Sweet. I want to be up for a baby in yo yoga. I'm
that I'm bad of the bowl, bad of the bold, bad the bowl.
I thought the Cunningham a little bit of a flat has developed involving the
funding how many rooms to have in the new hotel next to the Duke Energy
Convention Center. And Alicia Reese, who's been a city council member, of
vice mayor, a state legislator and now the county commissioner, is crossing the
horns with some and we want to go right to the source of this to
see what's going on. And Alicia Reese, welcome again to the Bill Cunningham
Show. And Alicia, can you tell the American people what happened between you
and those who want to build this new hotel next to the convention Center.
Well, Willie, thanks for having me back on. You know. I'm
I said when I ran and since I've been down there, that we're going
to fight for the taxpayers. And you know, and it's been so resistance,
you know, when we ever, whatever, we stand up and what
has happened, As you know, I was also the deputy director of Tourism,
so I booked conventions and brought conventions and some of the toughest times,
so I kind of know what they're asking for. But the Millennium Hotel was
down before I got elected, and it was fifty five million dollars in debt
to take it down, and the taxpayers were told, we're going to replace
it with a headquarter hotel that will be able to draw more conventions. So
we lost eight hundred rooms, and so we gotta get eight hundred rooms in
order for us to just be even for what we've been doing. And there
was a lot of talk about the hotel when we had the World Cup.
We would trying to chase the World Cup. But when the World Cup said
is not coming anymore, all of a sudden, the hotel is kind of
on the back burner, and the expansion to the Convention Center has been on
the front bird. And I've been asking the questions because they're talking about two
hundred million dollars for the convention Center, and I said, well, if
it's expanded, I've got a few questions, and I've got some questions about
the hotel, And every time I bring up these questions, it's been this
attitude. Now I don't know what what's happening. You know how things were
going before I got there. But what I'm seeing is that people are coming
in to the county and they want a rubber stamp. If you ask a
question, they get angry and it gets downright disrespectful. And what I'm saying
is that there will be as the president of the boarder commission, there will
be respect for the taxpayers, and there will be accountability. And so I
don't care what other I mean, evenutes first, it's not forward to guess
that I wouldn't want them to disrespect Doomas, Commissioner Doomas or Commissioner dree House.
This type of attitude and behave is unacceptable. And I've told Jeff A.
Luto, who is our spokesperson for the county. I don't know what
message he's given back, but he should not be allowing that when someone comes
to the county and they ask if for taxpayer of money, and he puts
a meeting together and has me each of us and we have to meet separately.
But I'm in meeting with him and we've got this type of behavior.
I asked them simple questions, how much additional exhibits square footage will we get
for two hundred million dollars. I got four different answers by the same person.
Well yeah, hold on, Lesha, are you are you blaming Jeff
a ludo the county minister Steve Leeper of three CDC. Let's put the cheese
on the cracker who is not performing as you consider appropriate. I want the
cheese on the cracker. I know you do well. The meeting was set
up by our administrator to meet with this elite for a three CDC. And
let me say it's nothing personal because I voted for us to even form three
CDC over what twenty plus years ago, But it's gotten out of hands when
I see they're owning all the properties them and the port authority. And then
when you look at these projects, we're using taxpayers loopholes, taxpayers incentives,
abatements and at the end of the day, they don't even pay property taxes.
And we're at a time right now, Willie. As you know,
people got those letters not because of county, but because the state has said
you got to reevaluate a state law. As people in these evaluations are going
to go up. People got a letter in one hand and on the other
hand you got headline saying a billion dollars or of development getting ready to happen.
Now, Now, Alicia, on that point right at the question,
on that point right there that you referenced pac Man Jones for the first time
ever, there's three female else and two African American women on the county commissioner
and you're being told, you're saying, know your role and shut your mouth.
Now we know what to do here and you don't have a particularly important
position. Is that the message you're receiving from from Steve Leeper and three CDC,
know your role and shut your mouth. Well, you know me,
Willie, You're not gonna tell me know my role to shut my mouth.
I've elected by two hundred and twelve thousand, three hundred and sixty three people
who told me to come down and represent them. But it does seem like
it's been a climate of rubber. Stantley get to the county and as you
know, I've been fighting against it. And on one end of our administrator
sends a letter to us saying that we got a forty million dollars gap,
which you know, as you know, I'm gonna be sitting but at thirty
percent rebate again for the homeowners just in time to say we can't do it.
Yeah. But then on the other side, you you come in and
you let it outsider who has not been elected come into our county. Uh
talk any kind of way. We ask questions, KA can't ask no questions,
get real nasty and you know, we're not gonna do business like that.
And that's what I told Jeff Ludo and he sat there, but you
know, we has to sit a message and if he didn't send it,
I had to sit. We're not gonna do that. We're standing up for
the taxpayers. We're going to ask the questions. You can't answer the questions
that we can't move forward. How do we move forward with two hundred million
dollars and we don't know how much exhibit space? How do we move forward
with a hotel? You're telling us eight hundred rooms, but then you did
but you applied for a grant for only six hundred and seventy five rooms.
And when I ask you about it, you know it gets ugly and that
has to stop. We can't. We can't business like that. It's disrespectful
to the taxpayers of Hamilton County. Do you think race and gender play a
part. Well, what I can say is that, you know what the
thing that I said, that type of behavior, if that was done and
it was you know, an African American in the room behaving like that,
uh, you know, there would have there would have been a different response.
And we've got to have had this game by one set of rules.
I'm elected by all the county uh taxpayers who voted for me, and we've
got to have some respect. And I was very disappointed in that. So
you're not going to be a rubber stamp for three CDC. I'm out of
rubber stamp for anybody. And I have a I have a concern that there's
a monopoly happening, uh and at the taxpayers are funding it. You've got
two or three entities that's got control of all the property. I said,
what happened to the private folks that used to invest. We've got all these
entities that are unelected that don't have to pay taxes, don't pay property taxes.
