Channel 3000 reports that the land swap would have meant a new stadium and fairgrounds in Rock county AND that the residents were overwhelmingly in favor of the deal. Reporting just doesn't get any worse than that. Notice no author name.
I gave $2 to the Salvation Army kettle today at the Woodmans entrance, not much money, but like everybody else who gives, nothing is expected in return. However, the $100 smile from the bell ringer was precious. But a moment afterwards, I thought about the $7 million dollar carrot the wealthy businessmen were dangling as part of the land swap deal. The buyers oftentimes insisted it was a gift towards the fairgrounds or stadium but can be used by the county any way it sees fit providing of course they agree to the purchase offer. I can’t imagine what this world would be like if nobody gave a gift without first getting something in return. It turns out that the $7 million was no gift at all, but part of the original $8.3 million offered to make the swap almost equitable.
JG excerpt:
"As we look at it, we're adding $2 million to the gift, but the net effect is the money that goes to the county is exactly the same as the appraisal numbers they have," he (Watson) said.
Like they always said, forget all the other stuff, just make the land swap deal. When it comes to gifts, it always is the thought that counts. Even when they give you nothing.
2 comments:
I thought donations and gifts were something to be given freely, expecting nothing in return. I guess some people were raised differently, never give anything for free, unless of course you can benefit from it.
There was soemthing in the Gazette online today that caught my eye. In their attempt to swindle people or guilt them into a new fairgrounds and stadium they wrote 2 articles. One, "4-H Fairgrounds begining to show it's age" and the other "Owners:Snappers could be sold if a new stadium isn't built". In the Snappers article is this little tidbit,
Snappers officials are disappointed that a proposed land swap between the county and Mulder Dairy Farms fell through, but they will continue to look for a way to build a new stadium, said Dennis Conerton, chairman of the Beloit Professional Baseball Association, the not-for-profit organization that owns the team.
"I don't think it's the last opportunity, but it's the one we've been focusing on, realistically, for the last 11/2 to two years," Conerton said.
The last year and a half to two years? If this is the case, why did we not hear about it sooner?
The best thing out of this entire fiasco now, is a better picture of the perceived needs of the county and what really drives certain businessmen. The county board took a test of sorts and in my view passed, this was a great experience.
The Gazette staff seems to be in awe of wealthy people, and never challenging the buyers definition of "gift" was their way of playing along with the deception on the people.
Janesville could use a better news source, unfortunately the population would not be able to support a second newspaper.
When one door closes, another one opens.
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