Chamber Purchase: NOT a Backup Plan

By now all readers of this blog have heard that the Akcess Aquisition Group's proposed office building is in trouble. The most troubling part of the Northwestern story, for me, was this:

". . . Chamber officials have contacted several councilors about reviving a resolution authorizing the city to acquire the Chamber building as part of a plan to realign Marion Road."

For the record, I was not one of the councilors contacted. The story indicates that Mayor Tower met with Chamber representatives, while Councilor King says that Akcess' Tim Rikkers called and she was not able to schedule a meeting with the Chamber's John Casper.

No other councilors are mentioned in the story, yet Frank Tower apparently told the paper that "several other councilors" had discussions with Chamber representatives similar to his. Meanwhile John Casper "confirmed that he has talked with several councilors this year about reopening negotiations with the Chamber."

In the spirit of open government, I hope the "several councilors" who have had conversations with Chamber representatives and/or Mr. Rikkers will reveal their identities to the public as well as the contents of those conversations. Given that such behind-the-scenes conversations took place, any attempt to revive the resolution to buy the Chamber building will be more difficult than was already the case.

The Oshkosh Northwestern editorialists got it right in criticizing the attempt to revive the buy the Chamber building resolution as "ill-advised," though it's not clear why the self-proclaimed advocates of openness and transparency on the editorial board are not upset with the behind-the-scenes conversations cooking up this deal. Perhaps they will be upset if it turns out that Mr. Esslinger or Mr. McHugh were one of the councilors contacted by Rikkers or the Chamber.

Mr. Rikkers of Akcess submitted a near 500-word response to the Northwestern editorial (forwarded to each member of the Council) that he hoped to have published on Sunday. The paper had apparently already gone to press before the letter arrived, but will publish it sometime this week. In it, Rikkers expresses surprise and disappointment at the editorial and says that "In my experience, negativity only drives a project further away from reality."

Rikkers claims, in contrast to the Northwestern editorial, that the Chamber and other organizations have been "excellent resources" in the effort to try and secure tenants. The Chamber's motivation for wanting city taxpayers to purchase their building to finance a move to fancier digs is not "avarice," but the fact that "they recognize the importance of contributing to growth in their community and they realize the critical role they can play in making a key Oshkosh redevelopment project a success."

Last December I called for discussion of a Waterfront Backup Plan when it became clear that Akcess was not going to be able to deliver, at least not within a reasonable time frame, on what they had proposed. My call was rejected by Mr. Kinney, Mr. Fitzpatrick, the majority of the Council, and much of the local media. Akcess now acknowledges that the project is in serious trouble. Can we NOW have a discussion of backup plans? Ya think?

Let me be clear: Buying the Chamber building, a proposal that was defeated 7-0 last year, is NOT a backup plan.