It only took 3 years and a Supreme Court decision and now the city has decided to release (some) of the Events Center building documentation. (click on Item 4A, and you will see the PDF DOCS on the lower right hand side of your screen).
The obvious reason we WANT to see the siding report is that it may or may not tell us if we will need to do maintenance to the siding in the near future. Attorney invoices from 3 years ago don’t help much. Just saying.
UPDATE: I had a chance to review most of the documents. Besides the fact we spent thousands of dollars on outside legal counsel, there was something that stuck out, over and over. That in a moment.
I will say this first, while I can be uber-critical and cynical of local government, there is a part of me that understands that public officials (either elected or appointed) don’t always make the right decision. Most of the time that is for two reasons; 1) They didn’t get the proper information or did not seek it out before making the decision OR 2) it has to do with their political philosophies. While those two are not totally inexcusable, they are within reason. Nobody is perfect, we all make mistakes, we all tell a lie from time to time, but we try to LEARN from our missteps.
But what stuck out on the siding settlement and the attached documents is that in the dozens of pages of memos and letters between all parties involved (contractors, city employees, architects, manufacturers, legal teams, etc.) they all had a repetitive theme in their correspondence; APPLYING THIS SIDING IS NOT A RECOMMENDED OR GOOD IDEA. But for some reason at the end of the day, they did it anyway.
Why? Well that seems to be the Million dollar question. Like I said, most mistakes by public officials are excusable, but it is baffling to me with all the warnings that anyone would approve this siding job. Somebody was following orders, and someone was giving them. Can anyone say “Code Red”.
What seems obvious is that the blame got spread out like fertilizer (aka BS). Everybody admitted there was a mistake but nobody accepted the blame. With ‘Strong Mayor Charter’, we know who’s to blame.
I recently attended an event at the Premier Center and could not help but break out in laughter whenI recalled your nickname for it, the Denty. Keep calling it that and spread the word. My bet is that it will get fixed soon if Denny hears it often enough. He might even pay for it!
Jeff Hazard and his firm, Koch Hazard, were the architects for the Events Center.
I’ve always wondered what their role was in this debacle ???
Still waiting to hear when the Council is going to hold a 2nd PUBLIC meeting where the councilors will continue to ask for clarification regarding the EC settlement.
the Denty name made me laugh as well. I hear it more and more now too. I hope it sticks, it’s a perfect name.