about Jane Murray and the Future of Portsmouth )
Anyone who followed the Portsmouth Mayoral Campaign last year heard a phrase repeated over and over by candidate Jane Murray. At every appearance and each debate, Murray referred to the "Cultural Master Plan" that she developed for Lexington. She assured the voters of Portsmouth that she would use her skills, abilities and contacts developed in Lexington and Washington to create a similiar cultural master plan for Portsmouth that would bring museums, visitors and 1000s of jobs to our area....IF she were elected. The Lexington Cultural Master Plan was and is featured prominently on Jane's website. This was a very impressive-sounding promise! After all, it didn't seem likely that Jim Kalb or Jerry Skiver would ever be able to create such a plan!
One of the tragedies of the 2009 election campaign was that the truth about Murray's plan's colossal failure in Lexington was never revealed to the public. This was information that was fairly easily available, that the citizens should have been informed of well before the election.
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Murray's "UK Basketball Museum Scandal" that we wrote about on Monday was tame compared to the other embarassments she caused for Lexington and her former boss, Mayor and Congressman Scotty Baesler. The UK BB Museum fiasco could be written off as someone with great ambition reaching for a difficult goal and failing, and certainly that would be no cause for ridicule or shame.
But the museum failure is just one of series of failures that the citizens of Portsmouth need to be made aware of, especially since she is trying to sell the same snake oil in Portsmouth that she sold in Lexington.
JANE MURRAYS "BEN SNYDER BLOCK" DEVELOPMENT SCANDAL
During the mayoral election in 2009, Jane Murray made repeated promises that she would make Portsmouth "a regional cultural center" and implement a "cultural master plan" for Portsmouth. This master plan would include museums, and parks, and historical centers, as a part of her plan to "restructure" our entire city.
On her website, Murray lists the following achievements in her statement of qualifications:
Lexington Cultural Master Plan – project director for planning, coordinating, and implementing final plan which included more public monies for the arts, an arts & culture district, a children’s museum, and a new cultural center
Lexington Children’s Museum – project director for design/build and grand opening of KY’s first children’s museum; worked with a public committee and design team on planning and design
Lexington Cultural Center – director for project planning, design, and operations; headed team of museum planners, theatre consultants, architects, engineers, community members
University of Kentucky Basketball Museum – director for feasibility study; organized and directed professional consulting team, all meetings, functions, reports
At first glance it is an impressive list. However, as we reported a few days ago, there is much more to the story. Murray's responsibility for the UK Basketball Museum failure was a true financial fiasco for the City of Lexington and the University of Kentucky, which remains as $100,000 a year burden to the University to this day. We are amazed that she would even include the Museum on her resume. The only sense in which the museum was ever a success was the amount of money that Murray earned from her services in connection with the now-bankrupt museum.
Jane Murray's bankrupt UK Basketball Museum (now defunct) We believe that the protracted, embarrassing failure of the Basketball Museum, after a string of failures in government and business, was the real reason Jane Murray dropped her married name, Jane Vimont, in favor of her maiden name, and returned to Portsmouth. But the museum story merely opens the door on a much larger story of broken promises, failure, and scandal for the City of Lexington, the State of Kentucky, and Murray herself.
The basketball museum failure had its beginning several years prior with an even bigger fiasco and financial loss for the City of Lexington: the Ben Snyder Block scandal. It remains a nightmare for Lexington officials.
As you follow the story below please note the words in BOLD text and how they are interconnected. (Anyone who believes the Marting's project was a dastardly scheme should really be shocked by the Lexington "Art & Culture District" scandal.)
All information from Lexington Herald-Leader stories is indicated in parentheses. (LHL, date of article.) All Lexington Herald-Leader articles are available on-line for a fee at http://www.kentucky.com/.
BEN SNYDER BLOCK PROPERTY ACQUISITIONS
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| Baesler |
As we described in our previous article, Jane Murray-Vimont worked as Mayor Scotty Baesler's legislative liaison, begining in 1987. In that position, Jane was responsible for the development of the City's "Cultural Master Plan" for Lexington to help revitalize the downtown area. Her responsibility included extensive travel to other cities and meeting with major lobbying and consulting firms.
Another of Jane Murray-Vimont's responsibilities was the acquisition of Downtown property, in an area that came to be called the Art & Culture District. (This district never materialized. The "cultural site" is now occupied by the Fayette County Courthouse. More on that later.) The major portion of the property was located in the "Ben Snyder Block," the site of the old Snyder downtown department store, a former City landmark. Jane Murray's involvement in the City's acquisition of this property has ramifications that continue to this day.
In 1989, two years after Jane Murray-Vimont joined Baesler's staff and served as his liaison for the planned cultural center, Baesler convinced the State of Kentucky to buy the Ben Snyder block at cost of $9 million dollars. In return Baesler committed the city to build a number of projects on the site, totalling nearly $100 million, or else the City would have to pay the state back the entire $9 million purchase cost. This caused quite a stir in Lexington, due to the enormity of the commitment, which included:
- A $60 million World Trade/Cultural Center with high-rise office tower
- A large parking garage
- 34,000-square foot museum "to celebrate the science and technology of Kentucky"
- A UK Basketball Museum
- Renovation of the Lyric Threater, a traditional Black Theater in downtown Lexington with a historic legacy, and
- Two new theaters, among other improvements
This is the Lexington Cultural Master Plan that Murray takes credit for in her statement of qualifications on her website, and mentioned frequently during her mayoral campaign.
