Watch Dog reports on RDC Finances

The folks at MemphisWatchDog.org have just taken a close look at the Riverfront Development Corporation. The facts and figures they’ve uncovered are posted, and it’s definitely worth your time to take a look.

Memphis Watch Dog describes itself as a website for Memphis taxpayers that will help us keep up with what the politicians are doing and not doing in Memphis and Shelby County.

They’ve got some answers about how the City got in the current financial mess and some information about future projects that need to be scrapped.

Click now.

Here is what Memphis Watchdog has to say:

October 18, 2005At last reality has begun to dawn on the Riverfront Development Corporation and they have temporarily killed the expensive, unwanted land bridge. Whether the current City Council will back this decision is unknown at this time as they continue to insist on their expensive, unneeded capital improvement projects.

Memphiswatchdog.org has just obtained all the inside information on the riverfront Development Corporation and we publish it below for the general taxpaying public to study. Here are the important points.

• As of June 30, 2005, RDC had a net worth of about $1 million
• During the year ended June 30, 2005 RDC received a little over $6 million from the City.
• RDC (really the City of Memphis) lost a little over $2 million in the last year on the parks, mainly Mud Island.
• In July 2001, RDC signed a contract with the City of Memphis giving them management of all City of Memphis riverfront property paying them over $10 million to date.
• Benny Lendermon, the President of RDC makes a salary of $172,050 per year plus a bonus of $25,000. Also he and other employees get vacations, sick leave, health insurance, life insurance, short and long term disability insurance, and a retirement plan, all as shown on the attached information.
• Bounds & Gillespie, Architects, received a three month contract in 2004 for a Beale Street Landing design contract for $3,137,266.00.
• Hnedak Bobo Groups, Inc have a monthy Beale Street Landing Management contract of $34,000/month since 11/27/01. that is nearly $2 million to date.

The public needs to consider that the City debt has nearly tripled in the last ten years to over $1 billion. We do not need to spend money on these kinds of projects until we get our finances under control in the City and the County.

Click here to see the audited financial statement of the Riverfront Development Corporation.

Click here to see the salaries and benefits of the RDC employees.

Click here to see the projects and associated contracts of the RDC.

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Moving in the Right Direction

For a long time the Riverfront Development Corporation tried to avoid discussing the 50-acre dam they called a landbridge. Now they’ve acknowledged it was unfeasible and unpopular and are asking the City Council to remove it from the 2002 Memphis Riverfront Master Plan.

The Riverfront Development Corporation (RDC) Board of Directors has voted to recommend to City Council that plans for the landbridge be removed from the 2002 Memphis Riverfront Master Plan. The landbridge, actually a 50-acre dam, was the "central" component of their 2002 plan and would have extended from Court to Poplar, provided massive new land for development, and made our harbor into a lake.

This step by the RDC signals that someone may finally be beginning to listen to what the citizens of Memphis have been saying since about 1997 – namely that we don’t want a fake lake and that we do want a public riverfront.

Hopefully the City Council will vote to remove the dam, but they shouldn’t stop there. The RDC says the dam/landbridge was politically and financially unfeasible. Let’s look at the numbers. They say the landbridge/dam was going to cost $78 million and that the riverfront masterplan weighs in at $292million in public expenses. So if you take $78 from $292, that means they still intend to spend $214million in public money. On what?

Now’s the time for the City Council to get some facts and figures from the RDC and the Administration and take a hard look at the riverfront masterplan.

Since 1997, a lake has been the central component of a massive proposal to reconfigure the Memphis riverfront. Now’s the time to take a look at all the components, especially the part that plans to take the only four remaining blocks of public land on the high bluff and turn it over to private developers for hotels, offices, condos, and shops. This land, known as the Public Promenade, is not owned by the City and it is not theirs to turn over to private developers. It was set aside for all the citizens of Memphis to use and enjoy as a promenade forever.

The RDC has sought to justify their plan for private commercial development of the Public Promenade by saying that the buildings now standing on this land block us from the river. On that we all agree. It’s what replaces them that is the issue. The City needs to come up with a new plan that respects what the public has been saying, that removes the parking garages from the Public Promenade without adding luxury condos, a plan that improves our harbor and allows the Public Promenade to remain public.

The removal of the landbridge/dam from the riverfront plan looks like a first step in the right direction. The sooner all the unrealistic, unpopular components of the masterplan are removed, the better. Then our City can truly focus on improving and revitalizing our riverfront. The RDC needs to go back to the drawing board and come up with a new plan for the riverfront that is economically sustainable, good for downtown redevelopment, and improves the quality of life for Memphians.

