NIMBY, TIF, and a bag of Insults

Last night I again entered the University Athletic Club with pen, paper, and my laptop and set up for what would be a long and drawn out evening hearing the same complaints, seeing the same mud being slung, and the same opposition to progress that I have become accustomed to over the last year and a half of attending University Heights Council meetings. I watched as what I had hoped would be a giant leap forward in a process that has drug on for eons, was again slowed and bottlenecked. First I want to make something very very clear; this process has not been fast tracked, it is not speeding down a highway, and has at no point ignored the opinions of any constituents of this nostalgic little enclave.  A process that has seen every plan, every Planned Unit Development dissected to the most minute detail; that has heard the same objections, and countless new ones when the old ones have lost footing is anything other than fast tracked. The countless hours I alone have spent examining documents, researching impacts, and evaluating statements just so I could be an informed advocate is mind boggling. So any accusation that this process is moving to fast is ill conceived, and lacks historical understanding. Due diligence has been paid, and repaid, and continues to be paid.

With that issue put to bed, much unlike my night last night; let us look at the current meeting in light of 3 specific areas. Lets examine general opposition to the project, opposition to TIF, and opposition to the council or specific council persons. The first is probably one of the easiest to look at, either support or dispose of. There is a specific set of individuals for whom this issue clearly breaks down to a case of NIMBY. If you are unfamiliar with the acronym it stands for Not In My Back Yard, and governments and developers have been facing this issue since property became something you could own. I have no doubt that Lord, and Vassals had similar feelings in feudal Europe and then just exported the concept to us. A NIMBY issue occurs when the development or service at hand is something that is needed, or wanted but the location is opposed by certain individuals. Prisons have faced this issue constantly, we know we need them, but we dont want it in close proximity to where we live. In this case those who live in close proximity to the proposed development are some of the most vocal opposition (Oops they told me they dont like that term). But instead of just simply coming out and saying “Hey I dont want that in my Back Yard” or in some cases Front yard we are told it wont fit with the single family character of University Heights. Ok wait a minute, we are looking at a $40 million dollar development, that will bring some commercial development (we have none currently, with the exception of Stella, our one restaurant) and we expect it to fit into single family character……. So I am guessing Grandview Apartments should be annexed out. Oh wait, those are renters, and we hate renters here too. But I would hate to threaten someones “safe Haven” or diminish what they have spent the last decade building; although I suppose you might have missed the fact that my family has resided in the house we RENT, for over a decade. Things change, and progress is progress.

We also get objections, to the materials that are going to be used, and after last night I am highly impressed with the overall aesthetics, and the quality of materials. But lets be logical folks, if you are selling someplace for $275 to $300 a square foot in IOWA, it better be top notch, or its not going to sell. We aren’t talking 1 bedroom studio’s in Manhattan, we are talking middle of a corn field IOWA, for that kind of price it is going to be quality. I will use this to segue directly into one of the other complaints we keep hearing. These in no way shape or form will become a dormitory, or student apartments. The concept in my world is absolutely laughable. I have lived in student apartments, I have been a student for a large portion of my life, and I cant imagine 104 units of high priced condominiums being occupied by UNDERGRADS. The ramen noodle sustained, case of Miller high life drinking, run of the mill college student will not be living in this development. The accusation is absurd on its face and should just be thrown out all together. Their are those who would have just preferred that the property remained a church, and I can understand those sentiments. But the church sold the property, and its time to move on. This is all I am going to say about the general objections to the project, because I have covered this type of argument at length, and in detail for what seems like an eternity.

On to TIF. Tax Increment Financing a term so vile and horrid it has become a 4 letter word and doesnt even need the fourth letter. TIF’s can be abused, they can be long term detriment to communities, and they can be the wrong way in which to fund development. I AM NOT, going to get into a historical debate over the origins of TIF, over the past abuses or failures. I am also not going to run out a list of TIF success stories, because if you were to look deep into the subject matter you would find that the successes and the failures balance each other out in the historical record, but like most things the failures seem to ring out louder. What I am going to do is make some key points about THIS proposed TIF. First, and this is imperative for everyone to understand; this TIF is not taking money from any taxpayer’s pocket. The way this TIF is structured, as a rebate TIF, it is diverting a portion of the new taxes generated toward the developer. The city of University Heights currently generates 0.00 tax dollars on this property. If the University were to have bought the property, it would generate 0.00 tax dollars. So any money generated by the property in new taxes is a net gain. It will not take money from our schools, it will impose no added financial burden upon our community. We have detailed reports that the traffic will not be dramatically changed, that our police force can deal with the added residents and commercial establishments and life as we know it in University Heights will not descend into some blighted inner city community struggling under the burden of TIF. For a TIF to be successful, it must be carefully crafted, and judiciously monitored. I have no doubt that our current council, and future councils will take on this task with the utmost diligence; and if by some miracle they don’t, I am sure members of our watchful community will be happy to let them know about it. Dont be fooled by the propaganda already present in our community decrying “No Super TIF”. Although I may just go buy some tights and show up to the next meeting as Super TIF, faster than stock market crash, able to leap red tape in a single bound, its Super TIF. Can we get just a little common sense logic going? Is that too much to ask?

