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From this morning’s Journal Gazette: The City of Fort Wayne has announced a desire to renew the purchase option.
“The city plans to approach the Rifkin family, which owns the property through a limited liability corporation, about extending the option, [Fort Wayne director of development, John] Urbahns said. Danny Rifkin, who also serves as president and CEO of OmniSource, could not be reached for comment Monday afternoon….”The city, however, is still assessing the land and conducting environmental studies, Urbahns said. The environmental cleanliness of the site became an issue during the city election, as Richard’s administration declined to release environmental studies of the land. That information would be made available as part of the final package if the city moves forward with the purchase, Urbahns said.”
Kudos to the City of Fort Wayne, Tom Henry and his transition team for their diligence. As indicated in a previous post, I believe this approach is most prudent. I remain hopeful that this decision is indicative of the leadership we may expect from the Henry Administration.
I don’t think Richard cares about the concerns that taxpayers might have with buying this property and I don’t think he would be moved by a few dissenting voices on the City Council. What I do think he cares about is giving Henry a bad start as Mayor.
I don’t think anyone doubts that Henry has Richards ear on this issue. If Richard buys the property that either that would give a lot of people the impression that Henry OK’d it.
I’m willing to give Henry credit for probably being the one who convinced Richard to let it wait. I’m not totally unapreciative towards Richard though. I’d like to thank him for leaving office!