As we told you yesterday, the Finance and Budget committee will be meeting tonight to discuss in part what limits, if any, should be placed on city staff's ability to authorize settlement payouts on legal claims.
Tomorrow night promises even more fun and excitement!
Mayor Frimark has scheduled another City Council Workshop at City Hall at 6:30 PM to again discuss the Ekl Williams audit. And if you are one of our loyal PRU readers, you know the last time the City Council dared to ask questions about the police department audit prepared by Mr. Terry Ekl it didn't go very well.
Sources inside the city tell us Mr. Ekl is still refusing to turn over his background documentation for review by City Council members. The PRU Crew strongly urges our City Council members to come prepared for tomorrow night's meeting.
Also on tap tomorrow night is another meeting of the Fair Housing Commission. It appears that, with all the excitement the commission went through over the last year, they forgot to look at the entire Fair Housing ordinance, and just noticed some missing definitions and minor wording changes.pdf they would now like to add to the ordinance.
The PRU Crew isn't going to be cynical and suggest that these "missing definitions" and wording changes are really just an excuse to get the Fair Housing ordinance before the City Council again. We aren't going to suggest that this is one of the oldest tricks in the book to have another bite at the apple, as it were.
Mind the maggots!
4 comments:
A few days ago this blog posted a rumor that CVS was secretly negotiating with the City to buy the Napleton property at Meacham and Northwest Highway. Today's Wall Street Journal exposes CVS as a company that charges for access to its top executives. It would be just like our mayor to pay for that privelege. The article requires a subscription, so here is not only the link but the first few lines available to any web user.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122219085841967651.html
NEWPORT, R.I. -- Like other retailers, CVS Caremark Corp. has an ethics policy meant to keep suppliers from using pricey travel, entertainment or gifts to buy the favor of its employees. But many companies have found a way to spread largess to the drugstore giant's influential executives -- with the blessing of CVS.
This year, for example, KKM LLC of Lincoln, R.I., paid at least $50,000 for a weekend of yachting and golf with two top CVS officials. In past years, KKM, which sells goods to CVS on behalf of manufacturers, has funded other vacations that paired its executives with ...
Interesting post. I guess I would call this a bit of a leap - make that a HUGE leap.
First of all you your self refer to the CVS thing as a rumor. Second of all, I would think that discussions with CVS, if they in fact want that space, would be taking place mainly with the owner of the building/property. The city would have to make a decision if this is the kind of "space use" they want for that property.
You seem to be infering that somehow Howard is using our taxpayer money to pay for access to senior level executives so that he can have a CVS pharmacy in that space that he doesn't own.
If there is corruption here wouldn't he be having CVS drop off some unmarked bills in a brown paper bag to make sure that in fact the zoning decisions will go in their favor??
Any way, you provided me with an interesting fairy tale to read this morning.
All I'm saying is: If CVS has a corporate culture willing to bend ethical standards as described in the article, they might also be willing to stoop low in pursuit of local real estate. Add Napleton and Frimark to the mix and it doesn't matter which way the money is flowing.
A. Whatever you may think of Napleton, if it is his property, he has the right to sell it to the highest bidder (including the rumored CVS) so long as the use of the property fits within the guidlines and zoning of the city of Park Ridge.
B. There is no evidence of to whom or when this property is going to be sold. There are aldermen on record as wanting this to be residential. If the sale requires a change in what that property is zoned for then there will have to be hearings and discussion to which the public will be invited. Let the process work.
C. You read an article in Wall Street journal immediately you jump to all this corruption. I am not crazy about Howard either. Him being the provider of insurance to so many entities bothers me. There is at least a smoking gun about an old boys network (Friends of Frimark). But that does not mean I am willing to take these wild leaps. A company that probably gets millions of dollars of business from CVS pays for a questionable trip and therefroe there is criminal activity in PR related to RUMORED CVS interest in a property??? I got one for you. There is a Countrywide office in PR. Therefore Howard must be a part of the national mortgage crisis.
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