+1. Maret is being a terrible public citizen. The city is flush with tax revenues and doesn’t need Maret’s million dollars for a 10 year exclusivity. Someone should write a case study about how wealth and privilege at Maret has influenced poor public outcomes. |
But why wouldn't Maret have done the deal if it was only for 10 years? Admittedly I have no idea what their situation was like before or how much it cost them. But, they spent less than $250k per year to rent it, which is way less than the interest payment DC is responsible for. |
That part is no surprise. Nor is their acting like such fvcking babies at the slightest criticism now that their sweetheart deal is getting some sunlight. |
Why not? If, as Jack Evans and Maret claim, “everyone’s” expectation was that the deal last 19 years, then the agreement should have reflected that. They knew there was a possibility the contract would not be renewed; they couldn’t be sure that circumstances would not change (they did) and they couldn’t be certain that Jack Evans would still be around to back them. If the 10 year deal wasn't a good enough for Maret, then they shouldn’t have signed it. They aren’t owed anything and perhaps they need some lessons in drafting contracts. |
According to the testimony by DPR, the timeline was more like: 2008: BGC was broke and needed to be bailed out. No one would buy them. So DC bought them. The facilities were unusable for any regulation sports, and largely derelict. 2009: DC struck a deal with Maret to renovate and maintain the facilities for 10 years with a further 10 year option if Maret proved to be "Good Partners" Silverman asked DPR what defined a "good partner" and DPR responded "If they upheld their end of the deal" I understood that to mean that if Maret let the field go to blight, DPR could end the contract. 2019: In the agreed upon time frame, Maret basically went to DPR and DPR agreed that they had been "good partners" and signed the papers to extend to the originally agreed 2029 date if Maret put in a little more money to redo the fields and help renovate the clubhouse. So what does DC get: They get top of the line facilities that they don't have to pay a dime to maintain by charging Maret over $1000/hour for the privilege of having 10 of the prime hours per week. I'm guessing that you don't really care about the reasons since you are parroting the same talking points as so many of the other sock puppets on here though. |
Your timeline conveniently leaves out a bunch of facts, like that there was not RFP for the deal to renovate the field back when Maret got the contract, and that there is zero documentation that renewal was contingent solely on Maret being a “good partner.” But you know that, and you don’t care. |
No, I'm looking at this from the perspective of DC. It costs us almost $1m per year to service the debt, keep the lights on and transport Hardy. Maret is paying less than 20% of the cost of owning that property and getting exclusive access. DC should either get primary use, break even on cost or sell it. Improvemts are pointless if they won't last past the end of the contract and residents don't get to use them. You're asking DC taxoayers to spend $1m per year on this field. hat are we getting for our money? |
Why would there be an RFP if the point was to have it done for free? DC owns a lot of land, and if they can find someone else to maintain it, they will. that's why they have public-private partnerships. The documentation said "At DC's discretion" the *Testimony* (which is what I'm describing) said good partner. Maybe we should wait until the testimony is posted and then we can point to actual quotes.. Or is that too fact based? |
DC is full of useless citizens who do not know how to stand up for their rights
Fools who believe in rich politicians who have no interest in anything but themselves |
Cleary Maret thinks the arrangement is very valuable to them. Of course the city shouldn’t lease the property without getting the best deal possible — for any of its properties. |
But Maret is NOT covering the cost to maintain it. |
Because that violates DC law. Any government agency that enters into a public private partnership must follow discreet set of steps, including a public RFP process and a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis. Please read the DC regs on PPPs: https://code.dccouncil.us/dc/council/code/titles/2/chapters/2A/ And no, the Maret deal is not "free" to DC. You are lying. For example, Hardy pays $800 every time a sports team needs to travel by chartered bus to another part of the city to practice or play games. |
Has DPR released any documentation that states any costs associated with Jellef? Citations please, then we can discuss. If Jellef is rented out for 16hrs a day, and Maret only uses 10% ten DC gets the other 90% at no costs. |
First, DC funds the land costs, which is much more significant than Maret’s costs. (So strange that Maret, with all their developers, thinks land is free. And if land is costless, why don’t they buy some of their own?) Second, DPR tents the field for less than market value, and the hours available for rent are vary hugely in market value. Weekday afternoons is when their is a spike in the gap between demand and supply. |
Those rules where not in place when this deal was created. An extension doesn't qualify Hardy is not DC, it's DCPS. Jellef is not DC, it's DPR. Ellington is DCPS. If Maret were taking over Ellington's field, which is the field originally slated for Hardy (Listen to the DPR testimony) then you'd have a more legitimate complaint. As far as I know DPR pays nothing for the field at Jellef., If you know differently, citations would help. |