Dave,

The Duane certainly does present impressively, doesn't he? It's like the persuasiveness of Lyndon Johnson. George Wallace after a meeting with Johnson was to exclaim " I had to get out of there fast or he would have had me marching for civil rights in the south!" Something like that.

The devil is in the details when you are negotiating with Duane Hagadone. He is very good at slipping one by you before you know it. City officials need to lay out the entire map on the table, just like a battle, and play out all the scenarios that will occur with this development in the years to come. They have to picture just the ordinary run of the mill resident of Coeur d' Alene and walk he or she through the changes to find the glitches in the plan. Duane has a certain allegiance to the city but what happens when the entire project is purchased by Marriott out of New York? Will the decisions made now and the verbal agreements made now mean anything to a foreign owner in the years to come? Placing this project under a Planned Unit Development is the safest way to go about this huge plan to prevent errors and misjudgments

Sure, Urban Renewal money is possible. John Stone benefitted from this money.

The big issue is in public access and the control of this public access that Duane will direct. The corporation has not been entirely kind to activities of the general public that do not fit into their mold of activities that are acceptable. What is perfectly legal on city property probably may not be perfectly legal with the lessor, Hagadone Corporation. This decision is for a long time and for keeps. It has to be planned and carefully thought through. Hey, great project. Let's move forward carefully. I like flowers too!

Baloney on that excuse for Sanders Beach. Duane just did not want to give that land away......no way, no how. Nice little excuse however.

Steve Badraun
sbadraun@earthlink.net

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