Archive for October, 2009

Lease-To-Own Scandal In Loveland

Saturday, October 31st, 2009

LovelandPolitics profiled unscrupulous lenders and real estate practices during the housing bubble while some traditional media outlets in the region instead served as cheerleaders for the worst predatory lenders who were their advertisers. As the Loveland municipal elections wind down we wanted to divert your attention temporarily to another real estate gimmick spreading throughout Loveland.

A new scheme for making big money in real estate, Lease-To-Own, is hurting local families and putting many would be homeowners even further away from their dream of home ownership. The local media has failed to report this important story. Loveland neighborhoods are having to deal with the fall-out of Lease-To-Own schemes as successive numbers of tenants willing to pay big deposits to get a shot at home ownership are rotated through bait houses operated by likely unlicensed operators who don’t care for the property thus changing the character of once quiet and familiar Loveland neighborhoods.

The unsuspecting tenant or “buyer” doesn’t realize the scheme operator makes money whether they can buy the house or not. Taking multiple non-refundable deposits while collecting higher than market rent is more profitable than renting at market rate even if a new tenant is brought in and out every six months.

Read LovelandPolitics special investigative report to understand how “Lease-To-Own” schemes can hurt potential buyers and renters and find out how one Loveland family was recently evicted after paying their life savings into a shady Lease-To-Own contract. They later discovered their contract wasn’t with the owner of the property who wanted them out.

The bottom line is licensed real estate brokers and title companies are the best protection a buyer has to ensure they are indeed buying the property. Trying to buy a house through a backdoor deal may sound alluring but is very risky. We recommend anyone trying to acquire real estate through these unconventional methods hire an independent attorney to represent their interests in the deal or run away fast.

An excellent source of information on real estate gimmicks and scams is the real estate guru muckraker John T. Reed. You can read his commentary on this latest Rent-To-Own real estate gimmick here.

Any comments?

Posted in Uncategorized | 7 Comments »

Sheriff Alderden Eying Commissioner Seat

Saturday, October 24th, 2009

Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden is eying a seat on the Larimer Board of County Commissioners. He spoke Friday to a Republican gathering about his recent experiences with the alleged Heene balloon hoax. Here is the complete and exclusive story by LovelandPolitics.

Do you believe the recent “balloon boy” saga will help or hurt his future political ambitions?

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments »

Clark Reports Illegal Contribution

Thursday, October 15th, 2009

As the candidates filed their campaign finance reports on Tuesday, two reports stood out from the rest. Read our complete story

Both Dave Clark and Teri Volk have apparently relied on money from Loveland’s two biggest contributors to previous campaigns at least indirectly – Loveland Commercial and McWhinney.

Dave Clark took money from Loveland Midtown Development Inc. which is a corporation (according to Colorado Secretary of State records) which is prohibited by Loveland’s city charter. If what he reported to the City Clerk Tuesday is true – he broke the law.

Both took money from three hotels in town (Residence Inn, Fairfield Inn & Suites and Hampton Inn). Whether this is technically a violation or not depends on who wrote the checks. If the check comes from a corporation – it is illegal. If the check was written on the account of a local partnership bearing the corporate names, than according to Loveland’s City Attorney by his reading of the city charter it is allowed.

What is likely is that Clark, currently serving as Loveland’s Mayor Pro Tem, is unlikely to be fined by the city for violating the campaign laws. He took $100 from four different entities all bearing the same street address that happens to also be LovelandCommercial. Whether it was directed by Marostica or his partner is unknown. Either way, funneling campaign contributions through multiple entities by an individual who owns those entities would be a violation of the $100 per person contribution limit in Loveland’s charter.

Regardless, Measure 2C was approved by Loveland voters to reform campaign finance in 2008 and is having an impact. More people entered the local races this year than previous years and the anointed McWhinney/Chamber candidates – Dave Clark, Bob Snyder and Teri Volk – are running in very competitive races.

Clark and Volk appear unable to fund their campaigns with contributions only from residents and are trying to push the limits of the law. In the case of Clark he has crossed the line in our opinion and whether Volk has or not should be easily determined in the next couple days.

Posted in Uncategorized | 32 Comments »

Mayoral Candidates Spar At Republican Breakfast

Tuesday, October 13th, 2009

Monday morning the five candidates for Loveland’s mayor answered questions in front of the Larimer County Republican Breakfast Club.

