COLA FACTS

Part I - THE SWEETHEART DEAL

How would you like to receive a $5.8 million sweetheart deal from the City of Columbia for your next project? That’s exactly the gift the City of Columbia and its City Council voted 6-0 to give last year to HR Developers, LLC for a building project in Five Points (Kirkman Finlay was recused). [VIEW DOCUMENT]

In fact, City Council promised the money more than five weeks before the developers, Washington Square, LLC, closed on the property. [VIEW DOCUMENT]

Worse yet, the City considered this deal behind closed doors in executive session and voted to approve it without public discussion. [Feb 21 Minutes] [Minutes March 7]

Washington Square, LLC, the developer that bought the land, and HR Developers, LLC, the developer of the Five Points South project on that land, are owned by the same two individual developers.

These same developers have had a profitable real estate dealing with the City before. [VIEW DOCUMENT] And contributed to Councilman Daniel Rickenmann’s campaign a few years afterward in July of 2005.

Did City Staff believe this behind-closed-doors transaction was a “done deal”?

1. Yes, according to Chip Land, the head of City Planning when speaking to the Planning Commissioners about the sweetheart deal. In the Commission’s formal hearing for a zoning exemption to allow construction of a mixed-use massive six-story building, Mr. Land stated “City Council has already voted to go into contract with the developers to acquire the air rights and to build two levels of parking.” [See Transcript of Minutes, September 10, 2007] The exemption from zoning for the deal was approved by the Planning Commission. (One of these two developers has been a Past Chairman of the Columbia Planning Commission.)

2. According to the Assistant City Manager, no other options for a parking garage were to be examined, and he was directed not to look at other options within Five Points.

Part II – RICKENMANN’S DEAL

Has Councilman Rickenmann made a ton of money connected to the sweetheart deal?

It certainly appears so. His partnership received a $500,000 profit from the purchase of the Birds on a Wire building 15 days before the vote on the sweetheart deal and the sale to Kenny Hooks (former owner of Kenny’s) 5 months later.

What are the facts?

 

  1. Councilman Rickenmann’s partnership (Foodworks Creative Development Company) bought the building at 2901 Devine Street for $1.45m only 15 days before the vote to commit $5.8m of public funds to a private developer for a project on Kenny’s Auto Site.
  2. Councilman Rickenmann held onto the property for 5 months, during which time the private developer bought the land at Kenny’s Auto (700 and 701 Saluda Avenue) for “a record price for Five Points” according to newspaper accounts.
  3. Less than three months after the Kenny’s property was sold by Mr. Hooks, Mr. Rickenmann sold his building at 2901 Devine Street to Mr. Hooks for $1.95m.


Check it out for yourself online at the assessor’s office:

http://www.richlandonline.com/services/assessorsearch/assessorsearch.asp

What really happened?

Did the private developer increase the price he paid for the Kenny’s Auto by $500,000 so that money could be flowed through to Mr. Rickenmann on the next transaction? Did the vote increase the property value of Kenny’s Auto and Mr. Rickenmann receive the benefit? Was it an innocent coincidence? We won’t know what really happened until this is investigated.

The citizens of Columbia deserve to know whether this deal violates laws preventing public officials from making decisions that benefit them personally.

Part III - THE POLLUTED DEAL

Does the former Kenny’s site have environmental problems?

Yes, the site has major environmental contamination, including 4000% of acceptable level of benzene in the groundwater on the site. Benzene is an additive in gasoline that can cause cancer. The site has other contaminants, including heating oil/diesel and used oil. It is heavily polluted. [VIEW DOCUMENTS]

 

How long has the information been available to the City? Since at least August 2006, when the documents were filed with DHEC. The information that the site was polluted was available before City Council ever voted to give the developers the sweetheart deal in March 2007. [View DHEC Letter]

Just last month, the polluted site was judged by City Staff as superior in physical suitability compared to a clean site. There was no mention of the environmental problems.

The environmental information was available when City Council recently chose this site over another clean site in its March 5, 2008 meeting.

But don’t just listen to us. Citizens have raised this environmental issue but it’s fallen on deaf ears. Check out a guest editorial by a member of the public published in the State newspaper last week. [http://www.thestate.com/editorial-columns/story/349399.html]

 

 

Dear Friend:

The City should never have voted for the sweetheart deal and it should not be considering signing more contracts right now.

The process has been dirty and the site is polluted. Appropriate public private development is essential to growth, however, this is a backroom deal, it’s negligent, and a member of City Council has compared it to the hotel deal.

Don’t just ask me. Ask the taxpayers….at least 50 Five Points merchants and over 500 citizens are adamantly opposed to this deal and have been trying to have their voices heard without success.

That’s why I’m running…to represent the taxpayers. If you have any questions or ideas, please call my cell at 422-4895. We need someone to bring about Accountable Change and I would be honored to have your support.

Cameron Runyan

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