Bailey Bids Buh-bye to Barrister Business

An article yesterday in Portland’s largest newspaper reported the following:

F. Lee Bailey, the famed defense attorney who sought to make a comeback in Maine after being disbarred more than a decade ago, lost his bid to practice law on a split decision Thursday by the Maine Supreme Judicial Court.

                               

Bailey was denied the right to practice law in Maine in a 4-2 decision by Maine’s highest court. The ruling Thursday overturned a previous decision by a single justice who found that Bailey was fit to practice law because he was sufficiently rehabilitated after mishandling a client’s stocks worth $6 million.

The court denied Bailey in a 4-2 decision, saying the lawyer who helped to win acquittals for celebrity defendants O.J. Simpson and Dr. Sam Sheppard had “failed to demonstrate that he is sufficiently rehabilitated by proving that it is highly probable that he recognizes the wrongfulness and seriousness of most of the misconduct he committed.”

FLee, as we’ve called him in posts in the past, may be best remembered as a confidant and advisor to our own Johnny Protocols, especially during his failed gubernatorial campaign effort of 2010.

                 

The pair is shown above during that time frame, taking up space as non-paying customers in Wild Oats at the Tontine Mall.

It occurs to us that FLee should have consulted with JP on the path to rehabilitation and redemption in the public eye.  If he had, we might be reading about Bailey’s election to the Yarmouth town council, a group he could no doubt nullify at will.

                               

Or his non-judgmental embrace of international statesmen.

Bailey, of course, distinguished himself several in the case of Oxford Aviation’s attempt to hornswoggle a huge hangar on the former Naval Base.  Words we posted back then include these:

Bailey uses soaring flights of hyperbole, enchanting all within earshot without the slightest bit of evidence, analysis, or substantiation. Try these: “a tremendous opportunity for Brunswick, far beyond anything I had imagined;” and “further cement Brunswick as a global leader in the aviation world.”

Bailey touts “contracts with aviation industry titans,” and avows that Oxford is “in discussions with Airbus.” His speechifying is all we have to go on. I suppose we should be grateful, though; this is too good a deal to pass up, right? (If you were an Airbus executive, would you take Oxford Aviation seriously?)

Jim Horowitz, the owner of Oxford Aviation, has kept out of the public eye, except to plead for more respect for his employees, a frivolous distraction from the troubling facts on the record.

And this:

…which could morph Oxford Aviation’s towering world-wide reputation for skill and quality in aircraft refurbishing into similar results with business jets, for which there is a large and growing market.

You remember Oxford Aviation, don’t you?  Trust us, you’re better off if you don’t.  Especially since Kestrel Aviation swept in to “further cement Brunswick” as an also ran in the aviation world.

In the process, though, FLee taught JP the finer points of public hyperbole, which is why councilor Protocols could say at the recent council meeting that he lives ‘within a stone’s throw’ of the railroad tracks.

By our reckoning on Google Earth, that means Johnny P can hurl a stone something like 6,000 feet or more, which for the non-technical, is in excess of one mile, or about 50 times further than Bouchard Drive residents live from the tracks.

Maybe he should enter the David and Goliath games this summer.

Technorati Tags: Bailey,Richardson,Brunswick

Return of the pigeons….

                              

We know this doesn’t make much sense, but it rolls off the keyboard better than “When the pigeons come back to Cap-es-brunswick.”  Not that we haven’t had our own history involving swallows, compliments of Jacquie P. and others.

None-the-more, we’ve from time to time mentioned that when you feed the pigeons, you get more pigeons.  And at the moment, we see a pigeon feeding frenzy at the municipal feed dispenser.

          

As proof, here we see Directors of the Brunswick Development Corporation (BDC), simply trying to take a break on the Mall, descended upon by said pigeons.  Which leads us to a conclusion.

Anyone who thinks the Brunswick Taxi quarter million dollar gift from BDC wouldn’t change things here in the Cape should put down their jug of Kool-Aid and get a piping hot cup of high caffeine coffee.  After what we’re about to discuss, you may or may not want to get it at Wild Oats.

We suppose some might quibble with the pigeon imagery, but we decided it was ever so much more tasteful than pigs feeding at the trough.  And we’re all about taste, as you know.