LovelandPolitics recorded the event (see story to access the audio).

A number of the candidates sought support from the audience by making it clear they are registered Republicans. Dave Clark used the term “fellow Republicans” while Grenn Rousey shared a story about what he called the best bumper sticker he had seen in his life that said, “How is that hope and change working for you?”

However, when State House Rep. BJ Nikkels asked about their support of the lodging tax, RTA (a proposed regional 1% sales tax) and purchasing property along I-25 with city funds the mood became more serious. On local issues the candidates split another way with only Cecil Gutierrez clearly not supporting the lodging tax or the RTA tax.

On the purchasing of 97 acres with tax dollars, Gutierrez, who was not on the council in November of 2007, said he didn’t agree with the decision. Walt Skowron, who was on the council at the time, voted against the purchase and spoke eloquently about his reasons for opposing the acquisition of land that is now vacant and for sale. Both Rousey and Clark defended their votes to acquire the property with city funds.

Alexi Grewal responded to the first question by predicting eminent doom for the Untied States and told his fellow canddiates we are not in a recession (as some had said) but instead a depression.

In summary, it appears to us that this race for Mayor of Loveland is really between Walt Skowron and Cecil Gutierrez. Dave Clark appeared unable to really engage the audience while Rousey was folksy in style but not very deep in content.

Posted in 2009 Elections | 5 Comments »

RH Publishes “Commentary” By Mayor Pielin

Saturday, October 10th, 2009

While Loveland residents looking to publish a letter to the editor of the Reporter-Herald often face a heavy editorial pen, verification of authenticity and questions regarding their facts – the policy for the editors friends on Loveland’s City Council is quite different.

Look at this morning’s paper and you will find a “guest column” by Loveland Mayor Gene Pielin. The only problem is he is not the author. He is falsely listed as the “Guest Columnist” accompanied by a picture of his smiling face and his city title Mayor Gene Pielin.

Would you believe that Girish Balachandran, General Manager of Alameda Power & Telecom, in Alameda California wrote an identical column for the Alameda Sun newspaper? How about Jackie Flowers who manages a public power utility in Idaho Falls also miraculously finding the identical words for her commentary in the Idaho Falls utility newsletter.

In fact, Mayor Gene Pielin never wrote the guest column published in today’s Loveland Reporter-Herald.

The “column” is a mass distributed newsletter insert distributed to promote this week as Public Power Week. It was prepared in-advance and sent to hundreds of public utilities around the country for insertion in utility newsletters and local newspapers.

Most city Mayors have too much integrity to print someone else’s words and claim to be the author. That is why most of the reprinting of the false column was done in utility newsletters or published in the name of utility managers instead of local politicians.

Unfortunately, Pielin leads a group of Loveland politicians who are happily scripted on topics they barely understand. Leadership is not mimicking the words of others and claiming them to be your own.

Loveland desperately needs a new independent city council with integrity.

Posted in City Council - General Issues | 13 Comments »

Candidate Forum Report

Thursday, October 8th, 2009

The Chamber of Commerce and the Downtown Loveland Association co-sponsored a candidate forum Wednesday night in council chambers. The forum featured the usual stock of questions designed to elicit stock answers and the candidates did not disappoint. There were, however, two items to note. The first is that Ward 1 candidate Darryl Klassen admitted to making a mistake when he voted, in 1997, to authorize the city’s purchase of a 97 acre parcel of land at Colorado 402 and I-25. That property, for which the city paid more than six million dollars, is now for sale for what one of the candidates described as “the best offer anyone is willing to make.” Jan brown, at least, stood by her decision. All of the other candidates attacked the deal with Joan Shaffer, Ward 2 candidate, characterizing the deal as “a classic example of buying high and selling low” and a good example of why government should stay out of the land speculation business. Ward 4 candidate, Cathleen McEwen, described the deal as “a debacle, plain and simple.”

