Please click here to read a letter from Mr. Forrest Miller reference the "Economic development board."
Folks, I had a letter printed not too long ago in the "Call," which precludes my sending in a response to the letter by Mr. Miller for another three weeks, so I shall post it here.
Mr. Miller, I have read your letter reference Mr. Nieders comments in the paper, and I understand you need to protect the board on which you serve. I have a few questions that I would like to ask of you reference same.
!. You stated that you and the board "backed the TIF program" What
exactly did you and the board do to make that happen?
2. You said that you had meetings with the owners of Watson Square,
Sappington Square, and Crestwood Square. I assume you have
Minutes of those meetings to back up that statement, no?
3. You stated you "brought new ideas" by conducting an "in depth
Survey" of our citizens ideas and needs (I was never contacted,
And I have lived here for 40 years!)
Mr. Miller, I assume you know that the "economic development commission is but a "advisory panel, nothing more, nothing less," and as such reports to the Board of Alderman, who make the final decision?
Mr. Miller, I am from Missouri as all of us in Crestwood are, so if you would be so kind, can we have some factual, hard evidence of the work you say has been performed on behalf of Crestwood? "Show me" that, and I will better understand your letter, because as of this writing, I am having a bit of a problem understanding where you are coming from.
Tom Ford
NO. 647
Mr. Miller, I have read your letter reference Mr. Nieders comments in the paper, and I understand you need to protect the board on which you serve. I have a few questions that I would like to ask of you reference same.
!. You stated that you and the board "backed the TIF program" What
exactly did you and the board do to make that happen?
2. You said that you had meetings with the owners of Watson Square,
Sappington Square, and Crestwood Square. I assume you have
Minutes of those meetings to back up that statement, no?
3. You stated you "brought new ideas" by conducting an "in depth
Survey" of our citizens ideas and needs (I was never contacted,
And I have lived here for 40 years!)
Mr. Miller, I assume you know that the "economic development commission is but a "advisory panel, nothing more, nothing less," and as such reports to the Board of Alderman, who make the final decision?
Mr. Miller, I am from Missouri as all of us in Crestwood are, so if you would be so kind, can we have some factual, hard evidence of the work you say has been performed on behalf of Crestwood? "Show me" that, and I will better understand your letter, because as of this writing, I am having a bit of a problem understanding where you are coming from.
Tom Ford
NO. 647
posted by Crestwood Independent at 19:22
18 Comments:
Tom,
I was also confused about that article. I don't remember a survey, or meeting either. Nor do I remember the community meetings on all the centers.
I try to keep an eye out for things involving Crestwood, but I guess I missed these.
These questions would be best served if they were sent to the CALL in the form of a letter. No offense meant to you Tom.
Well, John, don't feel bad. Cause I missed them too.
7:54 AM blogger: You are 100% right, it should be in the Call. However they have a one letter per 30 day rule that precludes my sending it.
Mike Anthony should do an investigation on this and put it in his column. I am sure he can find out the real story, and it would be fun to read it.
Tom Ford
I just looked up the meetings of the "Economic development commission" on the City web site.
Interestingly enough, I found that there was not a meeting (3 cancellations in 3 months) of said commission from September, 2008 to June 2009! I didn't go back any farther, but you can if you wish.
Now I am at a loss to equate Mr. Millers letter to the Call taking credit for all the accomplishments of the commission when they took off 9 Months during the heart of the economic melt down. When were all these great things done?
Shouldn't this be their time to plan, and assist the business community, or does this tell us they they really don't accomplish much of anything?
Tom Ford
Just getting a taste of your own medicine.
John & Tom
Given the commission has accompished so much perhaps they have forgotten what their stated mission is as posted on the City of Crestwood Website.
- Economic Development Committee - gathers information as it pertains to governmental activities, commercial/industrial development, and road and capital improvements. Activities may include: attending city meetings maintaining, a relationship with mayors and aldermen, etc.
TIF's have been great for Crestwood. Without TIF, we would still have a VACANT corner at Sappington\Watson and Kohl's would be in Kirkwood. Watson Plaza would be a ghost town. Without CID, Gordman's would not be in here, Crestwood Square would be empty and we would still have the ugly dump strip center and mufler shop at Old Sappington & Watson.
"When all of us began in 2005, no one knew the economic problems we would be facing in 2009" - Interesting statement. Similar arguments are being made to keep up the collection of Proposition S.
1. Why did the EDC support the new tax-increment financing law?
2. When was this "in-depth survey of our citizens' ideas and needs" done? Consequently, when was the public meeting held?
3. When were these community meetings held? How did the EDC keep "the remodeling on track"?
4. How did the EDC spearhead efforts to operate South County License? Is the EDC part of the bid and if so, what, if any, will be its role if the bid is awarded to the Route 66 group? You say that profits will be "used to benefit the historical districts of Sunset Hills and Crestwood, which will promote people visiting our areas." So, how does the EDC, or the Sappington House foundation or Route 66 group plan to use these profits? Do you have any plans to improve visitation to Sappington House?
5. I disagree with your statement - "we are making progress in the roughest retail environment in the history of the United States". That may be your opinion, but have you ever heard of the Great Depression?
TIFs are great for developers too! By the way, a good chunk of Crestwood Square is empty still.