You might find this one more pleasing, since it shows pig ‘children’ feeding, and we all know ‘children are our future.’   Irresistible, don’t you agree?  Oink, oink.

We don’t know if you’ve seen the latest news about BDC activities, but no matter.  We’re going to review it for you.  As you read the news, make sure you remind yourselves how local sensibilities over the years have taken offense at ‘corporate tax breaks,’ ‘corporate subsidies,’ ‘loopholes,’ and similar travesties of the relationship between evil capitalists and long-suffering taxpayers.  Such things only happen elsewhere, where enlightenment has not visited upon the populace and their benevolent leaders as it has here.

Throw in ‘corporate cronyism’ while you’re at it.  And then remind yourself of how fortunate we are to have it banned by municipal fiat in our perfect richest little town in America.

Alright, let’s dispense with the pontificating and frivolity and get on with business.  From what we read, the BDC is being besought with requests for grants (and loans in limited cases) from entities far and wide, regardless of whether they are established and successful or not.  Sadly, because of prior spendthrift actions, the BDC finds itself running out of slop.  Wait; make that pigeon food.  No, make that public funds. 

There just aren’t enough teats on the old town sow; mothers milk and access to it are limited.  Those with a connection to the sow may be able to help, if approached with due reverence, we suspect.

     

This situation is doubly tragic, because councilor Johnny Protocols (known to many of you as GoJo), a BDC board member, is rumored to be “in discussions with no less than a dozen Fortune One Million firms looking to prosper within our boundaries.”  How lucky can we taxpayers get?

According to recent reports, the BDC is down to less than $400,000 in working capital.  Yet they were expected to consider almost $600,000 in outright grant requests at a meeting just the other day, with a smidgeon more than that as ‘loans,’ an almost unheard of term lately.  We have no news on what the meeting outcome was, but it doesn’t matter.  The message, devoted readers, is in the requests themselves.

Do you know what ‘rent seeking’ means?  We owned rental property some time ago, and found ourselves constantly ‘seeking rent,’ but that was something entirely different.

We learned of the term only recently, and you need to do so as well, because the BDC and the applications they consider are exemplars of the concept.  Here’s the dictionary definition:

rent-seek·ing

noun Economics 

1. the act or process of using one’s assets and resources to increase one’s share of existing wealth without creating new wealth.

2. (specifically) the act or process of exploiting the political process or manipulating the economic environment to increase one’s revenue or profits.

We think this little diversion is apropos our discussion, and we’ll have more to say on the subject as we proceed.

      

The four applicants are:

1. RollEase, which is opening a satellite office and product innovation center at Brunswick Landing, site of the former naval air station, is seeking grant money of up to $150,000. 

You may not know about RollEase, but perhaps you remember Greg Farr, their Senior VP since 2011.  Here’s a bio from the RollEase web site:

                                      

Greg joined RollEase in January 2011 as Senior Vice President and is responsible for all operations (manufacturing, distribution, purchasing and logistics), marketing, engineering, quality control and customer service functions at the Company.  Greg has more than 23 years experience in the industry and has held various senior management roles with the two largest participants in the industry.  Prior to arriving at RollEase he spent four years as Senior Vice President for Springs Window Fashions and 14 years in a variety of roles at Hunter Douglas, including as Vice President/Business Unit Manager for one of their largest divisions.

It sure didn’t take Greg long to learn the ropes in Lake Basebegone; no doubt a sweetheart deal at the base, and now he wants $150,000 in a gift.  That must be some fine business he’s got there.  Maybe he should have named it Oxford Window Treatments; or Kestrel Slats. 

We remember Greg from his role in an ill-fated startup advocacy group called “Brunswick First” that was looking to bring some common sense to Brunswick governance and promote the town ‘brand.’  As we recall, Greg was then newly retired, and a recent arrival in town.

When the group got no traction, Greg became the ED at the Brunswick Downtown Association, and among other things, created the yellow flag approach to crossing Maine Street, which flamed out as fast as Brunswick First.  Seems like overnight Greg left the area, but just as quickly has returned, this time as the RollEase guy.  He must have smelled a good deal at the base, and we can only guess how much he “rolled” MRRA and taxpayers for to take up residence on the former base.