The second item of interest was the empty seat that was reserved for Ward 4 candidate Teri Volk. Ms. Volk not only failed to show, she apparently also failed to notify her handlers. Mayoral Candidate, Dave Clark, who reportedly recruited Volk to run for the seat Clark is vacating, was visibly upset when he arrived late only to find Ms. Volk’s chair empty. His ire was not reduced when he was told by sitting Ward 2 Councilor Carol Johnson, a Clark ally, that the missing candidate had spoken with Johnson earlier in the day and had assured Johnson that she would attend. Rumors immediately began to fly that Ms. Volk, who purportedly was hesitant to enter the race in the first place and only did so to please Clark, may have dropped out of the race. At press time, nothing is known concerning Ms. Volk’s whereabouts and we sincerely hope that nothing untoward has befallen her.

Posted in 2009 Elections | 3 Comments »

Council Guts I-25/34 Improvements

Wednesday, October 7th, 2009

Loveland’s City Council capitulated Tuesday night to McWhinney’s demands to gut the promised improvements to the I-25/U.S. 34 interchange as promised.

By a 7-2 vote, Loveland City Council approved a change to the terms of the Centerra Metro District’s agreement with Loveland. The newest change essentially allows the Metro District to reduce by $2.5 million the amount it received from public bond proceeds to fund the interim improvements to I-25 / US-34 interchange.

As a result, Loveland’s gateway interchange will receive only road enhancements with no landscaping, bridge improvements, or proper signage. Ironically, Loveland’s council rushed to annex property bordering Johnstown three years ago to prevent “low-quality” development. It appears as though “low-quality” is OK if it allows McWhinney off the hook for their commitments.

It appears that McWhinney already was counting on those funds to subsidize their new office complex to accommodate Agrium moving to Centerra from just 9 miles east on Highway 34. In a poorly orchestrated attempt to confuse the public, those on council really only representing McWhinney’s interest used a smoke and mirrors argument that they were voting for jobs. The assumption being that diverting tax dollars away from transportation improvements and into improving McWhinney’s private property creates jobs.

As is now almost routine, the McWhinneycrats on Loveland’s council (Pielin, Clark, Skowron, Klassen, Johnson and Heckle) all voted as they apparently agreed in advance with McWhinney. Therefore, they appeared very impatient with the 12 members of the public who spoke in favor of the seven getting-up on their hind legs and standing for the rights of Loveland’s taxpayers.

Mayor Pro Tem Clark could be heard whispering to his mentor, Mayor Gene Pielin, to let McWhinney rebut the public speakers. Clark than received boos from the audience later for his own comments while Rousey announced he would vote in favor of the McWhinney request because he didn’t like the way the angry audience was reacting to their comments.

Glenn Rousey doesn’t appear to understand he is not royalty deserving a special courtesy or bow from the public before they receive his consideration on an issue. How a councilman votes should relate to the merits of the issue instead of his perception of how a particular advocate of the issue acts towards him. Imagine a Mayor Rousey? Any public speaker who dares shows his back after speaking may find themselves on the wrong side of his highness.

In another sad day for the 1st Amendment, The Coloradoan’s Loveland Connection first reported online the fact Mayor Pro Tem Clark received boos from the audience for his insulting comments. Within hours the story was amended and the news censored to provide a more positive appearance for McWhinney and their 1st choice for Mayor, David Clark.

LovelandPolitics will no longer carry the RSS feed to the online version of The Loveland Connection until the newspaper allows its reporters the freedom to accurately report on public events in Loveland. A common problem reported by former reporters now of both the Loveland Connection and Repertor-Herald has been the heavy hand McWhinney uses in manipulating the news coverage by complaining to their editors.

By Friday LovelandPolitics will post various video clips of the meeting for the public to see exactly what occurred. In the meantime, if you missed the meeting — look for the re-broadcsats on Loveland’s cable channel 16.

Any comments on the meeting?

Posted in 2009 Elections, City Council - General Issues, McWhinney | 24 Comments »

I-25 / U.S. 34 Interchange Fate in Council hands Tuesday

Monday, October 5th, 2009

On Tuesday the Loveland City Council will decide whether or not to allow McWhinney’s Metro District to again break their agreement with Loveland and keep back $2.75 million that was promised for the I-25 / U.S. 34 interchange. See story and video of the earlier meeting on this same topic.

For those of you determined to discredit this website, go back and read our story that revealed McWhinney’s dishonest public relations campaign to say scrapping the I-25/34 improvements was the only way to bring a mystery fortune 500 company to Loveland. Oct. 6, will be another attempt by McWhinney to funnel more public monies into their private ventures they were unable to get before.