I am going to take a brief digression here to make 1 statement about someone with who I don’t see eye to eye. It is refreshing in a matter that has been this contentious, this ugly at times to find individuals with whom I may have a differing opinion, but at least understand what a clear and reasoned argument to be. The description of TIF as reverse socialism, while I dont agree, carries a logical consistency. The concern for affordable housing in a community where such a term seems foreign in commendable. And at no point have I wanted to shoot him with a taser just so he would shutup, and in these proceedings that is a rare thing. So thank you for at least being dignified, well spoken, and bringing a sense of levity to a heavy issue.

Now for my last point, and for those individuals that I hold in contempt this morning. Your consciences should have riddled you with sleepless nights, and your demeaning sophomoric actions should make you hide your faces in shame. After each of these meetings, after every blog I write about the adversarial nature of this issue I expect sooner or later for someone to end up on Nightmare Next Door. But lets take some of the most egregious examples point by point. For a blanket lesson, the national political trend of mud slinging, defamation of character, and personal attacks has no business in local politics. We should all be adult enough to disagree without resorting to junior high behavior. With that said, I should go over a few of the direct attacks to members of the council . When Carla Aldrich agreed to fill the spot vacated by Zadok, I had no idea who she was, or what her views were; since that point I have observed her on council getting her footing, and establishing herself and her positions. Last night not 10 mins into the public hearing, she was diminished from being a person to some sort of yes woman crony. I can see no reason to express in open comments that she works with the Mayors husband, or that she is moving to live next door to Jim Lane, in a deal he helped broker, or any other personal matters UNLESS you were trying to imply that she has in cahoots or something. To cloud the demeaning nature of your comments by terming it a culture of coziness does little to soften the person character attack. The comments were uncalled for, irrelevant, and underhanded, and if Carla were half the pompous blowhard that either you or I are, she would have let you know it right then. The further disparaging comments that insinuate that Jim and Mike are simply telling the rest of the council how to vote and what to think, seems to be just as offensive and as off base, but we heard comments to point no less than 3 distinct times. But my favorite comment of the night came during a diatribe of how certain counselors may just vote for this development, not seek re-election and wash their hands of it, leaving future councils, and the community to deal with the aftermath, and that hopefully their consciences would speak to them. It seems as if I had missed some greater moral issue at stake, and that all of our souls rested on not moving forward with this project. Did I strangle my own Jiminy Cricket? is that how I can still sleep while supporting the development. Asking the council to have humility and accept the advises of experts within our community, when you clearly choose to ignore the experts the city has contracted to help in this process seems hypocritical. But the piece de resistance was the comment of the olive branch. I am not an expert in trees, or botany, or anything of the sort; but I know the difference in an olive branch and a switch. An olive branch is a symbol of peace and compromise, a willingness to put aside differences and work toward a common goal. On the other hand, a switch is a branch used to beat someone into submission, to bend them to your will and your way of looking at things. It is not peaceful, it is not compromising. You have walked into each meeting, every discussion carrying a switch, and not an olive branch; don’t delude yourself or lie to the rest of us. Dont paint yourself in some martyred light and expect the community to buy the falsehoods and ignore the truth.

If I were a sensitive individual this entire process would make me sad. Instead it makes me frustrating with the close-minded perception of certain factions within a community I love. I sit here today ashamed of the behavior of certain people, their disrespect, their ability to twist reality in order to frame themselves as some sort of victim, and their inability to see past their own personal wants. Our community is growing, and growth requires change, and not all change is bad. I still place my faith in those who the community as a whole chose to represent us, and know that the decisions they make are for the best interest of the community and not just whoever yells the loudest, puts up the biggest signs, or carries the biggest switch.