For more information, check the new "Commercial Appeal" and "Flyer" articles and editorials posted in the library. To get there, just click on library in the menu bar at the top of the page.

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Two Great Events This Weekend - Join the Fun

There are two great outdoors events downtown this weekend. Hope you can come.

WALKIN' IN MEMPHIS - Sunday, Oct. 16 at 3 p.m. Stroll through the heart of downtown with Judith Johnson, TN Advisor to the National Trust for Historic Preservation and FfOR board member. Take a look at our public spaces, historic restoration projects, and new development through her trained eye. See the potential role of the Public Promenade, as Mayor Riley would say, "our finest edge." Walk begins on the Shelby County Courthouse steps (140 Adams) and ends up on the subterranean patio at Brinkley Plaza where "the river rat" will be grilling out. Please RSVP to info@friendsforourriverfront.org, so we’ll have a headcount. Street parking is free on the weekends. Raindate: Oct. 22, same place, same time. Hope to see you there.

HARBOR CLEAN-UP – Saturday, Oct. 15 from 10 a.m. to noon. Join the Sierra Club and help beautify our harbor. Meet under the Auction Street Bridge,on the east side of the harbor, for a little community service and a lot of fun. For more info. Contact James Baker at 372-6717 or by e-mail at kimo_aubrey@yahoo.com

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The Finest Edge

“The great cities of the world give the finest edges to the people,” said Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley when he spoke in Memphis to the sell-out crowd of 400+ on September 21. We promised this brief synopsis.

Riley, who is widely recognized as one of the most visionary and highly effective governmental leaders in America, said that, “Citizens should always have the best land first.” That’s what the founders of Memphis did when they gave citizens of our city the "finest edge," the Public Promenade. The Public Promenade runs along the Bluff overlooking the Mississippi River from Union Ave. north to the Interstate Bridge and from the River up to Front Street. It’s the connector between the mighty Mississippi and the heart of our downtown. Today it’s in need of improvement, but, in the opinion of many, not the private commercial development that threatens it.

Mayor Riley’s stories of how Charleston has redeveloped its downtown by creating great public spaces, preserving its heritage, and focusing on excellence emphasized how important it is to save and improve our public spot on the Riverbluff. Its revitalization as a great park would fall right in line with what Mayor Riley has done in Charleston.

Having served as Mayor of Charleston for 30 years and having worked with cities around the country through the Mayor’s Institute on City Design, Riley has seen that parks provide citizens "…a sense of pride and a place that they own…. Citizens tell me about the sunset, the breeze, the fun," he said when describing the creation of Charleston’s Waterfront Park. The applause signaled that Memphians agree. He said that Charleston's school children call their waterfront park their favorite place -- a place where they feel safe and one that is so popular Mayor Riley and his wife can find a free swing only on a cloudy day.

The Public Promenade, envisioned by the founders as a beautiful common space for all Memphians to use and enjoy forever, would serve the burgeoning residential community downtown and provide immediate open access to the River for those who work and visit in the Center City. It can foster and support the revitalization of downtown as well as inspire a sense of pride in Memphis and our heritage.

Charleston today is one of the most livable, creative, and visited cities in America. As a follow-up to Mayor Riley’s presentation, FfOR asks that you join in looking at ways to apply the success story of Charleston to Memphis

On October 16 (Sunday) at 3 p.m. go "Walkin' in Memphis" with Judith Johnston, Tennessee advisor to the National Trust for Historic Preservation. See first hand the exciting projects in the center of our city and learn how the Public Promenade can play an integral role in the future of downtown. Meet on the Shelby County Courthouse steps (140 Adams). The rain date is Oct 22, same time.

November 7 (Monday) at 6:30 p.m. join FfOR for a Promenade Forum. Help brainstorm ways to improve our riverfront and harbor at the Central Library, 3030 Poplar Ave. It's your opportunity to have a say and make Memphis a more livable community.

FfOR hopes that you will bring your vision, creativity, and enthusiasm as we look at how to make downtown Memphis an even better place.

You can learn more about Riley’s visit from Mary Cashiola’s article for the “Flyer”, Amos Maki’s article for the “Commercial Appeal”, an editorial on Riley’s visit, and a letter to the editor on the subject.

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Mayor Riley Event - Sold Out

We are thrilled by your response and the number of Memphians eager to hear from Mayor Riley about Charleston's preservation and redevelopment as one of the most livable, creative, and visited cities in America. We only wish we had room for more seats. As soon as possible we'll post an article here on the web hitting the high points of his talk.

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