Now he wants his company to get a $150,000 gift from local taxpayers.  BTW, before we forget, did we tell you that one of Greg’s colleagues in the Brunswick First initiative was Dale King?

Where have we heard that name before?  We have a hazy recollection about a Rolling Easy Taxi Company, but it just might be a fig newton of our imagination.

You’re probably thinking that RollEase is some kind of start-up venture, and can’t possibly survive without MRRA benevolence and BDC grants.  Au contraire, mon amis.

Check this passage from their website (http://www.rollease.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=110&Itemid=287):

RollEase designs, manufactures and markets manual operating systems and accessories for soft and hard window coverings for use in both commercial and residential applications. Established in 1980, RollEase is the leading designer and largest manufacturer of premium clutch-based window covering operating systems worldwide and the third largest distributor of roller shade fabric in the USA. RollEase serves all segments of the domestic and international window covering industry including OEM's, fabricators, workrooms, commercial contractors, interior designers, architects, retailers, internet and mail order catalogs.

So they’ve been around for nearly 35 years, and are leaders in their industry.  But Greg is teaching them how to pull a few local strings to keep those window coverings going up and down.  And how to ‘roll’ Brunswick taxpayers in the process.

2.  The Brunswick Farmers’ Market Association is seeking $142,000 to change their location by renovating and moving to the old freight shed owned by Brooks Feed & Farm.

Excuse us?  Isn’t farming a personal choice as a way to make a living?  The farmer’s market has been in existence for longer than we can remember, and is doing very well on both the Town Mall and at Crystal Springs Farm.  Why is it that the public, in addition to being loyal customers, should be expected to give them a GRANT of $142,000 to do even better?  See the sow photo posted above, and see the definition of ‘rent seeking’ to answer the question.  And think of ‘rent seeking’ as an epidemic threatening our food chain.

3.  An outdoor speaker company, CAMM Inc./Terra Speakers is looking for $236,000 “in a grant or loan.”  They operate on Old Portland Road, and are ‘looking to expand.’  Well, aren’t we all?

Thank goodness someone has finally invented outdoor speakers.  What a breakthrough!  We expect the town to buy several hundred thousand worth to mount around the downtown area.  They’ll be used to trumpet Downeaster arrivals and departures five times a day; and to summons the faithful to the virtual mecca for such rituals.  Not to mention ‘noticing’ of important meetings so they can be held without printed warnings.

And now, the request that really fries our axle around our shorts.

4.  Wild Oats Bakery is applying for $214,000, 2/3rds of which would be a grant.  They want to ‘expand operations at Brunswick Landing.’

Well, there’s the secret password, as Groucho Marx might have said.  Cue the duck with the check for 214 large.

From our earliest days in Brunswick’s downtown, at least 30 years ago, we remember Wild Oats as a fixture, and we have always relished their baked goods and other delights.  It seems to us they have expanded/grown on 5 or 6 occasions since those days, and have prospered mightily ever since.  The place is usually jammed, they run out of our favorites before the day is over, and they are nobody’s idea of a cheap date.

We’re not suggesting they should be; we only mean to point out they have a very successful and well established business model, and have managed to do so while charging prices that should be comfortably profitable.  Besides, you’d think all the new business deriving from Downeaster passengers would give them excess working capital for the next steps.

If they don’t have the capital and cash flow to expand on their own, or get a fine loan from local banks, nobody would.  We’re offended, frankly, that they would come to local taxpayers to seek a handout.  You never know; this could be a result of the owner’s years on the School Board, where the expectation is that others should pay the price for whatever one wants.

                

Now that we’ve ‘digested’ all the foregoing, we have a ‘development’ idea of our own.  We’re going to ask the BDC to give us a grant for $500,000, of which a buck two ninety five would be a loan, to start a campaign to have Cape Brunswick become the permanent site of the Annual Chutzpah Award Ceremony. 

                                

There are more than enough candidates for the awards nationally, but you’ve got to admit that here in our little corner of perfection we have our fair share of those who deserve the award.  We don’t know any exactly like this one:

                              

but she has nothing on some local ‘stars.’

Chutzpah, of course, is in the eye of the beholder.