On September 15, 2009 it was very disappointing to see Loveland Mayor Pro Tem David Clark attempt to support McWhinney with clearly false arguments and a revision of history. According to Clark, the scaled back “safety-only” improvements is what the 25 year tax diversion agreement with Loveland always contemplated. This Loveland Reporter-Herald story is one of many announcements regarding what was agreed (and never ultimately started). City engineer David Klockman used to argue (as he does in that article) that McWhinney never committed to finish the projects because of escalating cost but instead committed to a level of funding.. That was $12.5 million and not $8 million.

The “gateway” to Loveland that McWhinney sold their 2004 nearly $700 million future tax diversion scheme on is now in jeopardy as the council is again being herded by McWhinney through a collaborative city staff into a corner of limited choices. McWhinney wants to gut the full project in two steps. First approve a cheap “safety-only” contract for just over $8 million and later come back with a separate proposal likely to fund commitments they already made to build an office building for Agrium. Any argument that is “may” be used to complete the I-25/34 project later is silly. To restart the project would cost an additional 15% that the current fund just doesn’t have plus McWhinney has already made it clear they cannot raise any additional bond debt given the current performance of their Metro District sales.

Make no mistake about it, they are reducing the ratio of funds available for “Regional Transportation Improvements” while increasing funds available to improve their own property — thus increasing their net worth at the expense of greater Loveland.

In an awfully condescending argument, Rich Shannon has told the council the current “poor” economic times necessitate the city allowing McWhinney to fundamentally change their commitment to that interchange under the agreement. Even LovelandPolitics doesn’t believe the council is that ignorant to accept his specious argument. The project money is already in the escrow account and ready to be spent.

By design, funding for these bigger capital improvement projects depended on bond proceeds and not current revenue. In 2008 McWhinney’s Metro District borrowed the money, in part, to fund the I-25 and U.S. 34. We are talking about only $11.5 million out of the $112 million in bond proceeds they raised last year.

McWhinney promised to fund $12 million for the interim project to improve the I-25 / U.S. 34 in their Master
Financing Agreement (January 2004), the bond indenture document (March 2008), and the Intergovernmental
Agreement (June 2008).

Now they want to renege on their legal commitments and not return the money they received or spend it for the purpose it was received. The 2004 MFA agreement speaks to the Metro District using excess money from the Regional Transportation Improvements once complete to repay the debt created by the bonds. Unfortunately, the money isn’t excess and the project has not even started but McWhinney wants the money anyway.

This shouldn’t be a hard decision for our city council to make. Stick to the agreement and be responsible custodians of taxpayer funds. Use the bond proceeds for what they were intended and nothing else.

Posted in Uncategorized | 9 Comments »

Carol Johnson Gets The Boot

Sunday, October 4th, 2009

Loveland’s renowned Historic Preservation Commission has invited Councilwoman Carol Johnson to cease her role as the Loveland City Council liaison to their commission. You can read the story and see a copy of the letter here.

We believe the Loveland City Council owes the commission members an apology and clarification of the record that Carol Johnson doesn’t speak for the whole council.

The Loveland Historical Preservation Commission has contributed in value millions of dollars of in-kind contributions through their time and resources. Carol Johnson should be humbled by not only the contributions the individual members of the commission have made for so many years before she ever heard of Loveland but also the other resources they leverage into the community through their work to obtain grants and funding from other non-City of Loveland sources for their efforts.

Gene Pielin, Dave Clark and a few others find a political ally in Johnson and are therefore apparently unwilling to correct her bad behavior or even clarify the record that council doesn’t believe the commissioners are who Johnson described.

Carol Johnson needs to understand city resources are not HER contribution but instead that by everyone who pays taxes in Loveland. She is an embarrassment to the community and council. Jan Brown once bragged that she successfully discouraged Johnson’s opponent from running for council thus allowing Johnson to run unopposed.

This kind of behavior needs to be denounced. Whether it was Dave Clark telling Walt Skowron not to Run or Jan Brown also discouraging competition — the consequence of limited choices for the community means people like Carol Johnson can get elected.

Now that the commission has spoken the City Council needs to sanction Johnson by telling her to keep a healthy distance away from productive city volunteers and not to speak for the whole council again without their permission.

The lack of adult supervision here is embarrassing to the city.

Posted in City Council - General Issues | 3 Comments »