by William Skink
Today people you didn’t elect are going to vote on whether or not spend $1.1 million dollars of your money on a motel that was listed for $675,000 six years ago.
And, on top of that, our shady Mayor has once again seemingly done his best to conceal the city’s actions surrounding this deal.
This is coming out thanks to a letter penned by three ELECTED council members who are trying to get critical information out to the public before our limited resources are used to purchase a property for hundreds of thousands of dollars over the asking price of six years ago.
Here is a portion of the letter:
We are writing as three elected officials representing three wards of the City of Missoula. We are kindly asking you not to approve the purchase of the Sleepy Inn Motel until full details have been determined and digested by ELECTED officials and the citizens of Missoula. We personally see this as an example of “never letting a good crisis going to waste”. After much research, we have not yet seen any evidence of any municipality in the United States using the COVID-19 crisis to purchase a hotel/motel. We have seen many examples of municipalities renting or leasing hotels/motels, but never purchasing one during this crisis.
All signs point to COVID-19 hopefully ending in the next couple of months, meaning that the long-term effects and intentions of the Sleepy Inn Motel purchase are not that of COVID-19. Using this as an excuse to purchase something that would otherwise receive even more scrutiny is not acceptable; especially since it was buried as an address that was buried in Claims that was buried in the Consent Agenda during our historic first-ever virtual City Council meeting.
We need to see commercial estimates by commercial appraisers. This hotel was listed six years ago for $675,000 dollars. At the time the owner was so desperate to get rid of it that they were offering owner financing on it. This price is close to half of what the city is now paying for it after 6 years of wear and tear in the middle of an economic depression. It is also worth noting that the taxable value of the hotel is roughly 400k less than the value the MRA plans to spend. It is our strong recommendation that the City gets at least two commercial appraisals. We do not know if a commercial appraisal has been completed on the property and we do not know if the tax dollars (that we supposedly preside over) are being spent wisely or appropriately.
What the hell is going on here? Who came up with the $1.1 million price tag if the property was listed for essentially half that six years ago?
Mayor Engen appears to be “burying” what he plans to do with the public’s money so his handpicked sycophants at the Missoula Redevelopment Agency can vote on this expenditure of TIF money before the public knows the details.
Are you ok with that Missoula?
While people are locked down, stressed out and wondering how the hell they are going to survive our Mayor continues his shady schemes with even less scrutiny.
The Mayor won’t stop doing this shit until he’s removed from office. He’s an alcoholic who spent years hiding the extent of his problem with alcohol from his peers and from the public. The Mayor didn’t start dealing with his addiction until he was confronted by friends and put on a plane for inpatient rehab in Oregon.
Mayor Engen doesn’t seem capable of acting in a forthright, transparent manner when it comes to the financial stewardship of the public’s resources. I hope you’re paying attention, Missoula, and in 2021, please, vote for ABE (anyone but Engen).