      

That’s it for now; we’ve got to get up early to take a little piggy to market.

                                  

Technorati Tags: Brunswick,BDC,chutzpah,pigeons,swallows

Oxford Aviation: what a beauty Brunswick missed

If there’s any justice in life, you’ve long since forgotten about Oxford Aviation, as we thought we had.  You might even have forgotten that John ‘Johnny Protocols’ Richardson and his consiglieri FLee Bailey were cosmetic consultants to the operation, with the latter bringing his considerable reputation as an aviation industry leader to the table.

Oxford Aviation had great plans to leverage the key asset at the former BNAS – Hangar 6, we think it is - into a leadership role in global aviation maintenance, refurbishment, and upgrade.  They went so far as to show what they had in mind, using this picture of the ‘Brunswick Jet Division’ on their web page.

 

We apologize for the lousy quality of the image, but it’s all we could get our hands on, and frankly, taken in context, it’s poetic and prophetic.  (We’ll have to watch it, or we’ll soon be known as the Bard of Brunswick.)

Thanks to our informant Michelle A. Small, formerly code-named Ms. Mall here on Side, we can report to you that Oxford is back in the news.  We’re not sure if they’re seeking the advice of J.P. and FLee these days, even behind the scenes.  Both have more than enough ‘fly by night’ entries on their resumes, and don’t need to add any more to their glowing legacies.

According to the first story Michelle passed along, the folks at Oxford Aviation have been working their tails off.  And the tails of customers as well.  Here’s a sample passage from the article:

Steven Skilken, 63, was piloting the Cessna with five family members from their home city of Columbus, Ohio, to Colorado Springs when a section of the airplane’s tail broke off, sending the plane into a “violent yawing oscillation” as it was coming in for a landing, the suit alleges.

Scary as hell, you must admit.  Both literally and figuratively, this makes Johnny Protocols and his snafus re clean elections (that’s a laugh) funding of his Goobernatorial campaign look like a kid who can’t get a paper airplane to fly.

You’d think such high-profile glories would clip the wings of Johnny P. and Oxford, and cause their flights of fancy to end in tailspins.  But never fear; there are lawyers involved here, folks.

In the second article passed along by our source, you can read about the lovely time Oxford County is having with Horowitz’ and Oxford Aviation’s stewardship of the local airport operation.

Here’s the crux of the story:

Oxford County is attempting to evict Oxford Aviation from Oxford County Regional Airport, accusing the company of violating multiple terms of its lease.

According to the county, Oxford Aviation violated 11 terms of the lease it signed with county commissioners less than a year ago, following a three-year negotiation. The lease expires in 2027.

This is bad enough, but the words that really caught are attention are these:

According to the lease, Oxford Aviation does not pay rent to the county but is responsible for the cost for maintaining the facilities it leases at the airport and for submitting quarterly maintenance records to the county commissioners.  (emphasis ours)

Which couldn’t help but remind us of the generosity of certain well-known quasi-governmental entities, like one right here in Cape Brunswick.  We don’t know about you, but we think a $247,000 grant to Brunswick Taxi, with the barest of obligations, trumps the generosity of a zero-rent arrangement for a facility that probably couldn’t find a respectable tenant under any terms.  Kind of like the old Times Record building, once the pride of our municipal leadership.

All things considered, you might say we should file this post under ‘count your blessings.’

Lucky for us, thanks to the rigorous management style and due diligence of MRRA and other local notables, Oxford Aviation’s “Brunswick Landing” got the wave-off.

And MRRA’s due diligence dug up Kestrel Aviation and Alan Klapmeier to kome our way, and klaim their place in Brunswick’s illustrious ekonomic development history.  

                   

And BDC even plays a role in MRRA support.  Can it possible get any better than this?  We can almost hear “This nearly was mine….” playing in the background.

Technorati Tags: Brunswick,MRRA,Oxford Aviation,Kestrel

The WGAN ‘big break’ experience this morning

For those of you who might have tuned in this morning, you already know that a ‘half-hour segment,’ once you allow for the pleasantries of conversation, amounts to no more than 15 minutes or so of active discussion time.   And you know that we have ‘a voice made for print’ to go along with ‘a face made for radio.’

