what to be looks like crimes but to my understanding no one was been arrested for this.

From the above we know the RPD will not say if/when they have use SnapTrends to solve a crime.

One would think the RPD would so we know with more and more in Racine is saying crime is going up (why is the JT not talking about what my neighbors are?) but it is what it is.

Could SnapTrends be used to find folks in Racine who might be working on efforts to find candidates to run for Mayor, Alderman, County Board, who might not pro John Dickert plans for Racine?

To find the Blogs who like this one asks questions bringing out facts that Mayor Dickert NOT want the public to know?

Do we need out Tweets our Facebook postings to be observed to insure public safety?

Or might it be to ID who @Reporterwayne is on Twitter find who all the readers of Racine Exposed might be?

Now with the NSA reading our Emails hearing our Phone Calls using Big Data to watch and perhaps control us, why not the City of Racine, after all its for the kids

I was wrong and sorry for being so

In the past I did not think a Casino in Kenosha was a good thing, did not buy into the idea of being a job creator for good paying long term employment nor did I believe that the City of Racine benefit from this being built.

I still do not, I was wrong in not understanding how much better it would have been for the Casino to pay for The Bucks Arena then the Wisconsin tax payer, as I understand the Casino offered to do (pay for the Arena) also the State and City/County of Kenosha would have did well off the taxes  from the math challenged.

My understanding is that the Casino is dead and gone but this is Wisconsin and we do whore our self to the right type of big business so time will tell

Next time this idea comes up I will be behind it.

So

Just for fun thought I come by and see what if anything was new here. After all I have not posted anything here since 2015 then since I was not using this anymore I delete the site.

Then ….

I saw that people still came here that was kinda a shock more shocking was to see that comments were being left, not by spam botts trying to post some type of ads but from others who took the time to read what I had to say then take the time to write something.

More amazing is that it was from the hater group, so this poorly written with shit grammar and worse spelling blog is so upsetting the Pro Dickert  types that they are moved to defend him and his policies.

Very interesting and kinda motivating if only to be a burr in the side of our Mayor who I still see as being the number one reason why Racine is even more then ever falling into ruin

How is Team Porters doing anyway?

Wait, What: Wait; What: Popular Theories on Machinery Row

http://player.cinchcast.com/?platformId=1&assetType=single&assetId=7843451

Check Out Politics Conservative Podcasts at Blog Talk Radio with Real News Racine on BlogTalkRadio

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/racinecrimesyndicate/2015/08/12/wait-what-popular-theories-on-machinery-row

Cut and paste in your address Bar if the player does not load

Pattern or Practice watch it here

The story of how a small Midwestern town waged war on African-American and Hispanic bar owners to drive them out of the changing town.

Pattern or Practice peels the veneer off that shoddy pretense and provides a stark view of what institutionalized racism looks like. a small Midwestern town, once a manufacturing powerhouse, is a backsliding, post-industrial community with a race problem so pervasive that disbelief is nearly always the observer’s first reaction. By the time the final credits are rolling, that disbelief is replaced by anger, disgust, perhaps shame and hopefully a desire for change.

Pattern or Practice features restaurant bar owners who had their licenses and businesses taken by city elected officials. The footage includes interviews with business owners who, with their own words and emotions, outline the abuse and harassment they experienced at the hands of the city. The film uses documentation from actual committee meetings, network news casts and articles that ran in the local newspaper.

The title, Pattern or Practice, comes from the Justice Department term meaning: pattern of discrimination that has been conducted against a group of persons or an issue of general public importance. The film focuses on the practice of selective legal enforcement that is enabled by a passive public perception of “I’m glad it’s not me”. County Supervisor and owner of the local black newspaper, Ken Lumpkin, states “I was raised in Montgomery Alabama during the marches for freedom with Dr. King and thought this type of activity was dead.”