Day 10

On the Tenth day of Christmas the Mayor for Life gave to me...

10 more years of hotel mortgage payments;

The City of Massillon spends Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) money to pay the mortgage of the privately owned Hampton Inn Hotel.

Just this year, Massillon City Council allocated another $211,000 to pay the mortgage for the Hampton Inn. Only Councilwoman Kathy Catazaro-Perry voted no.

The City of Massillon, under the leadership and direction of our Mayor for Life borrowed $2.25 million dollars about ten years ago to finance the Hampton Inn... for someone else.

Since then, we have paid $1,645,000 dollars in interest, and $525,000 dollars on the principal. We still owe another $1,725,000 dollars. Here is the funny part;

At the end of the 20 year mortgage, in 2019, we will still owe an almost one million dollar ($984,000) balloon payment. Our Mayor for Life's appointee, Community Development Director Aane Aaby, believes the hotel developer will chip in on the balloon payment. He doesn't have to. But the city 'hopes' he will.

If you believe that using tax dollars to pay the mortgage for a private hotel is a bad idea, well, you would be wrong.

"It was a good expenditure of tax dollars and the city is better off for it" (Frank Cicchinelli, The Independent, May 8, 2009).

And every body sing!

Nine hole golf course expansion

Eight paranoid delusions

Seven hundred thousand dollars of unpaid bills

Six terms as mayor

FIVE RUBBER STAMPS

Four parks decaying

Three taxes rising

Two Park Board lackeys

and a Pledge to the people of Ward 4...