The city council has asked the mayor and or his city solicitor and his purchasing agent to provide the city government with some proof that he has in fact negotiated the sale of the former Pope John High School property for $10.5 million.
It is one thing to take the mayor at his word as the council did two weeks ago when it appropriated the money for the mayor to use without an agreement in hand.
It is another thing for the mayor to provide evidence that the deal really exists.
The city council wants to see a signed purchase and sale agreement listing all the particulars for the sale, including proof that the site is not contaminated in any way.
Is a broker’s fee being paid?
What are the stipulations for the purchase? Are there any?
Will the city be insulated from the mayor’s tendency to expect quid pro quo’s to be paid in return for contracts – the quid pro quo being donations to his political account?
A project like this one might ostensibly be a bonanza for the mayor’s political account.
Let’s make this project a bonanza for the city and for those veterans and elderly in need of housing.