A recent article in The Record reports that the State Local Finance Board censured Mayor Zisa for his role in "Underwood". Click
here to read the article.
Many people have tried to explain Underwood to me, but I still don't quite get it. The chronology of events (according to the Record):
1. City needs parking
2. City buys State Street lot for parking spaces. 3/00
3. Underwood buys nearby property from College. 6/00
4. Underwood requests 45 spaces for property from the City. 8/00
5. County leases building from Underwood for $1.6M. 9/00. (Why lease back a building it just sold?) [Update: I understand there are several different county entities (Special Services School District being one) and that one entity did not necessarily know what the other was doing. Also, there were issues of timing that influenced the decision. - More on this later.]
6. City leases 45 spaces to College. 10/00.
7. City votes to pave lot. 11/00.
8. City votes to pay contractor 5 times in 2001. (What does this have to do with it? - simply because Mayor Zisa had an interest?)
The Record article says the deal cost city taxpayers $213,031. How is this figure calculated? Didn't the city benefit from the leased spaces at $55 per month? How did this deal cost the City money?
Did the County do anything wrong?
Did the mayor push the city into purchasing the State Street property knowing full well that the county would be interested in leasing that space if it had adequate parking? Or, - did the mayor simply benefit from the city's decision (with or without his vote or influence) to purchase that property?
In short, what is the net harm of the transaction(s)? I'm trying to understand the level of Mayor Zisa's alleged culpability. What did he know and when did he know it? What should he have done? What is his defense?
I hope the comments to follow address these concerns in a reasonable way. I would also hope to hear from some Mayor Zisa supporters. Also: Please note that the determination by the Local Finance Board is only the first step in rendering a final decision.