tkihshbt wrote:

It's my opinion that stories about what local governments are doing/spending have far more value than re-writing a bunch of police reports and sticking them on the front page.

What say you people?

I agree, but I can take a stab at the source of the problem.  It's simply too damned dangerous in a small town to report what needs reporting.

We had a situation here that rivals the worst abuses I ever heard in Indonesia.  A school board proposed an unfunded non-voter approved purchase for $10 million to buy property on which to build a new middle school.  They're not allowed to do this, apparently, unless they get approval, in this case I think it was from the county commissioner . . . who approved it and then retired.  They purchased a farm with cash on hand, only to "discover" that farmland here cannot be converted for any reason whatsoever.  Buildable property sells for 10 times that of farmland here, so they payed 10 times too much money for a piece of farmland on which nothing can ever be built as long the sun rises in the East.  Oh, and by the way, the previous owner of the farm bears a family name that can be seen everywhere, the length and breadth, of this county (not quite like "Daley" in Chicago, because they are businessmen, not politicians, but you get the idea).  So, the school district in this nice middle income area was either going to go insolvent, and be taken over by the state, or else voters would have to approve a bond measure to pay for the property on which we lost $9 million dollars and still cannot build a school.  The bond measure failed once, with voters making the reasonable demands that all board members resign first and that the school board investigates possible legal action against the firm that assessed the value of the land.  Then the bond measure passed, the board promptly determined that legal action would likely consume money with little hope of recouping anything, and the matter dies.  The tax payers are out $9 million, we have a $1 million farm, and we still need a school . . . , which will of course require another bond measure. 

The thing is, in Indonesia, at least, people would complain.  They would assume all the major participants profited illegally from the arrangement.  Here, it's like . . . eerily silent.  Are people THAT confident that there is no corruption here and that it was all just a big mix-up?  Are they scared to say anything, for fear of disturbing the waters in a peaceful little part of small town America?  It is a weird homecoming for me to see shit every bit as flagrant and contemptible as what I saw in Indonesia, but without a peep from the press or people.

tkihshbt wrote:

That IS abuse, Max. Did that get picked up by any bigger outlets?

Not to my knowledge.  The only big market nearby is Seattle, and they have their own issues.  Besides, my hunch is that stuff like this is quite common.  Maybe not quite that flagrant.  But I'llll give you another example of something that stinks to high hell, and looks like  a very familiar con in Indonesia.

A guy gets a loan for about $60 million to build a factory for manufactured homes in an industrial park I pass everyday.  The thing gets built, never quite gets up to full speed, then shuts it doors after about 24 months.  Meanwhile, all that time, across the street is a sign that says, "future home of the so-and-so seed company".  The local paper reports the factory shut it doors and laid-off its remaining workers and furthermore, the owner is not speaking about plans.  About 6 months later the factory has a new name on it, "so-and-so seed company", and the sign across the street is gone. 

This sounds like two common scams, put together.  The first one is to borrow money on a business venture that will fail, but in the process of using the loan the principals make themselves quite wealthy.  The second is a misdirection play: borrow money on a business that will fail, while the actual business interests waits in the wings ready to scoop the assets of the failed business for a steep discount.   So, while I have no proof, I strongly suspect that the guy who got the $60 million loan for the failed manufactured home factory made himself rich on the failure, and I wouldn't be a bit surprised if the so-and-so seed company was in on this from the beginning, figuring they would get their warehouse built for them, acquiring it after it gets repossessed by the bank, and wind up paying maybe 10-50% of the cost of a new warehouse. 

Now, this might seem far-fetched to many people, but I saw it so often in Indonesia, where the collusion between bankers, businessmen, and even politicians, leads to numerous deals that are designed around loans to a business that will fail . . . almost like "The Producers", that I cannot help but to be suspicious with this.

Last edited by Max (12/15/2010 12:38 pm)

Yeah, I thought that was weird that he would randomly dial up reporters.

"I've determined people read local newspapers for three things - local sports scores, obituaries and police logs. The city government stuff is usually only important when people's personal finances are at stake."

Yes. I think both things can be achieved, but that more focus should be on what city government is doing. Every month I go to school board meetings and every month the story I usually write is about the state's budget crisis or where the school's finances are. This probably seems repetitive, but it's also damn important.

Last year I felt silly for reporting that the village I cover spent $2,000 to purchase a lawn mower. Then i went back and thought about it and realized it had value. This village has an annual budget around $100,000. They used two percent of it to purchase a valuable piece of equipment.

Good thing, too, because that's one of the stupidest ideas I've ever heard.