We’ve often said that we can say hello for 15 minutes, so the brevity of the time slot this morning permitted touching upon only a smattering of the items in the outline we had with us so we’d be able to avoid any ‘dead air.’

                  

Since we covered so little of it, we’re following up by ‘copying’ the list here, and adding a few notes or edits as we wish…

Notes for WGAN w/Dennis Bailey, Saturday, October 12, 2013

Main talking points:

• The shadowy, unaccountable world of 'quasi-governmental authorities' spending OPM on various 'economic development' pursuits. (OPM = other people’s money)

• And the sycophants and well-connected winners who are their drug dealers and groupies.  (consultants of all sorts, who can help you find money you didn’t know existed, arrange for it’s capture and expenditure, and otherwise tell you whatever it is you want to hear, and in the doing, help you keep that nice cozy job you have in government)

• Agenda drift, spending drift, mission drift...

  • Look at MSHA, MTA  (Maine State Housing Authority; Maine Turnpike Authority)

  • $300K plus solar heated 'affordable apts;' Turning rest stops into art exhibits

• NNEPRA  (Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority)

  • Why was it created? (1995, MSRA Title 23, Chapter 621) King Admin

    • Passenger rail died for very good reasons (but that doesn’t matter; the laws of economics don’t apply to government)

  • Why is the “P” there? Why not just rail?  (Shown below are three exemplary passages from the defining legislation for NNEPRA; if these aren’t enough to undermine any sense of credibility on their part, you’re drinking too much Kool-Aid)

    • §8009. Reasonable fares: Fares for the passenger rail service established pursuant to this chapter must be set at reasonable levels to encourage use of this service. [1995, c. 374, §3 (NEW).]  (This says that fares should not be set based on what the service costs, but on what it takes to get people to use it.  Could you have a viable business that operates this way???)

    • §8011. Rules of construction: This chapter must be construed liberally to effectuate the purposes of this chapter. (In other words, don’t worry about the pesky little details of the law.)

    • §8111. Purpose: The Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority, as established by Title 5, section 12004-F, subsection 16, is a body both corporate and politic in the State established for the general purpose of promoting passenger rail service as set forth in subchapter 1. It is declared that the purposes of this chapter are public and that the authority must be regarded as performing a governmental function in carrying out this chapter.  (In case there was any doubt, this is a PUBLIC, GOVERNMENTAL enterprise; always remember, the government is here to help us)

  • A solution looking for a problem

    • Reducing traffic jams on 295?? Between Portland and Brunswick? Are you serious? And reducing carbon footprints???

  • Compare to buses, which already existed, especially as a way to Logan, or even points south of Boston.  (You can actually get to the airport and'/or points south on the bus, but you can’t “get there from here” on the train.)

  • Why not bring back the Stagecoach? Lower carbon footprint....

  • Trumped up ridership; trumped up economic benefit

    • Everybody heading south from Freeport and Brunswick is taking money that would have been spent locally and spending it elsewhere.

    • Do people come ON the train, or BECAUSE of the train?  (In other words, as we’ve written in the past, they were coming regardless, and simply chose the train for the trip.)

  • The 'solutions' are irreversible, and so must be justified at any price.

    • Spending whatever it takes to save money

• Draw parallels to BDC and Brunswick Taxi

  • The same exists everywhere, no doubt

• CEI and tax credits for Kestrel at MRRA; now not paying bills, wages, benefits; needs another $125 million to keep their head above water.

• The most troubling part is that this has become accepted practice, and no one is concerned when you tell them about it.

• The same way we've become immune to crime, cultural coarseness, etc...

The Takeaways:

• Desperate economies looking for love in all the wrong places; like moneyed old maids falling prey to suave, debonair, and charming gigolos.

• The worse the 'natural' economy, the more the 'unnatural' economy grows and perpetuates, and the more institutionalized it becomes.

• And the more slippery the slope becomes, and the more like a death spiral.

   

And in case you wondered, the phone hasn’t been ringing, and it must be all those agents.  Which means, lucky for you, that you get to keep us right here in the local Cape Brunswick ‘media market.’

