I’m afraid Matthews Mayor Lee Myers has gone ’round the bend. Myers evidently really thinks paying a lobbyist $5K a month will help the town secure millions in federal bailout money. That money could’ve been put to work servicing immediate town needs — maybe $1m. or so in bonded debt — instead being burned on the hope that magical federal money will turn up.
Meanwhile, one of the most bruising issues the town has dealt with in recent years has come to a dead stop. The assisted living center planned for the still undeveloped intersection of McKee and Pleasant Plains cannot secure financing. Do tell.
The $150 million, 1100-unit Windsor Run complex was lusted after by the town council and staff due to the density and tax base it promised. But neighbors worried about the traffic it would bring has well as the infrastructure costs all the 911 calls from the complex would entail for the town. Erickson Retirement Communities beat back those concerns with an aggressive lobbying campaign, but now says it cannot find funding for the project.
In other words, Erickson was going to spec build a retirement complex with the town’s full support. Matthews seems to have completely bought into the notion that retirees are a golden goose for the town to milk quite apart from the reality of the town’s poor road network and high cost of living, at least compared to options a few miles away in South Carolina.
Oh that’s right! Mayor Myers has bought a lotto ticket to help get those roads fixed! Good luck with that, Mayor. You are in pool with a couple million other something-for-nothing state and local officials.