Lexington Cultural Master Plan – project director for planning, coordinating, and implementing final plan which included more public monies for the arts, an arts & culture district, a children’s museum, and a new cultural center (from Murray's website)
As we will see, Murray's Cultural Master Plan was quite a failure.
For over three years, Murray-Vimont led the City's efforts to recruit developers to build the improvements the City had committed would be built on the Ben Snyder Block in accordance with the Cultural Master Plan. During this time, no developers could be recruited. None of them believed the City's Master Plan figures and projections were accurate (HLH, "Finances May Spell 'Curtains' for Cultural Center," 7/5/92).
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Murray-Vimont and Baesler went back to the state with scaled-down plans. The state ultimately accepted the new less ambitious plans, but still required certain things to be built as originally agreed.
- Rather than building the proposed "World Trade Center High-Rise," they allowed the City to substitute a much smaller "expansion" of the nearby Lexington Center. (The World Trade group that was supposed to be housed in the new high-rise relocated their staff to Louisville when the new building was scrapped. This was major loss ann embarassment for Lexington.)
- The state allowed the city to buy an older parking garage nearby as a substitute for a new one, as originally promised.
- They accepted Baesler's commitment to build the basketball museum at the University of Kentucky, instead of at the downtown cultural center site.
- They accepted a children's museum as a substitute for the original museum which was to "celebrate the science and technology of Kentucky."
- They allowed to City to acquire two historical buildings (Embry's and Lowenthal's) which would be renovated and substituted for the two theaters in Jane's first plan..
- The Lyric Theater, a historic black theatre, still had to be restored.
All of these items, except the last one, were major changes (downgrades) to Jane's original "Cultural Master Plan" that the City had committed to financially.
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FEET TO THE FIRE
But despite all of the substitutions, the State still required Lexington to at least build a $14 million cultural center (way down from Jane's original $60 million promise) on the original site (the "Ben Snyder Block").
Otherwise the city would still have to pay back the $9 million that the State paid to buy the block.By 1992, Mayor Baesler was already preparing to run for Congress. He put the responsibility for getting the scaled-back cultural center built squarely on Jane Murray-Vimont's shoulders, the woman who was responsible for the "Master Plan" in the first place and had pushed for the use of state funds. She led an uphill, and ultimately fruitless, battle to convince the City Council to borrow over $14 million more from the State of Kentucky to build the downtown cultural center. In promoting her ideas, she gave the Columbus City Center Mall as an example of what was needed in Lexington. (The Columbus City Center is now defunct.)
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| Pam Miller, Lex. mayor following Baesler |
Two more years of fund-raising and lobbying by Jane Murray-Vimont failed. The cultural center project was dead. As the deadline of 12/31/1994 approached, the State demanded their money, but the City was at a loss as to how to repay it. But Baesler had been elected to congress and he and Jane Murray-Vimont were already in Washington, DC. The new mayor Pam Miller ultimately decided that the city would have to default on the $9 million debt to the State.
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Instead of Jane Murray-Vimont's "cultural center," Lexington's leaders built a County Courthouse on the controversial site. It's called the Robert F. Stephens Courthouse. By coincidence (?), that's where Jane Murray's ex-husband Richard Vimont still practices law today.
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Lexington County Courthouse (Not Jane Murray's promised cultural center) |
The state finally tired of the City's shenanigans, and sued Lexington for "misappropriation of funds." Eventually a settlement was reached that involved the City paying back only part of the money. Other terms of the settlement included the completion of several commitments that Jane Murray-Vimont had made on behalf of the Mayor, which still remained unfinished-or even un-started.
Even though she was now in Washington on Congressman Baesler's staff, as his former liaison, Jane Murray-Vimont sent to participate in the negotiation of the settlement. The terms of the agreement were finalized in a "Memorandum of Understanding" or MOU, which is now infamous in Lexington city government.
Even though she was now in Washington on Congressman Baesler's staff, as his former liaison, Jane Murray-Vimont sent to participate in the negotiation of the settlement. The terms of the agreement were finalized in a "Memorandum of Understanding" or MOU, which is now infamous in Lexington city government.
ARTS COMMUNITY OUTRAGE OVER "SECRET" MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING
The secret memorandum was agreed to in Feb. 1995. Jane Murray-Vimont (the champion of openness and transparency in Portsmouth government) was part of the closed-door meeting where the MOU was signed, as Baesler's representative. However, the group refused to release the MOU or the meeting minutes to the public. Local arts groups, who had been intimately involved, helping Jane with the cultural center planning for many years, were outraged! They wanted to know why the City was breaking all of its promises and where all the money committed to the projects had gone.
The arts groups filed an information request for release of the documents, which the City of Lexington ignored for many years, forcing the arts groups to take the City to court, under the Freedon of Information Act.. The full MOU was finally released in 2005. (Note that the MOU was not released until six years after the opening of the UK Basketball Museum in 1999.)