Technorati Tags: Big break,WGAN,radio spot

PS on Kestrel & Klapmeier

         

We were just out mowing the west 40 on this grand fall day when we had an afterthought on the post of earlier today.  It fits perfectly with our reputation for clear hindsight and non-judgmental cynicism.

Since the early Kestrel investment need for $100 million was to bring the new plane design to market, Klapmeier cannot blame his ‘cash-flow’ problems on ‘lackluster sales due to the weak economy,’ or ‘unexpectedly high material and production costs.’

And now he needs another $125 million to make it to market.  At least for now.

No, the kulprit here is Klapmeier himself and his incompetence in constructing the non-recurring cost model for bringing the design to market, and the creation of a valid business case for doing so.

Throw in the obviously flawed ‘due diligence’ performed by the MRRA and the authorities in Superior, Wisconsin, and you have the classic synergism of a technical genius with no business smarts, and government officials willing to bend over backwards with the public trust to encourage good intentions, no matter where they may lead.

Either that, or lots of wool being pulled over the right eyes.

Or, in the worst case, maybe both.

Remember Johnny Protocols and the ‘no less than a dozen Fortune 500 companies’ he was courting, who all seemed to disappear into thin air?  Maybe their protocol was disappearing, because they were never there in the first place.

Which makes disappearing ever so much easier.

Technorati Tags: Kestrel,MRRA

Kalling the BDC! Kestrel & Klapmeier Kould Use Some Kash (we mean a loan….)

We hope the BDC has lots of koin left in it’s koffers.  You know the BDC – the Brunswick Development Corporation – on which Johnny Protocols is focusing like a lawsyer.  Hard to pronounce, but that’s a combining form of lawyer and laser.  And JP wants to bring them to an even higher level of superior service to the public interest.

The reason we bring this up is because there is disturbing news on the street this morning.  Just the sort of thing that the BDC loves to engage in remedying, using that money of theirs that, you know, isn’t public, but isn’t private either.  For lack of a better term, it’s municipal government squish money.  Or maybe slush money would be better, since it reminds one of ‘slush funds.’

A friend passed along this BDN article link this morning.  Shortly thereafter, another friend passed along this Mainebiz link, which refers to the BDN article.

You might recall that we posted on Klapmeier and Kestrel in the past, and you can review those efforts here.  We invite Johnny Protocols to do so in particular, though he might find the essays driven by ‘personal and political’ agendas, which is the filter he views everything through.  Well, mostly everything.

Our reporting included this now classic, and even prophetic passage:

Because one of the bitter disappointments of the golden years is finding out just how gullible one has been, and almost always learning that lesson via government, politicians, and the myriad parasites and cronies that love to rub shoulders with them while picking the publics’ pockets.

Our earlier reporting included the photo at the top, which we remarked shows a total disregard for the flight patterns at BNAS.  The plane is going crosswise to the runways.  Perhaps we should all have seen that as a harbinger of what was to come.

We thought as we studied the Kestrel news back then that the business case didn’t make much sense or hold much water.  They were planning on selling the planes at $3 million each as we recall.  And if you had a generous mark-up of $250,000 on each, that would take selling 400 planes as an absolute minimum to recoup an initial investment of $100 million, with no return at all on that money, and no money to pay for a damn thing, including any labor.

But what do we know?  We’re not in the aviation business; we just deal in flights of fancy and idiocy.  So we didn’t think to do a business case analysis.  Maybe Scott Howard did; can someone contact him?

Which makes the current dilemma Kestrel finds itself in a perfect match for the BDC, which doesn’t seem to dwell on business cases either.  You might recall as well that BDC recently gave MRRA a grant of $250,000 to help in its ‘economic development.’

So let’s get to the essence of the current news:

Kestrel CEO Alan Klapmeier confirmed Wednesday that his startup company is behind on rent payments, has been late with paychecks and that Kestrel employees in Brunswick are currently without health, life and dental insurance after the company failed to pay premiums.

You really should read the rest of the BDN article….it’s breathtaking, actually.  A horror story, we would think. 

It includes this bombshell:

At an aviation industry conference in late July, Klapmeier said the company needs to raise $125 million to see the aircraft through FAA certification, according to Aviation International News.

