Mayor Has No Responsibility To Help Strugging Retail Center
The Hurricane Marketplace opened in March of 2007 after
the Putnam County Development Authority sold the land to developer Tricor International Corporation and they completed construction
Through the years, Hurricane Marketplace has filled many of its storefronts with poorly capitalized, poorly managed locally owned businesses. Many of those small businesses have come and gone.
None of this is Mayor Scott Edwards' fault.
It is not Scott Edwards' job to solve the problem of vacancies there.
He's the mayor not a real estate agent.
Out-of state hate blog publisher Mark Halburn says Edwards doesn't have a plan, that he's flip-flopping and leaving the shopping center on its own. The fact is Edwards doesn't need a plan. It's not his job.
Neither is it the job of the PCDA. It has done its job. They sold the land to Tricor who built the Hurricane Marketplace.
It's now the developer's job to attract tenants. Why aren't you harassing them?
Here's a thought. How much is the rent at Hurricane Market Place? Most likely it is overpriced in this economy. Maybe potential merchants feel the rents are too high. The size of the store fronts vacant there would represent a small business or mall type store. Those stores are not opening right now. Potential customers do not have the disposable income until the economy rebounds.
Why aren't you harassing Tricor? They manage the property.
It's not the Mayor's problem to solve. Do you not understand this? How much government do you want? Do you just want government to do everything for you? Maybe you haven't noticed, but the economy is SHOT! There is no recovery taking place. Unemployment numbers are cooked through little tricks like not including people unemployed for more than 12 months. Real unemployment is closer to 15% or better and it's sky high for 18-35 year olds who lack experience, regardless of education level.
The only thing government CAN and SHOULD be able to do is lure business by creating an environment that stimulates growth, the rest is up to a number of other variables. Entitleists like you are the reason that America is in the shape it is in today.
You are dumber than a bag of hammers.
Why is it that you always have complaints, but never a single viable, realistic solution? Moron.
Halburn has moved out of the state, but continues to harass Mayor Edwards via text. It's OK for him to send texts to Mayor Edwards with inane ideas, but when Mayor Edwards sends Halburn texts Halburn calls them "harassment text messages."
When PutnamLIES.com asked Mayor Edwards about any plans he told us, "I have no plans for the Marketplace because it is a private business. Private businesses make their own decisions on who they rent to, how much the rent is, etc. As the Mayor, I do what I am supposed to do. If Halburn is such a brilliant businessman, why didn't he buy it and rent it cheap or whatever he thought he should do to get it rented? He never paid his B&O taxes the entire time he lived here anyway. Halburn should simply not worry about what the owners of Hurricane Marketplace do or how they conduct their business. He doesn't even live here anymore. His opinion doesn't matter at all."
Halburn also admits that he comes from a long line of drunks and mental defectives. He doesn't trust himself to stop once he starts drinking. As you can see from his appearance he obviously has no self control.
Halburn says more businesses mean more B&O taxes for the city. That's funny considering Halburn NEVER paid one dime of B&O taxes to the City of Hurricane in his entire residence here, despite having his office in and running his business from his second ex-wife's house.
Halburn then makes more ludicrous suggestions on how to run the business and the town.
He continues to beat the dead horse of having the PCDA to donate its land above Dollar Tree for a park. Except as PutnamLIES.com has pointed out previously, this takes commercial property off the tax rolls forever.
Which means the taxpayers lose twice.
If it wasn't his idea and the PCDA did something like that, he'd criticize them for throwing the public's money away by giving away a piece of property that was to be used for development.
Halburn then gets to his solution for everything. Buy his second ex-wife's property.
Then he starts on us. "A "trash blog" that some say is funded by Edwards calls the empty storefronts a "national problem" caused by the recession. This isn't true. In Ashland, Kentucky, Barboursville, Nitro, Princeton, South Point, Ohio, and South Ridge, retail stores next to Walmarts have filled the shopping centers and are doing great levels of business. Hurricane stands alone with this problem."
Some say this site is funded by Edwards? Some say? YOU say. If you have any evidence of that, prove it. Show us your evidence.
There is none, except what exists in your own fevered imagination.
You've made the same allegation in the past except then it was Joe Haynes that was doing the funding. Which is it? Joe or Scott? Or both?
How about neither?
Because that's what the real truth is. We get absolutely no money from anybody to do this. It costs nothing for us to run this site. Nothing.
Maybe someone called "Wendy James" from "People Against Cyber Bullies" told you that she was able to find the site registered to some name we made up in Hurricane and she was researching bank transfers. That was bullshit, because that was us too. You got taken in again, you cocksucker.
You're just angry that we helped your second ex-wife see exactly what kind of beast you really are and she threw you out.
How many of those shopping centers have had local businesses open stores there in the last 5 years? Then you say Hurricane is the only place that has this problem.
You're delusional Halburn. This problem has nothing to do with Scott Edwards or the PCDA, shithead. This problem IS national. With your boy Obama running the economy into the toilet, malls across the country have vacant storefronts. Almost double the vacancy rate of 6 years ago. The economy is in the shitter.
Why don't you admit what your REAL agenda is?
You hope it will make the value of your second ex-wife's property increase .
Before the Walmart was built, and without authority to do so, you refused an offer for that property thinking you could hold out for more money. You were wrong and now she's stuck with a piece of land no one wants.
Your vendetta against Edwards and the PCDA stems from this.
Your only concern with the vacancy rate is that it lessens the non-existant demand for your second ex-wife's property.
If the vacancy rate was 0%, you'd be complaining about the excessive noise all of the traffic generated.
The ONLY reason you want to see more development is to make your second ex-wife's property more valuable in hopes of getting a cut from a big profit. Period.
Remember the church and the video gaming club that called you about locating there last April? Look at what date it was. April 1! Did you seriously think that was real? It was us, and you printed it, dummy!
How about that Denny's that you assured your (29) readers that was to be built? How's the breakfast there?
Oh yeah. That's right. It hasn't been built.
This isn't about stupid politicians. It's about one stupid, self centered, entitleist and that's Mark Hallburn.
Perhaps if YOU were not constantly reporting such negative stories about Hurricane more companies would be more willing to locate here.
A guy that can't find or hold a real job has no right to tell anyone how to run their business.
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