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Sunday, August 19, 2007

St. Paul

Blunt challenged about deals he wants to make - Virginia Young (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 19)

In an unusually specific resolution calling for a new version of the economic development omnibus bill he vetoed in July, Missouri Governor Matt Blunt has called the Missouri Legislature back to a special session beginning Monday.

One of the sections of the bill that remains on the table is the Distressed Areas Land Assemblage Tax Credits. In the new version, a land assembler -- there are no meaningful provisions in the bill to guarantee development -- would have to acquire a minimum of 50 acres within a 75 acre redevelopment area in order to receive a credit for 50% of land acquisition costs and 100% of interest, maintenance and demolition costs.

As rewritten, only one person in Missouri seems to qualify -- developer Paul J. McKee, Jr. Republican leaders are calling the reduction in acreage requirements from 75 to 50 a big move that opens the possibility of competition, but the reality is that in an urban area where a city block is usually less than one acre 50 acres is nearly impossible. No matter, according to one legislator -- McKee is a saint:

The sponsor, Sen. John Griesheimer, R-Washington, Mo., said he believed the new proposal satisfies concerns that the program was designed for one man. Griesheimer added that McKee "ought to be nominated for sainthood" for investing in decaying areas of St. Louis.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sen. John Griesheimer is the reason this State lives 30 years in the past. Please stay in Washington, MO Mr. Griesheimer. This is also the same clown who feels the best way to develop North St. Louis is with a bulldozer. He seems like a "Democrats live where other people won't," Matt Blunt type of guy. A real blockhead with a major sense of self-importance. A good ol Missourah out state pea-brain racist. Make sure you pop your locks on your Excursion on your next trip "down there" for a baseball game. Tool..........

Anonymous said...

Don't trust any motherfucker from Washington Missouri! The only thing they're interested in is money and social climbing. Hence all the McKee action. There's NO possible way anyone from Washington has any interest, whatsoever, in the City, much less the North side. They don't like "outsiders". And they certainly don't like St. Louisans.

Anonymous said...

Saint McKee, patron saint of the Church of the Holy Bulldozer. If the qualification for sainthood is investing in North City, we have quite the communion of saints living and rehabbing on the near northside. Also, I have a quibble with the use of the term "invest". Generally, when you invest in something, you put money into it and then maintain its value. McKee has been buying and destroying, not investing. This is some weird Orwellian doubletalk. What's next, we call book burners "archivists"?