Sunday, October 23, 2011

LA TIMES EXCLUSIVE: L.A. City Hall Approves FEDERAL "Redevelopment" Dollars to Keep Councilman Herb Wesson's Favorite Restaurant Open [FRAUD, WASTE & ABUSE!]

The #Occupy protestors should read this and keep in mind, a lot of the things they are screaming for are provided to local city's, in the form of BILLIONS in FEDERAL TAXPAYER DOLLARS to provide services in the community they are screaming for. BUT, the money NEVER makes it into the community...only into the pockets of the connected cronies. Here's a SHAMELESS and SICKENING example in L.A. FEDERAL MONEY USED TO KEEP A POLITICIAN'S FAVORITE (HUGELY-EXPENSIVE) RESTAURANT OPEN, instead of using the money for emergency shelter for homeless women and their children; seniors; veterans; parks; libraries; affordable housing, YOU NAME IT! IF IT IS OF BENEFIT TO THE COMMUNITY, IT WILL NOT BE SPENT THERE! KEEP READING!

At L.A. City Hall, the handouts just keep coming

Is pumping money, in this case a taxpayer-financed $2.6-million loan, into a high-end restaurant really the best use of funds primarily intended for economic development in blighted communities?

Eatery


If you own a struggling restaurant, or if you always wanted to open an eatery but don't have the clams, you may be in luck.

Just go to Los Angeles City Hall, and hold out your hand. [If it's the right politically-connected hand. - ZD]

That's how it worked for one South Los Angeles restaurateur anyway. After the restaurant's manager couldn't get a bank loan, the City Council unanimously approved a taxpayer-financed $2.6-million loan so he could purchase and freshen up the restaurant his grandparents founded.

[Pile-on comments from Zuma Dogg in brackets.]

The question is whether a government agency ought to be getting into the always-risky restaurant business. Another question is whether pumping money into a high-end restaurant is really the best use of funds primarily intended for economic development in blighted communities. If you're going to charge $31 for the seafood platter or $26 for fried chicken, should you be bankrolled with tax dollars that might otherwise be spent on low-income housing or fixing a rec center or library?

But there were no qualms at City Hall earlier this month, when council members quietly approved a 20-year low-interest loan of up to $2,629,000. The money would pay for the purchase of Harold & Belle's by Ryan Legaux, grandson of founders Harold and Belle Legaux, and it would also cover the $351,000 cost of rehabbing and expanding the business, including the purchase of a $95,000 food truck. [HOW ABOUT PENSIONS, HEALTH BENEFITS AND COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIPS FOR THE OWNER'S FAMILY MEMBERS?]

So how did this happen?

Councilman Herb Wesson [who's council district is embroiled in multiple scandlas under FBI investigation) said the city's Community Development Department came to him with the idea, since the restaurant is in his district. He supported the loan as a good way to maintain 50 or so jobs, create a couple dozen new ones and keep a good restaurant in an area that has too few. [BUT Mr. WESSON, YOU CORRUPT-CHUMP, THE FEDERAL MONEY WAS NOT FOR THAT PURPOSE. IT WAS TO REDEVELOP COMMUNITY BLIGHT! NOT KEEP YOUR FAVORITE "CONNECTED" RESTAURANT OPEN! THIS IS JUST THE TYPE OF REASON WHY THE FBI IS CRAWLING DOWN YOUR NECK AND UP YOUR ASS! AND YOU KNOW THAT! That's why you haven't smiled in over two years.]

Wesson also told me that this is not city money, but federal money.

Like that matters?

OK, so it's money drained from a pool that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development makes available to Los Angeles for grants and loans. But tax dollars are tax dollars. [AND IT WAS DENIED TO THE PEOPLE FOR A RESTAURANT ONLY RICH PEOPLE CAN AFFORD AT THOSE TOP DOLLAR PRICES!]

Wesson argued that the same HUD loan program, known as Section 108, kicked millions into renovations at the Kodak Theatre so Cirque du Soleil would sign a contract there. Actually, it was a $30-million loan for a billion-dollar development company called CIM Group [UNDER MORE FBI SCRUTINY THAN THE ENTIRE "MOST WANTED" LIST OF COMMON CRIMINALS], which likes doing projects in areas where they can belly up to the public trough and drink from an endless river of subsidies.

I called the CDD on Wednesday to ask how the Harold & Belle's deal was cooked up. A day later, I got an email informing me that the department "will try to have answers to your questions on or before October 28, 2011."

I should have asked if I could also borrow $3 million. They might have moved more quickly.

KEEP READING....

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