Corker The Crook?
Posted by
Kevin
This is an interesting little story regarding the Tennessee Senate race. When Bob Corker was mayor of Chattanooga, his Administration ordered a change in an easement in such a fashion to allow Wal-Mart to build in an environmentally sensitive area. The kicker? Corker’s company sold land to Wal-Mart for the property for 4.7 million dollars:
A lawsuit by Kurtz that Corker’s lawyers had succeeded in getting dismissed has been reinstated, and, just last week, a judge issued an order that keeps private some records connected to the suit.
The controversy is spinning off new allegations.
A Nashville lawyer pursuing Kurtz’s suit says he’s bothered by records that show how a Corker real estate company collected $4.6 million by selling the Wal-Mart land just weeks after Corker’s public works administrator signed off on a construction easement.
Responding, Corker campaign manager Ben Mitchell said the Wal-Mart was approved in a transparent, open process involving several local, state and federal agencies, much of it occurring before Corker became mayor in April 2001.
“The public record clearly shows that the actions taken were completely ethical and consistent with the public good,'’ Mitchell said in a written statement.
… The easement grants certain rights to the city, including allowing public access and the construction of trails, while prohibiting construction, timbering or other development.
Although the appeals court found that the precise boundaries of the conservation easement are unclear, the environmental council’s suit alleges the developers ignored the easement and that the Wal-Mart construction extended into it.
Specifically, Prochaska said a new road built to the store obliterated a gravel parking lot once used by nature lovers to access the conservation area. Dig-and-fill operations also created a steep slope further limiting access while runoff has left the site in an overgrown, unusable condition, he said.
The suit, which names Bright Par 3, the City of Chattanooga, the Corker Group, Osborne and others as defendants, seeks restoration of the conservation easement and unspecified money damages.
Prochaska said he’s also concerned about the new road, Greenway View Drive, which started as a construction access easement granted by Corker’s administration.
Records show Corker’s public works administrator, William C. McDonald, signed the access easement, that ran through the conservation area. Prochaska said the road curved east to avoid an office parking lot owned then by Corker, and consequently ran though and destroyed the gravel parking lot used by nature lovers.
The change smells. Even if it was legal, look at what happened: employees of the mayor changed a legal agreement in such a manner as to allow their boss to personally profit in a substantial manner. I find it hard to find another word to describe that process other than “corrupt”.
Definitely corrupt. For giggles, look at the makeup of your hometown’s city council and see how many members are developers/contractors/involved in real estate. In many places, it’s a significant portion and it’s for this reason.
Comment 8/21/2006
Uncle, Very, very true. Most folks don’t want to be bothered with the duties of small town politics, so those who can feather their own nests are the ones that step up.
Comment 8/21/2006