He needs another $125 freakin’ million dollars before he can sell a single one?  Wow!  Sounds like a really solid investment to us.  At least for BDC, which really prefers to give money away anyhow.

             

All we can say is that it’s a damn good thing no one else makes a single engine private aircraft.  The sooner Klapmeier gets to market, the sooner that glaring deficiency will be corrected.

And the sooner we can all start rolling in the economic growth, or whatever else is covering the local pastures.

By the way, has anyone seen Jim Horowitz lately?  Is he still hanging out with FLee Bailey?  We’re just wondrin’.

Technorati Tags: BDC,Kestrel,MRRA

OK, LT. Dover; time to come back from your summer vacation.

As you probably noticed, when your correspondent takes a sabbatical, we also give a break to our trusty staff.  They appreciate the time off as much as we do, and they’re glad to get away from us and our incorrigible ways for the duration.  They may ‘respect’ Side, but they aren’t particularly fond of us.  Why does that always seem to be the case with those we know?

The riff that we’re on at the moment seems to be particularly well matched to LT Ben Dover’s attributes.  And even more, there’s a news item out this week that dovetails very nicely with his image.

You’ll find it here in the Forecaster.  The story is a lovely mélange of Brunswick Municipal Government; the Brunswick Development Corporation, which we are currently exploring; Coastal Enterprises Inc (CEI); and town facilities.

                

Before we pass along our observations, we’ll tell you that Ben, given his sense of military discipline, kept up his PT regime during the summer break, and is as fit as the photo above shows.  We suspect that the rest of you, and Side as well, slacked off a bit.  All we can say, boys and girls, is that what follows will have you repeatedly and fervently grabbing for your toes to resume your workout.

Based on what we’ve written in the last few days, you should have a pretty good idea of what Brunswick Development Corporation (BDC) is about, even if you and Dale King don’t see eye to eye on that.  If you want to find out about CEI, look here.

We remind you that we are a small town engineer, not a lawyer.  Still, as we see it, CEI is another one of those shadowy, quasi-governmental entities.  As we understand it, they were created through federal legislation, and today, they dispense federally allocated tax credits to those they choose, so they exercise some form of control over federal largesse.  If we recall correctly, they also deal in CDBGs, or Community Development Block Grants, which are federal dollars.  A few moments spent on their web site will convince you they have a barely hidden socio-political agenda.  We invite those who find these characterizations in error to submit comments and corrections to us, in which case we will correct the record.

You’ll also notice that CEI identifies themselves as a ‘private, non-profit community development corporation.’  How many evil corporations do we have to deal with around here, anyway?  It’s like they’re everywhere!

We believe that CEI was central to the vaunted Kestrel Aviation picking up their bat, ball, and glove and taking the majority of their operation to a Midwestern state that had better goodies to offer.  Seems they were disappointed when CEI didn’t come through with the tax credits they thought they had been promised.

So while CEI trumps BDC all to heck in scale and volume, they both basically deal in the same general offerings.  Among which are ‘corporate welfare and tax breaks,’ or if you prefer, ‘tax loopholes.’  You know how it goes; we hear over and over from local elites, semi-elites, and assorted moon-bats that such things are anathema to social and economic justice. 

And that those who engage in such practices are sons-o-bitches.  But once again we see that what they really mean is that it’s OK when it’s OUR sons-o-bitches.  It’s those other sons-a-bitches over there behind that tree or over that fence that are the real SOBs.

So it’s kinda fun to see BDC and CEI working together in the deal whereby the town offloads the old Rec Center and Municipal Building on Federal Street.  And both of them making some shekels on the deal for use in future cherry picking.

We’ve got a golf-tournament to watch this afternoon and other things on our agenda.  And the golf tourney looks to be heading for a pretty exciting finish.  Even more, the course was built on a former dump (landfill to elites and semi-elites) not more than 10 miles from where we were born and spent our formative years.  So we’re gonna try to cut to the chase pretty quick here.

CEI is getting one hell of a deal on the Rec Center and Town Hall as we see it, but some have argued there was no other reasonable option.  And it allows CEI and BDC to take credit for various things, like making the move of Town Offices to the McClellan building possible, making the new Police HQ cost less, and taking some white elephants off our hands.  At the same time, they help Cape Brunswick, the richest little town in America, continue to build its reputation as the demolition capital of Maine.  Even when it comes to demolishing taxpayer money, like we did with the TR building.