The State Court decided that the meetin Jane was involved in was a violation of state's "Open Meetings Act." The decision in the memorandum controversy is now incorporated into Kentucky's Open Meetings Act, or OMA, case law.
The arts groups filed an information request for release of the documents, which the City of Lexington ignored for many years, forcing the arts groups to take the City to court, under the Freedon of Information Act.. The full MOU was finally released in 2005. (Note that the MOU was not released until six years after the opening of the UK Basketball Museum in 1999.)
The State Court decided that the meetin Jane was involved in was a violation of state's "Open Meetings Act." The decision in the memorandum controversy is now incorporated into Kentucky's Open Meetings Act, or OMA, case law.
"The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government violated the OMA when it met in closed session to discuss its dispute with the state concerning the "Ben Snyder Block." 95-OMD-57. Even if the discussion concerned a sale or acquisition of property, a public discussion "would have no effect on the prices of the property" which had previously been agreed upon." Ky. Rev. Statute 61.81.810 (1)(b).
(No wonder Murray claims she is such as an expert on the Sunshine Law.)
To some extent, most of the scaled-down projects that Baesler and Murray had previously committed to, in order to try to pacify the state over the failure of the Cultural Center Complex, had been completed by the time of the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding. Only two major projects remained that had yet to be started.
1) A new Basketball Mueum for the University of Kentucky
We already told you about this.
2) Renovation of the Lyric Theater
The Lyrc Theatre was a historically Black theater that Lexington had acquired through eminent domain under Baesler and Murray-Vimont. It was to have been made into an African American cultural center as part of Jane Murray-Vimont's original "Cultural Center Master Plan." This how it looked when Jane Murray-Vimont developed the Cultural Master Plan, in 1988 and how it looked when she left Baesler's office in 1995. It's also the way it looked until late last year.
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Murray's 1995 Memorandum of Understanding agreed to penalties to the city of $500 per day if the renovation of the Lyric was not complete by 1/27/2010. But the museum sat abandoned until July 2009, when community leaders finally broke ground on the project, with penalties looming. (At last, the City of Lexington was keeping the promise to the community that Jane Murray had made and broken decades earlier.)
The Lyric's very fine facebook page can be found here. (No thanks to Jane Murray.)
To some extent, most of the scaled-down projects that Baesler and Murray had previously committed to, in order to try to pacify the state over the failure of the Cultural Center Complex, had been completed by the time of the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding. Only two major projects remained that had yet to be started.
1) A new Basketball Mueum for the University of Kentucky
We already told you about this.
2) Renovation of the Lyric Theater
The Lyrc Theatre was a historically Black theater that Lexington had acquired through eminent domain under Baesler and Murray-Vimont. It was to have been made into an African American cultural center as part of Jane Murray-Vimont's original "Cultural Center Master Plan." This how it looked when Jane Murray-Vimont developed the Cultural Master Plan, in 1988 and how it looked when she left Baesler's office in 1995. It's also the way it looked until late last year.
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Murray's 1995 Memorandum of Understanding agreed to penalties to the city of $500 per day if the renovation of the Lyric was not complete by 1/27/2010. But the museum sat abandoned until July 2009, when community leaders finally broke ground on the project, with penalties looming. (At last, the City of Lexington was keeping the promise to the community that Jane Murray had made and broken decades earlier.)
The Lyric's very fine facebook page can be found here. (No thanks to Jane Murray.)
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| The Lyric Theatre (Newly Re-opened) |
1995 THE END OF AN ERROR
In 1995 after years of various scandals and leaked stories to the press that she was leaving Baesler's staff (LHL 7/3/93, LHL 9/18/94, LHL 9/25/95), Jane Murray-Vimont finally severed her long-term professional relationship with Congressman Baesler. She announced that she was taking a position with Lord Cultural Resources of Toronto, Canada, a major consulting firm that develops master plans for museums and cultural centers. Murray-Vimont represented Lord in 1996. Whether she is still connected to Lord Cultural Resources is not known. (http://www.lord.ca/)
But according to the Seretary of State's Office of Kentucky, Jane Murray-Vimont already started Jane Vimont and Associates (aka JVA) in 1993. And JVA's first client and its major client was the UK Basketball Museum, the very project that the City was under the gun to complete under the memorandum of understanding that Jane helped to negotitate. And our story has come full-circle.
But according to the Seretary of State's Office of Kentucky, Jane Murray-Vimont already started Jane Vimont and Associates (aka JVA) in 1993. And JVA's first client and its major client was the UK Basketball Museum, the very project that the City was under the gun to complete under the memorandum of understanding that Jane helped to negotitate. And our story has come full-circle.
COMING SATURDAY:
JANE MURRAY vs. MUHAMMAD ALI
(Jane takes on the Muhammad Ali Center Museum in Lousiville.)
Thanks, P-Town!
ReplyDeleteHopefully this recap of older articles will be followed by a recap of her recent sins and stupidity over the past eleven months against the People of Portsmouth since she took office -- the REAL reasons why she MUST be recalled!