Chairman of Crestwood EDC responds to former alderman's letter
July 08, 2009 - To the editor:
It has been an honor and privilege to serve as chairman of the Crestwood Economic Development Commission under Mayor Roy Robinson's administration.
When all of us began in 2005, no one knew the economic problems we would be facing in 2009. Our ex-member and defeated Alderman Steve Nieder made some incorrect accusations in his recent letter to the editor, which I would like to correct.
Our mission under the current administration is to create a very business-friendly environment for the city of Crestwood and to pay close attention to what is going on around us from both a political and economic standpoint so that Crestwood and surrounding areas will have a chance to survive.
I assume you have minutes of meetings etc. that define what business friendly is and how you have created it.
I am a resident of Crestwood and a retail and commercial property owner. In all my years in retail, I have never experienced such a difficult economy. Mr. Nieder is upset about the tax holiday. The tax holiday will give merchants of Crestwood and Sunset Hills a financial advantage at no cost to them or residents. Not everything is exempt, but for higher-ticket items such as products sold at electronics stores — computers, software, et cetera — a customer's savings will be substantial. Additionally, merchants will have an opportunity to advertise — at no charge to Crestwood — to bring people into our area and extra profit to their store. Many of these people will be new customers and hopefully repeat customers in the future.
If we accept your theory of financial advantage then why did Dillards, Macy's, etc. leave?
Part one.
Excellent question! I eagerly await Part 2.
Mr. Nieder asked: What has the Economic Development Commission accomplished?
Listed below are a few of our accomplishments.
• We supported the new tax-increment financing law, which is more favorable to older areas and existing businesses. This was a result of meeting with the then-president pro tem of the Missouri Senate, Michael Gibbons. We presented our case as to how the TIFs of Kirkwood, Fenton and Des Peres have impacted our shopping area.
The Senator presented his cause to the commission attempting to gain support. No case was presented to the Senator. I was in attendance
• We brought new ideas to our business communities by joining hands with the Crestwood-Sunset Hills Area Chamber of Commerce, meeting monthly to move our agenda. We conducted an in-depth survey of our citizens' ideas and needs, then held a public meeting to discuss the results.
What new ideas has the economic development commission brought to the community since no meetings have occurred since August of 2008.
• We held community meetings when we redeveloped Watson Plaza, Sappington Square and Crestwood Square. We had meetings with the owners and kept the remodeling on track.
I was not aware the economic development commission owned business or property in Crestwood or that the economic development commission was a project manager.
• We have spearheaded efforts to operate the local license office with the profits used to benefit the historical districts of Sunset Hills and Crestwood, which will promote people visiting our areas.
The economic development commission has not met since august of 2008. How does the commission accomplish these objectives without meeting?
As hard as many people have worked to improve our area, I was appalled by the condescending manner and interrogating style ex-Alderman Nieder used to new and existing businesses as they came before the Board of Aldermen to conduct their business. He was truly an impediment to the pro-business style we were trying to create, which is why I supported Deborah Beazley, who defeated him.
In a previous paragraph Forrest stated the economic development commission had already created the pro business attitude. Was the attitude developed or is it being developed? Since no meeting has occurred since August 2008 I can only assume development stopped.
Since being established 4 1⁄2 years, ago, we have had to cancel only one meeting for lack of a quorum. The Crestwood Economic Development Commission has open meetings for all citizens to attend. We are making progress in the roughest retail environment in the history of the United States, and if you have ideas to better our community, I invite you to join us.
According to the Crestwood Website all meetings since August of 2008 have been canceled.
Forrest Miller
Economic Development Commission chairman
Page two (blog masters note, this had to be divided in order to post it due to the length!
Steve Nieder, Ward Four
Accomplishments? Is that what Forrest Miller calls them? Are these really accomplishments?
Ok, meeting with then Senator Gibbons to discuss TIF law - ok, but was that an accomplishment?
Ok, "joining hands with the Crestwood-Sunset Hills Area Chamber of Commerce"? I'd hope so. It would be good that the eco development commission joins with the chamber of commerce. That would be a natural step. But is it an accomplishment? And when was this "survey" held?
When were these community meetings held?
And what role does the eco- development commission have with historical districts?
Like the rest of Roy's administration, it's got nothing to do with the stated goals, it just sound good.
Mr. Miller is as empty in results as is Roy in keeping his campaign promises, birds of feather flock together.
You are right. In fact Roy said he had a plan and never came out with one.
And what role does the eco- development commission have with historical districts?
PLEASE REMEMBER THE SAPPINGTON HOUSE AREA EXISTS AS A RESULT OF AN AGREEMENT WITH ST. LOUIS COUNTY AND CRESTWOOD TO USE AS A PARK. THE SAPPINGTON HOUSE PROPERTY WAS PART OF UNICORPORATED ST. LOUIS COUNTY AT THE TIME THE AGRREMENT WAS COMPLETED.
STEVE NIEDER
• We brought new ideas to our business communities by joining hands with the Crestwood-Sunset Hills Area Chamber of Commerce, meeting monthly to move our agenda. We conducted an in-depth survey of our citizens' ideas and needs, then held a public meeting to discuss the results
THE CRESTWOOD-SUNSET HILLS AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE IS THE SAME ENTITY THAT SUPPORTED THE NOVUS ATTEMPT TO BUILD THE NEW MALL IN SUNSET HILLS. WE ALL KNOW THE REST OF THE STORY.
STEVE NIEDER
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