And then Grima over there, her house is going up and she can't
hardly afford to pay the taxes because she's paying for all these uh, all
these other things that don't that don't pay taxes, they got government loopholes and
those kind of things, and so when I bring those up, you know,
it was almost like the audacity of you to be questioning us, and
I'm asking, you know, we got to change that. I'm not going
to tolerate. Of course, the big deal is going to be the Bengals
and that lease, which is up in about two years. I can't believe
thirty years have gone by. A thirty years ago, you were probably still
in high school or grade school. Thirty years have gone by, and I'm
thinking, you know, what does this portend difficulty with the Bengal lease.
If the commissioners are perceived to be simply a rubber stamp, well we cannot
be see as a rubber staff. We have an obligation for the taxpayers who
put us there to try to get the best deal for the taxpayers. And
I just want to make sure that this doesn't become a pattern of activity.
We were busting up, this pattern, were not known come running down to
the county and acting that way and think that we're gonna just turn over the
bank, We're gonna just open up. I even asked the question. I
said, we were in the bank and this behavior happened, what would have
happened at the bank, they would have called security. You know, this
is not the way that we sit down and do these type of deals.
Now we understand things get heated and those kinds of things, but the total
disrespect. And that's why I said, I said to the administrator and I
was disappointed because he invited me to the meeting and to have this type of
behavior is unacceptable. And as we go into these other negotiations, I think
we need to be clear. I don't care if the commissioner is for it
or against it. Neither one of not one of the commissioners, whether it's
Doomas, whether it's Three House, whether it's Reese. It should not be
tolerated. We might disagree on the issue, we might vote a different way,
but you know, come on now, we're going to ask questions.
At least I know I. How's the negotiations? At least your Reese?
How's the negotiations going? A little? Bertie told me the Bengals lace is
not going well? Is that correct? I wouldn't say it's not going well.
We are just really getting getting going on it. We are gonna have
a meeting the Administrator is now putting some dates for us to have the meetings
so that we can articulate some of the things that we'd like to see as
we move forward. I've been very clear on those things. I want to
diversify the funding model. I want the NFL to put some skin in the
game. I want the state to put some skin in the game, just
like they did in Tennessee and other places. And then you know, we've
got to both places. That's thirty three percent is the going rate of the
taxpayers investment with us, it's ninety six percent. So we've we've got we've
got to negotiate some things. But I wouldn't say it's not going well because
it hasn't really gotten going because I've asked the administrator to let's start, you
know, pulling things together so we can move with a calendar, and everybody
agreed to the calendar and we can start moving forward. Of our goal is
in every negotiation, I go in sing, how can we get a win
win? But we can't have a win win. If you think you gonna
come in and bang the table and stand up and you know, start getting
disrespectful, We're not gonna It's not gonna go, well, we got to
vote, come in and saying, listen, we might disagree, but it's
gonna be respect on both sides because I'm gonna be sending up for the taxpayer.
I'm not sending up, Alicia Rees. I'm standing up for the taxpayers.
And that's what i was elected to do. Now, Alicia, as
far as your reference to pack Men and Jones, are you saying that Steve
Leeper actor like pac Man Jones or are you saying you want to be treated
details Now, I'm saying that when African Americans come in and they have that
type of behavior, it would not have been tolerated if the role was reverse.
And I'm saying we're gonna play it by one set of rules. It
was gonna be respectful. And I was disappointed that that that went that direction,
and I was invited to a meeting by the administrator and it went that
direction. I'm saying, we're not going that way. Did the other did
the other two commissioners feel the same as you feel that the entire commission was
shown that disrespect or just you, well, we can't talk to each other.
You know the rules. You know the rules. You can't talk to
each other. So they were not in that particular meeting, but I made
it clear on the floor. The reason I wanted to make it clear was
if they were not just this time or any time, I would not support
anyone talking to them and being them being disrespected, even if we disagreed on
the issue. I wanted that to be clear. So you want to send
the message there's new sheriff in town, Well we got a new sheriff mcguffy.
I'm not the Sarah, but what I am saying that the days of
rubber staffing, the days of coming in here and don't not being questions and
acting like you're too good to be questioned, the days of putting a taxpayers
to the back, is we're putting the taxpayers to the front. And it's
very important, Willie, with everything going on, because if we don't ask
the questions and we go forward with all this stuff. They're talking about a
billion dollars of development, a lot of it with taxpayer incentives and taxpayer loopholes.
Then when we start talking about thirty sent to rebate to the taxpayer on
their property taxes, then they start saying they they're broke. They start saying
we don't have the administrator start saying we don't have any money. We got
these letters in the mail where the property tax may go up. And I'm
telling you, I'm looking at everything as fight like hell for the homeowners who
are bearing the most of the brunt of these type of deals. Now you're
making too much sense. But get my best to your dad Steve and telling
me raised a good girl. Thanks Willie. We go keep fighting. I
call it respect for the taxpayers. You sound like a Wretha. Rspect.
Find out what it means to me. Rspect. I can. I can
hear your mother singing that song right now. D I said, is to
say, bring me my theme songs, bring it to me. Where's Alicia?
I loved in my life and I got a boogie? All right U
Alicia Reese, thank you for filling in the blanks. Thank you very much.
Thank you, will and Alicia Reece. Let's continue with more. There
it is and we'll see what happens. Know your role and shut your mouth
as an attitude that's going to work anymore with this commission on news radio seven
hundred w l Dow. At First Financial Bank, we have four point seven
five percent apy on money market accounts and high rates on CDs