Update: As much as I hate to admit being wrong my representations of Marty Kotis in this and other posts are not factually correct. He turned out to be a much better person with a genuine interest in Greensboro. Begin original post.
So I was thinking about this deal where developers who own empty big box retail stores can now get low interest loans from the City of Greensboro to fix up their empty big box retail stores in the hopes of attracting a new big box retailer knowing full well that without knowing who that big box retailer might be the developer would simply have to do the entire remodeling process all over again should he or she actually find a new retailer and I thought to myself, Self, what kind of a moron developer would borrow money for something like that anyway?
I mean, seriously, who wants to pay the same bill twice. Smart people just don't do things like that. Heck, most dumb people don't do that.
Knowing most of these developer types are pretty bright I decided that few, if any other than Marty Kotis, might be dumb enough to borrow money to fix up a building he's only going to have to pay to fix up again and then 3 words hit me-- low interest loans.
What if, instead of actually fixing up these targets for Darwin Award nominees, Marty and others simply splashed on a quick coat of paint on the front, patched a couple of holes in the roof and invested the rest of the money in gold, commodities, stocks or bonds? As long as the markets don't crash they pay back the loans in time, make a mint and come out smelling like a rose. Profits Baby! At the taxpayers' expense.
But if the market crashes, they default on their loans and Greensboro gets stuck with a dilapidated old big box retail store with a faux exterior and a huge bill to tear it down and haul it away.
Somebody say it ain't so! Has Greensboro just been bilked for a ponzzi scheme? Somebody on city council send me the text that I can copy and past below that proves that what I think might happen absolutely, positively cannot happen under any circumstances.
And the longer it takes you to do it the worse it looks for the Greensboro City Council who voted unanimously to allow these loans to take place.
See you Monday, October 29th 6-8 PM at Dudley High School for the Gathering of the Trolls, aka the Mayor's East Greensboro Summit.