What really gets our hanky all balled up here are the statements regarding CEI in the subject article.  BDC President Larissa Darcy had these comments:

the move would also improve the town's reputation as a business-friendly community.

"In having a company of this size, like CEI, choose downtown Brunswick, it shows others that Brunswick is a good place for business," she said.

We take exception to the implication that CEI is a ‘business’ as normally conceived.  For the reasons we explained earlier; until someone convinces us otherwise, we will continue to think of them as a quasi-governmental/politically driven enterprise, replacing government occupied buildings.  And keep in mind that when they bring their existing jobs here, they’re taking them from other nearby communities.  Until proven otherwise, this is a zero-sum exercise, except for the demolition guys and the builders.

Darcy added:

CEI would also be paying taxes on properties that were previously nontaxable because of their municipal status, Darcy said.

As we told you, it says right on the CEI web page that they are a non-profit operation, which means they qualify for exemption from property taxes, just like local churches, Bowdoin College, and others.  So we’ll wait to see if they actually pay property taxes, and if they do, perhaps they can convince the Ivory Tower to ignore their exemption and pay their fair share as well.  When that happens, those monkeys we’ve been training should be ready to fly out of our….oh, forget it.

Toe touch, toe touch, one-two, one-two.

Moving on to the McClellan Building subject, we read these words attributed to our Town Manager:

The town will move its Town Hall and Council Chambers into the McLellan Building on Union Street by April - when BDC is expecting to close on the sale - pending renovation work, Brown said.

The town manager said more information about the scope and costs of renovation work on the McLellan Building is expected to emerge sometime in September.

We talked about this earlier in the year, including this post.  In that item, we said:

Last we can recall, the town was planning on spending around $800,000 or so, up from early projections of $300,000, to ‘adapt’ the building for town use.  We don’t think any of that sum was characterized as remediating ‘deferred maintenance issues.’

We happened to be discussing the subject earlier this week with an in-town acquaintance, and mentioned the $800,000 figure.  He laughed and suggested we think more in the range of $5 million.  We have no idea whether he had any real basis for this comment, but an architect has been hired, and you know what happens when we do that.  Before you catch your breath, demolition and rebuild comes into the picture as ‘cheaper in the long run.’  Just look at the school department.

We’re not suggesting that the McClellan building is ready for the wrecking ball, but we do see some similarity in the way Bowdoin maintained the building and the way the Brunswick School Department maintains their physical plants.  And here we thought Bowdoin had ‘pride of ownership;’ they clearly didn’t in this case.

Witness these recent photos taken around the McClellan Building by a reader of ours who has solid experience in exterior building care and repair.  And note as well that in acquiring the McClellan, we will be picking up a wood exterior building to replace one with a brick exterior, meaning regular cycles of exterior repair and painting.  Oh, well, we are Cape Brunswick, and we want to save taxpayer money.  We’ll spend whatever it takes to do so.

                 

                 

                 

                 

                 

                 

                 

That should be enough to make the point.  If this is the obvious and visible deferred maintenance, one can only imagine what the architects will find or not find as they look elsewhere.  One can’t help but remember how shortly after we bought the TR building for $1.5 million, we ‘discovered’ that it needed $5 million in work to be fit for use.

We don’t know if $5 million will be the final number, but we’d bet you a dozen of Frosty’s finest that it won’t be $800,000 thousand.

We’re not sure exactly, but we figure the McClellan building should be in the range of 10 years old or so.  And that Bowdoin College should be ashamed of itself for letting the building get into this condition.  But who knows; maybe they had an inkling long ago that they would not be the owners for very long.  And that ‘someone else’ would have to worry about the deferred maintenance before long.  Someone who can find the money they need very easily.

Maybe Bowdoin should offer up a calisthenics leader for us.  We think we’re going to see a lot  more toe touching required around here in the next several years.

                   

Everywhere we look…ducks, ducks, and more ducks.  Ducking for cover would seem to make sense at the moment.  It could be raining duck poop for a long, long time.

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