Thursday, March 29, 2007 | Re: “The Swapsidy,” editorial by Scott Lewis.
This is not a new concept. Giving away public land has occurred in the NTC and other redevelopment deals. The problem with this concept and most similar deals is poor negotiation by the government. For example in the NBC, the city was held hostage by political forces that have pre-determined to sell this particular land to this developer, and everything else is just wink-and-nod deal making. In the back-room, the developers bring in the best attorneys and experts to negotiate, and we bring in political cacophony, transient staff and a shunned out public.
It is not what we are dealing with that matters, but how we are dealing with the cards we have.